Engine Upgrades
Discussion
Im looking at moving out soon so for the first time ill have room for a project car, I want to buy a car for around £500 and then work the body and mainly a engine swap to a better engine within the same car series. for example I know a lot of people have put
a vr6 into a golf gti
a 406 v6 into a 306
a st170 into a fiesta
and my dad has done a 1.6 into a 1.4 306 before
turboing a 1.6 mx5
the main criteria is that I dont want stupid power and preferably not have to rework the whole loom.
do you know of any straight engine upgrades that will add more poke without a ridiculous amount of electrical work.
p.s. before the insurance discussion starts this is not to be driven on the sly I am well aware of the ill effects when you crash a 1.4 306 with a 2.0 xsi turbo engine in it.
thanks
a vr6 into a golf gti
a 406 v6 into a 306
a st170 into a fiesta
and my dad has done a 1.6 into a 1.4 306 before
turboing a 1.6 mx5
the main criteria is that I dont want stupid power and preferably not have to rework the whole loom.
do you know of any straight engine upgrades that will add more poke without a ridiculous amount of electrical work.
p.s. before the insurance discussion starts this is not to be driven on the sly I am well aware of the ill effects when you crash a 1.4 306 with a 2.0 xsi turbo engine in it.
thanks
Its the electrical part that is the kicker really.
Loads of potential swaps, especially in the German region, but see wiring.
MX-5 turbo can be done quick and dirty, if you're running wastegate pressure only. Add a rising rate fuel pressure regulator, it adds a little extra fuel pressure and as I recall was what was supplied in the really old school GReddy turbo kit rather than a fuelling computer/upgraded ECU etc.
Not sure what kind of power/torque increase you would see, but running maybe 3-4psi wouldn't hurt too much.
Of course if you wanted to go a bit more silly, and start upgrading the whole fuel system from pump to injector, you could do worse that going down the MegasquirtPNP route, delete the MAF and add a MAP sensor and run the lines for that back to the ECU, and go nuts.
SO yeah, I'll just leave this here, and if you look down the left side, you can see all of the cars that are supported and have a plug and play properly mappable ECU available.
http://www.megasquirtpnp.com/index.php
Loads of potential swaps, especially in the German region, but see wiring.
MX-5 turbo can be done quick and dirty, if you're running wastegate pressure only. Add a rising rate fuel pressure regulator, it adds a little extra fuel pressure and as I recall was what was supplied in the really old school GReddy turbo kit rather than a fuelling computer/upgraded ECU etc.
Not sure what kind of power/torque increase you would see, but running maybe 3-4psi wouldn't hurt too much.
Of course if you wanted to go a bit more silly, and start upgrading the whole fuel system from pump to injector, you could do worse that going down the MegasquirtPNP route, delete the MAF and add a MAP sensor and run the lines for that back to the ECU, and go nuts.
SO yeah, I'll just leave this here, and if you look down the left side, you can see all of the cars that are supported and have a plug and play properly mappable ECU available.
http://www.megasquirtpnp.com/index.php
I've been eyeing up cheap KAs and Escort vans - I've got a CVH RS turbo block and decent turbo plus a loom and ECU in the spares bin, just need a decent head. It's crossed my mind to put something around the 200hp mark into one of them
Time is mainly the problem for me though and dont really have the space to do it right now.
Time is mainly the problem for me though and dont really have the space to do it right now.
im leaning a little towards an mx5 some of the turbo kits can be bought off the shelf (although theres mixed reviews) they can be picked up really cheap and would make a great track day/drift learning car with a good learning curve. And on the plus side a turbo is mechanical and theres loads of how to's and stuff to guide me through it. gonna have to keep my eyes open for one in the coming months. Anyone know any other cars that have turbo/supercharger kits within my low budget I know people like to supercharge the 306 gti-6.
andy-xr said:
I've been eyeing up cheap KAs and Escort vans - I've got a CVH RS turbo block and decent turbo plus a loom and ECU in the spares bin, just need a decent head. It's crossed my mind to put something around the 200hp mark into one of them
Time is mainly the problem for me though and dont really have the space to do it right now.
you should look out for a xr2 i saw one go on ebay the other week for around £500 but the engine was shot Time is mainly the problem for me though and dont really have the space to do it right now.
dxski said:
you should look out for a xr2 i saw one go on ebay the other week for around £500 but the engine was shot
BTDT, the last XR2 I had was already converted to 1.8 Zetec, 16V power was quite nice but I already have the interior/dash and Mk2 Fiesta 'traits' in my kit car. Getting something a bit newer with the luxury of power steering and air con would be more my kind of thing now!
I fancy doing an MR2 myself, not the Mk2 though.
I would either do the Mk1 with a 20v 4AGE and 6 speed LSD gearbox or a Mk3 with the Celica 190 engine. Both would be quite cheap to do and aren't all that difficult.
You're more likely to pick up a Mk3 for £500 than a Mk1 (anything cheap is likely to be rotten)
I would either do the Mk1 with a 20v 4AGE and 6 speed LSD gearbox or a Mk3 with the Celica 190 engine. Both would be quite cheap to do and aren't all that difficult.
You're more likely to pick up a Mk3 for £500 than a Mk1 (anything cheap is likely to be rotten)
dxski said:
im leaning a little towards an mx5 some of the turbo kits can be bought off the shelf (although theres mixed reviews) they can be picked up really cheap and would make a great track day/drift learning car with a good learning curve. And on the plus side a turbo is mechanical and theres loads of how to's and stuff to guide me through it. gonna have to keep my eyes open for one in the coming months.
I fitted a £500 secondhand Greddy turbo kit to my MX5. It took a weekend to fit, ran with no problems at all and at 6psi of boost made a dramatic increase in power (120bhp to 160ish).As far as drifting goes I competed in the 2007 Eurodrift Championship with the engine standard. Adding the turbo made it much easier, which is great if you want to score more points, but teaches you less as a driver.
I've also done a few engine swaps, including stuffing V8s in to inappropriate cars. It's a whole world of grief more involved than slapping a turbo on to an MX5.
Captain Muppet said:
I fitted a £500 secondhand Greddy turbo kit to my MX5. It took a weekend to fit, ran with no problems at all and at 6psi of boost made a dramatic increase in power (120bhp to 160ish).
As far as drifting goes I competed in the 2007 Eurodrift Championship with the engine standard. Adding the turbo made it much easier, which is great if you want to score more points, but teaches you less as a driver.
I've also done a few engine swaps, including stuffing V8s in to inappropriate cars. It's a whole world of grief more involved than slapping a turbo on to an MX5.
may seem a very vain thing to say but I would like to learn to drift in the future as of yet I've never even driven a rear wheel drive car before and making a turbo mx5 might bring me one step closer to having a go. As far as drifting goes I competed in the 2007 Eurodrift Championship with the engine standard. Adding the turbo made it much easier, which is great if you want to score more points, but teaches you less as a driver.
I've also done a few engine swaps, including stuffing V8s in to inappropriate cars. It's a whole world of grief more involved than slapping a turbo on to an MX5.
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