CivicRacer5

Thought this might give some good info on people going turbo that want some more knowledge.

Engine
Normally aspirated engines are not happy with the heat and pressure of turbocharging. You need to lower the compression to a level manageable by the engine and ignition control you are using. Generally 7.5:1 to 8.0:1 will do what you want on today's terrible pump gas.

Pistons and Rings
Always use Forged Pistons that are properly designed for the engine you are building. We use JE Pistons and Total-Seal Rings in all our engines. If you cannot afford the forged pistons and you are building an engine that has a factory Turbocharged equivalent then use the factory Turbo pistons. They are never all that great for serious duty use but they are a good affordable alternative to normally aspirated high compression pistons. We use Total-Seal rings because they have proven to keep all the power in the cylinders and minimize blow by under hard boost conditions.

Block
Generally the block is fine for streetable boost levels. Very high boost pressures or race applications are a different story. If a steel shim gasket is available for your particular application, use it. They are expensive but well worth the money.

Cylinder Head and Porting
Good quality valve jobs and Stainless Steel valves. If Stainless Steel valves are not available or not in your budget at least get the stock ones high heat coated. This is generally in-expensive and will extend the life of the valve considerably. Porting varies with the head and engine. Generally for most street applications a nice clean up port with most of the attention being paid to the bowl area around the head of the valve and good match porting of the manifold and head surfaces. We try to do a high polish on the exhaust port to promote exhaust flow and minimize buildup and a swirl finish on the intake for better fuel atomization.

Ignition Timing Control
This is the key to Turbo cars running on pump gas. You cannot use a normally aspirated ignition distributor or engine control for a Turbo application. You will detonate and hurt even the best of pistons and rings. Most factory Turbo cars have excellent ignition systems with very conservative timing curves which are great for higher boost applications. If you are doing a normally aspirated to Turbo conversion you need to either incorporate the ignition into your fuel injection or use a timing control such as an MSD or JACOBS to insure you have proper boost retard for the level of boost you are running.

Fuel Management
We do not believe in Turbocharging any car without it being Fuel Injected first. Yeah, we know it's not impossible to have a carburetted Turbo system, we've even done it ourselves plenty of times, but it will have driveability and heat problems not to mention float and seal failures ( Just ask someone that owns a Maserati Biturbo ). Programmable management is really the answer to a simple and effective installation on a normally aspirated car. We use either the Electromotive TEC-II or the HALTECH F9A units. Retrofitting a factory F.I. system into a normally aspirated car or into a car with a different style of management is not impossible but it is very complicated, so be sure and have a very good working knowledge of the cars electrical system before undertaking such a task. We recommend an on-board air fuel ratio monitor in all applications to make sure you do not lean out the engine under boost and put big holes in things. We use the HALMETER AF/30. It is almost always necessary to install a larger volume high pressure fuel pump and some form of Boost Referenced Rising Rate Fuel Pressure Regulator to insure proper fuel delivery under boost.

topnotch7gen

iTrader: (22)

????????????????????????????????? Too damn confusing, kid!

Quiksilver09

Another thing to consider is cooling for those living in areas that reach higher levels of temperature. Don't know exactly how prevelant it is with the turbos currently available but an upgraded radiator or possible an oil cooler could be something to add for those running higher levels of boost.
-Nic

Elite

iTrader: (3)

uhhh denso iridiums ik20's or 22 i forget which prolly 20