97 turbo build

dodger
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97 turbo build Oct 14, 2017 20:54:25 GMT via mobile atlex likes this

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Post by dodger on Oct 14, 2017 20:54:25 GMT

I have owned this car for the last 7 years and steadily modified it to be a useful trackday car and autosolo car. This includes Hard-dog roll bar, lightweight hardtop with the hood removed, Meister R coilovers, suede Momo steering wheel, schroth harnesses, JK composite seats Racing beat manifold and exhaust, alloy rad. As with just about every other 5 I've also had to deal with rusty rear sills and floor.

If I did it all again I would probably buy one that already had all the bits done and I certainly wouldn't buY a 97 UK Car.

Anyway this is what the inside looks like.

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The one thing missing for me now is a bit more power. I was going with a new head, cams and ITB but once I looked at the costs and expected power it didn't add up for me. Maybe for what I use the car for it would be the right way to go but I wanted more bang for my buck. So it was the down the turbo route I have ventured like many before me.

Nothing groundbreaking spec wise. ME221 ECU, RX8 injectors, TD04 turbo and a revent manifold and intercooler kit. All to be fitted by me as I do like messing about in the garage.

The ME221 has been fitted for about a year now and all tuned NA the RX8 injectors went in last week and now the insurance and tax has run out I have taken it off the road to fit the turbo.

Turbo and manifold

Intercooler fitted

Manifold and turbo in after lining up the turbo for clocking. The eagle eyed may notice I snapped off the boost nipple. I think the word used here for that kind of thing is CANOE!!!!!!!. Having power steering in the way is making it all very tight so I may well remove it all and depower the rack.

Hot side pipe loosely fitted in place. All very close to the suspension so I'm not sure if this is right. More playing around required here

And finally the cold side loosely in place. It's very tight around here as the idle valve pipe and blow of valve pipe are under there. I'm not sure why Revent put the IAT bung where he did as it places it very close to the inner wing/chassis leg. I might blank this and move it to the intercooler later.

Anyway, that's all now. Any comments on what I could have done better or anything I have missed please let me know.

Last Edit: Nov 7, 2017 22:08:26 GMT by dodger

dodger
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97 turbo build Oct 22, 2017 15:28:56 GMT atlex and myothercarsa2cv like this

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Post by dodger on Oct 22, 2017 15:28:56 GMT

Now I was happy with the turbo alignment I could set about fixing the new position. As with anything I seem to touch with this car these things always take longer than expected and clocking the turbo was no different. After stripping the turbo I noticed that there was no locating pin and in fact no hole for one in the cold side turbo housing. There was a hole in the turbine wheel housing. All very odd. I did consider putting it back together without a pin as it must have been like this for some time but everything I read on clocking the turbo mentions this location is vey important on the cold side. So I set about drilling a 2mm hole in required location. You have to be carful here as you don't want to break through to the other side. after lots of carful checking and lining up and was happy with the location of the hole, luckily both holes lined up first time

2mm drilled hole in the cold side housing

The next thing I needed was a small locating pin. I was after 2 * 5 mm and came across some stainless steel slotted spring tension pins so these looked my best solution.

To say I was relieved when the pin dropped straight into the hole when offered up is an understatement. There isn't a lot of room for 'fettling' in that area and I don't want to end up drilling multiple holes to get it correct. So now I have the turbo clocked and locked in place with the pin

The next pain in the ass is getting the circlip back in position. So far all attempts have failed so I need to sit down and have a think about that. I need one pair of hands for the pliers and another to slot it into place. Not quite sure how other people have managed this. All the online guides make it look dead easy. Once that is all sported though I can connect all the intercooler pipework up and that's all done.

My drill for tapping the sump turned up as well so I had another look at where I need to drill. Once again the power steering pipe work gets in the way so somehow I need to move it while I drill and tap the sump. I cant make my mind up on de-powering the rack and junking tall the power steering stuff.

Last Edit: Oct 22, 2017 18:54:21 GMT by dodger

atlex Global Moderator Excess 4x100 Detected. Posts: 4,878	97 turbo build Oct 22, 2017 20:50:40 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by atlex on Oct 22, 2017 20:50:40 GMT Interesting thread. Looking forward to more updates :-)
	4x 4x100 : Trubro Panda Smurf, RSA ITB of Great Honour, Carib Z-Touring and Silver K Frog

dodger
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97 turbo build Oct 24, 2017 19:04:51 GMT

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Post by dodger on Oct 24, 2017 19:04:51 GMT

Thanks for the comment Atlex glad you like my posts.

While messing around with clocking the turbo I snapped the boost pipe nipple off. As these don't appear to be available to buy as spares I had to work out an alternative. I looked at various small pipes on the internet then realised I had the solution right in front of me. I took what was left of the snapped off 90 degree pipe after and gently straightened it out in the vice. I then drilled out the snapped off pipe left in the turbo housing. I then inserted the straightened pipe into the hole and Henry tapped it home until it was secure. It needs a little bit of work with a small file to remove some of the rough edges and I'll add a bit of JB weld to make sure there are no air leaks

Last Edit: Oct 24, 2017 19:54:31 GMT by dodger

atlex Global Moderator Excess 4x100 Detected. Posts: 4,878	97 turbo build Oct 24, 2017 20:31:08 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by atlex on Oct 24, 2017 20:31:08 GMT that's easily sealable with a dinky blow torch and silver solder if you want it done right. unsure how well JB weld does with heat. ^^
	4x 4x100 : Trubro Panda Smurf, RSA ITB of Great Honour, Carib Z-Touring and Silver K Frog

jackyboy Needs Gagging Carpe Diem Posts: 1,494	97 turbo build Oct 26, 2017 0:11:08 GMT via mobile Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by jackyboy on Oct 26, 2017 0:11:08 GMT Good stuff. Looking forward to seeing more.

tommyb
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Posts: 194

97 turbo build Oct 26, 2017 16:23:25 GMT via mobile

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Post by tommyb on Oct 26, 2017 16:23:25 GMT

I would drill the hole out and tap a thread in there for a tapered barb fitting. Quite common on td04s for this nipple to be snapped off.
Also the pin for the bearing housing>compressor cover isn't really important,just aids in clocking the turbo during assembly (if using standard orientation.
Circlip is easy to install with right angle tipped Circlip pliers. Get the biggest ones you can get hold of!
Good progress, looks a clean install.

Last Edit: Oct 26, 2017 16:25:06 GMT by tommyb

dodger New Here Posts: 28	97 turbo build Oct 26, 2017 18:35:19 GMT via mobile Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by dodger on Oct 26, 2017 18:35:19 GMT Thanks for all the advice guys. I have seen some bigger circlip pliers in Machine Mart so they are on the shopping list. I'll look at the threaded barb as well for the boost nipple. The fix I did looks a bit 'Heath Robinson'

dodger
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97 turbo build Nov 6, 2017 22:17:28 GMT

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Post by dodger on Nov 6, 2017 22:17:28 GMT

I finally managed to fit the turbo circlip. In the end I had to buy some heavy duty circlip pliers and a clamp to compress the seal down far enough to make room for the ciclip to fit in.

With the turbo back together I repositioned the waste-gate with the bracket supplied by Revent

Next on the list was to get the Dremel out and remove the bracket that holds the lower rad hose joiner to make more space around the turbo outlet area.

While the Dremel was out I removed the top of the heater pipe bracket so it fits over the manifold

Made some wires up to extend pins 2 and 3 of the MAF plug to the IAT sensor. These have been run through some conduit around the back or the engine bay. When I can work out what crimp tool I need for the IAT terminals I'll finish this off.

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I then assembled the manifold and turbo loosely so I could connect up the hot side intercooling pipework and check for clearances

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and then finally with the heat shield in place

next up on the jobs list is fitting the oil feed line into the block and running around the back of the engine, finishing the IAT sensor wiring and fitting the EGR blank.

Last Edit: Nov 6, 2017 22:29:50 GMT by dodger

atlex Global Moderator Excess 4x100 Detected. Posts: 4,878	97 turbo build Nov 6, 2017 22:26:58 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by atlex on Nov 6, 2017 22:26:58 GMT Neat little heatshield. Where from ?
	4x 4x100 : Trubro Panda Smurf, RSA ITB of Great Honour, Carib Z-Touring and Silver K Frog

dodger New Here Posts: 28	97 turbo build Nov 6, 2017 22:31:23 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by dodger on Nov 6, 2017 22:31:23 GMT The heat shield comes as part of the Revent kit as an optional extra.

dodger
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97 turbo build Dec 12, 2017 23:06:08 GMT scottydugg likes this

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Post by dodger on Dec 12, 2017 23:06:08 GMT

I ordered the Revent manifold without an EGR take off so I needed to remove the pipe from the manifold to the intake. I wasn't looking forward to this as there is bracket right at the back of the head an looked rusted solid. Luckily it wasn't so after I managed to get a socket on it freed off at the first go.

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After that it was onto fitting the oil feed for the turbo. As this is a later MK1 the oil feed is taken from the under the intake where the oil pressure switch is. Another job I wasn't looking forward to as there is very little access here. I removed the oil filter and the little oil cooler which just gave me enough room to get one hand in there. So after about an hour of fiddling about had the oil feed in place an run around the back of the engine.

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after this I unpacked the downpipe and loosely fitted it to make sure the flanges mated up correctly

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I decided to move the IAT sensor into the Intercooler so put a bung in original location in the intake pipe and drilled and tapped a hole in the outlet side of the intercooler

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After this I refitted the turbo and checked this mated to the downpipe ok, which it did with no problems.

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I wasn't happy with how close the heater hose was to the manifold swapped them for some silicone ones I had that had a tighter bend radius and weren't so long.

With all this in place I on mocked up the turbo oil drain to work out the route of the drain pipe in readiness for drilling the sump. With this done I drilled the sump to take the 3/8" NPT fitting.

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That's as far I have got for now so its all starting to come together nicely.

dodger
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97 turbo build Dec 21, 2017 10:46:19 GMT howardb66 likes this

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Post by dodger on Dec 21, 2017 10:46:19 GMT

I finished off the oil drain the other day adding some JB weld to the threads on the sump fitting to seal it up and make sure it stays tight. I know its a taper thread so shouldn't need it but belt and braces approach as I don't want to lose my oil from there unexpectedly. I then fitted the turbo side fittings and the pipe and offered it up to check fitment. It gives a nice run from turbo to sump so I'm happy with that. I also checked clearance with the hot side intercooler pipe work in place. Again, lots of clearance so I'm as happy chap. Took it all off and drained the oil and flushed through with white spirit. I couldn't see any metal chips in the oil or white spirit so I think by drilling carefully, cleaning the drill and tap at regular intervals and cleaning inside the sump around the hole I have not left any metal chips in the sump. Time will tell I guess.

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As the cold side pipework is now all in place and I was happy with the fitment all it required was the joint clamping up. I had decided on using Murray Constant Seal Turbo clamps which I ordered from Owen Developments, who had the best price I could find. These are great clamps and the quality is fantastic

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Untitled by roger clarke, on Flickr

Now its all about putting stuff on and not taking it off again (or so I thought). First thing to go on was the manifold and while some of the nuts are a little hard to access its wasn't as bad to get on as I was expecting.

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All was going well so I fitted the oil drain to the turbo and the silicone hose to the turbo outlet.

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The next thing was to put the gaskets in place for the turbo to manifold and the turbo to downpipe. With this done I was ready to bolt the manifold, turbo and downpipe together. Several of the nuts are very hard to access and put in place and just as everything was going so well one of the lock washer for the turbo dropped into the engine bay. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find it anywhere. I've taken the turbo back out, the downpipe out and searched every little crevis in the engine bay I can find and all over the floor but cant see the bloody washer anywhere. So time to take a break and have another look tomorrow.

dodger
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97 turbo build Dec 24, 2017 17:49:13 GMT via mobile atlex likes this

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Post by dodger on Dec 24, 2017 17:49:13 GMT

Santa came early!! Found the other half of the Nordlock washer for my turbo. Somehow it managed to roll right under the car from the passenger side and stop 6 feet away on the other side of the garage. Took me bloody ages to find it. The turbo and manifold are now bolted on and the water and oil lines are bolted to the turbo. Not many jobs left now before I’m ready to start it.

foxy
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97 turbo build Dec 27, 2017 23:14:15 GMT

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Post by foxy on Dec 27, 2017 23:14:15 GMT

Interesting thread, I have a '97 UK 1.8 and have the ME221 fitted and am going back to them (well, M-Tech) for the 230/240bhp turbo conversion.

I have the standard open diff though, which is already a towering PITA. What do you have?

I've found the new ECU has given the car a new lease of life. It's not properly done at the moment (so I don't have a cone filter or 4-1 manifold) as it's going to have the turbo done in a couple of months but even with the crappy standard filter, MAF and so on the car feels miles better, especially at 5,000rpm where power and torque used to tail off and now it keeps going to around 6,500rpm.

I'll sort the LSD next, then a half cage, might then put the soft top back on (I prefer open top motoring). Like your seats and door cards. So many things to fiddle with...