How to turbo your NA for $2000.

[oztrackdays]

It's a bit ridiculous to say this can be done for $2k

It seems to DIY you need to spend a few thousand on tools

Step X - go to your press, who has one lying around ?



factor in the time to "find/source" all these second hand bits as well.
and you already have header and exhaust those alone can go well over $2k

A worthwhile tune is $800 plus

Allow $100 per hour of labour which is a fair market rate

If you put a net zero cost on your own time and like improvising go nuts people.

[NitroDann]

how much would this turbo system running on 6-8 psi really affect the life of the engine?

also is there any associated headaches with VVT + turbo.

cheers dan!

The MX5 engine is the same for all intents and purposes as the factory turbocharged B6 and BP engine, so there is no ill effect or extra maintenance needed at all.

The VVT means you need an ecu which can run VVT or a seperate VVT control module.

Dann

[NitroDann]

It's a bit ridiculous to say this can be done for $2k

It seems to DIY you need to spend a few thousand on tools

Step X - go to your press, who has one lying around ?

Use a hammer, works fine just takes longer.

factor in the time to "find/source" all these second hand bits as well.
and you already have header and exhaust those alone can go well over $2k

The header isnt being used, a STOCK na6 exhaust flange is being used, your car already came with one, and the exhaust on this particular car is irrelevant, its a 2" system, stock will work fine also.

A worthwhile tune is $800 plus

Allow $100 per hour of labour which is a fair market rate

If you put a net zero cost on your own time and like improvising go nuts people.

Dude, you missed that part where I am doing this work for 2000 dollars.

If you cannot do it yourself, bring it to me, ill do it for you for 2000 dollars.

Do the maths here, if I can do it for 2000 dollars for you, it doesnt actually cost 2000 dollars.

Dann

[NitroDann]

Ok, so next we need to cut and clean the steampipe, it needs to be be cut down in horizontal length to that in total the bend-T-T-bend combination fits the port holes.

I used the grinder you can see in the photos to cut and a wire brush to clean them.

Small gap for weld penetration.


Now they fit the ports.


Cleaned with wire brush so they weld nicely.


Dann

[NitroDann]

Next we line them up and tack them together on top.



Flip it, lay the flange over and see if the ports line up, in this case I tapped the far left one with a hammer a little inwards and up.


Tack the bottom.


Clean the flange on the wled side and tack it on.


Double check th eports line up nicely, remember this will be hand ported later.


Check it on the car, awesome, heaps of space to work with.


Keep in mind future turbo upgrade size, and choose a location for the turbo, in this case Im going with side mount as discussed with the owner, it keeps it easy to work on, can be covered with a heatshield, and allows a lot of room for a T28 later.


Dont just consider these questions regarding the current turbo, but for other bolt on upgrades, in this case the T25 and t28 were considered.

Dann

[narita]

how much would this turbo system running on 6-8 psi really affect the life of the engine?

also is there any associated headaches with VVT + turbo.

cheers dan!

The MX5 engine is the same for all intents and purposes as the factory turbocharged B6 and BP engine, so there is no ill effect or extra maintenance needed at all.

The VVT means you need an ecu which can run VVT or a seperate VVT control module.

Dann

cheers ND. ;)

[NitroDann]

Clean your material where the welds will go with a solvent.



Tack the flange to something solid or bolt it down or clamp it to a bench etc to stop it warping during welding.


Lay some beads.


Dann

[OurCognitiveSurplus]

Are these images dead for anyone else, or just me?

[corners]

Are these images dead for anyone else, or just me?

Images OK for me.

[NitroDann]

Weld..

Weld some more.

Take off your shirt and get a welding suntan (NB: Joke..)



Now let it cool down at its own pace to prevent warping the flange, this may take 1, 2 or even 3 beers.



Dann

[Dweezle]

Umm yeah this is awesome.

A ton of people easily have spent more than 2 grand on power mods with pretty much nothing gained on a dyno.
Ie- headers, mania intakes, exhausts etc.

A small turbo without IC/BOVs etc will be simple, effective and subtle enough to be hard to spot when done right.

I had a "fixed" Greddy td04 setup on my Malibu and for a short time had the stock exhaust and old cat still on it.
While a 2.5" made it better it was still a world apart from a stock mx5.
Not to mention that was also with my auto tuned tunerstudios tune after i screwed up my wideband calibration so was running at like 9.5 afr.

Can not wait to see this all finished.


Dann, do you think you could mount the turbo so a stock airbox could be used in a close to stock location with maybe a heatshield between it and the turbo to hide the turbo and not have to use a pod?
Maybe a airbox from another car?

Always loved the idea of a really simple, cheap 50% power gain that is almost undetectable to the untrained eye.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[Suspense]

^ Is this your brother's car?

[Dweezle]

The lots of money for little gain??

Haha well his has yet to be tuned but yeah.
His car is a NA build with some biggish cams and high comp.
Hell of a lot more $$ than a small turbo for certainly no more than 100kw atw.
The car is basically a NSW 2A Supersprint spec car now.
A turbo would ruin the abilty to run in that class.

Though his is now forged and much stronger so no reason in the future a snail could not be slapped on and make some awesome dyno charts with E85!!

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

[NitroDann]

Thanks Mark,

Yeah it could be, you could work it, in this case its getting a unifilter and calling it a day.

It will most probably end up with a heatshield on it however.

Ok so next step is cut out a section of log with a grinder for the flange.



Doble check it sits right with the turbo flange tacked on.


Do some more welds, sorry for blurriness.


Test fit, this is make or break, if it doesnt look tough enough now its too late


Grab your whiteboard and brainstorm what else needs to be done, and what you need to have on hand for the next steps.


Go back and have another look


So at this point I can start the intercooler piping, or in this case, the crossover pipe. I want to clock the turbo, which means rotate the front and rear housing to get the oil drain facing down and get the turbo intercooler outlet where I want it. So for now I will start on the downpipe and start the intercooler piping from the throttle body and leave the last bit for when the turbo is clocked correctly into place.

Dann

[Suspense]

The lots of money for little gain??

Nope, saw the silver NA and thought it might be his given you've done turbo work with Dann before.

Build is looking really good so far.