Turbo Question and SOA request (1 Viewer)

[rubicon1979]

I've decided to go ahead with the turbocharging attempt on my 89 FJ62. My friend and I have installed turbos on two other cars, a miata and mustang, with success so I'm hoping for the same. I've done the search and not a lot of info out there. I'm worried about the AR numbers on the turbo and not being plagued with escessive turbo lag. My usable RPM's are about 1500-4000 so lag would be bad.

Is the fuel system a flow through on the FJ62? Can you buy an aftermarket header for the 3FE?

To work out the fuel delivery problem I'll use an FMU to raise fuel pressure under boost. I'll probably add another inline fuel pump to help out. The matched injectors are a good idea too to help make sure I dont have any problems.

I'm thinking 6-8lbs will do it. I'm not looking for speed but I'd like to be able to hold my own out on the road.

While I'm at it I'm gonna do the SOA. My buddy has done quite a few and he owns a plasma cutter and welder so it shouldnt be too bad. I've exhausted the search engine here about the SOA and learned quite a bit. I'm gonna use my stock springs which are pretty much flat (200k will do that) and will probably run 34's. Does anybody have a quick pic of a side shot of a FJ62 with SOA? I've looked a bunch so far but I never get tired of another


Any advice or help is appreciated. Where is a good deal on a rebuild kit for the 3FE? Did it come with forged pistons originally? I've got 200k on the truck but only 140k on the motor. It seems strong enough with no notable oil usage. Anyway thanks in advance.

 

[ClemsonCruiser]

here are some side shots of my SOA 62 with flattened OME springs and 37's

 

[Waggoner5]

Heres a HJ61 and a FJ62 with stock springs SOA and 35s.

 

[Rig of Mortis]

Oh, this is going to be a fun thread

Trouble maker, jk.
He's a few of shots of my 83 BJ60 SOA with "settled" 3 inch lift springs on 37"s.

(C'mon Tampage, show us the money shots!)

 

[sandcrawler]

I'm interested to hear how your turbo installation goes. I've heard that a few people have done it on 60's with good success, i think the FE3 should be ripe for just such an installation. I've seen nice headers for the FE3 that I think would work well with the turbo - what size tubo are you thinking of going with?

I think the only think i would be overly concerned about would be underhood temps - are you going to vent the hood to help with that?

As for the SOA, i don't really have an opinion on that yet, but I like the looks of the Blue one and the white one - IMHO.

 

[Moby]

I've seen pictures of a 3FE turbo in an FJ-80. It was for sale a few years back and Slee Off Road had pictures of it (pictures are now gone but you might try them for details). I do not believe that it was intercooled. It looked like it used the MAF in a draw through configuration. I've heard, but have no first hand knowledge, that MAF meters can be a little sensitive when used in a blow through setup.

The FJ-80 turbo 3FE used the ceramic coated headers that you can get through various cruiser shops (Man-a-fre for example). Not sure this makes it any easier to mount the turbo as they mate up to the stock downpipe's so the fabrication to mount the turbo would probably be about the same. I ran those headers for a while on my 3FE - they do let more heat into the engine compartment. I'd be interested in how they survive with the somewhat higher egts that a turbo would likely introduce.

Dusty just finished up a 1FZ-FE turbo build where he fab'd a manifold from scratch (https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=88793). Definitely worth taking a look at that thread. Mace has a turbo on his 2F, I'd be interested in seeing the mounting configuration of his setup. Not sure if he's running stock 2F manifolds.

3FE's have cast pistons stock but getting JE or any other custom piston maker to make you forged pistons would be relatively easy. I talked to JE about this and then promptly forgot what they quoted me cost wise ($900?). Man-a-fre has high compression .040 forged pistons for the 3FE but I don't think you'd want to go that route with a turbo.

Fuel system might be a concern at 8psi. When I got my injector's cleaned and balanced the return spec sheet listed the amount of horsepower they could support, I'll see if I can dig that up. It definitely was under 200. Not sure about the fuel pump either but an inline pump could solve that.

Good luck, I'll be watching this thread closely

 

[rubicon1979]

Well it'll be close on the injectors. With running the fuel pressure up there is a definite chance they wont stand up to the pressure for long. I'm figuring on around 225 or so hp on 6-8 psi of boost. 10psi is usually around 100% increase and that is too much.

Cast pistons...well I'll still try it. All I've got to lose is a rebuild which I might have to do anyway. $900 for forged is too much, does anybody make a hypereutectic piston that is less money?

Originally I kept my MAF on the miata when I did it. With the FMU, 10psi, intercooler, and a little trial and error it worked fine. Afterwards I went to a DFI fuel management system, 20psi, and while it was much faster it lost a lot of its daily driver characteristics. I want to be careful to be reasonable with the expectations of the 3FE and what its capable of. MAF's arent capable of measuring air pressure only air speed. The air isnt necessarily faster but is compressed so it shouldnt interfere, at least I hope.

I was trying to find some AR numbers of the factory turbo used on Regals. It was a 3.8l motor. I want to go as small as possible to avoid lag. I'm hoping a T3 will do it or a T3/T4 hybrid. I found one on Ebay preset to 8.3psi that seemed like a good deal. Saw on the 3FE yahoo group where a guy had a turbo. He's having some tuning issued so I hope to find out more from him. He's using a FMU also.

I want to do all the leg work before I tear into it. It is my only car but for months all I owned was my motorcycle so having to depend on it solely isnt a problem. I've got a FMU lying around the shop, the turbo is only about $250, used intercooler for $100, and my time is free so worse case it doesnt work its not a tremendous loss.

Thanks for advice and opinions.

 

[akarilo]

Turbo!

I like turbos! I ran across this thread so I thought I would include a pic of a manifold I fabbed for my 62. I have turbo'd various vehicles in the past, (including a 3VZE), and have started a project on the 62. I am running a temporary exhaust flange on it for the time being, but may get around to finishing the whole setup

at some point.

 

[akarilo]

Here's a shot prior to install.

 

[Kavik]

Take look here...

 

[cruiser_guy]

"Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell is a great book on turbos and aftermarket turbocharging including both blow through and draw through applications.

 

[hks3sgte]

From my experience with the MR2 Turbo, a tubular manifold is not really recommended. The added weight of a turbocharger almost always ends up cracking the manifold. Although some people have managed...