TurboClunker (a.k.a. cheap-ass slaps a turbo on his LX)

[TUNEUP]

Ya they carry pretty much anything race car related that you could ever need

 

[Heckraiser]

More n00b questions: my Tial wastegate says I should run the pressure hose to any charge pipe pre-throttle. My turbo didn't come with a nipple on it, but I can drill/tap one if needed. HOWEVER, if my IC will cause pressure drop, would it not be best to place the boost reference source post-IC and pre-TB?

Could I tee off of this hose? It's the only hose anywhere before the throttle plate, if not exactly before the throttle body

 

[scottryana]

In a perfect world you would put it on the turbo compressor housing. The reason you do that is that waste gates aren't supposed to see vacuum, and waste gates don't always have a perfect seal so if you route it to the manifold (which a lot of people do) you could have a vacuum leak.

But in reality anything between the turbo and the TB will be fine. In fact even off of the manifold would be fine but not ideal. But you will want to reference your boost gauge on the manifold side so you can see vacuum, and accurate boost post any intercooler drops and blow off value.

 

[scottryana]

Oh and I am sure you know this but you are going to want to disconnect that hose that runs from the valve cover to the TB and run it to a catch can and then to the intake pre-turbo/post-maf or put a filter on the catch can. In stock form the engine draws vacuum and pulls fumes and oil vapors out of the valve cover but you do not want to pressurize the engine with boost or you could get leaky seals.

 

[Heckraiser]

Did not know that, but makes sense looking at my buddy's setup. So I guess that hose is probably not a good candidate for a pressure reference then

 

[scottryana]

No it is fine for a pressure reference you would just disconnect the hose at the TB, run that vent line to a catch can. And then the port on the throttle body will be where you take the reference from and run to your wastegate. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Heckraiser]

OK, I think I'm following: So the hose will go from VC to catch can to pre-turbo intake and doesn't need to connect to the TB at all? Then the TB port will be left open and ready to serve as a pressure reference. Is that right?

:edit: and what is your take on routing it to the intake vs. just putting a filter on the catch can?

 

[Heckraiser]

Prepped the AC line: wrapped in header wrap and bent about 3" towards passenger side (removed the shock mount braket and firewall bracket).

 

[El Duderino]

Taking your wastegate signal from a post-intercooler (but pre-throttle) location will control boost closer to the actual intake manifold pressure. This is due to the pressure drop across the charge plumbing and intercooler, between the compressor outlet and the throttle plate, as you suspected. Boost / vacuum gauge port should be post-TB of course, but wastegate (or boost controller) reference should be post-IC / pre-TB.

Watching with interest since I'd like to do a similar low-buck turbo setup on my '94.

 

[Heckraiser]

Intercooler came in the mail and I couldn't help but stack up all the legos to see what it looks like. The fit is great! Looks like it was meant for this application. I also didn't have to cut any of my charge pipes, everything just fits together and it even looks like the hood will close! I will say the IC looks a lot bigger on the bench, but once you put it in that big LC engine bay, not so much

 

[Rivman1243]

Intercooler came in the mail and I couldn't help but stack up all the legos to see what it looks like. The fit is great! Looks like it was meant for this application. I also didn't have to cut any of my charge pipes, everything just fits together and it even looks like the hood will close! I will say the IC looks a lot bigger on the bench, but once you put it in that big LC engine bay, not so much

View attachment 1263980

View attachment 1263981

What are your plans for air flow through that?

 

[Heckraiser]

Cut a big hole in the hood and make a hood scoop (planning on making some ducting w/rubber seals to force air through rather than around). I told my wife I would do my best to keep it classy (which probably means a lot of bondo)

 

[Heckraiser]

Swapped out the blue spring (came with the wastegate) for the red spring. Thinking about saving the blue spring for later (8.7psi). WG is ready to go in.

 

[El Duderino]

Any reason not to use an air-to-water cooler?

 

[Heckraiser]

My only reason is that an air/air is mechanically simpler (no electric pump, no water lines, etc). But yeah, you could easily do an Air/Water instead. That's the setup lilevo did, if you search for his thread.

You could also do a front mount intercooler between the frame rails or behind the grille. Only reason I didn't go that route is because I got in a wreck recently and need a new front bumper and didn't want to limit my bumper options by putting the intercooler there. :edit: In fact, after I eventually get a bumper and winch set up, I may change over to FMIC if there is room.

Lots of options to make it the way that suits your needs!

 

[Rivman1243]

From what I remember reading air to air CAC are more efficient where air to water CAC are more consistent...... Or was it the other way around.......

 

[El Duderino]

From what I remember reading air to air CAC are more efficient where air to water CAC are more consistent...... Or was it the other way around.......

It's the other way around usually. Air-to-water (A/W) can be much more effective if the coolant temp is low enough. That means a dedicated system with an electric pump and low-temp radiator (not tied into the engine cooling system). You also typically have a shorter flow path, although Heckraiser's A/A plumbing is quite short in this case.

A/W also has an advantage where you don't have enough real estate in the front of the vehicle for a large enough A/A cooler - as long as the A/W core can reject enough heat - which is in turn based on coolant pump flowrate, CAC core size/type, and coolant temps. If the system isn't sized properly, or if the low-temp radiator doesn't reject heat well enough, then the A/W system can heat soak and be less consistent than a large A/A CAC. In my experience anyway.

It's also a tradeoff between packaging, cost, and minimizing pressure drop across the cooler. The larger the better for minimal pressure drop, and well designed end-tanks are a must. There is some sacrifice in response since the compressor will need to fill a larger volume before the manifold gets up to full pressure, but if you do the math it's usually such a small time difference to fill the volume that it won't be noticed by a typical driver.

 

[scottryana]

That and evidently you can't keep A/W intercooler pumps alive in an 80 series. haha. I will be on my 3rd Meziere water pump in 2.5 years. If you have the room A/A is best for a truck that needs power on the hwy, if you expect a lot of your power needs are going to be at very low speeds and limited air flow, perhaps pulling an offroad trailer than I would suggest looking at an A/W.

 

[Toyotamech]

Super stoked to see this. Was just talking with a coworker about doing the same thing. Perhaps doing an fmu and safc to help with "tuning" lol! So archaic. Excited to see the outcome.

 

[Heckraiser]

The disappointments with this treadstone manifold continue to pile up. I realized that when I bolt the turbo down, the compressor housing will contact the manifold. If I rotate it so its pointing 45* to the passenger side, it will clear but only by a mm or two. Time to buy a spacer. There's already very minimal hood clearance, so I'm hoping this doesn't put my charge pipes into the hood. I don't know what the deal is with this manifold-- if they actually bothered to try one before selling them to the public, they probably would have run into all these problems and made a better product. Turbo positioning is too high and too close to the motor, holes are incorrectly tapped, poor clearance for bolting the thing down, turbo flange is right on the main log of the manifold so any decent-sized T4 turbo will interfere with the manifold itself.

Again, all fixable problems, but the whole reason I bought this manifold was to put together a "bolt-on" kit. If I knew I would be spending extra time and money to make it work, I would have made a y-pipe out of the stock manifolds instead--or hired it out. Then you can put the turbo wherever you want, make it twin-scroll, etc.

Just venting.