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Turbo performance mods (87 GL wagon)


Guest Hondasucks
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Guest Hondasucks

ACtually, removing the silencer and opening up the airbox does increase HP, not by much, but it gives you a less restricted intake path, as well as in increases throttle response. I noticed a big difference on my turbowagon when I took mine out. The effect is not as noticable on a non-turbo car.

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So Hondasucks,

 

How much further have you came as far as modifications go? Have you added any intercoolers and if so, did you notice a difference in power. Someone earlier in this thread mentioned that the car already seems like it has too much power with just the intercooler added at stock boost levels. I can't imagine how it would be with twice the amount of boost.

 

Stock is 7psi right? So 14psi and a decent intercooler would be

:banana:

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He's done more mods, but can't get the boost above 7.5PSI. On top of that, he punched out the second cat. The cat in the up-pipe he hasn't done anything to. His exhaust exits the car from right before the rear wheels. (no muffler or midsection!)

 

He's done the whole "cut the bottom of the box" thing and it sounds good. When he kicks down from high levels of boost, it makes a sound of a growling dog (IMO) which isn't bad either. But at higher levels of boost he'll want a BOV, and he plans on putting in a turbo timer sometime.

 

he's trying to buy an intercooler, and he has a WRX hood scoop. he just needs to plasma cut the hood, and go at it.

 

also has an RX dual range 5 speed tranny in there, and RX seats. (nice)

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Originally posted by JonOfScio

He's done more mods, but can't get the boost above 7.5PSI.

 

Thanks for the speedy reply. Any reason why he can not get boost over 7.5psi? If I get this car I'm looking at, I am just trying to find out what I'm up against. A turbo timer seems like a good buy so that's something I'll have to look into. As far as the psi goes, I thought a simple manual boost controller would solve getting the boost to a higher level. ????

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kevin...

 

the 1987 and above cars utilized a different MAF and boost control system. in these you have to bypass the system using an electronic device to "fool" the ECU in to thinking that your only boosting at 7-8PSI.

 

on the car youre looking at (the RX, check youre email by the way) its as simple as disconnecting a vacuum line and installing a boost controller on another line - 14PSI could be had in under 15 minutes of work...

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Originally posted by josh long

the legacy turbo / wrx turbo will not work with out a new up pipe or changeing the stock flange. I know I tried.

 

 

:burnout:

 

Most of us know that as well.. we have watched the progress of dennis' XT with the legacy turbo on it.

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Originally posted by calebz

Most of us know that as well.. we have watched the progress of dennis' XT with the legacy turbo on it.

 

Ok, then a good deal of people know what doesn't work and they know what it'll take to fit a Legacy turbo. So the general consensus here is that there are no replacement/upgradable turbos that can just be swapped for the 1.8ltr turbo, right?

 

I have a Toyota Celica All Trac Turbo just sitting around that I'm not doing anything with. Any Toyo mechanics here familiar with that turbo? Could it fit the 1.8ltr scooby with a little modification? I'm ignorant so I ask these questions. Thanks!

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as far as i know, there is no turbo out there that will bolt in to the EA82T piping except the stock one and the EA81 unit.

 

that celica turbo should be an awesome upgrade, those cars made 190hp on stock boost...

 

if one were to come up with a plan to get it on say, a 2500lb 1985 RX blowing 14lbs of boost with a catless downpipe and an I/C...hmmm. another idea would be to find a TD04L from a WRX on iclub and a cheap downpipe - people are always selling stuff cheap when it becomes obsolete - these parts will fit with a little bending and negotiating with a pry bar

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Originally posted by Dennis ex24

if one were to come up with a plan to get it on say, a 2500lb 1985 RX blowing 14lbs of boost with a catless downpipe and an I/C...hmmm. another idea would be to find a TD04L from a WRX on iclub and a cheap downpipe - people are always selling stuff cheap when it becomes obsolete - these parts will fit with a little bending and negotiating with a pry bar

 

Thanks Dennis! This is good to know. I guess now it's time to bust my arse all winter and spring working overtime to get things in motion. Hopefully, things'll go smoothly and I'll own my 2nd old school scooby with some change to modify it.

 

BTW:

Dennis get that car together. If Rallispec finishes the cat converter work this week or early next, I'm going to shoot up to Atco to try and break into the mystical 83mph range with my trap speed in the XT6. It'll probably not happen but I miss going to the track something terrible. :burnout:

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I was just reading up for the 100th time at the Subespeed site about the modifications they guy did to his RX. One thing that is looked over is to have those old injectors cleaned. He had a bad injector which caused a leaner condition in one of his cylinders, which eventually lead to built up heat causing failure in that cylinder. All of that would've been avoided with a good set of injectors (and a good fuel pump as well). Just thought I'd share!

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And yet another thing.....*Don't mind me, I think I am drinking too much Mountain Dew here at work (the orangish/red one at that). :eek:

 

Thermostat notes from the Subaru EA Performance Page

 

"Thermostat

The thermostat is one of the most overlooked performance enhancements. By reducing the operating temperature of the engine a number of things happen.

 

First, volumetric efficiency is increased. That is when the engine runs cooler the air/fuel mixture entering the engine is also cooler. A cooler mixture means the mixture is more dense. The higher the mixture density the more that can be packed into the cylinder. You would be surprised how much more responsive the engine becomes just by changing the thermostat from 195°F to 180°F.

 

The next step would be a 170°F thermostat. 170°F thermostats for the EA series engine are hard to find however almost any 170°F thermostat with a 54mm diameter will work. The little 'jiggler'' valve is not required but its preferable. The valve helps to purge air in the system and allows a slight flow of water around the thermostat to eliminate any temperature differentials between the area around the thermostat and the engine itself.

 

Second, with the combustion clambers running cooler a lower octane fuel can be used. Or if you're looking for better low-end torque, you can advance the ignition timing a few degrees without having to worry about detonation. (Author's note: After installing a 160°F thermostat the performance increase was negligible. However, I was able to advance the ignition liming another 2° and use 87 octane[R + M/2] gasoline with NO detonation at all!)"

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these performance tips were for N/A EA81s i believe

 

i know skip was experimenting with a colder thermostat, im not sure how it effected the engines overall performance.

 

octane is something that turbo guys cant get around. i wouldnt even put 87 anywhere near the XT, i could just imagine the wonderful sounds the engine would make on full boost.

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Just for the record, The EA performance page was for EA81's and EA82's. I have done the thermostat mod and it works out pretty good. I don't know where the guy lived that wrote it but I said screw it and I put a 160 in my old BRAT and didn't have any condensation problems with my oil. I am in NJ/PA area. Go for it, Just make sure you get the 54mm oblong shaped thermostat. They are not round. Boz

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