BoostedBalls

I'll be there if I'm not at work. I got a turbo RX and a sandrail. My rail is powered by a 2.3L HO quad-4 injected. Not sure which I'll bring, the RX hasn't seen the sand yet. What day or days are we talking here? I'm off Sundays-Wed. -Chuck-

Your economy will worsen if you put a carb on a stock turbo engine. The turbo engine is pretty simple and the ecm does a pretty good job of tuning things for you. You are going to loose power and efficiency and complicate matters for yourself by elliminating the electronics and such. It's very simple to pull the engine even when it is equipped with everything. When you pull the engine, make sure to use anti-seize on all of the threads, this will make the next engine pull a snap.

I've done the install, very simple. I did have to do a little cutting and welding to the factory mount but it didn't need to be removed from the car to do it. I'll try to get some pics of the mount after I dig it out of the box of parts I stripped from that car. Here's the link- http://www.oldengine.org/unfaq/10si.htm -Chuck- Enjoy!

I was considering a dual webber setup on my baja bug. I think it wouldn't be too hard to use the magnetic pickup om the cam or crank to fire an aftermarket ignition either. If you don't find a supplier for the manifolds, I can fab them up for you out of copper plated steel, stainless, or aluminum for around $200. I would make myself a pair at the same time. EFI is great but I think the carbs would be way easier to setup plus it's different and it would look killer. The linkage from the VW should work with minor modifications. PM me if you are interested. -Chuck-

Well, I said I didn't want to do a 5 lug swap but maybe it's the way to go. I need to do some more research. This is a race only car and I would like to make about 300HP and be able not only stick it to the ground but stop the car just as fast as it takes off. The Impreza suspension is different than the Legacy? Can I use my RX axles? Can I keep my LSD diff? What brakes do I want? Provisions for parking brake? Hmm, what else? -Chuck- (diving deeper into my project than originally forecasted...)

I'm sure someone here has done this, I just can't seem to find any info on it. I have the 4x140mm hubs and I'm wondering if anyone has redrilled them for a more common 4 bolt pattern. I'm not sure if the hubs have meat in the right places to make this possible. I may even consider welding my holes shut and starting fresh. This would be plan 'B' as the heat temper of the hub will be changed with the welding. I don't want to go with a 5 lug setup. Thanks guys! -Chuck-

Now I'm wondering if the cam and crank magnetic pick-up from an ej-22 might work. If you use the plate behind the pully and make sure you have the pick-up spaced the same as the ej-22, you should be good to go, right? -Chuck-

I ran a 90A GM alternator on my GL-10 last year. It was easy to install and better, cheaper, readily available part. I'll be doing the same thing for my RX this year. I like the 74-82 or so models. I have pics and diagrams for this if anyone is interested, drop me a line. -Chuck-

be careful using stones on nonferrus metals! They clog, then heat up, expand and POW pieces everywhere! You can use the small fluted carbide bits on aluminum without clogging issues if you use a special wax/grease for the tip, also makes smooth cuts. If you use the large fluted carbide bits for port work, I hope you have a real firm grip and a very steady hand! As far as porting the turbine housings- I would only knock the casting slag off the surface and open the inlet enough to match the up pipe so you won't have a recuction step. Here's a good article on porting your turbine housing http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/turbo/turboport.html -Chuck-

I'm not saying equal length headers aren't a bonus in spinning the turbine wheel. I'm just saying that directing the passenger head primary pipe towards the turbo will make the biggest torque increase from stock and way simple. More pipe = more heat/velocity loss. I would use my money and efforts elswhere on the engine unless I was doing serious competition. I read in a previous post that the stock up pipe is very narrow, I just measured it at 34mm, just over 1.25" ID, yeah, that's small. I am still running the stock up-pipe only because of time constrains and multi-tasking projects; but my RX pell pretty damn hard though. It is my biggest bottleneck right now. Porting turbine housings- Bling bling factor all the way. It is almost impossible to port the critical areas in the housing so most shops will just hog out the inlet and 3 or so inches into the housing. This porting is being done in the area where the SLOWEST flow is taking place in the housing. It may give slightly better heat retention fron the reduced surface area of the inlet but the really critical area is where the passage necks down and flow is very high. You cannot get the tool around the corners to smoothen that area out. I guess you could blast some steel shot through the housing to knock the casting burrs down. I applied at a turbo rebuilding shop in Lake havasu, AZ a few years back and they also offered the porting to the "more dollars than sence" turbo jetboat crowd. I saw a lot of beautifully polished turbos on the shelf, the guy there told me that the porting doesn't help flow through the turbo but that it seemed to reduce cracking. I still take the sander wheel to the inside of my T3's but they still seem to crack at the casting seam. -Chuck-

I also forgot to comment on the header to head flanges, yes, use the 4 hole pattern and if you are going to use 1.75" tubing, you can even cut the flange holes big enough for the tubing to slip through them and into the head to that ugly step where the ports meet eachother, that will eliminate the reverberation step that Shadow was talking about. If you do that make sure that you get a calliper in there and measure and don't forget to ad the gasket thickness. I just blended mine to match the 2" tubing though. -Chuck-

I built a header for my T3 setup last year. You can save yourself a lot of time and grief if you run the two pipes together and then cut it off right past the passenger head. This will let you install the thing without lifting the engine. This will also make it easier to make the end section of the up pipe to go exactly where you want it. I used crossover flanges from some v6 GM product in the JY. It has 3 holes, it's thick rump roast hell and gaskets are easy to find for it. Equal length?? I really wouldn't waste the time to fab up a complex header for use with the stock turbo. What I would do, and I'm gearing up for it myself with stainless- is to make the passenger head angle towards the turbo instead of "T" towards the turbo and other head. IMO that will show the biggest improvement in throttle response and power. I have seen 1000+ HP drag boats with huge budgets NOT running equal length headers. Flow is way more critcal than pulse timing when talking about a mass produced engine with mass produced heads. I'll be taking a 90 degree bend and fusing it into the header then install a flange right at the merging point. This will give you the option of making 2 or 3 different final up pipe extensions for different turbos. You can make one for the stock turbo, the WRX turbo and a garrett T3 would make your car very adaptable to what you are doing at the time. Drag race? OK, go with the T3, rallycross, go stock turbo, etc. There are some forged steel pipe adaptors that you might want to look into. They are made to be welded together and are very thick. A lot of guys are using them for turbo headers. They are groved for easy welding with great penitration. I'll be starting on my stainless header soon and I'll be using the plans I just described. I'll post some pics of it as I progress. I need to also get out some pix of the water-to-air intercooler that I'm working on. It's about 95% done but I just ran out of argon... ps: I think the 1.75 tubing is just right. I'm going with 2" but I'm only using this car for racing. -Chuck-

I haven't owned a carbed Subie before, does the carb have an idle air control solenoid motor thing attached to the throttle linkage? IAC? If so, maybe it's sticking?? I have "fixed" the electronic ones before just by soaking the inside of it with STP silicone spray. -Chuck-

What parts do you need? Always start with an intercooler as the first thing. It will make your engine last longer while making more power. A wrx unit is a good one, easy to instal but you need to cut a hole in the hood. OR- a stock subaru water-to-air intercooler. The 5th injector comes from the intake of a nechanical fuel injected VW, like the early jetta, fox, etc. Use your fuel cut-off pressure switch to make it do just the opposite of what subaru intended. Make it drive the injector for more fuel at high boost. Build a home-made boost contoller, Or I can send you one for $15. They work as well as the $200 electronic units, just less bling bling and marketing stuff. I put instructions on how to make it on my yahoo subaru site, SUBARU_18, I'm a co-moderator there, check it out. I made the instructions way easy. The injector get's it's fuel supply from the fuel line right after the fuel filter. The injector has a nice stainless line attached to it, pull that also when you are in the junk yard. The injector has 2 wires, hook it up to a battery to test it, (doesn't matter which is + and -)you will feel a click and you will be able to blow through the stainless line. I tested mine with fuel pressure and saw that it makes a real nice mist of fuel. Just those few mods will make a HUGE impact on performance. The BOV makes gear shifts feel like there is a much larger engine under the hood because it allows the turbo to keep spinning when your foot is off the gas, then BAM full boost when the throttle is opened again. You will destroy the engine if you decide to soup it up without an intercooler. Hope this helped, -Chuck-

A couple ideas, even with a new 02 sensor, make sure the threads are clean with a thin layer of silver anti-seize, make sure the exhaust pipe has a good ground. Get a leak-down tester, if it says you are running rich even with the screws all the way in, you may be blowing a little oil past the rings causing the reading to "look" rich. Might run 2 cans of B-12 through the tank when you are about empty, works great for cleaning the inside of the carb. Pull the PCV palve out and shoot some carb cleaner through it. I'm a little worried about your rings if levels are only high under load. I would probably drain the oil and fill with 50W oil. That will reduce the amount of oil slipping past the rings. You might step up to a hotter thermostat, just for the test. Good luck! -Chuck-

I checked the A/F ratio with the setup on my last car with basicly the same setup and the stock fuel system goes lean right above 15psi. With the injector coming on around 12 psi, it spikes rich for an instant then doesn't go lean again unil 16-20 psi. It's real hard to tell exactly what is happening with a stock type 02 sensor. You really need a wide-band to get good readings. The plugs give a good indication of what's happening, if you know what to look for. It is not the cleanest fuel curve by any means but it does allow the engine to make a lot more power, cheaply. I'm installing a second injector to kick on around 16psi. That should bring me up to 22psi or so, I hope. I'll have to see what effect it will have on fuel pressure though. -Chuck-

I'm Down, I can host but I'm actually way out in Cornelius. My car has no plates so I can't drive it to Portland. My wife can BBQ up some ribs or somethin' -Chuck- that is a "cold-start injector" from an 80's VW, they squirt a mist inside the intake right before the starter ingages, they can live with 12vdc all day without damage, unlike peak and hold injectors.

The cone style filter might actually reduce power unless I stick it outside of the engine compartment. My Biggest restriction to flow in my setup is the stock turbo and stock heads and possibly MAF sensor. Air density needs to be the primary focus, cold air at medium pressure makes more power than high-pressure hot air. And your engine will last longer too. I will eventually change the filter setup after I make the change to MegaSquirt. I won't be using a MAF sensor so I can use the space to fabricate a filter box that will use the cone syle filter and isolate it from the hot engine compartment. I'll use ABS plastic for the ducting. A cold-air intake made out of aluminum is a contradiction. The heat soaks right through it. -Chuck-Portland, Oregon

Once you have ruled out that the belt is too loose and or worn--You can disconnect the connector and put 12v right on it with the engine off and the belt loose. see if you can make it slip by hand. If so, clean it up with brake parts cleaner and try again. Still slips- replace the clutch. Don't need to remove the compressor to do this either. -Chuck-

I put a photo of this setup in the photo album. "Chuck's engine bay" I'm working on a bigger intercooler and a bigger reservoir. -Chuck- Portland, OR

My setup: stock verticle throttlebody intake, engine, heads, cams, turbo, fuel injection system and ecu. A/C system and interior still needs to be removed. -home-built steel and copper water-to-air intercooler -BOV from eclipse, crushed for 20psi. -Blaster 2 coil -5th injector mounted right above throttlebody, comes on at about 12 psi. Installing second one to come on at around 17psi. -home-built adjustable boost controller, cost $10 to build -home-built 2.5" downpipe matched to turbo gasket for better wastegate flow. no muffler of any kind. -removed plastic baffle on air box and installed K&N filter. -20psi autometer boost guage, need to install 30psi one so I can crank my boost up. -Chuck- portland, OR

Ok, I got my RX to the strip last night for the first time. I moved all of my go-fast goodies from my 86 GL-10 over to the RX. The GL-10 ran a 14.2@93mph last year so I was hoping for that or better in the RX. The best I got last night was 14.3@90mph in the RX (***************footing the worn clutch), it was enough to waste the new Dodge Hemi Magnum. Hah, take that. Aside from the clutch, I was also having issues with my water-to-air intercooler setup, the reservoir ( 1 gallon ) was too small because the icewater in it became hot 2/3 of the way down the track and the ignition retarded to max and then the engine started detonating. I was running a 50/50 mix of 92 octane and AVgas. I knew I should have drained the gas first! I had to turn the boost down to 16psi to keep the holes out of the pistons. I got it all slapped together 3 hours before the race, just no time to test and tune it all. Plus this thing doesn't have plates so I couldn't test it on the street anyway. I'm wondering if the dragstrip will let me use spare tires all the way around??? That would give me lower gears and reduce spinning mass and less resistance. Traction still wouldn't be an issue, that starting line is like flypaper man! I have 2 spares already, anyone want to donate 2 more? I'll change out the clutch, get a bigger tank for my intercooler water system and I'm sure I'll be somewhere in the 13's. Then let's see about installing my ported and polished heads and regrind the cams and install that spider intake I have laying around. Oh, and the bigger turbo. I'm still running the stock turbo, some guys in the stands said they could hear it spooling like a mad dog. Yeah, baby! -Chuck- Portland, OR 87 RX turbo

I have a complete ea-82 rear assembly from disc to disc with callipers, it's very clean and tight, CV's are in great condition. 3.9 gears. Yours for $100, I can even deliver if you are semi-local. I'm in Portland, OR. 503-784-3437

If you put them in front of the radiator, you must not only reverse the polarity but also flip the blade over. It will work if you don't flip the blade, just not very efficiently.

OK, sounds like a fuel startvation problem to me- I don't think it's a clogged cat, if it had a clogged cat, it probably wouldn't turn the turbo light on because there would probably be too much back pressure to let it spool up. (turbo light "on" means you are over 2psi intake pressure.) Does this happen right off the bat or does it take a while to start messing up? The next time it happens- leave the engine running and open the fuel filler cap. If your vent isn't working it will make a huge sucking sound. Then drive with the fuel cap off and see if the problem continues. If your fuel tank is not venting it will put the tank under vaccuum until it get's to the point of fuel starvation. This will create a lean HOT condition and toast your engine if you continue driving it that way. Your turbo should only glow red durring and right after a good hill-climb or 1 minute full throttle blast, or towing. If you weren't doing any of those things- you have a fuel issue. Luckily- the fuel pump is not inside the tank and way easy to replace (provided that the fuel tank venting has been ruled out) Good luck, let us know how it goes! -Chuck- Portland, OR