help! cheap turbo conversion or cheap sh*t? help!

11th October 2008, 18:55

hello, new to the site and saxo's, just bought a 2000 vtr and am looking to turbo it but like most dont have grands and grands spare, so ive been looking around and stumbled on to this site which does conversions, the conversion below is a universal conversion but the price is amazing? all you need to add is an intercooler and manifold really, just want some advice as i have mechanical knowledge but not of turbo cars or how to fit the turbo conversion, could anyone get or give me a basic guide and do you think the kit is worth it? also would a 13 row oil cooler be big enough for the conversion or would i need a 16 row, ive found a kit on ebay and its £8 more for the 16 than the 13? also could anyone tell me how thick the spacer plate will need to be as i can get a mate to machine 1 at work by copying a head gasket if i know the correct depth, or would it be ok to double up on headgaskets as i heard someone mention this but it doesnt sound like a safe idea to me? i plan to use standard internal for now and would aslo like to know the maximum boost pressure i can run safely without causing damage or stress,

help much appreciated andy

http://www.alxmic.com/uk_turbo_02.php

11th October 2008, 18:56

oil cooler not intercooler*

11th October 2008, 19:09

Have you worked out how much the additional things you need are going to cost?

Oil cooler and modifications needed to get oil to the turbo.
Some sort of management system, and mapping to make it useable/safe.

11th October 2008, 19:13

been quoted 230 for a remap, the oil cooler is 99 on ebay or 107 for a 16 row cooler, and oil to turbo not as yet, any ideas?

im really looking for some advice and aprox prices as im new to turbos, nevr done any work on them?

11th October 2008, 19:29

Never heard of a standard ECU being mapped to understand boost before :?
I'd make sure they know its not just a standard remap.

You'll likely need bigger injectors if its making any reasonable extra power over standard. And you will need an uprated MAP sensor as the standard one only knows vacuum.

11th October 2008, 19:33

was thinking of getting mf2 and fifth injector but dont know where from, jus looking for help on what i need where from and some prices if anyone has ideas? cheers andy

11th October 2008, 19:37

was just goin to run the standard remap to get the bit extra fuel in while i saved for and sourced a decent stand alone,

11th October 2008, 19:41

just buy a predator ecu from rcd look in there section on here they are 650 but there is a group buy on atm that will bring it down to 550-500

11th October 2008, 19:52

its not worth trying to do it on the cheep mate cos ull only have problems after problems.

save for proper kit

11th October 2008, 19:52

think i seen that mentioned in another thread, its well worth thinking about

thats what i thought it seem 2 cheap for a full kit even thought its universal

13th October 2008, 10:11

its a universal kit? how can it be? the pipes would have to be different and the actual mounting point of the turbo would be in different places for differnt cars wouldnt they?? how do u know it will fit a saxo? am very interested in this kit, but would it be any good?

13th October 2008, 10:18

mmmmmmmm universal turbo kit mmmm ill have two! lol

13th October 2008, 10:18

As stated before, its not worth buying cheap parts, save up and buy the proper kit.

13th October 2008, 10:40

Its expensive for what you getting and what youll need. Best bet is the scrap yard.. 2nd hand turbos off a 200sx, intercoolers off anything (ford scorpio, some bwms etc) boost pipe of anything you can get your hands on. Thats how to keep the price down. Spend the money on injectors/clutch/ecu as theyre the important bits.

13th October 2008, 12:03

the two words 'cheap' and 'turbo' do not mix. Although saying that, someone has managed to turbo their car for £500 (link below), but it is a terrible job and is definitely not recommended unless you want to fit a new engine in a few weeks time!

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/sho...=142870&page=7

13th October 2008, 12:03

Duplicate of previous post - please ignore.

13th October 2008, 22:46

would you be looking at paying about £1500+ for a decent turbo conversion then?

13th October 2008, 22:55

£1500 is what this 'cheap' kit will provide. You can double that if your seriously considering boosting your saxo

13th October 2008, 22:58

no such thing as a cheap turbo conversion matey.
it will go wrong and cost you a new engine.
best off saving and doing it properly.

you really need a good garrett turbo (source them from another car such as the twin turbo skyline or 200sx T25 garrett, but you need to know the condition of it), you can fit any intercooler or oil cooler, but you will need to feed oil to the turbo from the engine and also have it return, there are areas on the car that you can get these from, but you need to be careful. best off to modify a sump.
then you will need to lower the compression a wee bit, it can be done with a de-comp plate from the like of ferriday (sp) engineering or with a few headgaskets, but lowp comps are the best.

you need a decent manifold, they cost a few quid, an equal length one is best to reduce lag on the turbo when spooling up.

you need a way of getting the car to run on boost, mf2 and a 5th / 6th injector will work, but a decent standalone ecu setup will be the best.

then there are the brakes, clutch, driveshafts and a load more things to look at as well.

dont, forget the insurance goes up quite a bit as well lol

well worth it tho

13th October 2008, 22:59

look at dp-engineering site and start saving

14th October 2008, 00:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedon2008

would you be looking at paying about £1500+ for a decent turbo conversion then?

I'd be looking (well, have done) to spend £1500 on just the purchase, fitting and mapping of a decent standalone ECU to control a decent boosted conversion. But it all depends on your budget and what power/reliability you're looking for.

14th October 2008, 12:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedon2008

would you be looking at paying about £1500+ for a decent turbo conversion then?

For a 'decent' conversion, treble it at least! The DP engineering Turbo kit (manifold, downpipe, turbo, all the pipework etc etc) is around the £1700 mark (depending on what options you go for), and then you would need forged pistons and rods at around £1200, then things like intercooler, oil cooler, uprated injectors, stand alone engine management (£600-£650 ish). So just adding together just the bits i have mentioned the price of gives you a bill of around £3500 and thats without taking into consideration the things you always replace during an engine re-build and also LOADS of other little bits and pieces which all add up pretty quickly. Plus, dont forget the brakes will need attention if you are adding all that extra power! This list is almost endless! lol The price will be directly linked to how thorough you want to be, but in my opinion, its got to be no expense spared because of the nature of what you are doing (i.e doubling / trebling the power output of a small engine!)

14th October 2008, 13:45

Completely agree with Lcheater, the engine is not meant to run boost, so the list really is endless, brakes, clutch, suspension and things you really wouldn't think about will also need to be uprated!!

But it all comes down to how long you see yourself owning the car and what you want from it at the end of the build!?

14th October 2008, 13:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by WIDE-VTR-TURBO

But it all comes down to how long you see yourself owning the car and what you want from it at the end of the build!?

Which is why, in my opinion turbo conversions should be project cars and kept as a hobby, as opposed to trying to keep it as your only car / an every day car. Im not saying you cant have it as an every day car, but i personally wouldnt expect a turbo conversion to be as reliable as i would need it to be (i.e peace of mind that it will start every time and happily drive 400 odd miles a week).

14th October 2008, 14:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by lcheater

Which is why, in my opinion turbo conversions should be project cars and kept as a hobby, as opposed to trying to keep it as your only car / an every day car. Im not saying you cant have it as an every day car, but i personally wouldnt expect a turbo conversion to be as reliable as i would need it to be (i.e peace of mind that it will start every time and happily drive 400 odd miles a week).

Spot on mate, mine has been off the road for 12 months now and has turned into a bit of a hobby, i no longer have a completion date anymore, just SOON!

14th October 2008, 14:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by WIDE-VTR-TURBO

Spot on mate, mine has been off the road for 12 months now and has turned into a bit of a hobby, i no longer have a completion date anymore, just SOON!

Thats the best way really, at least you cant miss deadlines lol

14th October 2008, 15:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by lcheater

Thats the best way really, at least you cant miss deadlines lol

I know all about missing deadlines!! FCS, TRAX and countless local meets!!

But i'd rather get it done properly and have a better spec and more chance of things being reliable

14th October 2008, 23:22

lol tell me about it.

mine has been in the garage for nearly 2yrs!

hence the reason i bourght a vts to run about it.

with forged pistons and rods, the engine is good for around 350bhp without any problems to these parts.

a clutch kit can cost a fortune, my ap twin plate was a shock!

then you need bigger discs and calipers
suspension
driveshafts
and an endless supply of gearboxes, unless you are going to do a be conversions
a atb diff is a must as well.

thats over 2k just there

but there have been people to have ran low boost turbo set-ups as well.

but once you go boosted, you will always be craving more power and more boost