Northern turbo build.

[sheffjohn]

Picture related update - due to photobucket being an absolute sh**e, my pics are all gone. going through them slowly to replace but its arduous, so sorry threads a mess till its sorted !




So, 
Here's where i'm up to so far

Donor, £400 G-limited facebook find. I was the first person to sensibly call the seller and offer collection asap, instead of the other 50 people asking for pictures of sill rust, and if it had the G-limited extras still fitted etc. 





So collected, stripped, and shell gone ASAP. 
My unit is now FULL of mazda, not too sure how easy it will be to find it all when it comes to assembly, but i needed the space that a full car took !

One donor. Complete with 1.8 engine (im not using), but the bigger brakes, bigger flywheel and a Torsen type 1 i certainly will be using. 








It was at this point, i realised i couldn't do the body removal alone !




Quick facebook "help!" post went out, One obnoxiously loud Skyline arrives with a spare pair of hands.

Success.

One skate complete with cut out chassis numbers etc. Shell now gone.

[sheffjohn]

Last mx5 i had i used the 1600cc lump as a basis for my supercharged build. Ive driven a few and much prefer the 1.6 engine or its revs and delivery.
Knowing i wanted another 1.6, i came across an engine and gearbox package for £250. Removed from the below vehicle its got a recorded 2?k miles on it. And a quick pull of the sump and rocker cover certainly shows condition !

Knowing the engine is going to be beaten hard, i wanted a low mileage option to start the build to give it the best chance of survival.



Turbo choice. 
Previous 200sx i used a Holset he221w. Cost me £300 new from ebay. Holsets are commonly found on trucks and commercialmachinery, and as such take massive abuse for hundreds o thousands of miles. Becoming common use for conversions onto petrol turbo cars now, bombproof, efficient over a wide range of boost, and i was more than happy with the one i used for my 200sx!

So the smaller brother of that turbo was purchased, £170 ebay, again brand new. Holset hx25. 
Its rebuildable should it ever fail, similar in size to a garret GT28,  but with non of the cost attached that garrets seem to hold. 



They bolt on the same T2 flange as the common garrets. so finding flanges etc is easy. The port shape is different though, so some time with a carbide burr will cure that.

[sheffjohn]

Oh and scored a manual steering rack through work for a very sensible price. So decided to go down that route instead of depowering a rack to suit. can also see the purple powerflex bushes that will be going the full way round. work (eurocarparts) is helping me massively with another car build, however much it pains me to feed my wages back to my work !!

[sheffjohn]

Bored of messing with rusty donor parts. 
Onto the fun and totally unnecessary (at this stage in the build)



One head flange from the USA. CNC matched from oval head ports, to a recessed round port that takes a 1.5 sch10 pipe bend. 
Makes building a manifold super easy as you need 1 gentle tack to hold a bend very securely.

Few tacks, and some tape, and some cable ties. Voila.



Also used some rod ends and a turnbuckle from mcgill motorsport to make a vertical turbo hanger/brace. Hoping to hold some of the turbo's weight on it, and maybe prevent some manifold twisting under abuse (but with schedule 10 bends instead of thin wall pipe, im hoping there wont be much movement anyway !)



Mocked up to check im happy with the less used low mount turbo position. Exhaust route will be super easy to make. Leaves loads o room up top for intercooler pipe, air filter, and some other trick bits.

Turbo housing "clocked" to a rough position i think it will need to be in, block painted, and mounted into the front subframe to check the "measurements" i guessed were accurate enough, and nothing interferes.

[h20boynz]

Nice work on the manifold...i saw your progress photo on facebook. Coming along well!

[sheffjohn]

Jan 30, 2017 9:34:57 GMT h20boynz said:

Nice work on the manifold...i saw your progress photo on facebook. Coming along well!

Thanks ! Need to wait till I get a frame so I can mock up fitment for the external wastegate, but apart from that it's nearly finished (bar welding obviously)

[mikeeyboy]

Looks like quick progress, I am interested in the turbo as I plan to fit this t mine once it's legal.

Are you in Sheffield? I am up crosspool way mid way through a build.

[sheffjohn]

Jan 30, 2017 18:40:19 GMT mikeeyboy said:

Looks like quick progress, I am interested in the turbo as I plan to fit this t mine once it's legal.

Are you in Sheffield? I am up crosspool way mid way through a build.

Hi !

Ive been a bit longer at it than the fast posting suggests, ive just been accumulating it all until i had enough to start my build thread.

But yeah fairly happy with progress around work and other car commitments.
Yep I'm in Sheffield !

[h20boynz]

Jan 30, 2017 13:06:49 GMT sheffjohn said:

Jan 30, 2017 9:34:57 GMT h20boynz said:

Nice work on the manifold...i saw your progress photo on facebook. Coming along well!

Thanks ! Need to wait till I get a frame so I can mock up fitment for the external wastegate, but apart from that it's nearly finished (bar welding obviously)

Happy to send you any photos of my set-up you need, if it will help. (You saw my similar manifold on Facebook I think)

[sheffjohn]

I think I did see your manifold yeah, sinco customs or something similar ? Really nice piece.

I know where I want the gate to sit, I just don't think it's worth guessing final location till I have a frame. Plan is a small silencer on the wastegate dump tube and fire it straight out the side of the engine bay, just behind the nearside suspension upright.
I'm a big child, and it sounds infinitely better than plumbing it back into the downpipe, aswell as freeing up small amounts of power by reducing backpressure.

[sheffjohn]

Whipped the back cover off the diff, and as suspected it's a type 1 torsen. 
Chuffed I don't have to buy an LSD for it, so painted up and powerflex bush'd the cover. 
Waiting for some paint and primer to paint the front (Rusty) half of the diff

[sheffjohn]

Engine is back on a stand now, and flipped upside down to sort the turbo drain out.


Sump is off, below picture is once I had cut the awful MaZda sealant off. 
For some reason they stick the windage tray to the sump and the engine block.



I slightly misshaped the windage tray removing it, so I've bolted it back to the block for now to retain some shape.
Pic might be useful for anyone to see how it's all assembled underneath 

[sheffjohn]

This is roughly the area the turbo return flows into. I'm on with asking one of the lads to tig a barb onto the sump which is now drilled ready. 
The return enters the sump behind the windage tray, which I'm happy about. Should keep it away from any restriction caused by the spinning crank. Gives the return a nice clean path into the pickup area.

[sheffjohn]

So ! i went and picked up my kit. Thanks again to Stuart and Julie for being really welcoming, and helping me load the kit. 
It all looks super well made, GRP panels are a really nice finish, chuffed.

Went straight back to a fabricator i trust on the way home, and we spent a few hours making some changes i had planned.



Harness bar added, single diagonal added. 
Rear hoop stays lowered to match the stays on the front of the hoop. 
Large diameter rear stay added.



Personal preferences really, i prefer the look of the US frame with a similar setup, so decided to tweak mine !
Good few hours hand notching the pipes, There is a reason proper cage building tools are EXPENSIVE



Love the design of the new bodywork

Pallets are my friend. I was doing the majority of moving the frame alone, including unloading from the van. Do not recommend lifting the frame alone for more than a few meters at a time....

Pallets worked well, sat the front end on, lifted the rear, slid rear pallet under. 



Im doing a full dry build, will assemble it all first. Then strip down and paint/powder the frame once ive finished welding any brackets on etc. Going to try to have as little as possible in the way of bolted on brackets, i cant stand them. 

[sheffjohn]

Thrown my engine in to start mocking up fun bits.

Turbo manifold is back from one of the lads (as i cant tig weld) and bolted on. Turbo brace i made is bolted in, the bracket that holds the brace may also end up having a FUN dual purpose but that will follow later.



Super happy with turbo position. Exhaust route will be easy, loads o room to bring the intake pipe up and away from turbo heat to hold the air filter somewhere sensible. 


Once the intercooler and rad is fitted, ill be making a pretty serious alloy shroud which encases he whole front end, and forces ALL air from the mount of the nosecone through the coolers. 

Im expecting the  shroud to tie into the nosecone with dzeus fastners or similar, but time will tell !