Custom Turbo Kit

[contrapaul]

Ok, first things first, this is a serious post. Please do not flame, make pointless comments, or trash anything I'm about to say. Just respond with answers...

I really want more power, and I'm about 99% sure I'll turbo my car. I've been looking everywhere for answers, and I only have a few questions left. YES, some are stupid, but please, just answser.

1) I've read that stock internals on a 2.5 can take up to 400 BHP, I would shoot for 240 - 250 whp. Will my stock internals be ok with this?

2) I know I need #24 injectors, how much will these run me?

3) It seems the best, and only place for my ATX, place to put a turbo is just below the battery/intake, like Instigator, true?

4) It seems Honda's get away with turbocharging cars off of ebay all the time, if I did my shopping right, could I buy a cheap turbo and intercooler that will last a long time at 6-7 psi?

5) At that kind of Psi, I know an intercooler isn't necessary, but I want one for safety. Does ebay hold up for that kind of pressure, or do I need to invest more?

6) I've heard the piping kits from ebay hold up just fine, true?

7) Is there any problem turbocharging an ATX, assuming I get a proper tune afterwards?

8) How hard will it be to fabricate a down pipe (assuming the turbo I get has a downpipe flange)?

9) How difficult will it be to make an up-pipe?

10) Assuming a kit goes in my car, is there anything I need to know that might kill me?

Thanks, and just so everyone knows, all the metal work would be done for free, please don't worry about price. As for anyone saying "ebay crap", I don't have money growing on trees in my backyard, and I would only be at a loss if the engine was damaged/destroyed, not if the turbo died. I can get another one of those much cheaper than an engine.

[aircougar1]

You have been here for a little while now, but you could easily search for each one of these questions yourself, and find the answers fairly easily...

All of these ???s have been asked before... please search a lot, before making a post with THAT many questions....:shrug:

[Arhethia]

Wow, first off you have an auto.

1.That auto will not last long. Period. Maybe 15k miles

2. Ebay pipes are cheap, there inter-coolers are fine.

3.No inter-cooler is needed at 6psi. Save your money and time, unless your going for look at me i have an inter-cooler on my car crap

4.An ebay Honda turbo????(what ever that means) will not net 6psi, please read more on what cfms are needed for a 2.5 liter. I'm not gonna explain, if you don't know. Please go pick up a book and read, if you won't. Then don't turbo your car.

Cheap turbo???? What part of "cheap turbo" makes you think will last a long time?

5. There is just barley enough room to fit that turbo on top that auto. The problem is massive amounts of heat. Transmissions hate heat. So this = bad idea.

6. 24 pounds is around 250 dollars.

7 "8) How hard will it be to fabricate a down pipe (assuming the turbo I get has a down pipe flange)?" Pop your hood and take a look on how much room you have. Do you know anything about bending and welding?

7. You need to search more please. Or go study up on FI.

Please stop piecing things together hoping magically this will work out for you.

[Blackcoog]

I don't think there has been a turboed automatic out there yet because there isn't room for piping down and around that huge automatic. You could probably get something to work if you really hacked into the car or tried to do a rear mounted setup or something just under the rear header.

The supercharger kit I'm working on would be a much better solution but I'm still working out bugs. If you went with a supercharger you don't have to worry about exhaust piping... only pulleys and belt slip.

For pics of my setup: http://www.cardomain.com/id/blackcoog

[papatedroach]

better off waiting till blackcoog finishes his kit. It should be the best bang for the buck. aprrox $2k complete if I remeber right and will give all the power an atx can handel.

As far as tranny life, def def def need trans cooler, and life of car and trans would depend on how hard you run the car. If you take it out and romp on it it will die soon, if you drive it normally and only play once in a while you should be fine for a while.

As per the turbo, you need to know the flow rate, psi means nothing. You need to have air to feed the engine. Definitly get a book about turbos and read it, Im in the proccess of learning more about this subject to. Theres alot goin on that you dont realize.

making the down/up pipes should not be harder than making a custom exhuast, just gotta find enough room and bend/weld. You can use the stock manifolds or aftermarket ones, just replace the y-pipe with your up and down pipes.

Dont forget you need your wastegate, blowoff, and a boost controller of sorts, boost gauge, really should have a wideband air/fuel, then you need an xcal or somthin to tune with, dyno time/tuning is expensive. Expect to spend hundreds on that alone.

ebay piping should be fine, the intercoolers should be ok to, i mean its just some metal no moving parts.

but really wait for blackcoog, you save alot of money becuase all those turbo parts are gonna add up fast and your car will be undrivable for quite a while. It takes days to weeks to build a turbo setup.

[contrapaul]

thanks for the answers, I have searched, and I just needed specifics. The ATX was rebuilt last summer, and it still couldn't hold up to 250 hp? I thought CD4Es could hold up to 300...

As far as cheap ebay turbos... I knew ebay intercoolers work, so I figured why not ask about the turbo.

As far as welding and metal work, I have a good friend who could fabricate anything I need. He has worked with metal, welding etc. since he was in elementary school.

Thanks for the information, and I'll be sure to study everything very closely before I do anything.

[luvmy99cougar]

well, im going to be turbocharing my zetec coog next summer and i have an atx. ford says the cd4e can handle up to 300ft/lbs, im gonna test the limits of that statement. one thing i would suggest doing is having sonnax valves installed on the valve body of your trans and the trans-go shift kit, just to help fix the flaws of the valve body design, its gonna shift pretty hard, and obviously a nice sized trans cooler to go inline with the stock one, thats what im going to have done. then if all else fails, dont send your trans to level 10 because of the really crappy customer service, from what ive heard, but buy their parts and have them installed somewhere good. ive heard that their stuff can handle some good power. www.level10.com

[ShawVAuto]

http://www.levelten.com/

[Frosty]

Do some homework on Level 10. They're not all high and mighty as they're made out to be. Run a search.

[luvmy99cougar]

sorry about the misspelled link, and yes level 10 is hit and miss, but there is a guy on here who has a supercharged coog with an automatic trans and some level ten work done.

[ShawVAuto]

Are you talking about BadAzzCougar?

[luvmy99cougar]

yes i believe so.

[20COUG00]

dONT turbo, go with the supercharger. Its will be much easier. If your sticking with the very weak atx, you might want to build it up or get an tranny cooler. But your best bet is first do a atx-mtx swap first, those things break on the own who cares about more power.

If i was in your position i just get a tranny cooler than a 3L. It will be much safer, and give you more power. Charging on a auto is just bad luck and going to cost you more in replacing stuff than just buying a manual car.

[luvmy99cougar]

But it also depends on how you drive your car. A tranny cooler will help out alot.

[nadthomas]

Are you talking about BadAzzCougar?

He has an MTX.

Sami is going to run an ATX with his setup since an injury prevents him from being able to comfortably work a clutch. But his car is still a work in progress. I think there are a few people on CEG with a 3L that have not killed their ATX yet, but most of the ATXs with major upgrades have failed. I know my ATX was on its way out when I traded it in with only 80k miles and basic bolt ons.

[Frosty]

Yeah...David (badazzcougar) definitely has an MTX. Wow, what an insult :eek:

[Frosty]

But it also depends on how you drive your car. A tranny cooler will help out alot.

Just a note, a transmission cooler only helps prolong the longetivity of your ATX tranny. No performance enhancement at all.

[contrapaul]

Ok, I was gone at Auto-x school, so with my revelations there, I'm not so sure about the turbo anymore. I thought about a supercharger, but I don't understand why they are so expensive. My favorite setups with supercharger are Shagmonkey and Blackcoog, I'm just cheap and want one for less than $1000... which is pretty much impossible.

[Frosty]

You're right.

Power isn't cheap. Nuff said.

[fordrule]

we all know this man.........

[MOMO]

I'm just cheap and want one for less than $1000... which is pretty much impossible.


Cheap and horsepower does not go hand in hand.

Even in a car that can take a lot of beating.

Welcome to the real world. ;)

[contrapaul]

Cheap and horsepower does not go hand in hand.

Even in a car that can take a lot of beating.

Welcome to the real world. ;)

Nitrous isn't cheap horsepower? :biggrin:

But seriously, Thanks for everyones input, I've just read too much stuff from Auto magazines and what not that tells readers how to turbo cars cheaply (junkyard parts FTW), and fix things for free...

autospeed.com (search it in google, it is an AU site) has loads of potentially helpful things in its tech section, and revisits the cougar in "Orphans: part 1" :biggrin:

[MOMO]

heh, if you want to do nitrous right, its still going to cost you.
my setup was well over 1500 dollars even before i got everything hooked up.

[Blackcoog]

Ok, I was gone at Auto-x school, so with my revelations there, I'm not so sure about the turbo anymore. I thought about a supercharger, but I don't understand why they are so expensive. My favorite setups with supercharger are Shagmonkey and Blackcoog, I'm just cheap and want one for less than $1000... which is pretty much impossible.

Superchargers are expensive because of the headunits. It's very hard to find any headunit for under $2,000. Then you have brackets, piping, Bypass/BOV, intercooler, etc.