Turbo 1.8L BJ

[oiisxc]

Hey guys,

i get off my p's in about 2months and been saving money for a turbo setup
i have about 6k so far to spend on this setup
i have a stock 323 1.8L Manual 2000 BJ any suggestions on where i should go or tips on turboing a Astina?
Pros/Cons?

Any help greatly apprecated

Cheers

[project.r.racing]

oh no... trade you BJ in and use the $6K and buy a turbo car...

[twilightprotege]

that's a bit generalistic (from both of you! )

really depends on how far you want to go. look at putting asside atleast $1100 for engine management (microtechs are $1065 + post from us), exhaust ($1k for the full system), turbo (give or take $1500 for a brand spanking garrett matched to what you want), and then you've got installation and RTA etc. it's not a job for the faint of heart, but certainly worth doing imo

[oiisxc]

so how much will i need for the lot??

[RedLineResident]

I suggest buying a 2.0L already turboed. Otherwise you're in for a ride... what ive learnt with cars is - nothing ever goes to plan.

[twilightprotege]

no chance in getting a 2L already turboed on oz.

imo you'd need to put asside $10k to turbo the engine properly to make it worthwhile (ie 200kw at the wheels or more).

[RedLineResident]

^ is that sustainable?

can you have that car for 3 years, do 60,000km's and not experience major issues.

i mean, 200kw is a lot of power for a little engine, surelly that puts a lot of stress on everything internal.

[rambo]

I had the thought of turbo charging my BJ 1.8 as well, but no matter how I looked at it. I just couldn't see the project being worth the hassle.

After getting all the pipe work, manifolds, ECU and stuff, your still left with an engine that can't handle too much boost. Than if you end up doing some internal work, you end up with a gearbox trying to cope with power it was never designed to deal with. Than when you strengthen your box, you find yourself spinning one wheel everywhere and its time for an LSD. Don't forget engineering on top of everything else.

[RedLineResident]

then you gotta look into CV's

then engine mounts

then tyres to put the power down,

then suspension and brakes to stop this thing

then your stuck in a constant loop of fixing sh!t up.

FWD's aren't meant to have too much power for road use, too much blows up.

[twilightprotege]

yeah no problems, easily 200kw all day every day. that's why you need to look at rods and pistons, and gearbox.

cv's are more than fine for 200kw. engine mounts will require looking

[LordWorm]

as Twilight has already pointed out, it totally depends on what you want, but an FS or FP engine will (no ifs, buts, or maybes) require forged rods if you want to push out any sort of respectable power figure.

You can do a minor build (just slight overbore, pistons and rods, no headwork etc), run an off the shelf manifold from any one of a dozen suppliers/manufactuers in the US, turbo, el cheapo exhaust and engine management and get away with a very mild daily driver with respectable power with grocery getter reliability....alternatively you can attempt to source a complete turbo setup from someone in the USA who has upgraded their mazdaspeed protege.

Any more than that and you and your wallet are in for a ride. Gearbox will not support masses of power without attention (have a look at how many people in the states have broken the things) - so you'd have to be thinking about a welded mazdaspeed LSD, straight cut 3rd, and transmission cooler. Then theres the cost of custom manifolds, rediculous amounts of head work and a few hours of tuning time - not to mention all the other stuff you are going to want (brakes, suspension etc)......the rewards however, are great - a few guys in the states are cranking out over 400 wheel horsepower (reliably), and some crazy peuto ricans have pushed the FSDE (2L) to over 600 hp at the hoops....so there is definant power to be made if you have the money.

So yeah, it all comes down to what you want, and how much you are willing to spend. If you love the car, couldn't be without it but want more go, then turboing it may well be a viable option for you - otherwise there are easier ways to have your fun that are less expensive....

If you are keen to do it, i've got oodles of literature and research here regarding the FP and FS engines...just PM me and we can have a chat...

[Q2CDIS]

boost it u kno u wont too..trust wot twilightprotege n LordWorm say they can help u out heaps with eva wot u wont..

[02-KQ-LASR]

what about putting in a different turbo fwd engine?
would it be cheaper?/better?

[marcs_sp20]

Originally Posted by 02-KQ-LASR

what about putting in a different turbo fwd engine?
would it be cheaper?/better?

Not worth it IMO, you can prolly gain the same amount of power out of 1.6/1.8/2.0 then slotting in a SR or CA... plus you would have to figure out cv's, engine mounts & all the other necessary stuff with putting a different motor into a different car (eg rotor & SR20 into a gemini)

[marcs_sp20]

Oiisxc, Speedy Gonzalez on this site was selling a partial MSP turbo kit that he sourced from the states a couple months ago (was last bumped in March), maybe get onto him and see what he has and what you need to complete the kit, otherwise you can always get a hiboost kit from the states...

cheers
Marc

[02-KQ-LASR]

yeah but wouldnt you have the isus once its done? if the engine is allready turbo wouldnt it be stronger in everyway compared to a turboed n/a engine?

[02-KQ-LASR]

Originally Posted by marcs_sp20

Oiisxc, Speedy Gonzalez on this site was selling a partial MSP turbo kit that he sourced from the states a couple months ago (was last bumped in March), maybe get onto him and see what he has and what you need to complete the kit, otherwise you can always get a hiboost kit from the states...

cheers
Marc

should try to get a group buy on the kit. that would be sweet!

[LordWorm]

Originally Posted by marcs_sp20

Not worth it IMO, you can prolly gain the same amount of power out of 1.6/1.8/2.0 then slotting in a SR or CA... plus you would have to figure out cv's, engine mounts & all the other necessary stuff with putting a different motor into a different car (eg rotor & SR20 into a gemini)

I'll second that - the FS and FP have a lot going for them...iron block, a crank shaft that has never so much as given an INCLING that is going to break on the countless hundreds of people who have converted in the states.... the let down is rods (which can be remedied fairly easilly), the "short" block design (limits overbore, and also limits the amount of head work you can do, because of how close the cylidners are to each other), head flow (which you can work with), and the manifolds (which you'd replace anyway). Engine is apparently a *little* bit prone to overheating when worked off its nuts, but you'd be hard pressed to find an engine that isn't going to give you cooling headaches when you start pushing it hard. Something in the mid to high 200 whp range isn't likely to be a huge problem though.

The FS is actually relatively easy to convert, especially given the off the shelf kits available, and the availabilty of "factory" turbo kits from people in the states who have made the upgrade.

The biggest, and potentially most costly problem is going to be the transmission - but there are a handful of options to improve the power holding capability....and with a liberal splash of mechanical sympathy, theres no reason why it can't be done on a budget.

[02-KQ-LASR]

what kinda budget? lol

[Aaron]

Dumb question - is the 1.8L in a BJ a derivative of the BP-ZE or is it a "F" series motor?

BP-ZE would open up the option of using a BP-T head (manifolds for BP-ZEs are different to BPT and BP05) on the stock block, running low low boost and just having to sort out a management solution to fuel and time it.

Either way $6K is close to the wire for budget to go from scratch and have legally on the road (your engineer will probably want at least $500, depending on brake/emissions/noise testing required).

You should read up this site about the legal requirements: http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roa.../vsb_ncop.aspx

While I hate to be a party pooper it's important to recognise that hanging a turbo in your engine bay and an intercooler on a car that never had either will make you stand out and be a target for defect testing/police/rta/local grandmas etc etc

A.