turbo

[sking]

does anyone out there have a turbo set up and can you give me some advice?i have a stock 1.8 that i want to turbo
thanks shawn

[jabb]

There are a couple of guys on this board that have Turbos....
maybe some detail on what you are looking for might help

[mike mueller]

You need one of three things to turbo your 914:

luck,
plenty of cash
or
plenty of fabrication equipment

Luck:
you "might" be lucky and find one of the kits that had been made in the '70's, but since not a lot of them where made, finding one will be pretty tough...

cash:
you could pay a shop to make the parts needed and then figure out how to make it all work....it's not impossible, just a lot of time and research to make everything work together....

fabrication:
go to shoptalkforums.com, search under the "forced induction" and go thru the archives, there you can find and read how at least three 914's have been turbocharged, not 100% of the information is there, but it's pretty darn close.

a few cars (volvo??) came factory with turbos that used the fuel injection similar to what you have on the 1.8...that might help you in the right direction...

[JRust]

I beleive there is a company trying to market the Turbo again. It is made from a volvo turboe retrofitted to the 914. I can't remember which BBS I saw it on. They did have a website allready.I don't think the production has started yet. Sorry I don't remember anymore than that. If you can add a turbo would it require external oil cooler ?

[mike mueller]

http://www.914turbo.com/

they are using a saab unit

no idea of the time frame........i'm sure it won't be cheap and if your motor has a lot of miles on it, it would be a good time to rebuild it before adding the turbo.........

oh, and it will not pass smog which you still need...........

as for the oil cooler.....we put external oil coolers on stock motors, so you better believe you'd want to put one on a turbo'd motor

[sammyg2]

You can't turbo a 914.

LOL, sorry, I coundn't resist.
I wonder how many times that has been said on this board in a slightly sarcastic manner?

Yes, it can be done. Yes, it will make great horsepower.
Yes, it will probably reduce the longevity of the engine if you run high boost levels.
yes, it will develop more heat so you need all the cooling you can get.
No, it is not simple.
No, it is not cheap unless you do it yourself.

If I were to do it again (and its probably just a matter of time) I would use a CIS injection system. After studying this system on my 911 I really like the simplicity of it. Plus that is what all the earlier 930s had, and if its good enough for them........

Hay, isn't that turbo website the one set up by Chris at renegade?

[Mockmaw]

Still conceptualizing a turbo to go into my car, but I agree.. CIS appears to be the best way to go.

[mike mueller]

hey sammy.........

yep, chris is the owner of 914turbo.com, not sure when he'll have the turbo done yet, i think he is still working on his toyota v6 conversion for his 914.


i think the megasquirt fi would work very nice with the 914/turbo project and would cost about the same as the CIS

[sking]

so what type of turbo is recommened for the 914 engine?

[Mockmaw]

Hmm.. it's not as simple as saying that there's one turbo that is used. It depends on the application.. how much boost (and thus compression) is needed? Spatial variables come in to play as well. (how much room do you have, where do you want to mount it, what's in the way, etc.)

You need to answer all of the outstanding questions before you can decide on a turbo (in my opinion at least.) I think it's better to conceptualize first and then purchase parts, as opposed to picking a turbo/parts and trying to build around it.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Very true--unless you're Mike Mueller! (Hiya, Mike!!!)

"Mueller Motors, where we have every motor anyone has ever thought of putting in a 914!! V8s? Yeah, we've gottem! V6es? Yup, those too! 911 engines, extra Type IV motors ready for the 'big four' buildup. Got superchargers, as well as turbos. All at blowout prices!!"

[Background--Mike has bought a number of power plants for his previous 914, only to change his mind after buying the pieces. I like to yank his chain about that, just as he likes to yank my chain about my 914 never running...]

--DD

[mike95125]

Hey MIke Mueller,
I have been wondering what engine would best produce for the dough, ala V6, Small V8, rotory, etc. What has been your experience?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Mike you misunderstand me about Mike... He buys the motors, and often some or all of the necessary adaptor hardware as well, then changes his mind and sells them before he gets around to installation.

BTW, for HP/$ ratio, it's tough to beat a Chebby V8. I don't personally like the installation much, but boy can you put together some low-buck power with those...

--DD

[mike95125]

too big and ugly, but your right. I am looking to do a coversion that will push my car to the respectable limmits, and use the 901 tranny so I am figuring on a top hp of 200.

[mike mueller]

Hey Dave,

going to the swapmeet this Sunday so I can drop a flywheel on your foot?

yea, i guess I deserve a little ribbing now and then....
I only have three motors right now, 2 2.0's and a 1.8
oh, and I bought my turbocharger back from the guy I sold it too...
(can you guess why I bought the Megasquirt now???)

as for the V8, too big and ugly??
if done right, the installation can look darn near factory...
I drove a buddies 914 with a 283 chevy in it last week....must fight the urge, hahahaha.....it's a fun ride even with a bone stock small block motor....

SKING: I highly recommend spending about $75 to get a few turbo books...Turbomania (VW specific), Turbochargers and Maximum Boost....read them and read them again. As for which turbo, the turbos from the chysler cars have been used with good success....this is the turbo that was recommended by Sammy and I trust his word on this subject......

Good luck, it won't be easy, but it'll be worth it

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Ed V, who built the car in the Excellence article last month, started with a turbo from a 924 Turbo. I believe he then swapped it for a turbo from an earlier 944 Turbo (in large part because the 924 one was dying). He ran both on his 1.7 motor, and the 944 unit is force-feeding his new 2.0 motor now.

Ed Morrow, who has an even neater CIS turbo 914 1.8, used the turbo from a VW or Audi 1.8T motor. Same displacement, after all....

I think one of Sammy G's main criteria for which turbo to get was that it had to be easily available in junkyards with a good probability of being in decent shape. (Read: CHEAP! Sammy is a charter member of the CSOBOSC club...)

I think I remember Jeff Shyu buying a new turbo outright from a turbo specialty shop, but I don't recall what kind. But he had to take it back to them two or three times because it was faulty, while Sammy just bolted his junkyard turbo right up...

--DD

[maf 914]

Sking,

You may already visit the ShopTalkForums, but if not check the current thread in the Type4Forum http://shoptalkforums.com/bbs/NonCGI/Forum1/HTML/003225.html

EvillEd has a good post. Excellence magazine recently featured his turbo 914, very nice.

While at the STF Also check the turbo forum for more info.

Mike