Oh I forgot to mention I'm talking about two turbo setups. One is done and running perfectly. The other is getting pieced together now. It's got the beehive and the deleted thermostat with the bypass hole blocked. It's in a baja so cooling back there is important. The other option is to forget the baja and throw it (the turbo) in another FB. Going back and forth on this one due to concerns that the 3 rib bus trans is almost too weak for an NA rotary let alone a turbo, but things like the fuel system were completed just the other day so it's one more thing checked off the list. The nice thing about the mallory fpr is it's compatible with NA and boost. I also used EFI hose (as should you where applicable) because it doesn't go bad (crack, leak) unlike carb rated hose which starts to get hard as soon as it has gas go through it for the first time. Still have to make some carb hats too.

Speaking of which, Robert at rotary shack is on ebay these days and sells aluminum fabbed carb hats for the Nikki with a 2.5" inlet. It's certainly an option for us, and I'd think with ebay's buyer protection, if he doesn't ship, you get your money back. Probably a pretty safe bet to buy through ebay. I'd consider it myself but figured out a way to use a stock blue air cleaner base seal and a 4" round tube to make my own hats out of steel. The first one I made worked fine. 1/4" top and a 2" inlet as 2.5" is kinda big, and it turned out really tall (pretty much wants to hit the hood but just enough gap that it doesn't). My next ones might try for 2.5" and be a bit shorter. We'll see.

Man it took me a long time to get into turbos but I'm glad I finally did. Once you drive a turbo, a good well set up one, anything else is just slow and lame.

 

wow, Jeff, i guess i've been away longer than i thought. i like this though.

 

Ok that's a lot of information Jeff thanks I will go trough it all before I continue. I am in the middle of restoring a 1972 dodge charger for a customer, so my time is being eaton up in that project but once I get that in primer I will be getting back to my rotary projects. I did make a cap for my carb also. I will get a picture of it up for you to see. Made mine out if steal but I also used a 12a rotor to make the shape templates from cardboard and then cut out the steal. Let me know what you think of it...

 

Any plans to go turbo yourself? It's actually pretty easy once you get over the initial learning curve.

I'm convinced the Nikki can do practically anything now. No need to get V8 carbs or italian racing carbs anymore. The secret, which is not even a secret, is to make the venturis bigger than stock and do other air/fuel mods (all covered here and there on the forum). The resulting carb is able to handle boost or NA equally well. Seriously. That's one of the points mentioned earlier about how you don't really need to swap in bigger jets unless your wideband tells you to, and then only if you increase the air coming in with the usual mods (bigger venturis, booster supports trimmed and airfoil mod, removed choke flapper, and maybe thinned throttle shafts but I don't do that mod as it's not necessary unless you're looking for extreme max flow).

I can literally take one of my boost prepped Nikkis and run it equally well on an NA setup and then swap it onto a boosted setup. Or use the carb in NA mode to break in a fresh rebuild, then after a few miles, swap in a turbo and a carb hat and not have to change anything in the carb, unless the wideband tells me to. Such convenience.

 

Heh.

Would a charge pipe fit the inlet? If so, maybe you can use it as your carb hat. Does it have a seal against the top of the carb? It needs to seal well there. Maybe cut a slit in a piece of vacuum hose and wrap it around the lip. Superglue the two ends where they butt up. It could work.

 

anyone hear need a turbo carb hat set for a nikki? also fits holley's iirc. not really trying to sell but im not using it and figured if anyone would be interested they would be in this thread!

if not sorry for going off topic, i was planning on going turbo myself but on US spec 12a's if you push more than 5psi you'll blow the seals out and destroy the engine, just went the porting route. Best of luck with your project!

 

You know if you rebuild the engine with goopy seals and solid corner seals that won't happen.

 

uhhhh I dont know if they just explode with over 5 psi haha. I know guys who threw turbos on stock 80k+ mile blocks and still run them today around 10 psi

Its just like anything else, though. How its built is critical. Safe boost, good fuel, good timing etc.

 

Ok, then.

I didn't let an artificial road block derail me. I'm running stock wastegate pressure of around 7psi on an engine that has 9.4 compression just like a US-spec 12A, and I've got 2mm apex seals which are supposedly easier to break and "destroy the engine", and they're longer, being a 13B and all, which makes them even more likely to break... but they didn't. Oh yeah, the exhaust port is wider too, letting the seal bow out a bit more, and they didn't "blow out" and "destroy the engine". Hmm...

 

Jeff your such a smart... You all thought I was going to swear there didn't you?... Such a smart rotary guy. I love your jokes with real information included in them. I am currently searching for a turbo manifold and turbo from a stock 13b turbo II or a newer model such as the S5 almost had one and the guy backed out of the trade at the last moment. Once I get that part I will start porting and building the engine. Until then I am on hold with other projects making the money part of the build needed to finish the build. Budget builds are ok but I have found in the last year of being in here learning and taking notes that money does make these builds a lot easier to complete and I think I will be more satisfied if I wait for the correct parts for my build. DIY doesn't just mean that you build everything from scratch. It's more about taking something everyone else says doesn't belong and make it work anyway. Like a person before me post that it would destroy the engine. HHHMMMM I guess if I had listened to people like this I wouldn't have even lined my car up against most of the cars I destroyed racing them. Come on. I was told I couldn't smoke a eclipse GT what ever killed him with in the first 150 feet. And I was turning out behind him when we started. Oh how about those Civic Si hahaha he got me off the line but I had him after 250 feet. So to you people that say it can't be done unleash physics says otherwise we will continue to do it. I will turbo this 12A and it will not blow up. That's that. With the help of people like Jeff and a few others I will be turbo'd by the end of this summer.

 

i'll be brief since this is neither the time nor the place to speak with great detail. suffice it to say, yes, do plan to have a turbo rotary project at some point, but right now i have more engines than cars. i'm juggling a whole lot of things at the moment so there's no real rush on it. i have 80% of a pretty pristine REW block and i buy parts when i can, so things are cooking ... just slowly.

 

I too have more engines than cars. I have an FD shortblock, dissassembled and ready for whatever I want to do to it. But I really like the current R5 13B with the S5 turbo on it. My biggest concern is whether to throw the other S5 turbo in the rotary baja because it has a 3 rib bus trans which are not known for lots of strength. I'd rather not break it with a turbo, you know? But doing a turbo on it is child's play compared with the REPU which needs some kind of power adder, and the Camden is in another vehicle, plus it's not nearly as good of a power adder as the basic simple S5 turbo. The engine bay is very narrow and very short. It also already has a full long primary that actually does enhance low end grunt, which this sorely needed.

I'm thinking if I had not already invested so much time/effort in the REPU and was just starting out with my current list of available parts (Camden, S5 turbo, other) I'd have an easier time deciding to throw the turbo in it, but as it sits, the Camden literally bolts in, in a few minutes (or more like an hour but you get my point). The turbo, on the other hand, would take days and weeks of careful planning, custom tubular exhaust manifold, carb hat fabrication (not gonna buy the rotaryshack one for this) and a complete fuel system redo. Heck I just finished a complete fuel system install in the baja and that was no picnic either. But the baja is done and 100% compatible with a blow through turbo (MSD pump, mallory fpr, 5/16" send and proper 3/8" return all in EFI rated hose as mentioned before). I even have a boost prepped Nikki ready for it. Just need a carb hat is all. But the beautiful part is I can run it NA with a dead gutted turbo housing and an RB spun aluminum air filter assembly for engine break in which I suppose does technically free up the turbo for the REPU. The REPU can't use the stock S5 exhaust manifold due to its narrow frame rails but all that stuff fits perfectly in the baja. Decisions, decisions...

 

So I just secured $1,000 in a restoration job. Wife is getting some but how about you guys help me spend the rest on my car. LoL. I should probably spend it in a turbo setup. Any ideas as to what I should purchase to get going. Possibly a kit out there?

 

Good luck finding a kit, im about to go turbo on my fb and am going to have to buy the parts myself and put it all together, I would like to go fuel injected but costs too much for my budget so im going carburated and im a welder so I will be making some of the parts myself

 

Turbo kits for the 12a are out there, you just have to know where to look

 

Your probably right but I havent found any, guess ill jus have to piece it together myself

 

So I am thinking of going with a 13b turbo manifold. Stainless steel. What size wastegate should I be looking at. Seams to me that everyone is talking about using a 44mm wastegate. But I have no idea as to what this does besides bypassing the turbo to control it. Is that all this part does in the turbo system. And then the blow off valve relieves the pressure on the intake side correct. Sorry for all the questions but I just want to get this right the first time. This will be a lot of money I am dropping into my engine.

 

I hope I don't get in trouble for this if this thread is already to dead? but if I may ask and put my 2 cents in but couldn't you use an old 83 saab 900 turbo's turbo charger.

I have one sitting around but it needs to be rebuilt with a new wastegate and exhaust side but I could give it up for like $50.

that's if this thread isn't so dead I get in trouble that is xD

If not then I could rebuild it and have a welder buddy of mine make me a manifold to fit the turbo I got.

its like a t13 turbo its very small but can produce quite the punch when I had my old saab running that is xD

can't remember how big the turbine was or how big the waste gate was but max boost on the turbo was maybe 20psi if you could tune it out right on the APC Box and get an Intercooler running.

but it ran stock on 8 psi think I could slap one of those on to it?

also I guess I should say its the same size as a T2 rx7's stock turbo but I would have to compare them side by side and not with just a picture but saab turbos were garret turbos back then and they were good and almost bullet proof unless you abused them I guess. but anyways if anyones interested in that look them up and try to compare them if you want. they look to be about the same. I just remember being told long ago its a T13 garret turbo and it was the biggest they offered at the time on saab cars stock.

 

It's not dead just slowed down. I just cleaned up a Mitsubishi turbo yesterday to try out on my engine. Going to the metal shop today to get flange plates cut so I can make a new manifold for this turbo to test. I will let you know how it does.

 

One thing it want to ask if you can make me one of those neat rotor carb attachments would be cool to have

 

I can but I need to destroy the ild blue one for the carb base. And I could make another one. Let me figure out what I have in one and time also. We can work something out. PM me and we will talk about it more.

 

ok will do

and if anything dave I have been planning the same thing but need to get me a winter car first so I can tear this 83 mazda down now. been hoping one would show up for some time now though so I can get my hands on a 2nd first gen and just build one up for boost or a bridge port and then get it driving again then just rebuild the other motor for the normal everyday driving on a nice streetport and some exhaust.

but first gens are not just popping up like i'm hoping xD

 

Update for all of you. I FINALY built a turbo header. Here is what I have...

 

That is some thick pipe. Or is it tubing? What are the dimensions? SS? Mild?

 

Dave, I'd also like to know if you can make a rotor shaped carb hat for me!