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Makeing a N/A Turbo, but how?

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Old 07-21-09, 08:45 PM
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Makeing a N/A Turbo, but how?

Ok, I have a base model RX-7 that doesnt have any special mods or anything, but my car came with a rotted out 87 Turbo II parts car. Now the Turbo car is missing so much stuff. But the Turbo, intercooler, and most of the base part of the motor is still there. I was told by someone I shouldnt just slap a turbo on my N/A. But what would be the best for getting my car Turbocharged? If I need to use something from the Turbo car thats fine. I just want a turbocharged car lol.

So besides the drivetrain/suspension, and brakes (5 lug swap), I need to know what I need for the motor to properly handle a turbo.


Turbo motor how it looks now...

Last edited by True2RX7; 07-21-09 at 08:52 PM.
Old 07-21-09, 09:23 PM
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Read the FAQ at the top of the forum. Click the link in my sig for more info you can use.
Old 07-21-09, 09:47 PM
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The waiting game......

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That engine looks like it needs some work.. But look at my pictures in my profile, it will give you a general idea. You have to port, and what not. But there's a bunch of ways.
Old 07-21-09, 09:57 PM
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The picture is of my Turbo II motor. it's only good for parts now since I have no idea where everything is... This is what my motor looks like.'


Old 07-22-09, 01:21 AM
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I don't think anyone has documented their projects as well as AaronCake has so it'd probably be a good idea to check out http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/naturbo.htm and also his threads that are on this website.
Old 07-22-09, 07:46 AM
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Don't see TOO much missing on the TII. Obviously the air filter box and the water pump, alternator, rad, (****, checked the pictures again) intercooler (that's too bad), which you can probably use from the parts car. Do you have the TII computer in the passenger footwell of the TII? The parts car engine has had better days, so I'd look over the parts. Is the engine blown on the TII? How's the NA running? You can turbo an NA (as previous posters mentioned), but depending on condition, it'd be easier to swap parts over.
Old 07-22-09, 08:09 AM
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turboing your NA is not worth the hassle or the money.

To turbo the NA you are going to have to change all of the manifolds and **** over and run custom oil lines and the fittings alone are around a few hundred bucks. All of this so you can run only low boost on your NA and take a chance at blowing it as you would need to have some sort of aftermarket ECU to make sure the thing is tuned properly to keep it from blowing. The money is not worth it.

Pull the t2 motor out and take it apart and see the condition of the rotors, irons and housings. Figure out what you would need to rebuild it. Rebuild the motor and clean it well. Also look at the tranny and see if you can freshen that up as well. Remove all parts necessary for the swap and clean and fix them little by little. When you are ready for the swap, knock it out.

After all is said and done you can sell your s4 NA running engine for a few hundred dollars. Or better yet you can disassemble the engine and sell the irons and housings and good rotors peicemeal until you recoup your costs.
Old 07-22-09, 11:00 AM
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dont listen to that crap about it not being worth it, the question is how much work and time you are willing to put in. i recently built custom manifolds for intake and exhaust for an n/a to keep the auxilary ports operational and they will fit with no mods to any of the stock engine equipt,(this will make for a tight fit however you will not need to cut the frame or use a spacer as arroncake did(which is fine as long as you are as skilled as him if not i do not reccomend doing a turbo on it anyway)), you will need a computer weather you go turbo or n/a and actually want to create power, if you have both motors and enough time your best choice is to use the n/a motor and put your tII rotors, flywheel, and balaceweights into the 6 port houseings, you get alot more port timing (ALOT MORE because the auxillarys can be ported to close far later than the TII ports due to coolant passages in the houseing) plus with the auxillaries operational you can get more low end torque with no reduction in high rpm horsepower, as for engine managment you will need to be carful tuning it because the n/a does not come with a knock sensor but if you take the computer from the tII you can take the knock sensor and put it onto the n/a to protect it while your tuning. it will be alot of work and you will need welding cuting and fabrication skills to do it, with that said i decided not to turbo my car when i found an eatons type supercharger at the wrecker for 40 bucks(couldnt beleive it was immaculate inside) and i had the manifolds and headers all built with the piping ran within 2 weeks. i am running the aem fic for tuning the fuel and workin on getting the timing retard maps working(i havent got all the kinks with the ignition worked out but for $600 it is a fairly versatile piggyback and easy to tune) it took me awhile to get it working correctly due to the fact that mazda did everything different when they did the FC if you decide to go that route search for my post with the like to the forums at aem and youll find the problems i had and how i solved them. good luck to you. and dont let the nay sayers nay sayit will work fine and with proper tuning and high octane fuel you can get more power from a forced induction system on the high compression 6 port engine(especcially if you keep the high compression rotors) however you cannot make tuning mistakes because the engine is high strung, patience is gonna be a virtue,
Old 07-22-09, 11:12 AM
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Dont let people give you hope on doing something as it seems easier than it actually is. You can do all of that work but in the end will it even be worth the effort for an extra 50 horse? **** no. And then to maybe blow the **** up? **** no. Do you have alot of welding experience? Probably **** no.

Rebuild the t2 motor as is, sell the good na **** and go from there. Much easier and you have a motor built for boost. If you are going to do all of the porting bullshit much better do it on a motor that it will be worth it to.
Old 07-22-09, 12:24 PM
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Well, from what I read, it would probly be best to try and rebuild the TII motor. As it stands, I don't have welding expericance, or the tools to do so. Infact I know basic mechanics, and have very little in the line of tools (most got stolen). Do they make rebuild kits for rotorys? As in a normal motor has new pistons, rings, rods, gaskets ect... Or would I have to buy the parts as a single thing. Regardless this is gonna cost me a bunch of money I don't have. But the reason I got a RX-7 was for this purpose. I have my car for sale locally, and if it dont sell (then ill keep it) I want my options open for what it was I got the car for.

Also as for the TII ecu, i gotta go beating down a door to find out about that...
Old 07-22-09, 12:30 PM
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The waiting game......

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Yeah, I would just rebuild the t2. If I were you. But personally I ran high boost on my s5 six port set up and was fine. I can't wait to pick up another engine. This time I won't run fuel in the 13's under wot. It's all about the experience you have. It's better to rebuild the t2 engine and just the n/a as back up if you blow it.
Old 07-22-09, 01:23 PM
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Engine, Not Motor

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I'm betting that if you open up that TII engine, you are going to find some surprises. Like rusted irons and rotors, mice, assorted insects, water, dirt and all kinds of nasty. Without actually pulling it and opening it up, anyone saying that it is a rebuild candidate is a bit crazy.

Now with that said, I don't necessarily recommend you go the 6 port turbo route either. Really only do the 6 port turbo if:

1. You really want a project and have all the skill and equipment to do it
2. You have a 6 port engine in really good shape
3. You want to end up with a unique setup that you can customize every part of to make it your own
4. You can tune the combination properly
5. You realize that it may be pricey

There is a certain amount of misinformation from some people who have never built (or not built properly) an NA-turbo setup. Often they say things like it's not worth the hassle, or you can only run low boost, or it will blow up. These things can be true, but are not necessarily true. My turbo-NA setup is at the extreme end of the scale but has been very reliable. Even the prototype original "ghetto" installation worked quite well. I tuned a 1st gen last night with a 6 port turbo made using TII intake manifolds and eBay turbo stuff run on a Megasquirt and it was no big deal.
Old 07-22-09, 01:44 PM
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The waiting game......

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^^ True story. It's about how much time you put into the car as well.
Old 07-23-09, 10:44 AM
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lol your probly right on the insides. That was one reason I was mad the kid took it apart like that. I live in the country and thats not something rare to see... But I appreciate the advice. Im more than likely gonna sell them both. and just bide my time till I can find a S5 TII. I don't have the experiance or tools, to even try what I want too, and the lack of help I can get in person make's it more difficult. I learn better with hands on teaching. But again, Thanks for the help. prevented me from doing something i'd regret lol.
Old 07-23-09, 11:38 AM
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good choice without proper tools you cannot rebuild the motor you need dial indicators and micrometers to set the preload and endplay. to answer your other question there are many rebuild kits for the 13b, you can get the stock one from mazda, however racingbeat has it for cheaper, they also have light weight aluminum rotor(2 lb difference in rotational mass), although i personally recommend peiceing it together because alot of the parts from the FD are useful and designed to handle more heat and stress(more reliable if your like me and have a heavy foot)
Old 07-23-09, 11:44 AM
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oh if you did wanna turbo the s5 i have a bolt on turbo manifold to fit a garret t04 1.10 A/R turbo(got the turbo off a bus). if you pay shipping i could send it to you PM me if your interested. all you would have to do is get a turbo and run some piping for the intercooler, computer and so on.. i still recommend the knock sensor and tII computer tho, save you from blowing the motor as everyone seems to think you will do(not an easy thing to do with brains just start exessivly rich the higher octane the better and start around 8 psi once you have a base tune increase boost slightly and fuel to match so you dont get any detonation) PS you can get much thicker apex seals aftermarket which are much stronger and better for boost especially on high compression engines. hope some of this is useful.
Old 07-23-09, 08:01 PM
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I think what i'm gonna do is sell them both as a pair for 1800. Then when I get a stable job, ill look for a 89-91 Turbo II that wasn't owned by some punk kid... I heard all kinds of crap about the person I got my RX-7 from, and it's not so great... Feel bad for my Del Sol I traded him...
Old 07-23-09, 08:25 PM
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lol, wow. If I were you I'd check compression on the NA engine and if its good swap the TII parts and boost it ASAP unless its your daily.
Old 07-23-09, 09:10 PM
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The waiting game......

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Even if it's the daily, it only takes 10 hours to do the full conversion.
Old 07-24-09, 12:54 AM
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Yeah, I think he'd still be taking a risk though since the parts are really old and the cars probably been sitting forever.

Such a waste of two perfectly good cars though I don't think everyones really looking into his situation. Judging by the fact that the cars are parked on grass I think its acceptable to assume that he might not have a workplace thats suitable to tear down the TII block and rebuild it. Or the tools, experience, etc.

I think its 100% up to the OP whether he can boost the NA or not (assuming the NA engine has good compression). Its easy to look at a rusted out parts car and a base model N/A and get discouraged. If you wanted to, you could buy a $100 craftsman toolset from Sears or wherever, read a book on turbos, do a **** ton of research on this board and do the conversion in a weekend. All up to you.
Old 07-24-09, 10:03 AM
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Originally Posted by KhanArtisT
I don't think everyones really looking into his situation. Judging by the fact that the cars are parked on grass I think its acceptable to assume that he might not have a workplace thats suitable to tear down the TII block and rebuild it. Or the tools, experience, etc.
And that is the situation... I'm gonna post them for sale... One day I might beable to find a deal for what I want here. I'll still be a member, but this time I can learn before I buy something lol.
Old 07-30-09, 05:13 PM
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Definitely should have done a little more research before the trade.
Old 07-30-09, 07:13 PM
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The waiting game......

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Ouch, that sucks to hear.
Old 07-31-09, 05:08 AM
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Originally Posted by True2RX7
And that is the situation... I'm gonna post them for sale... One day I might beable to find a deal for what I want here. I'll still be a member, but this time I can learn before I buy something lol.
I think that is a good idea. If you don't have the tools or facilities, and you don't even know the basic parts of the engine, then you shouldn't attempt something complicated like an engine or turbo swap. I recommend starting with the basics, such as oil changes, brake changes, etc., so that you can slowly build your tool chest and automotive knowledge.

Originally Posted by 2slow4stock
Even if it's the daily, it only takes 10 hours to do the full conversion.
Are you on crack? There is no way in Hell that a complete noob is going to do a conversion in 10 hours.
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