MIARoach

Here it is: 1985 GSL-SE 13B stock. I want to turbo it, but nothing too radical because this car will be not be a daily driver, but looking for reliability.

I just want to know where to start: what kind of turbo charger, intercooler plumbing and necessary hardware needed?

Does anyone here have a step by step guide (with pictures) they used for building their turbo FB?

What is the estimated cost?

Thanks for your input!

z-beater

oh man...do a search...there is a thread in the first gen section

z-beater

consider this your freebie noob There are more just search...

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ighlight=turbo

MIARoach

Z-Beater,

You're the man!

I should have just done a search like you suggested, I guess I was just lazy


Guys, please keep the suggestions, tips and personal experiences coming though!

z-beater

No problem...

Personally I also own a SE and would not be one to turbo the stock engine. There are a couple resons for this. My old SE engine had quite a few miles on her & higher compression rotors are not ideal IMO.

I tend to be a little ****, and I hate to do half assed jobs. Granted this is why it also takes me a considerable amount of time to complete a job comapred to others on this board. There are other people here that have turbo'd their SE engines and I believe that there is also a person that did a write up on car domain. IMO these people did not take any shortcuts. They installed a standalone and all the necessary supporting mods.

When it comes down to it, yes it can be done right but may not be the ideal situation for higher boost applications. Now if you had a 12a or 13b with a carb things would be a little cheaper an easier IMO.

Good luck,
Z

MIARoach

I've been doing my research and have contacted people about this project, and have been told by many that the easiest way to go about this is to buy a 2nd gen TurboII engine and go that route.

I see that those engines have the top mounted intercooler, if I was to get one of those enines, would I have to remove the top mounted intercooler and install a front mounted unit?

Will the 2nd gen engine mount to my SE tranny, or will I have to buy a TurboII tranny? Like I said in my above post, I am not looking to race Vette's , but I just want to get some reliability with a gain in power, and turbo seems like the most logical move.

Your comments are much appreciated.

OMGWTHDRIFTGUY

Did you even read the link he gave you?

z-beater

Keep looking at other peoples setups and researching on this board. There is a ton of useful information here. It took me over 3 months to decide what I wanted to do. And even at that point when I started to construct it there were road blocks etc.

My advice is not to throw a turbo on until that engine blows. Just like I mentioned in the post above. People have done it and with great success but in a certain way you are putting yourself at higher risk due to the fact that you have higher compression rotors and xx,xxx miles already on the engine. Enjoy the car while it is still reliable.

I will answer 1 of your questions. But only one because you need to do the research for yourself. Yes you can use TMIC. It is just recomended that there is a vent in the hood. This allows you engine, turbo, blah blah blah to stay cool under operation. There are two ways to over come this. 1. cut a hold in the hood and 2. do a FMIC.

No go search and read. This is not the matrix, you can't gain an infinite amount of knowledge in a mere amount of seconds...SEARCH!!!

MIARoach

I did

MIARoach

Z,

Thanks again for your advice, I will dig even deeper into the threads. I enjoyed the thread you gave me, I'm still doing the math as to what it's going TSi to finish his project, so I can get an idea what it might cost me.

Thanks for the info on the 2nd gen intercooler layout, although I'm not too keen on cutting a hole in my hood. I want to have a sleeper, and want to keep the clean stock look.

z-beater

Personally if I had to do it again and was wrried about money I would not go FI. There are plenty of people that are putting down great numbers with carbs. It just so happens that the majority of people that have high hp cars tend to have a little more money throw around.

You mentioned that you wanted something with a little more pep. Why don't you just pick up another 1st gen 12a, boost prep a nikki, and do all the other supporting mods and you will be ready to go. IMO this setup is a lot less of a headache. That would allow you to keep your SE as the daily and the turbo 12a as a "fun" car. This of course would require you to have enough space to store 2 cars and all the other things needed as well.

Z