SpoolinShark's turbo build
 

So after 6+ years of talking about boosting my RD, I have finally gotten around to actually doing it. I have ran into numerous set backs during this process like wrecking the car, buying clutches that don't fit.. the list goes on.. But, I was able to enjoy some boost the other day after getting it tuned and it was a great feeling.



I'm currently running 15psi but that fluctuates depending on gear but I plan on getting a smaller spring with a manual boost controller. My goals for now are between 300 - 350hp on the stock block with 15psi.



Check out below for what all is going on under the hood. I'm sure I'm missing stuff and will add it as I remember.



Engine:

• Stock Beta I block
  
• Beta II head swap (mildly ported)
  
• Colt Cams Tri-flow regrinds (270° primary intake lobe, 262° secondary intake lobe and 266° exhaust cam)
  
• Air Ram intake manifold
  
• 68mm RSide throttle body
  
• Maintec turbo manifold
  
• Emusa external wastegate (15 psi spring)
  
• Big Holset H1C turbo
  
• 4an turbo oil feed
  
• 10an turbo oil drain
  
• 2.5" stainless steel downpipe
  
• 1.5" dump tube
  
• Aermotive Rising Rate FPR
  
• Bosch 1000cc EV6 style injectors
  
• on3 320lph e85 fuel pump
  
• MAF adapter weld-in flange
  
• AEM FIC with PnP harness
  
• 2.5" aluminum piping
  
• 3" thick same side vertical intercooler
  
• Greddy style knock-off blow off valve
  
• GK style full aluminum radiator
  
• Push style conversion slim fans
  

Transmission:

• Beta II trans
  
• XTD 11lb flywheel
  
• Push style clutch conversion
  
• MAXX ACT 6 puck sprung clutch (rated for ~500hp)
  
• Slave cylinder mod
  
• Custom 3an slave cylinder line
  
• Polyurethane filled front/rear mounts
  

Brakes

• XG350 dual piston calipers
  
• Kia Spectra5 drilled and slotted rotors
  
• Rear drilled and slotted rotors
  

Suspension

• KYB GR-2 struts with KYB mounts
  
• Apex 1.7 drop springs
  
• Rear strut bar (modified eBay front one)
  
• Front strut bar (needs modified to clear Air Ram)
  

Interior

• RD2 leather seat swaps
  
• Radio delete with custom gauge pod
  
• AEM Digital AFR with wideband
  
• AEM Digital Boost gauge
  
• AEM Digital Fuel Pressure gauge (To come)
  
• AEM Digital Oil Pressure gauge (To come)
  
  
  

Miscellaneous

• Power steering delete
  
• Coolant bottle relocation
  

Stay tuned for pictures of my journey through this process.



*Teaser shots*



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...58474884_n.jpg





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...73268120_n.jpg

That's a lot of work but congrats on the completed project! :thumbup:

Nice Build and looks like mostly high quality stuff! I'm curious what kind of power curve you have and why you chose the Holset turbo? There's MUCH better matched turbos for a stock block high compression Beta engine. :)

One of the reasons I went with the Holset is the fact that they are really good turbos and can get them for decent prices. My plan is at least 300 - 350hp on the stock block with e85 which is definitely doable. As of right now the boost doesn't really come on until around 4,500 since the current exhaust housing is a 18cm and that is roughly over a 1 a/r. I'm working on buying a 12cm housing which should bring down the spool time a good deal and is around a .70 a/r which is more manageable.



I'm compiling all of my pics from the build and will be getting them up soon!

Wowzers! Yeah a 1.0 A/R is WAY too big for the little 2.0L even with high compression. Having to buy a new housing kind of negates some of the cost savings.. ;)



350whp on E85 is definitely doable provided the FIC will actually be able to pull the ignition timing a bit on the high end. If your E85 is truly E85 and not the crap we get in Colorado then you may not need to pull any timing.. :) Just watch your EGTS!! Hopefully you have or plan to have an EGT Gauge?

That's what I told him! After messing around with used inferior turbos and replacing/rebuilding parts, you could come out way ahead by just buying a new one from the start.



I suggest E98 from a retailer when trying to push limits. Use pump E85 on a much lower "safe tune" for daily use. E85 is never very reliable out of the pump no matter where you are.

I picked up the 12cm housing so expect it to be here next week and will get it installed. As for the turbo, I paid $100 for it originally (it was rebuilt) and $250ish for the smaller exhaust housing. So $350ish for a turbo that's good for 500-600hp isn't bad.



As for the fic, right now we are pulling 1.5 degrees up top in boost but I'm wanting to go down to pulling no timing. People have done over 400hp on stock timing.



I do have an egt bung in the manifold but not using it at the moment. It wouldn't be a bad idea to use it on down the road.

Awesome build! :thumbup:

How did you settle on pulling 1.5 degrees up top? Throw darts at a timing board? lol



FYI, the EGT gauge can help alert you to conditions that will cause detonation BEFORE detonation occurs.. :)

Yup, completely random on the timing.. Ha. But we originally started off with 1.5 degrees per psi and tweaked from there.



I also come to find out that I was running a 21cm housing instead of an 18cm. So a 21cm is comparable to a 1.61 a/r and a 12cm is comparable to a .89 a/a/r. I should definitely notice a drop in spool time!

Holy Sh1t balls that's BIG!! Even .89 is too big for anything but drag racing lol. .64 is just about perfect for a 2.0L engine.

Yep, the 21cm was massive but the good ol' beta had full spool at 5k with 15psi so I imagine I'll be in the 2500 - 3000 range with the new housing.



Now I'll have to get the tune tweaked but that's fine. Plan is to run stock timing on e85 which I'm sure it'll handle fine. I'm debating if I want to keep it at 15psi or bump it up to 20psi.

Transmission and related stuff....







Self filled tranny mounts



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...120_211015.jpg



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...113_221422.jpg







Push clutch conversion parts



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...223_140804.jpg



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...223_144008.jpg



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...223_144722.jpg







ACT 6 puck sprung disk and custom MAXX pressure plate. Should be good to 500hp







http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...108_214041.jpg



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...109_134542.jpg



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...109_143622.jpg







Figured the trans and brackets could use a little bit of cleaning up





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...109_151859.jpg









Still more to come!

That's the opposite of the color of the transmission on the floor in my garage right now. Beautiful.

Time for more pictures! :happyanim:



On3 320lph fuel pump





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...423_182041.jpg





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...424_173047.jpg





Bosch 1000cc EV6 saturated injectors





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...412_190929.jpg





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...412_190826.jpg





Aeromotive A1000 FPR





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...412_184851.jpg





DSM 6an fuel rail fitting





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...330_185314.jpg





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...330_191108.jpg







I have a 6an line coming from the rail to the FPR and then a 4an running back to the stock return line on the driver side of the bay. I know the return line will become a bottleneck at some point especially since I'm running e85.

I did the Beta II head swap years ago with a mild port and polish and just recently installed some cam regrinds from Colt Cams. I had to run lash caps since the lash adjusters are mechanical versus the hydraulic in the Beta I head.



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...930_175825.jpg





Crower .035" lash caps. Things were expensive due to the odd stem size diameter.





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...007_183019.jpg





Cam specs





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...5407773984.jpg







The cams themselves had a turn around time of two weeks which wasn't bad considering I sent them off to Canada.

Nice job!! Happen to have a compressor map for that turbo? 15-20psi on that biggie may flow way more than stock timing can handle....even on E85. ;)

I did some digging around and it looks like the H1C I have will flow 50 lb/min in the 21-28psi range. The maps for this turbo seem to vary a lot (numerous versions of the H1C) so I'm taking a lucky guess on the range it flows the most but that seems common among other versions of Holsets.



I did get the 12cm housing on and it makes a tremendous difference in spool time and throttle response. My friend and I did some more tuning last night and the tib was spiking 18psi around 4k if not earlier. I'm pretty confident that I'm in the 300-350hp range though. I need to get my 8psi wastegate spring and manual boost controller installed so I can keep the boost from creeping like it has been.



As for now I need to focus on getting the power to the ground since 2nd and 3rd gear just like to spin. It wouldn't hurt to get a lsd and some super sticky tires. Anyone have any other suggestions?



I still have more pics to post up and hope to get some up tomorrow.

Man your beating the piss out of that poor stock beta block at that PSI. E85 is definitely saving your bacon!!



So your EWG has a 15psi spring in it and your spiking to 18psi at 4k rpm? Either its not really a 15psi spring or you've got some flow restrictions in your exhaust system. That turbo might need a 3" Turbine back exhaust to keep backpressure to a minimum. What size EWG is it? Does it feed back into the DP or just vent to atm?

It's actually a 14psi Tial spring and I know it's the right one because I installed it. As for the exhaust, it's a 2.5" open dump so there shouldn't be much restriction at all. The wg is a 38mm and it's vented to the atmosphere for now.



I received my 8psi spring and mbc so hope to get them on tonight. When we were doing the tuning the other night my friend said the FIC was picking up 33psi at peak so I'll let you do the math. I'm running a vacuum manifold and the FIC and boost gauge are both fed off that so the readings should be similar.



Main reason I went with e85 is because it's cheap, less chance of knock and lower egts!

Yeah I never was able to knock on E85 with my previous Tib and boy I tried lol...do you have winter blends in Ohio?



The restriction might be that 2.5" downpipe. Those turbos are typically on Diesel engines with at least a 3" turbo back exhaust. Guess we'll see after you switch springs.

Got around to installing the 8psi spring and manual boost controller and so far no more spiking. I have it adjusted to 13ish psi and will probably go to 15psi and stop there.



Honestly, I think it's pulling harder now then when it was on 18psi. Now I need to tweak the tune since the afrs are creeping up to 13 when in boost and that's not good.



In other news, thinking about getting some 16x8 wheels with R compound tires to see if that'll cut down on traction issues.

Back with some pics of the turbo itself and piping setup...





Crazy to think I only have two intercooler pipes.. I do have a joiner pipe hidden in there but oh well.







http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...410_173753.jpg



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...325_193737.jpg



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http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...501_135913.jpg



http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...414_190523.jpg





Big Holset H1C





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...312_125222.jpg



I actually had to grind down the trans housing in order for this to fit





http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...313_174141.jpg

Like :)

Nicely done!! That short piping should help with lag from that HUGE snail!! :)

loving all the work on this one, that gearbox looks mint :biggrin:

That pressure plate looks familiar! Build looks great, glad to see another RD1 owner still at it!



Where did you get your turbo manifold? I've been considering options for an upgrade (i.e. full race manifolds for the 4G63 engine).