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Thread: M42 Turbo Build:.

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    M42 Turbo Build:.

    So to keep myself honest and give me a place to track the progress of the M42 turbo project, I figured I'd start a thread with a better name than "Uh-oh".

    Here's how I think the I/C will fit...high-beam delete? The HID "rally lights" (stuck in a Mustang fog light body) vastly overpower the 100W H1's anyways. The charge pipes will fit nicely thru a modified headlight bucket:



    Pulled the header and the intake manifold off...pulled out the old injectors and put in 42 lb/hr Ford injectors:




    Dirty old injector:



    ...and a new arrival today. A baby .48 A/R ebay turbo. I'm not looking to make anything more than 220 hp or so at the crank, so it should be sufficient until I want more b00zt. If there is such a thing as an ebay brand being reputable, godspeed seems to be one...guys in the Subaru community have fared OK with them, I guess I'll find out for myself.



    What I have:
    .48 A/R turbo with internal W/G
    42 lb/hr fuel injectors (Ford green-tops)
    Bypass valve (no BOV noise nonsense for me)
    Header (needs fabrication)
    Intercooler
    A buddy on standby with a Bosch ECU programmer

    What I need:
    Oil lines
    Header collector and T3 flange
    Slimmer e-fan
    Charge pipes
    Bypass valve hoses
    Exhaust pieces (2.5" after turbo)
    Wideband o2 for tuning
    New fuel pump and tanks (not necessary, but I need to change to a fuel cell or something soon due to leaky tanks)

  2. #2
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    Awesome bro! That's going to be sick. Have you thought about 7" singles in the front?

  3. #3
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    Yeah I have a few options, but not in a hurry to upgrade to the OEM singles yet.

  4. #4
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    97 M3/4/5 81 E21 72 Bav
    Exciting


  5. #5
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    Go for it. Did your eBay turbo come with an oil restrictor? My first one didn't, but the second one did. Just something to look into before you get to far into the build.

    Do you have the other 4 42lb injectors? I may know someone that could use them.
    WOT

  6. #6
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    Turbo E21,12 WRX,03 S2K
    Awesome! Looking forward to the updates.

    E21 LEGION


    Crypto success: http://brief.watchersfrontline.com/SHV

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by hsvturbo View Post
    Go for it. Did your eBay turbo come with an oil restrictor? My first one didn't, but the second one did. Just something to look into before you get to far into the build.

    Do you have the other 4 42lb injectors? I may know someone that could use them.
    I have the 4 other injectors, though it looks like one of the plastic fittings was cracked during shipping. Should not affect performance though as it is below the o-ring and the spray holes are not affected. I am going to hold on to them until I get running, but I'll keep you posted.

    Turbo does not have oil restrictor, though being journal bearings I've seen it should be good up to 80 psi or so? If it burns oil I'll have to consider a restrictor though.

    As for progress...

    Yes, I did consider the 7" OEM bulbs...and yes I picked a set up. These are from Jeroen in Europe. They arrived today along with a few other goodies Thanks Jeroen!

    I didn't really want to lose the dual light grille with this build, but I didn't want to cut my existing buckets or fender wells for piping either...Jereon's offer came along at the right time.

    I <3 presents:


    Charge pipes, etc...


    Really, the next biggest thing is the header. That seems to be the most complex for me right now. There's a $800 one online and a few $400 ones on ebay, but I am going with my buddy jakeb since he does this stuff quite often and the turbo will be located exactly where I want it. I also know that it will be built with quality and should be able to support the turbo weight without having to worry about stress cracks. This weekend I might get to doing I/C to throttle body side of charge pipes and get the intercooler mounting finalized now that I have the single headlamps.

    What I have:
    .48 A/R turbo with internal W/G (does not have internal oil pressure restrictor, but with journal bearings it's less of a concern?)
    42 lb/hr fuel injectors (Ford green-tops)
    Bypass valve
    Intercooler
    Oil feed line and fittings, minus return hose
    Slimmer e-fan
    Charge pipes
    A buddy on standby with a Bosch ECU programmer

    What I need:
    Header collector, T3 flange, total header (should be complete in a few weeks)
    Bypass valve hoses and fittings
    Exhaust pieces (2.5" after turbo)
    Wideband o2 for tuning
    New fuel pump and tanks (not necessary, but I need to change to a fuel cell or something soon due to leaky tanks)

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    '83 320i turbo,'80 320iS
    YESSSSSS! I want a m42 turbo one day
    -Christo-
    >1983 320i, K-Jet turbo, Eurometric poly, Ground control coil overs, Koni yellows, rear sway, full camber/toe adjustment, Ireland Engineering, LSD. 15x7 OZ Alpina reps, 205/50/r15 Kumho Ecsta XS
    >1986 325es, RB20det, Poly rear everything, e46 front control arms, rear camber/toe adjustment, 17x9 STR, BC Coils, 250whp 2300lbs w/o driver

  9. #9
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    Intercooler mounted snugly now:



    I wanted to put a slim e-fan on the front of the radiator, but there was about 5mm too-little room. Might be a squeeze in the engine compartment with the rest of the tubing in there, but I think it will work.

    If I'm lucky, this is the only tube that will have to be welded. Otherwise I'll just need to use a bead roller or something on the other tubes I cut so they fit tight with the couplers:



    ...and a sign of things to come. Lots of cool air will be moving into the engine compartment now:


  10. #10
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    Been a while since I've updated!

    The progress has been slow lately (and I've been redoing my basement!), but JakeB and I made up a jig for the header a couple weeks ago and he's been cranking on that.



    In the mean time I've been fabbing up a coil-on-plug plate because with where the turbo is going to mount I would have had to relocate the coils anyways. There were plans available somewhere on line in the past, but I couldn't find anything so I had to take measurements and do a little grinding.



    And last but not least, I found a VDO Vision series boost gauge on ebay...will match most of what I have in the cluster already. Even though I'll be running less than 10 psi boost, the 25 psi limit will keep me pondering. They also make an EGT gauge in the Vision series, might just pick that up as well.


  11. #11
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    Picked up a Zeitronix ZT2/ZR2 AFR gauge and datalogger combo today (with EGT sensor) in addition to various vacuum lines and fittings I haven't thought of until now...

    Also picked up a VDO oil psi sensor and gauge for the heck of it.

    Other than that, the intake manifold is mounted back to the motor now. Slowly but surely, I don't think I need to buy anything else for the turbo setup! When the header is done aside from some aluminum welding, it should be all reassembly time!

  12. #12
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    More updates:

    I built a gauge pod to go where the HVAC controls used to be (destroyed anyways sometime prior to 2006 when I bought the car). The sideways Sunpro gauge is just a placeholder until the Zeitronix multigauge arrives.



    Also dug out a late 90's Gateway laptop I haven't used since 2006-ish...this will be my dedicated logging machine.



    All of my vacuum lines arrived today...I have all of my oil lines ready to go...I've got to believe the header is the last thing to take care of. Getting closer to kickoff.

  13. #13
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    Zeitronix is all wired up and all of my gauges are ready to go. I also wired in an ignition relay that is only on when the key is in the run position...that powers the Zeitronix in addition to a DC power supply for my laptop. I added another plexiglas panel to where the glove box used to be to help conceal the Zeitronix logger wires. Right now I am only logging EGT, AFM (wideband) and RPM. I can log throttle position, boost and two other analog inputs but I won't need those at the moment...save that for another day. Also removed the crappy heat shielding and repainted the floorboards. Looks somewhat presentable now.

    Hitting the home stretch...





  14. #14
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    More goodies from Jeroen arrived today! The euro bumpers will be going on later this year...maybe a winter project when I aim to make the car look prettier...less like a clown with rally stripes. They need to be refinished anyways, so right now I think I'm just going to paint them "graphit metallic" along with the rest of the body (original color). Intercooler piping was welded up last week, just waiting for the header to be finished and everything will be mounted. Downpipe is next on the list once everything is in place.

  15. #15
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    77 E21, 92 MR2 Turbo
    Very nice! Makes me want to drop in my M42 right now!

    1977 320i - BBSs, Recaros, LSD, Zender bits

  16. #16
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    This is sweet! Rather sad I missed all the updates but I can't wait to see more! Good job man.

  17. #17
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    Thanks guys...getting antsy for all of this to be done.

  18. #18
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    Header is done!


    EGT probe


    Mounted up...still needs a bit of fit/form tweaking but I hope to have all of the intake/IC piping mounted this week.

  19. #19
    Join Date
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    So close!!! I wish you lived closer so I could see what a turbo'd m42 feels like!

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by sonomaGTLN2 View Post
    Header is done!
    Did you connect #4 exhaust to the 2, and 3 to 1?
    WOT

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by hsvturbo View Post
    Did you connect #4 exhaust to the 2, and 3 to 1?
    Yeah, not exactly a tri-y but close...I could not do a 4-1 collector because of space constraints.

  22. #22
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    95' cruiser, 83' 320
    Very cool project..Any ideas of H.P. numbers you expect to produce?

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by sonomaGTLN2 View Post
    Yeah, not exactly a tri-y but close...I could not do a 4-1 collector because of space constraints.
    Hey that's cool. Maybe you will have a little Harley-davidson engine lope sound going. When do you think you will be up and running?
    WOT

  24. #24
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    I expect to be around 200 at the crank (140 + 8 psi boost)...I want to get it on a dyno to really zone in on the tune once it's driveable. I hope it's running within 2 weeks, need to fab up a downpipe and get the rest of the exhaust built then it is ready.

    Quote Originally Posted by hsvturbo View Post
    Hey that's cool. Maybe you will have a little Harley-davidson engine lope sound going.
    Haha yeah, after having a Subaru for 2 yrs the thought of having a lopey sound because of the header configuration made me OK with a tri-y
    Last edited by sonomaGTLN2; 07-04-2012 at 04:48 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

  25. #25
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    Everything on the cold side all mounted up and ready to go! Just need to finish the downpipe and I'll be ready to start it.


    Last edited by sonomaGTLN2; 07-10-2012 at 10:53 PM.

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