# BEFORE A TURBO!!!



## s13drift (Sep 22, 2005)

i have a 1990 240sx. my engine is pretty bone dry. i am soon getting the injen cold air intake for my car. i am looking to spend about $1000 on a turbo. what exactly do i need to get before i hook up my turbo. some people say fuel injectors, headers, etc. just gimme a list of all the things i really need so my engine doesnt blow up


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## silviaconvert (Aug 20, 2005)

alright for one thing turbos dont use headers they use manifolds. you will need: turbo, manifold, intercooler, down pipe, fuel pump, bigger injectors, BOV, bigger MAF sensor, and some more small stuff. Also dont forget to upgrade suspension and brakes because what good is going fast if you kill yourself doing it.

Heres a link it says all you need to know.
http://nissanforums.com/showthread.php?t=92630


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## trmn8r (Apr 16, 2005)

your gonna need some tap and die sets to drill a hole to the oil pan. and an oil line. and dont forget a wastegate.


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## little240boy (Jan 13, 2004)

Don't forget to tune your ECU, it'll have no idea what the hell is going on


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## BoostedSE (Jun 26, 2005)

how about learn what it does first, and don't buy an intake its a waste of money


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## 240sXtreme (Sep 28, 2005)

let's not forget probably the most important one PISTONS a stock ka's 9.5 :1 pistons will not hold up to a turbo, since you are not going crazy with the turbo i would get forged 9:1 pistons that will give you more power than the 8.5:1 that come in an sr, no 9:1 wont hold as much boost but you do't seem to be going crazy with boost


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## joerc240sx (Jan 19, 2003)

Well the list to get a turbo installed is very basic, its just the extras that add up. To get a low boost turbo system setup and running on a 240sx you would need:
1. Turbo with internal waste gate (set to run around 5-7 psi boost)
2. Exhaust Manifold
3. Exhaust piping going from the Turbo to Cat
4. Intake piping from Maf to turbo then turbo to TB
5. BOV
6. Oil feed line to turbo
7. Oil retune line
8. Fuel pressure regulator (to rise fuel pressure based on boost) cheap fuel management for 7psi boost or less)
9. Retard the timing 2-3 degrees or so

Sure thats not the best setup, and would only make around 25-30hp but thats the basics of what you would need. From there you could add:
1. engine tuning /w fuel system upgrades (Injectors, fuel pump, MAF)
2. Intercooler
3. Full exhaust

That would be good for around 30-150hp depending on turbo, and fuel from there you might want to start looking into some engine upgrades incase your engine does not hold up. And remember 400hp has been reached on the stock block KA.


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## Kelso (Apr 29, 2003)

internals will be fine for a while....about 300 hp and they will shit out though

dont forget intercooler piping and stuff too, nobody mentioned that yet

www.ka-t.org


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## veilside180sx (Aug 23, 2005)

Here's a copy of my sticky on ka-t.org =) This should answer questions for you.

"SOHC Turbo For Dummies"

These are the Prerequisites to building a SOHC Turbo. Together we will go through typical setups from mild to extreme to reach the power goals you desire. These are lists of typically used items that are easily attainable by the average person. All setups should have the Air to Fuel Ratio verified on a dyno with wideband or at very least on a track using an in-car wideband setup (NO watching the standard O2 signal and calling it good). If your using pump gas and seeing air to fuel ratios more lean than 11.8:1-12:1, some rethinking on the tuning/fuel setup will be needed. A narrowband guage(typical A/F guage from Autometer for instance) is not complex enough to be a real indication of the ratios inside your combustion chamber. 



Very Mild Build: around 180 rwhp

Turbo Manifold
Blow Off Valve
Turbo (T25)
Downpipe 2.5" is perfectly fine
Pipe to connect turbo to throttle body

Fuel Control:
FMU (not recommended, but doable) Raises fuel pressure per boost to make injectors flow more than normal.
DSM 450cc Injectors or Comparable (These injectors are low impedence, while the ECU requires high impedence. Making it necessary to wire in resistors to alter that so the ECU can control them. These can be found at places found at the bottom)
Apexi SAFC2
Greddy Emanage


Mild power adder, say you want around 200 rwhp. 


Turbo Manifold
Blow Off Valve
Small Intercooler (potentially get away with a side mount)
Turbo T25/T28/14B, etc. Smaller T2 setups. Usually will be internally wastegated.
Downpipe 2.5" is perfectly fine
Replacing the Exhaust is starting to be very necessary at this stage, so I would start to shop for that as well.

Fuel Control
DSM 450cc Injectors
Apexi SAFC2
Greddy Emanage
Back off base timing at distributor or MSD BTM

Average: 300 rwhp to 350 rwhp, you have to start to expect a little more lag. This is about the perfect "street car" limit. No race gas, just good honest street car fun that is fully capable of bring home a 12 second timeslip on a good run.

Turbo Manifold
T3/T04E .50 Trim compressor, .60 trim compressor housing / Stg 3 (aka TA31) turbine wheel, .48 to .63 A/R exhaust housing. Internal wastegate optional but not recommended. 
Downpipe can still be 2.5", but this is as far as I would want to push that.
Front Mount Intercooler (FMIC) It's time to upgrade to a larger front mount as the larger will push more air than the smaller sidemount can cool.

Fuel Control
550cc Injectors
SAFC2 to control your fuel injectors, along with the stock ecu.
MSD BTM At this stage I would be running the BTM to control timing retard.
Reflashed ECU-This can be a DIY thing with Eprom Tuning or a JWT. This is the largest JWT is capable of flashing for those that want it.
Z32 Maf is required, as the stock Maf stops being able to read at around 260 rwhp.
Wideband O2 Sensor should be installed for tuning.

Block Internals
This is where I would start to consider it necessary to replace you pistons.

Above Average: 350 rwhp to 425 rwhp

Turbo Manifold
Blow Off Valve
T3/T04E 50 Trim .48/.63 or slightly larger turbo, this is where I would start to make the switch up to an external wastegate. You have the option to reroute it back into the exhaust, or merely "dump" it out into the open. "Dump" is usually a mini exhaust in the form of 1.5" piping routed out to the open.
FMIC Larger is starting to be necessary. Typical for setups from here on, are 12"x24"x3" for the core.
Downpipe 3", at this point I would switch to the larger downpipe. You can probably get away with it at 2.5", but it will be causing a little bit of backpressure. Moving to 3" piping as quickly as possible is what you want though. Usually it is necessary to have the first bend 2.5" to clear the steering shaft though.
Exhaust 3"

Block Internals
At this stage you'll want to "build" or fortify your block to better handle boost. Previous to this you can walk the line, but here and forward I find it necessary to do so.
Forged Rods
Forged Pistons
Stock Crank
Plus your typical rebuild items.


Fuel Control
Standalone fuel management is recommended at this stage in the game and is absolutely necessary at the next. These allow you control not only very large injectors, but the tuner to have complete control over both timing and fuel.
720cc Injectors. 
Wideband O2 Sensor is necessary for tuning.

Wild Build: 425 rwhp to 600 rwhp. Lag is obviously going to be much more apparent, full boost isn't going to happen until around 4000-5000 rpms or so. Once spooled it will pull very hard.

Turbo Manifold
Turbo T3/T61/SC61 or GT35R seem to be the typical turbo's in the area. External Wastegate is your only option that should be considered.
Blow Off Valve You'll want a good performing more expensive blow off valve to alleviate reverted air when the throttle body closes from pushing against the compressor wheel.
FMIC the 24"x12"x3" Core's are still effective in this range.
Downpipe 3" is still capable of handling these power levels
Exhaust 3" or larger

Fuel Control
720cc-1600cc Injectors
Standalone Fuel Management
Recommeded to switch to Map instead of Maf for reading airflow.
Wideband 02 Sensor installed and wired into standalone for adjustments and monitoring.
Dyno tuning is very valuable.

Block Internals
Along with the previously mentioned internals I would add these to the list
Cam (per your discretion)
Build your head as well
Solid Lifter Conversion (not required, but not a bad idea)
Valve Springs
Valve Retainers
ARP Head/Main Studs
Cometic Headgasket or similar


Absolute turbo necessities...amongst the aforementioned goodies above.

Oil Lines (Picture of good return location)









Boost gauge

Here's lists of aftermarket products that are currently on the market

Turbo Build Parts

Turbo Manifold (Exhaust Manifold)

JGS Precision










Realnissan.com

Import-AutoPerformance.com










Nizzx.com










BOV

Tial
Greddy RS
JGS
HKS SSQV

Wastegates

Tial










JGS










Turbonetics

Block Internals

Pistons: Can be accomplished one of two ways, by purchasing ones that are made for the E with their intended compression ratio. The other is to use DE pistons and subtract a full compression point to equal the difference between the E and DE head. (ie 9:1 DE pistons will be 8:1 in an E)

Arias 8.8:1(E)
Wiseco 9:1(DE) 8:1(E)
JE
Ross 8.5:1(E)
CP 9:1(DE) 8:1(E)

Rods: Any rod that will fit the bottom end of the DE will work with E as well.

Crower
Pauter
Carillo
Eagle (release tbd)

Bearings

Whatever your preference is for rebuilds. Mine is Clevite.

Headgasket

SCE gaskets

Valves

SI valves

Cams

PDM Racing
Nissan Motorsports
Colt Cams
Hybridka.com
JWT Technology

Solid Lifter Conversion Kit

Hybridka.com

Typical Injectors Used on SOHC

DSM (Eclipse/Talon/Laser) 450cc Injectors *Low Impedence*
RX-7 T2 550cc Injectors *High Impedence* Denso 195500-2020 
RX7 FC NA Top feed 460cc Low *86-87*
RX7 FC NA Top feed 460cc High *88*
RX7 FC NA Top feed 460cc High *89-91*
RX7 FC turbo Top feed 550cc Low *86-87*
RX7 FC turbo Top feed 550cc High *88*
RX7 FC turbo Top feed 550cc High *89-91*
RX7 FC NA Top feed 680cc Low *84-85*
CA18DET 370cc Injectors *Low Impedence*

Injector Resistors (To alter low impedence to work with a high impedence ecu)

JWT Technology
JGS Precision


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## silviaconvert (Aug 20, 2005)

good job veilside you covered everything. isn't that the same article you posted a link to in my turbo thread?


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## veilside180sx (Aug 23, 2005)

Yeah it was...just figured I'd post the whole thing for when people search by words it shows up. Saves me the hassle of posting it multiple times.

I wrote a "DOHC For Dummies" as well on ka-t.org too.


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## BoostedSE (Jun 26, 2005)

please everyone check it out ^ that way we dont get all this misinfo about KA-Ts not being able to handle boost.


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## BII (May 13, 2004)

Wow, that's awesome veilside, thanks for the write-up! :thumbup:


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