Want to Turbo my EJ22 Conversion

[urstpd78]

So I picked up a 73 Super Beetle that someone completed an EJ22 conversion. I have a Mitsubishi 16G turbo that I'd like to install on this motor. I've been doing quite a bit of research on similar builds, but I'm falling short on some of the specifics. The car is running on Microsquirt. I picked up some 440cc injectors and Innovate Motorsports wide band. But I'm unsure of what size intercooler I can make fit within the engine compartment above the motor. I don't know where to make the oil supply connection. Does the oil return line just need to be lower than the turbo and threaded into the side of the pan?

The beetle that 55superbeetle put together is the same building that I'd like to follow in regards to the position and plumbing of the turbo.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[55superbeetle]

You can get oil supply from any of the main galley plugs, easiest would be to T off the oil pressure switch. The drain is just like you stated, the more you can use gravity to return the oil to the pan the better but I know packaging makes it difficult. The one I did was non intercooled on e85 but I later switched it to a water to air intercooler and 91 octane for the new owner. The stock motor will hold a decent amount of power as long as you don't detonate it, the tune will make or break how long it runs. I used an cheap ebay barrel style cooler, bosch waterpump, and small radiator up front. The intake temps topped at around 145 after a full 1-4th gear pull, not great but livable. I will say the more efficient you can get the intercooler the easier it will be to keep it from detonating. On 91 octane it made 190hp and 200tq to the wheels on a dynojet. If I remember right around 9 pounds of boost. I never dyno'd it on e85 but I would guess 240ish on 15 pounds.

[urstpd78]

Hey man, you are still around! I sent you a PM a week or so ago but never heard anything back. It looked like you hadn't been on the forum in a while. That's exactly the car that I've been trying to base my plumbing and turbo position on. I wanted to try an intercooler over having another radiator and hoses running to the front of the car, so we'll see how that goes.

What engine management was that car running? I have a microsquirt but haven't had any experience tuning with it yet since that part was all done when I got the car. Do you have any experience tuning with that?

Thanks for the response. I appreciate the help.

[55superbeetle]

Yeah I never check me email so I don't get the notifications. I am familiar with your car, it was local to me before you bought it. The green bug was using megasquirt2 but it is very similar to microsquirt and uses the same tuning software, I have ran microsquirt on a few other subaru engines. You will need to find out what map sensor was used on your install. Because it was naturally aspirated it probably has a map sensor only capable of reading vacuum. A gm 3 bar map sensor is very inexpensive and will be more than enough for you. Are you talking about running a air to air intercooler? They are pretty hard to package in a bug and still get good airflow through them, I would almost take meth injection over a poorly positioned air to air. I have done air to air intercoolers mounted in a drag wing that worked very well but I'm assuming you want to keep the stock appearance. Do you have any experience with tuning stand alone engine computers? If not I would start by reading the megasquirt manuals and cruising youtube, there are some good walk throughs on megasquirt on there. Megasquirt has very well laid out software but will still be overwhelming if you've never played with anything like that before. Oh and you will need a wideband o2 sensor and controller if the car doesn't already have one.

[urstpd78]

Unfortunately I don't have any experience with tuning. I've been reading through the manual for the microsquirt, but like you said, it's pretty overwhelming. I did pick up an Innovate Motorsport MTX-L wide band. I also did some quick searching for the 3bar map sensor and then took a picture of what's installed in my car. Based on the picture, it looks like I already have that. See link below, hopefully it works. i can always ask Andy to confirm, I still speak with him pretty often. The pic was too large to attach directly to this post.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/ ... nqe3wu.jpg

I was thinking of using an air to air intercooler. See the photo below. I know it's not the same motor and also not the turbo location that I want, but I thought the position of the intercooler would work there. Is that not a good air flow location?

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/ ... py9gr1.png

[55superbeetle]

So those gm sensors all look the same externally but the vary in their ability to read boost. Good news is that if yours isnt a 3 bar, the 3 bar will plug right in. You can look up the part number on yours, see what its set up for in the tuning software, or just ask andy. The intercooler in your pic will get little to no flow in my opinion. A stock vw engine sucked air through those vents due to the belt driven fan and sealed engine compartment. You could mount one in the compartment and try putting some fans on it. You will be able to datalog the intake temps through the microsquirt so you will be able to tell very quickly how efficient it is. Another thing I should mention is the intake air temperature sensor. He probably is running a GM style sensor but you want to make sure its what's called an open element sensor. Anything with forced induction requires that style of sensor as it responds very quickly to air temperature, again if its a closed element sensor its just a matter of swapping it out, threads in and connects the same.

[urstpd78]

I ordered the 3bar map sensor and the open element IAT sensor. The turbo that I have came with the adapter to use at the oil pressure sensor, but when I test fitted it this afternoon it was too tall and hitting the alternator. I'll need to see if I can find a shorter adapter to make that work. I also need to find an adapter that fits the connection I have on the return line for the oil pan. What do you think about this intercooler? I think it might be a little too thick, but otherwise I like the rest of the size on it. It would likely fit a fan well for added air.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CXRacing-Interc ... tO&vxp=mtr

Anything else that you can think of that I'll need?

[panel]

Have a look at "Volky's" pics of the motor........viewtopic.php?f=3&t=106129&p=1231821#p1231821

Might help with your IC layout.

[str8bugn]

Why not use a stock wrx or sti top mount intercooler? Flip your intake manifold and run it like such... heck run stand offs and you should be golden...

Here is what I'm talking about
http://overdraftautolife.com/2013/07/22 ... en-beetle/

[panel]

str8bugn....good idea !

[urstpd78]

I did think of that previously but don't like how the plumbing from the underside of the intercooler is on the passenger side of the engine compartment. I planned to bring the turbo piping up on the driver side and didn't want to have to cross over in front of the engine. I thought the one I found on ebay was a good size except or the thickness is a little much. 3" wouldn't be as bulky.

[urstpd78]

Hey 55superbeetle,
I was wonder if you could shed a little more light on the install of the turbo itself. From laying it out at the car it looks like I'll need to clock it to get it sitting just right. I'd watched a few videos on this. Looks like it can be a pain in the ass, but I'll try to tackle it this weekend.
My question is what kind of support did the turbo itself have in the green beetle? Is the exhaust holding up the weight or is there a bracket somewhere that I just can't see? Also did you install a muffler after the turbo or just dump directly off the turbo? I'm leaning towards no muffler first to see how it sounds and if it's too loud I should have room to add the same muffler the car has now with the inlet and outlet on the same side.

[55superbeetle]

The turbo was just supported by the header, the wrx turbo was really light and I built the header out of 16 gauge 304 stainless, tig welded and back purged. The car had a muffler under the passenger side fender, the exhaust went froward and crossed over under the transmission. Definitely use a muffler, open pipe will get old fast, make sure the muffler is a straight through design.