Bolt on turbo?

[Nate Stuart]

David.Ullrich at ferguson.com wrote:

>I know some people have set up a bolt on turbo onto their KX engines.
>

KX and JT engines have been done, as far as I know.

> From my understanding you can use the stock CIS-e system up to around 8 psi, right?
>

 From what I have heard, yes. You just need to closely watch your
 timing, and if possible I would strongly suggest some form of knock
light to ensure safe operation of your motor.
Javad first stated his turbo madness with a similar setup. See
www.80tq.com for his stuff.

> Other than the turbo, are any of the parts ones you can just buy and bolt on or do you have to get most of the stuff custom made?
>


Well, it really depends on what 'other parts' you are reffering to. The
turbo does not just 'bolt up' either.

You will need to do at least the following(this is a VERY rough list) if
you want things to bolt up, and be factory like (I am assuming that the
turbo is a  water cooled K26, most common):
1 - remove the battery and tray and move the battery to the trunk of the
car (need room for the turbo wastegate)
2 - install a turbo exhaust manifold, with turbo bolted on
3 - install a turbo downpipe
4 - install the URQ bent tie rod to clear the wastegate outlet on the
downpipe
5 - adapt the stock cat and exhaust to meat up to the turbo downpipe
6 - install the oil filter bracket from an MC motor, as well as the oil
cooler from the same motor
7 - remove one of the frost plugs, and install the MC style plug with
the coolant line nipple on it for the water cooled turbo
8 - install the MC radiator inlet flange on the side of the head (the
one with the temp sensors and things on it.
Now comes the intake paths, this is where things can get tricky. The URQ
airbox is essentially turned 180 degrees compared to the NA
applications, and you will most likely want to use the turbo intake
manifold to place the inlet on the same side of the engine as the turbo
outlet. If low boost levels are to be had then you can save a lot of
trouble by not installing an intercooler, and just piping the outlet of
the turbo straight into the throttle body. All(!) that is left then is
to figure out how to make up some plumbing to get the turbo intake to
the CIS metering head....
OR, you could buy($$) the required URQ bits and then everything would
bolt right up, nice and clean.

> OK, now for the biggest question, can you do this same thing to an NG?
>
No. The NG compression ratio is too high(10.5:1, I think) to allow for
any more boost.

> I'd love to turbo my CGT, but am not ready for a full engine swap, especially since the NG powered CGTs are so rare...
>
>
If a full engine swap is out of the question, then you're kind of out of
options for the NG motor. Some have talked of putting a 20v head on the
NG, and a turbo for that (the 20v head apparantly drops the CR to a
reasonable ratio for a turbo app), however that has yet to ever been
tested. And with a setup like that you are also forced to ditch CIS
(this is a blessing, not a curse mind you) and get into a custom EFI
fueling system.

Turboing a non-turbo Audi as you see is not a straight forward 'bolt on'
job. It take lots of time, patience,planning, and innevitably more $$
then you intended.

Hope some of this rambling answered a question or two.
-Nate
'89 90tq
www.newtsplace.com/90tq