NE1 That knows TURBO

rotorgem · tinkerer Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 80

to anyone that knows about turbo charging a 1600, i was wondering if you could answer me some questions, at present i am planning to set up a blow through turbo setup on my standard motor running low boost until i build a stronger motor.
i heard alot of turbo gems have reground cams is this a necessity?

would a copper head gasket do for now until i finish building the strong engine or do you think i will need flat top pistons as well?

if i run a pretty high volume fuel pump(vl turbo) and one of those fuel regulators that should take care of fuel?

where can i get a fuel regulator from?

Fastgem · tinkerer Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 166

You dont need a reground cam but it will help you get more power out of it. If its a stock 1600 then its probably only running around 8.3:1 compression which should be fine if your not running massive boost so you shouldnt need to worry about a copper head gasket. If you do use one though best off using just 1 thick copper gasket rather than the old bodgy method of placing a standard head gasket on top of the copper one to help decompress the motor (or sandwich the copper gasket between 2 standard gaskets, just means more things can go wrong) Just make sure the advance on your distributor is locked up or have it re-curved to reduce the chance of detonation. Would stick to dish top pistons as you need low compression for a turbo motor and flat tops are made to increase compression.

Ben Wight · backyard mechanic Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 946

Use the standard cam, dont touch the head gasket, they pistons are factory flat tops, so there is no reason to go and install flat tops, if anything, you should be machining a dish in the pistons for less compression.

The fuel pump required depends on the boost you want to run. You should always have about a 5psi buffer between boost and fuel pressure, if only running 7psi, then a holley blue will do the job. THe cheapest alternative (and higher pressure pump) is an efi unit. Either pump will require a rising rate regulator, a malpassi will do the job. around $200. Talk to a speed shop that supplies malpassis and tell them what you want, I guess it is an adjustable idle pressure unit with rising rate feature.

Cheers!
Ben Wight

WAY2LOW · tinkerer Joined: 07 Oct 2001 Posts: 176

my turbo setup was on a stock 1600, it ran about 7-8psi with no problems. it was a blowthrough setup with a 32/36 webber. the fuel system comprised of a vl turbo fuel pump and a malpassi rising rate pressure regulator. the biggest problem i encountered was getting the webber correctly setup so it could run enuff fuel. i put 165 and 170 main jets into mine but i reckon that 175 and 180 jets would probably be better. the next problem is keeping the fuel supply up in the fuel bowl, i never fixed this with mine but it is an adviseable thing to do, or else u run out of fuel and the engine cuts out then comes back with a big bang and flame out the exhaust. the float needle needs to be modified so that the fuel bowl can be constantly full.

Ben Wight · backyard mechanic Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 946

Hey Justin,

At a guess, you are running an aftermarket needle and seat from a fuel miser reco kit. If so, you should try an original weber seat as these are cross drilled for extra fuel flow so your fuel bowl stays full under full load.

I used to have an NA 1600 that emptied the fuel bowl half way through third gear from a standing start. Tried everything including modifying the fuel pump for extra flow. Hleped a bit, but fixed it when I installed the original seat with the new needle.

Cheers!
Ben Wight.