My 2276 turbo baja build

[ejbbal21]

Ok here goes, I have been reading posts on this website for what seem like forever about turbos. I recently rebuilt my 2276 with just under 8 to 1 compression. I have now a what I think to be a great foundation for a turbo motor. 82 stroker crank X 94 weisco forged pistons with total seal rings. It has cb 044 heads 40X35 with a mild port clean up job. I'm running a engle 110 cam with 1-1.25 rockers. Right now it has dual 44 webers but It will have dual 45 dells on the car as soon as I get the rebuild kits for them. I'm planning on blowing through the dells. I have a Garret t3/t4 that I have been told will be a great for my motor. Ok so to get the power to the ground I have an built 002 bus tranny with the lowest ring and pinion that you get. It has thing CV's and 31" tires. My top speed in 4 gear at 3000 rpm's is about 65 mph. In first gear I can just about get out and walk next to it at idle. My plan is to start off with around 5psi of boost and work my way up to maybe around 8psi. I have an external 38mm Wastegate and a boost controller that will halp me in tuning he boost to where I want it. I want to be able to drive the car all day long and not be building a ton of boost but when my right foot takes control there is enough power there to spank any Honda I can find (at least to 65mph). I have looked at all the turbo headers out there and haven't been alll that impressed. Most are 12,14 and some 16 gauge steel pipe. I don't think that is thick enough. My buddy and I are building one that will in part supported on the bumper. We are going to use .090 wall steel tubeing with a id of just under 1.5". We're guessing that the header will weigh around 40 pounds. I don't want my header cracking under the weight of the turbo with all bouncing around that a baja does. I will post some pics in the next few days along with the spects of the turbo because I know you are going to want those.

[Devastator]

That's one heavy exhaust. I run a turbo on my 2276 in a sandrail without cracking anything. Just add a few support brackets to the turbo and you should be fine.
My 2c.

[ejbbal21]

I plan to make this thing bullet proof. I don't want any weak links. Out on the rough trails with all the bouncing and jarring that happens I dont want to be stuck.

[ejbbal21]

Ok so I was way off on the 40lbs thing it might 20lbs. Probably a lot Less. I will post some pics tomorrow if I get a chance of it all tacked together. We are fabricating the T pipe from the the turbo to the hat. It just didn't look right with the chrome one thats in the pictures.

[ejbbal21]

Here are the update build pics:







I still have quite a bit of work on it but it's coming together. The last pic is the latest update.

[yvre]

Nice!

[shag55]

Nice work. Where did you get the .090 wall tubing?

[ejbbal21]

My buddy got 6 U Bends from a local steel supplier and that’s all we used. I don't know anyone with a tube bender so we built it with a few more welds. We should have it running tonight. I will be driving it for a week or two to make sure everything is good no leaks and such. Then take it apart, clean up the welds and have it coated. It's crazy how just when you think you have everything to put a turbo on your motor you get half way into it and realize that you don't have half the stuff that you need. This is my first turbo build, but my buddy has done quite a few. I can't wait to take it for a drive. I'm not going to put a ton of boost in the engine probably only around 5psi. It's a Baja after all and half the time it's off road it's crawling over boulders and logs and anything else that gets in my way. Low end torque is the key when running 31" tires. I will keep you all posted on the updates and i will take some more pics.

[ejbbal21]

Update: Tonight I installed the dual 45 dells and linkage. I have been working all tue plumbing for this thing. Holy crap there is a lot of 1/8 rubber line all over the place. We tapped the intake manifold for the boost gauge and blow off valve. I spent like $50 just in brass fitting today. It all adds up. We are tapping both sides of the manifold so as not to get flutter in the gauge and blow off valve. I have been told that some guys tap all 4 cylinder to keep everything equal. Does it make all that much difference to tap all 4 cylinder?

[Devastator]

Does it make all that much difference to tap all 4 cylinder?

Sounds silly to me. You can get less gauge "flutter" by running a glycerin filled gauge.

[miniman82]

Does it make all that much difference to tap all 4 cylinder?

Sounds silly to me. You can get less gauge "flutter" by running a glycerin filled gauge.

Even a glycerin filled gauge will bounce if you only tap one runner in a vacuum situation, because you're only sensing the fluctuations from one cylinder. WOT under boost, all cylinders are exposed to the same air pressure and the butterflies are open. So for pressure, a single line works. To get a strong vacuum signal to open the BOV, you will need all 4 cylinders.

[ejbbal21]

It's alive!!!!! Not one leak in the whole setup. No leaks in the fuel, boost, exhaust or in any of the small boost lines. It was hitting 7psi really quick. We are going to up the mains to 170's and up the idles as well. We are going to take it to my local Vw shop on saturday to hook up the sniffer to it to see just how lean or rich it is running. There is a ton of, well call them reference lines. I did hook up a manual boost controller to have more control over the boost. My first thought was to set the boost at 5psi but now I'm thinking that 10psi could be realistic . I don't want to worry about over boosting or putting a hole in the piston. Also I refuse to run mixed fuel or have to add any additives. I want to be able to go to any gas station and put premium in the tank and be done. Well that's the update. If I have a chance tomorrow I will post some more pics.

[turbobaja]

Nice work on that header, it should be the last thing to wear out on that engine . How are you controlling your timing?? And I hope you can take that "sniffer" on a road test with you to see where you are under boost, or will you be on a chassis dyno?

[ejbbal21]

Nice work on that header, it should be the last thing to wear out on that engine . How are you controlling your timing?? And I hope you can take that "sniffer" on a road test with you to see where you are under boost, or will you be on a chassis dyno?

Thanks, as far as the timing it's just the 009 with the total advance set at 24* I have a bosch rev limiter rotor set at 5800 RPM. I don't want this thing to rev to the moon. My plan from the start was to have a very streetable baja form a daily driver stand point that is going to last, but also take a pounding in the desert. As far the "sniffer" goes, no I can't take it on the road and it's not a dyno. I dont have access to one nor the funds needed. Here in the next few weeks about 4 or 5 of us VW guys are going to a chassis dyno and get three pulls each just to see what kind of numbers we are pulling to the wheels. But untill then we will have to see. What would you recomend for timing control? I think that my next up grade is body lift so I can put my 4X5 arms on the rear with 930 cv's. I maxed out my suspention way befor the turbo was on the car. It was about the time the 2276 got put in.

[turbobaja]

A locked 009 will work. A limited 009 is slightly better (advances from ~10-24). But of course being able to have a little more timing off-boost in the mid-upper rpms (28-32), and retarding as boost builds would be even better. Best of all would be a system that allows decent idle advance, advances with rpm, advances even further under cruise conditions (off-boost), and can also retard as boost builds. There's dozens of ways to do any of the above and multiple threads about each of them on these forums. For what you're doing with this baja, it's probably not really important, but something to consider in the future depending on your drivability needs.

Sounds like a fun dyno session with your VW buddys, if you can have a wideband in your down pipe during your runs it would be highly recommended. Are you going to be able to monitor things like cyl head temp, oil temp, etc while driving?