MA70_Powa's 86.5 Turbo Conversion

[MA70_Powa]

Hey all,

I've been a member on here for quite some time but as yet I haven't posted up a thread about my ride - now that my turbo conversion is finally DONE I figured I'd make one (most is copied from my thread on SF.com.au), so here it is...

First, a bit of history.
My car is a 1986.5 N/A Auto MA70 hardtop, currently with 164xxx k’s on the clock. I’ve wanted to get an MA70 ever since my brother owned one a few years ago.

I bought the car one cold, rainy night at the end of May 2007, and it was in quite a bad state – but I did manage to get it for a bargain price so I’m not complaining
The car had a major misfire and would stall quite often, the exhaust was cactus, the tires were bald and it was in desperate need of a service, among other things. It was bog stock apart from lowered springs, but it did have keyless entry and central locking :icon_bigg
But it didn’t come with a sound system…

Here's a pic I took the day after I bought it:

 

[MA70_Powa]

I then set about fixing up the car. First thing was to replace the leads, spark plugs, oil and oil filter, dizzy cap and rotor button. After that the car did run better, but things weren’t right just yet. I then changed the exhaust to a 3” catback with a stoopid 4” cannon which I got free with the car. The car sounded hell tough, but was waaay too loud. Sooo, it was time for a whole new one! A few days later I had a full 2.5” hi-flow exhaust fitted to the car, which is MUCH nicer – nowhere near as loud and has an awesome note.

Next on the list was replacing the tires as they were quite bald – after some random searching I came across a set of 17” Super Advans. 8.5” wide at the front and 9” wide in the rear – a wheel I’ve always liked, so naturally I had to buy them.
A little while later they were on my car - they’re a very snug fit and really light too! At the same time I painted my brakes and wheels hubs black.

Then all was well for a few months, until one day my car started playing up again - so off to the mechanic, and…
BHG! :cry:

Sooo, it was TURBO TiME!!!

I managed to source a complete 7MGTE soon after from a 1990 Supra but it was in need of a full rebuild While that was being done I went on a bit of a shopping spree and bought:

- Titan Metal Headgasket

- ARP Head Studs and Bolts

- T04B Turbo

- T4 manifold (eBay)

- 40mm HKS knockoff wastegate

- Boost Guage + DIN Holder

- Manual boost controller

- Auto tranny cooler

- Large-ish intercooler

- New leads & platinum spark plugs

I've also bought a Lexus AFM and walbro 255 lph fuel pump in preparation for when I buy some 550cc injectors (walbro has been installed in my car)

 

[MA70_Powa]

After a shite load of delays and hunting down lots of new parts, the engine was finally in....

Here's a shot of it when it was dropped off at the exhaust place:

Then it got towed back to my mechanic so he could finish up.

Delay after delay followed, with the main one being in my wiring. Turns out the 89 loom I bought to go with the engine has a fault somewhere so it wouldnt start... luckily I found an 88 loom and ecu and in my car it went - surprise surprise it started right up! But it still wasnt perfect.

Eventually it was done, after even more delays. All was well but he took it for a test drive around the block and the turbo shat itself.... :3d_frown:
Note to self: never buy a turbo off ebay again!

So now I needed a new one. After a bit of research I purchased a Hypergear TR43i turbo - good for 500hp! :evil2:

Then is was back to the exhaust place to get my dump pipe redone to fit the new turbo and my IC piping redone because I'd forgotten about the accordian hose with the previous turbo! :aigo:

 

[MA70_Powa]

While waiting for this lot of piping to be done I went on another shopping spree and bought DBA slotted front rotors, new pads and a Turbosmart bov.

Then it was a waiting game as the car was finished up by the mechanic.

Finally, last week I get the call I've been waiting for for 6 months...

I GOT MY CAR BACK!!!!!


6 months after I started this conversion it's finally DONE!!!

Here's what it looks like today:

My new rotors

Well, almost done.... this is what still needs to be fixed for it to be totally done:
-fix n/a tacho to work with turbo engine
-get new speedo cable (my downpipe half melted mine... doh...)
-re-wire remote central locking and immobiliser
-get an O2 sensor

(These have all since been taken care of)

 

[MA70_Powa]

I finally got my camera working so I just went outside and took a few photos of the car - yay for a sunny day :hihi:

My new engine bay!

My new turbo - a Hypergear TR43i

my new BOV - Turbosmart Kompact series plumback

My air filter setup - a real TiGHT squeeze!

My FMIC - a nice snug fit (didnt have to cut anything )

Everything's going great so far - I've done ~800k's on the new engine so far.
It's pretty sweet except the highest I can rev it is 5300 as any higher and fuel cut kicks in (at ~10psi) but it only gets to 4500 on a cold night before the same happens... doh...

still, I love it hehe

 

[MA70_Powa]

So, for all those who want to know, here are the new specs:
- Fully rebuilt 1990 7MGTE, overbored 40thou
- 50thou oversized pistons
- titan 1.2mm metal headgasket
- ARP head bolts and studs
- Hypergear TR43i 500hp T3 turbo
- eBay T3 manilfold
- 40mm HKS knockoff wastegate
- 2.5" stainless steel IC hardpipes
- 3" turboback stainless steel exhaust
- Turbosmart Kompact Plumback bov (direct replacement for the bosch bovs)

No idea on a power figure yet but once the engine is run in it'll be off to a dyno!

 

[ERA]

Sweet buildin'.
Literally jumped out of my chair when I saw you car sitting on those Super Advans

 

[MA70_Powa]

yea theyre pretty sweet huh

 

[MA70_Powa]

well I think my wastegate is a dud because it's got an 8psi spring and yet I boost to 10psi (and fuel cut...) meh so I need to get another one

Also just done 1000ks (625 miles ) as of last night and everything is going just fine

 

[akito]

Interesting ic routing. It is a wide body? or a narrow body?

 

[Bigzavs]

glad to see you got rid of the ridiculously large exhaust housing

looks good tho, congrats on the swap, 86.5 FTW

 

[MA70_Powa]

its a widebody
the IC piping had to go that way because my the outlet on my compressor housing is pointing almost straight up - there wasn't enough room to have it pointing down like they usually go (almost touched the strut tower), as the manifold is more a mid-mount than a high-mount.

and yea that turbo was total shite - didnt hit boost till 5000rpm lol I'm glad it killed itself

 

[MA70_Powa]

Well Im getting a KKR 38mm wastegate installed today with a 9psi spring, so hopefully that'll actually work properly and not overboost, thus curing my fuel cut issues!
well, except at night when I hit it at 7psi...
But hopefully I'll be able to rev it till redline now now finish running the engine in properly

Then it'll be off to the dyno to find out my power figures

 

[MA70_Powa]

New seat retrims from the GB on sf.com.au are on

Just took these pics now - I'll get some better pics up on the weekend when its daylight.

 

[MA70_Powa]

Well I got a bit of scare last night! over the last few days I'd noticed that my oil pressure was slowly getting lower and lower, and over the weekend I noticed a small oil patch where I'd parked the car. So I jacked it up in search for leaks - turns out my oil return hose split! (I'm not using the stock return line as it didnt fit) It's not very far away from the turbo manifold, so the heat mustve got to it. I'm gonna heat wrap the manifold too, so it won't happen again...
I'm lucky that the car only lost about a litre of oil (I'm glad I put all 5L of the bottle in when I did the last oil change!)

I'm also getting my new wastegate put on today, finally!

 

[steven89]

Looks great!! Keep it up!

Where did you get your rotors? and how much? I need a new set and I wanna go for slotted.

 

[MA70_Powa]

Cheers
I got my rotors from DBA here in Aussie land - they cost me about AUD250 delivered.

 

[MA70_Powa]

Just a small update - got my new wastegate in finally and this time it actually works!
At the same time I discovered that my manifold wasnt actually bolted onto the block fully and was leaking at the gasket. Sooo that got fixed, and holy crap it made a difference!
Now I start seeing boost at about 2000rpm (was 3200) and I'm on full boost (9psi) just before 3000rpm (was 4500), and I can rev it all the way to redline without hitting fuel cut yay.

I also took some daytime shots of my seats but I've managed to lose the SD card with them on there... but I'll have another look tonight after work.

Now to fix my compressor surge and then I'll be right!

EDIT: surge pretty much gone also I fixed my vac lines and moved my wastegate vac line to just after the turbo... only hitting 6psi now (got 3psi drop thru piping )

 

[MA70_Powa]

Seeing as it's been a while since I updated anything I thought I'd post a small update - installed my boost controller last week, now it's running at ~9psi (depending on outside temperature) which is just under fuel cut on this turbo - and feels quite a bit quicker
and I also bought an SAFC that'll get installed soon! I'll get it tuned on the dyno and see how I go.

Then it'll be time for some 550cc's and a tranny upgrade...

 

[MA70_Powa]

Update time!

I went on a bit of a shopping spree recently, and this is what I bought (sorry bout shitty mobiel pics):

Innovate LC-1 wideband O2 sensor kit

Tokico Illumina II shocks


And I also bought an A340E stage 1.5 shift kit from MV Automatics here in Aus (good for 350rwhp with a tranny cooler :evil2, as well as Some of RonnieK's poly bushes from the GB for my swaybars and rear subframe.

So far everything is installed apart from the rear subframe bushes and WOW did it make a difference! My old shocks and bushes mustve been well and truly stuffed
Shifting between gears is also much quicker and firmer now


I'm waiting on the stimulus bonus from the govt before buying my injectors, so not too long to wait now...