Upgraded (almost).. wondering what to expect....

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Just wondered if some of you with more experience tham myself could tell me what I should expect from my recent purge of funds from my wallet...
57 Trim CT26 Turbo (not here yet.. from DM), HKS 3" catback exhaust, no injectors/intercooler/afm/bov changes.
Got a HKS Boost controller being added (believe its a EVC 4?) and should have the car back in about a week. All this occurs because my bearings are failing in my stock CT26.

Wondering what type of power gain I should expect from it being this simple?
Any guesses?

(oh yeah.. 7MGTE... 88 MK3)
 

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
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Actually I should have mentioned, planning on running 11 psi, would like to go 19 psi but worried about stock intercooler and maybe putting a bit too much on my 7m
 

Maple191

Member
Mar 21, 2012
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Toronto
im not sure about what kinda power youll be making but youll be just about to hit FCO at that psi with out AFM and Injector upgrades.
 

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
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yes, all stock. I do have the LIPP AFM housing (I think I can just xfer my electronics into it) and a MKIV Denso Fuel pump. Maybe I should jump the injectors in as well at this point. I thought that basically I would be okay without doing that until about 19 psi. Still not clear on certain things. The turbo has the wastegate built in I believe so I dont need an external one with this setup and I dont need to do anything with the stock BOV because Im still with the stock intercooler. Not sure what the max HP rating is for stock IC though. This isn't quite how I planned to do the upgrade, the dying turbo kinda put me a bit off step from my plans.
 

Compton74

New Member
Oct 8, 2008
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Long Beach
Well with injectors and a AFM hold the f on. Id get everything on there and slowly play with it, shit when i put my divorced downpipe and 3 inch exhaust on it felt so much completely different it isnt even funny, and mind you this is at stock boost. You can run stock intercooler at 19psi and it should be fine, just go through all the clamps in the lines and make sure they are tight, especially the one coming off the turbo. I ran my car at 14lbs and in first and second it was a rocket ship. Be careful with 19lbs your on the very edge of that turbo, Also what condition is your headgasket in? Stock or metal? Have fun and be safe.
 

mcammarn

matt
Feb 24, 2012
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olympia wa
if you look at the build section, that can help you get a rough estimate as well to. theres peoples quarter time with mods they have.
 

Grandavi

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Sep 25, 2008
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Headgasket was redone in 2004 (actually.. full engine rebuild at that time). That was about 22,000 km ago mileage-wise. The Headgasket is a Cometic from my records although it wasnt me that had it done. Leakdown and compression tests show everything going perfectly fine right now. Smoke at the tail during startup was assumed to be leaking valve stem seals, but that only happens at vacuum while sitting. Right now the smoke is thick and stays longer so it looks like the stock turbo is spitting oil into the intake. Getting to be a "hard start" as well, so I believe that is all correct.
I dont want to overpush the car, so I may hold back at 11-14 psi for the street until I get the injectors/IC, etc... done up. I have heard that with the exhaust upgrade its a fairly noticeable difference.
 

radiod

Supramania Contributor
Dec 13, 2007
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With just the turbo and exhaust on the car you might run in to fuel cut. Being in Calgary you might be safe with the higher elevation (I'm used to very close to sea level). It should easily hit 10psi on it's own, but again, might creep to fuel cut. If it DOES start doing that there's not much you can do other than add restriction or move forward. You don't want to install the Lexus AFM until you have ALL the pieces necessary (being AFM, 550cc injectors, AFPR, and pump). Getting something like an SAFC to do some tweaking with the fuel is always a plus as well.
 

IndigoMKII

New Member
May 9, 2011
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Well if you're wondering the changes it'll be, I raced my friends 87 turbo that was stock and at 12 psi. At half throttle I pulled 1/2 a car on him before I was changing to 3rd, at full throttle from a dead stop I let off at the end of second because he was several cars back.

At that point I still had stock everything but ct2657(6-8psi) and apexi air filter. I changed out my intercooler, afpr and went 3" downpipe from DM and now I'm hitting fuel cut with NO shims on the wastegate or boost controller.

The biggest change I noticed was the 3" downpipe as it really woke the car up. I've got 550 injectors and a lex afm waiting to go in, before I put them in I'm waiting to buy a safc2 so I can get it off pig rich.
 

Grandavi

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Sep 25, 2008
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Yes, its a HKS 3" downpipe (HKS 3103-RT-003 Downpipe). I havent seen it, but am wondering if I need to do a 3" elbow or if the downpipe replaces that bottleneck...
Fairly certain I dont have to worry about it, because I think the downpipe bolts directly to the turbo?
 
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IndigoMKII

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May 9, 2011
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Grandavi;1880461 said:
Yes, its a HKS 3" downpipe (HKS 3103-RT-003 Downpipe). I havent seen it, but am wondering if I need to do a 3" elbow or if the downpipe replaces that bottleneck...

When this bottleneck is removed, you won't need your boost controller til you get the lex/550's installed. Mine went from 6-8 PSI to bending the needle on the stock gauge just from changing the downpipe. Yes, I changed the parts in steps to see if the butt dyno could notice a difference. On the downpipe my butt dyno AND my tires noticed the difference.
 

Turbo Habanero

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Apr 28, 2009
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ebay sells them for $80

when my car was making 400+whp upgarded basically everything BPU and if i went back to wastegate pressure (60-1 ct26 stock wastegate) it was only at 6psi
 

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Thanks! DM may have one, waiting to hear from them.. if they have it, they will toss it in with the Turbo upon shipping (which will save me a bit). The only problem with that one is the bung for wideband which I am not going to be doing any time soon. Curious that they are so hard to find though, I guess most get that issue dealt with by getting a downpipe with the elbow already in it...
 

supraguy@aol

Well-Known Member
Dec 30, 2005
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Atlanta
Like Radiod said-No Lipp AFM without larger injectors. You'll lean out.
Use the turbo with the exhaust, and get an elbow. You will like how it feels, and should get at least 2-3psi for free.