I am just going to run low boost. . . yea right!, A warning for anyone who wants to boost a 5sfe Options

[HardHead93]

This is a cautionary tale to anyone who thinks they are going to slap a turbo on a high mileage engine and run low boost. DON’T DO IT! In December of 2014 despite all the posts that say, don’t boost your engine unless it is low mileage or rebuilt, I went for it. Is the 5sfe a great engine to boost, yes, but do it right. This post will tell the LONG, expensive, frustrating story to creating my 5sfte. The below write up is what happened.

Background
It has been a long road for this 5sfte build. Here is the engine I started with:


I saw what Supershannon77 did with an Ebay T3/4 turbo for her 6th gen Celica 5sfte and I tried to duplicate it (with a few upgrades). I bought an Ebay kit with the idea that I would need to modify or replace some of the parts that came in it but the bottom line was it would give me a turbo, intercooler, exhaust manifold, downpipe, and some miscellaneous needed parts.

As I started the build I found the kit seriously lacking. The big one was the downpipe was for a CT26 turbo not a T3/4 so I had to order one. There was no oil return line and there was not enough intercooler piping. It took 3 months to resolve all the issues with the advertised “bolt-on” kit (there is no such thing as bolt on from Ebay), I ended up with the following build:


8 psi boost
T3/T04E Turbo
Turbosmart Wastegate
2.5 inch full exhaust
Magnaflow Muffler and Catalytic Converter
AEM FIC Piggyback
SSQV Blow Off Valve
460cc RX-7 Injectors
FMIC
Walpro 255 Fuel Pump
3sgte 3 Bar MAP Sensor
Custom downpipe from Demon Motorsports
Ebay tubular exhaust manifold

I started noticing when I would pop the hood after a drive that there was an extreme amount of heat coming out of the engine bay. I also saw that the under hood insulation was burning away. After doing some digging, I found that the tubular manifold I was using was giving off too much heat instead of shooting it down to the exhaust. I needed a 3sgte manifold. I went to the Toyota dealership and they told me that all their warehouses are out of stock and that the best bet was to find a used one. That led to one option, Ebay. After about a week of missing out on bids I finally scored a 3sgte manifold. It arrived and I was so excited, I ceramic coated it and put it on and the car was back!


Then another problem reared its head, the clutch started slipping. I bought a SPEC stage 2 clutch, got it installed and the car ran like a champ. In the process of tuning the car, I sprung a fuel leak that lead to an engine fire. I think it the Walpro fuel pump put too much pressure on the original lines coming from the fuel filter and something popped.




Now here I am, where I should have started. In hindsight I should have rebuilt the engine before going down the turbo route. My plan was to fix the fire damage and rebuild the engine to a 14-15 psi boost-able monster. My goal is 280-300 horsepower. Based on what I saw in Pressure2’s build, I can use stock pistons and rods but I will need a metal head gasket. I planned to swap the California cylinder head with a Federal head so the fuel injectors fit perfectly.

[HardHead93]

Engine Build-Up
Once the engine was apart I took the block and crank to a machine shop. The engine had 132K on it and did not need to be bored. The block was honed and vatted. The crank was polished. Here they are:




Also, I ordered a rebuilt federal cylinder head. The company was willing to take my old Cali head as a core. The California head has some differences from the Federal brother.
1. Different injector seats
2. Extra EGR port on the back
Here is the old head next to the new one:


I decided to paint the block just to make it look cool.



Now it was time to start putting this puppy back together but I was getting an itching feeling I was missing something so I started doing some more research. I was looking to any weak points or flaws with my build and I found one that bothered me. The rod bolts may not be strong enough to handle the power I was going to put them through so I decided to go with a forged rod. This would ensure that a bolt would not snap under boost. Also, I went with an aluminum allow piston for added strength. It could not beat a forged piston but the forged ones cost WAY too much money. You could see how much beefer the new piston and rod is compared to the older one.



Block and head back together.


Timing belt.




Before I put the fuel rail on I wanted to do a comparison of the fuel injectors. Here are RX-7 (red top), stock California (green middle), and stock federal (green bottom) injectors. You can see the difference between the California one compared to the other 2. Some people say the federal injector will fit in the California head, well not for me.


Here the engine back together.


This post has been edited by HardHead93: Apr 6, 2016 - 12:52 AM