PWR chargecooler project

[steve-m-uk]

Hi guys,
 Recently joined the site after being turned to the mk3 by Nic Wabbitkilla, I came from a mk2 turbo so wanted something without the flaws of the sw20 chassis but with the effortless power delivery.This is what i ended up buying





As most of you will know this car has been associated with ROC for quite some time and i purchased it from Steve of MR2Only mag fame.
The car is a '53 Hass stage 2 turbo conversion and is claimed to be making around 220bhp and it certainly feels like it is   s:D s:D  I have nicknamed the car 'The Banzai Buzz Bomb'   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  
From my experience with the mk2 i found that a well installed chargecooler makes a huge difference to the turbo charged mr2's and this is something i am going to do on the mk3.
 The car is currently fitted with a 'precision' intercooler which i presume was part of the Hass kit,and it looks a good piece of kit but it is mounted so the air flow would have to go under the car and then turn upward through 90degrees to flow through the intercooler,not ideal and lots of room for improvement.
I could have fabricated some form of scoop under the IC but this would only make the ground clearance worse and i love to take the roadster on runs in the Dales   s:D s:D  
 My plan over the next few months is to install this little beauty





It's a 4"x10" barrel chargecooler and is advertised as being good for upto 320bhp, more than enough for my plans   s:D s:D  
I managed to get this at a bargain price on ebay (less than 50% of its retail price) and intend to fit this in place of the IC,included with the chargecooler was this bracket which should make mounting the unit a breeze.



Aswell as the chargecooler itself i also purchased this from AVT which will make the installation and subsequent bleeding of the system much easier,negating the need for a header tank.I will just mount this in the hose at the highest point.



For the heart of the system i intend to use the pump from my mk2's old chargecooler system,this is an OEM Toyota pump from a celica GT4 and is huge and more than capable of pumping enough water round the system, it also has the advantage of being rebuildable should it ever fail.
I also hope to re-use the radiator from my mk2 system,this was the radiator from a fiat cinquecento which i'm hoping will fit into the roadster's nose.
Recently i have spoken to Ste and Nic about the project and hopefully this will be going ahead at the 'spitstop' once the weather improves a little   s8) s8)  
That's it for now but i'll update the thread as things progress   s:D s:D  
Steve

[markiii]

if the fiat rad doesn;t work then a metro turbo one will

[steve-m-uk]

Thanks Mark, i'll keep that in mind   s:) s:)  used to have an MG metro turbo, rotted like bad teeth but was fantastic fun to drive   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[aaronjb]

I wish my barrel had come with a mount like that! I had to get two giant P clips made up (good job my Dad worked somewhere with a big engineering shop at the time   s:D s:D  )

[steve-m-uk]

Just a little update, this weekend Nic and Ste have kindly offered to help me with the install of the chargecooler   s:D s:D  
So today i had a trip out and bought the silicone hoses for the chargecooler install this weekend, there was two ways of doing the install that i could see and each had pro's and con's

Cooler next to battery:
This was my original idea,the cooler would sit next to the battery and be plumbed in just before the throttle body, this would shorten the length of pipework to the turbo therefore reducing lag( if there was any  :laughing ) and keep the cooler away from any heat source.
However mounting in this position would make bleeding the cooler a pain due to it being at the highest point and also would mean moving the MAF to another location in the pipework and as the Hass kit comes with a custom inlet tube with MAF adapter this was something i didn't want to do.

Cooler behind subframe in Hass IC position:
 This is the position i will go with, the cooler will fit in the place of the stock IC neatly behind the subframe, in this position it will be at the lowest point so will be beneficial to bleeding but also be away from heat source and as a bonus be in the airflow under the car so gain cooling from that too  :clapping:
the downside of this location is the length of pipework from turbo to throttle body but being as my car uses a GT28RS turbo there is very little if any lag anyway so should not be an issue, i believe chargecoolers have very little pressure drop compared to intercoolers anyway so i should see a healthy increase for the same boost level  :th:

Here are the silicone elbows which take the 2" pipework of the Hass kit up to the 2 1/4" inlet of the chargecooler and visa versa at the outlet end and the clamps which go with them.



and here are the elbows in their fitted positions on the cooler.



The small length of silicone hose in the picture is a 2" jointer that i got incase i need to alter the Hass pipework to accept the different length of the chargecooler compared to the Hass intercooler.

[PaullyP2010]

Good luck with this Steve,
I am very interested as I plan to do this myself in the coming months  s:) s:)
Do you have the standard Hass exhaust,or a custom one?

Any pics / write up you can do on this would be very very helpful!
Cheers,
Paul

[steve-m-uk]

it's more of a drainpipe than an exhaust,sounds horrific   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  i think it was fabricated by a previous owner,the car is going into Zorstec in Bradford in the next couple of weeks for a full stainless system making up with a silencer to make the car more track friendly   s8) s8)  
My other half Tara will be along with us at the garage this weekend so i'll ask her to take lots of photos of the work as we go along   s:D s:D

[PaullyP2010]

it's more of a drainpipe than an exhaust,sounds horrific   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  i think it was fabricated by a previous owner,the car is going into Zorstec in Bradford in the next couple of weeks for a full stainless system making up with a silencer to make the car more track friendly   s8) s8)  
My other half Tara will be along with us at the garage this weekend so i'll ask her to take lots of photos of the work as we go along   s:D s:D

Drainpipe is just about right, drrrroooooone, I am very interested to see what Zorstec come up with for a Hass kit!   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  
I have been to one (Powerflow) exhaust place and he really didn't fill me with confidence, so still looking for options. I want/need to keep the lower cross member free, as that is where I want to put my PWR barrel.

So many things to do  s:D s:D  

Paul

[spit]

Yes it is a bit of a drainpipe   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  The original exhaust failed at several points in its trombone journey around the back of the car. The quick and cheap solution to getting it roadworthy again was to cut out the broken bends and run pretty much straight out.
I think Steve (previous owner Steve) would've changed this if he'd opted to keep the car for longer. I'm sure Zorstec'll do a great job on it.

[PeteT]

I am very confident Zorstec will do a great job. They have made a fantastic job of mine  s:D s:D

[steve-m-uk]

Yesterday myself,Nic and Ste set about fitting the chargecooler , what a job it turned out to be, requiring removal of the front and rear bumpers to do properly and the hardest part was bleeding the system,which we still haven't managed to do   s:) s:)   so back again tomorrow to carry on  :th:

here's some pics from today of the progress:

Ste having a 'moment'


hovering roadster





Test fit to check position



the filler pot





GT4 pump neatly fitted to gearbox casing using GT4 mounting  :th:





The connections and routing of the pipes at the front rad







Whilst i was underneath it seemed a good time to fit the front member brace







The cable ties will be clipped neatly once we are happy with the system.

The finished under bonnet shot



A couple of pics of the car looking stripped  :crybaby:





All in all a good days work, will finish today we hope   s:) s:)

[PaullyP2010]

Hey Steve (and team),
Did you manage to get this finished off, looks like it turned out to be a bit epic!
Hope you got all sorted in the end
Cheers,
Paul

[steve-m-uk]

Yes Paul, it's finished   s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:   took some bleeding but once the pump primed it started firing the coolant round and quickly got the air out aided by Ste using a crop sprayer to force water into the rad bleed tube. The pump was wired with a 4pin relay and takes it's trigger from the ignition live on the boomslang harness at the ecu.
 Took the car on a little blast around the Manchester ring road and first impressions are very good,the car certainly pulls better and the front lifts more under acceleration, there is noticeably more torque and it now flashes the peak boost warning (set at 10psi) which it didn't do before so there is obviously less pressure drop. But the proof was when we pulled back into the spitstop and popped the bonnet,the engine and turbo were hot as hell which is normal after a run but the chargecooler had condensation on the outside and was really cold, result   s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:  the car does seem to run smoother than before too with the exhaust note sounding less angry than before with less popping and banging.
 Whilst we were in the front we noticed the stock radiator is a little perished so i have ordered a new one and will get that fitted asap   s:) s:)  

Can't thank Ste and Nic enough for all the help this weekend,cheers guys   s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown:

Ready to roll   s8) s8)  

[AC]

Result!  What did i tell you Steve, the PWR barrel / CC set up is bloody fantastic.

Get it re-mapped next once your [exciting   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  ] exhaust idea comes off and I reckon you'll be cranking out 270+.  You might end up in the scenario where you have to reign it in as if you approach 300 the rods will wilt.

[steve-m-uk]

This morning i took the roadster over to Zorstec in Shipley near Bradford, i knew these guys of old as they built a fantastic system for a friend of mine with a Peugeot 205 that had a Mi16 engine fitted with twin 45 webbers and it was a work of art, more recently they did a great job on PeteT's roadster so i was confident that these were the guys to sort the exhaust that has been a pain in the backside (and eardrums)on this car for the last few owners   s:D s:D  
 On inspection of the car the Zorstec guys commented on how they could make a much better job of the boost pipework replacing the Hass gear and re-route the hard pipes for the chargecooler to move it forward onto the subframe and shorten the overall length,a deal was struck were they will make custom hardpipes out of polished stainless steel and move the cooler to a better position under the turbo and then fabricate a custom exhaust system out of stainless steel that will make the car quiet enough to be used on any track   s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:  this work will have the added benefit of nothing being compromised,the Zorstec guys can make the hardpipes to suit any position they choose for the cooler and fit the exhaust system into the available space this will create,Car goes in next Wednesday for two days and should be ready in time for the OC dyno day   s:D s:D  can't wait   s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:

[Wabbitkilla]

Great news Steve .... the Zorstec guys are a happy bunch of enthusiasts.   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

Was a tiring weekend made better by achieving the result.
Almost makes me want to go turbo myself and cut the noise down from my car too.

[spit]

Smashing news that Steve. Are Zorstec going to sort mani and bracing at the same time?

[steve-m-uk]

No Ste, i'll get the manifold repaired by them later and make a brace up myself as the funds don't quite stretch that far   s:) s:)  they took a look at it and can do it easily so it's on the list of to do's.

[PaullyP2010]

Steve,
That is great news all round, I am chuffed for you, and very jealous!!
Just makes me look forward to doing the same with mine even more, sounds like putting the barrel on the lower cross member is definitely the way forward. I have all the parts that I need for my cc install now, but think I will have to do things in reverse order to you - I want to get the exhaust sorted first (as I need to make room in the engine bay), so pending on how your system turns out I think a visit to Zorstec may be on the cards in the near future.
Well done all

Cheers,
Paul

[PaullyP2010]

Hi Steve,
Any update on this, I am itching to hear  s:) s:)
Paul

[steve-m-uk]

Not yet Paul, car is going in this Wednesday for the zorstec treatment  s:) s:)  still working fine though so far.

[PaullyP2010]

Not yet Paul, car is going in this Wednesday for the zorstec treatment  s:) s:)  still working fine though so far.

Annnnnnnd?  s:D s:D  

So how did the visit to Zorstec go? C'mon Steve, you are my guinea pig here  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

Hope it all went well bud,

Paul

[steve-m-uk]

Not really, the car came back from Zorstec with no cat fitted even though it went in with one   s:? :? s:?  and they didn't even fit the post cat sensor (they took it out of the old exhaust and left it on the passenger seat) so now i'm stuck with a CEL all the time    s:x :x s:x  
The exhaust itself is very good quality but i now have to send the car back to be done again because they didn't listen to what i wanted in the first place.   s:evil: :evil: s:evil:  
They did do a good job of the chargecooler pipes and moved the cooler up onto the subframe which is much better.
This weekend the car went to RS tuning to be dynoed and made 218.9bhp but was running dangerously lean so is going back for a remap in a couple of weeks, also Ste noticed the manifold is cracked so that needs welding and bracing before mapping.

[markiii]

3 observations

1. suggest you wrap teh exhaust outlet from teh turbo its way too close to you chargecooler pipes
2. you need a heat shield between exhaust and PWR barrell
3. if getting teh manifold fixed get the to weld teh inside of teh T3 flange as well, Hass didn't do that and its weak as hell

[steve-m-uk]

Thanks markiii, i will wrap the system as far as the cat once it's been back for it fitting   s:) s:)   i think it's the angle i took the photo but the chargecooler pipe isn't as close as it appears in the photo so should be ok i think. Good call on the manifold, i'll get that done too as i don't want to remove it again if it can be avoided.
 I'm on the lookout for some Lotus exige 440cc injectors next as i believe the MWR 380cc ones i have will prevent me reaching the 270bhp i would like to achieve is this correct?