[JFF45]

How much of it are you doing yourself?
I'm in the process of doing mine but haven't found time to start a build thread yet.

I think the most popular/successful turbo on the TB45 is the GT35/40 from the BA/BF XR6.

 

[JFF45]

Pffft!

LOL! That's because you can't find them in Panama

 

[JFF45]

It's not easy to give advice without knowing what you're capable of doing yourself. Are you competent enough to splice the Megasquirt wiring into the ECU loom?
Do you know you'll also have to change the slotted disc in the distributor for Megasquirt to read the correct crank angle?

Do you have an idea what kind of money you want to pour into this project?
There's no point in people recommending $2k+ engine management systems if your budget can't cover it.
With the value of 4.5s these days, it's easy to spend more than the vehicle is worth..

Have you decided on top or front mount IC?
If you're going for top mount, I can show you some pics of how I made my IC cradle with 12" fan under the IC and how I modified the IACV to make room for a 450x300x76mm IC.

 

[JFF45]

The high mount manifold will impose limits on the size of the top mount IC.

As I'm doing a budget install, my reasoning is that, if I'm going to use a cheaper Ebay IC ($159), I need to have it as big as possible for it to be effective.

I'll have to find time to start a thread on what I've done so far rather than hijack this one..

 

[JFF45]

Here are some pics of how I'm going about doing mine. I made my own IC support to take a 12" Davies Craig fan. Also made my own intake pipes from 1.6mm mild steel exhaust pipe.

This is how I'll be doing my airbox. The silicone elbow will point down towards the turbo compressor once I get it installed.

I've kept everything so I can use the vehicle in the meantime up to the point where I finally remove the manifold. Just about ready for that now..

The charcoal canister that usually resides in this corner is now down behind the bumper.

 

[JFF45]

Some more pics..

To fit a 450x300x76mm IC over the throttle body, you need to relocate the IACV because the electrical connector sits too high.

Thanks to JoseM for this idea and for convincing me (with pics) that a 76mm thick IC will fit over the throttle body.

As a temporary measure (the aim was to always keep the vehicle driveable while doing these secondary modifications) I brazed some copper pipe & elbows to use the original air hose.

This is the elbow I welded up to change the orientation. 25mm holes, same as in the inlet manifold.

 

[JFF45]

It's a shame the thread is deteriorating into a pi$$ing contest..

Anway, to finish up on the TMIC choices I made, here a couple more pics of the scoop that goes with it.
This is the Ebay $115 fibreglass Navara style that I thought covered the IC as much as needed.

I painted it myself with rattle cans (budget install remember) and fitted it myself. I think it looks Ok for a 13 year old car..

Thanks Grm for letting me use your thread in the meantime. I'll start my own shortly..

 

[JFF45]

Double post..

 

[JFF45]

So can you turbo the 4.5 without running a aftermarket ecu..

You could but you'd need to keep the boost quite low, the intake air temps down and the fuel up.
JoseM is running with the standard ECU at the moment but he has a good knock detection device.

I have an Xede piggyback that I found on Ebay for $100 odd. It might be a bit old technology but it's more than adequate for the fuel & timing adjustments that I need. It allows me to add a MAP sensor and use that as load signal.

Secondhand Haltechs pop up on Gumtree from time to time but I don't know anything about their models or what's suitable.

You won't really get the best out of your turbo without some form of adjustable fuel & timing control.

 

[JFF45]

As I haven't installed the turbo yet, I have no idea what the effect will be.
I plan on keeping my current 2.5" cat back system and my original cat. I've made my own 3" dump with the internal wastegate which will reduce to 2.75" before the cat.
I currently have a wideband O2 sensor that also supplies the narrowband signal for the ECU. The sensor will be in the pipe before the cat, same as it is now.

 

[JFF45]

Here's a pic of the dump pipe I made. I'm not really happy with it but I'll try it like that to see how it goes. It's the 2nd 12mm flange that I've bought at $50 each.
The 2.75" elbow is just slipped in to see what it might look like. Not sure if I'll go with the V band.

The manifold was made in Tasmania. $400 delivered. Found the guy on Ebay.
I welded the small tabs on for the heatshield.

I made the heatshield from a stainless steel mini-sheet from Bunnings - $48.

 

[JFF45]

I took the advice of several people who all suggested the XR6 turbo. I was prepared to take the risk on a secondhand unit in spite of my inexperience.
I'll soon know if I bought a dud or not..

 

[JFF45]

Nice neat job there mate.
I can't find that guys manifolds anymore. He also did a tuned length high mount if it's the guy I'm thinking of.

Sent from my ASPERA R5 using Tapatalk

The Ebay seller I bought mine from is Keed80. He appears to still be active.

 

[JFF45]

If the Deutschwerks injectors are supplied for a Skyline fuel rail, there should be no need to change the O rings when fitting to a TB45E.
What you will need to watch is that the caps can be over tightened if you don't use 3mm spacers. I'll post a pic tomorrow to illustrate the issue.

If you're only planning a low boost install, 740cc could be way overkill. Original are only 270cc.
The 370cc from an RB25DET drop right in - still with the spacer issue I mentioned.
I bought 6 x 370cc Skyline injectors from Gumtree for $30. They'll be more than adequate for my needs.

You might also look at whether you really need a replacement ECU when a piggyback might be sufficient and won't have the issues of no A/C control, etc.
If I'm finally not happy with my Xede, I'll go the Megasquirt 3 as a replacement. I need to keep my ECU because of my auto trans as well.

 

[JFF45]

The left injector is a 370cc from an RB25DET. Note the 3mm plastic rim at the top that the 270cc from the TB45E on the right doesn't have.

This plastic rim will stop the cap from being screwed down 'metal to metal' as it does with a standard injector. It's likely to cause damage if you insist a bit.

It just needs 3mm spacers in there. I used 3mm high 5mm nuts like this:
It also prevents the rubber mounting block under the cap from being squashed.

You can also see the differences in thicknesses of the O rings between the 2 but the Skyline injectors fit into the TB45E fuel rail because the inside diameters of the fuel rail 'cups' are identical at the O ring level.

 

[JFF45]

As I said the internal gate on a gt35R is far to small for low boost.

There is a few upgrades you can get, larger swing valve and to port the housing out which helps significantly. Or to simply change the rear housing to an extranal gate.

What I normally do if the budget is tight is to upgrade the stock housing. Go to your nearest engine reconditioning shop and get a bag full of old exhaust valves of various sizes (or measure first and get the one closest to what you need).

Cut the stock valve out, and fit the new valve into the swing arm loosely. Mark with engineering blue the area the new valve covers, then attack the housing with a die grinder. Opening up both the wastegate hole, and improving the flow angles inside the housing to promote better flow into the wastegate area.

Once it is all opened up, you can weld a small washer in to fit the new valve or mushroom the head of it over to keep it in place. Either way the valve must be able to spin in place ie not be a permanent fixture to the swing arm.

You seemed to be having (and describing a remedy for) boost creep rather than a low boost issue here.
I understand that it's recommended to go to an external wastgate to better control low boost but the BA/BF XR6 turbos run 4.5 - 6 PSI standard with their internal wastegates and, in my research, I've read of several installs on TB45s that run up to 6 PSI without issue.

I understand that the choice of exhaust system also has quite an influence here.

 

[JFF45]

Good to see you jumping in, Shane, and adding your info to the mix.
I'm curious to know if you have any provisional power figures you could share.

 

[JFF45]

Of course.. It's just that it's too small to read

 

[JFF45]

Just following on from Scott's comment on the O2 sensor, I've had an Innovate MTX-L wideband sensor and gauge for several years now for tuning with the Xede.
I located it vertically (most recommended postion to eliminate all moisture ingress) in the section of pipe in my Pacemaker extractors where all the pipes come into one.
This is about 300mm before the cat and I'll be using the same postion when the turbo is fitted - also because all the wiring is already in place there.

This sensor also supplies the narrowband signal for the ECU so you don't need 2 sensors.

 

[JFF45]

Here's a better pic of T bone's graph. Remember this was taken with no intercooler yet and a basic fuel rich tune so it isn't a real indication of the potential of the installation.