Hello,
I'm considering development of a completely new turbo setup to solve several issues plaguing older T-I cars. The goal is NOT to make T-II power, although further modification may allow this. I actually have some unique ideas that will allow the new setup to actually get much better fuel economy when driven conservatively, yet with the higher end breathing of a large bore throttle body T-II setup when you stomp on it.
Here are two of the main problems I'm trying to solve:
1. Tube connect style EGR valves are now apparently "unobtanium"
2. Ditto for the old DC motor '84-86(87) AIS motor.
The heart of the project is a new Intake+Throttle body design. And not to knock anyone's existing stuff, but I do not intend for this to be welded up tubes, but some combination of milling/casting that will not require extensive tooling costs.
The new intake will allow seamless intercooling of the T-I and convert it to a blow through style, but possibly allow you to keep your T-I turbo with some slight mods(I'll know when I start tearing the system down) Also, the new intake will keep the spirit of the log manifold with relatively short runners(To preserve throttle response) while attempting to solve the lean Cyl 3,4 issue the log has. I'm thinking some sort of baffle that separates the runners from the larger inlet with strategically placed ports. I'm picturing a manifold with a top cover so that the chamber can be open milled and a cover bolted on to close it up. As a bonus, the cover could be a plexi-clear for smoke flow testing observations during development to spot places where turbulence occurs and to optimize flow to the runners.
While I've noticed that the threaded tube style EGR is no longer available, there is a very similar one(Including the pipe tapped into the base for the extra plastic solenoid thingy and the checkvalve to atmosphere that my '84 has. With the only exception that it has a second, smaller flange mount where the threaded tube should be. Whatever I design will allow the use of this, still obtainable, EGR valve.
The throttle body will be designed to accept the newer, stepper motor, AIS, but I will design an interposer circuit that will take the two wire signal and convert it to multi-phase motor steps(This will be one of the first things designed as many could benefit from this alone).
I also have some interesting ideas that will allow the throttle body to have a non-linear response which will achieve the goal of better fuel economy with lighter on the throttle driving, while matching the flow of the wide bore TBs at WOT. If this gets implemented, then ECU code modification will have to follow as the TPS to actual airflow will no longer be linear (it will actually be two stepped linear functions with the step point somewhere near the 1/2 throttle point.
Ultimately, my performance goal is to be somewhere between a T-II and a T-III at 175-225HP, probably right at 200(~35% more than a stock T-I) but with measurably better fuel economy when not spooling up the turbo all the time. If a custom ECU is involved, there may even be switchable driving modes allowed as well.
Also, although there's a good chance that this will not be possible. I'd like to design a system that can be assembled/disassembled without the need to remove the head - I'm also considering some sort of custom cast-hybrid header. We'll see how far I get.
I'm sure the whole idea seems crazy and you're all just screaming "Just bolt on a T-II setup and be done with it!", but I'm in this for the challenge and education, otherwise I'd just do a RWD conversion and drop in a Viper V-10 which would probably be equivalent to my development costs before this thing is over
I'm considering development of a completely new turbo setup to solve several issues plaguing older T-I cars. The goal is NOT to make T-II power, although further modification may allow this. I actually have some unique ideas that will allow the new setup to actually get much better fuel economy when driven conservatively, yet with the higher end breathing of a large bore throttle body T-II setup when you stomp on it.
Here are two of the main problems I'm trying to solve:
1. Tube connect style EGR valves are now apparently "unobtanium"
2. Ditto for the old DC motor '84-86(87) AIS motor.
The heart of the project is a new Intake+Throttle body design. And not to knock anyone's existing stuff, but I do not intend for this to be welded up tubes, but some combination of milling/casting that will not require extensive tooling costs.
The new intake will allow seamless intercooling of the T-I and convert it to a blow through style, but possibly allow you to keep your T-I turbo with some slight mods(I'll know when I start tearing the system down) Also, the new intake will keep the spirit of the log manifold with relatively short runners(To preserve throttle response) while attempting to solve the lean Cyl 3,4 issue the log has. I'm thinking some sort of baffle that separates the runners from the larger inlet with strategically placed ports. I'm picturing a manifold with a top cover so that the chamber can be open milled and a cover bolted on to close it up. As a bonus, the cover could be a plexi-clear for smoke flow testing observations during development to spot places where turbulence occurs and to optimize flow to the runners.
While I've noticed that the threaded tube style EGR is no longer available, there is a very similar one(Including the pipe tapped into the base for the extra plastic solenoid thingy and the checkvalve to atmosphere that my '84 has. With the only exception that it has a second, smaller flange mount where the threaded tube should be. Whatever I design will allow the use of this, still obtainable, EGR valve.
The throttle body will be designed to accept the newer, stepper motor, AIS, but I will design an interposer circuit that will take the two wire signal and convert it to multi-phase motor steps(This will be one of the first things designed as many could benefit from this alone).
I also have some interesting ideas that will allow the throttle body to have a non-linear response which will achieve the goal of better fuel economy with lighter on the throttle driving, while matching the flow of the wide bore TBs at WOT. If this gets implemented, then ECU code modification will have to follow as the TPS to actual airflow will no longer be linear (it will actually be two stepped linear functions with the step point somewhere near the 1/2 throttle point.
Ultimately, my performance goal is to be somewhere between a T-II and a T-III at 175-225HP, probably right at 200(~35% more than a stock T-I) but with measurably better fuel economy when not spooling up the turbo all the time. If a custom ECU is involved, there may even be switchable driving modes allowed as well.
Also, although there's a good chance that this will not be possible. I'd like to design a system that can be assembled/disassembled without the need to remove the head - I'm also considering some sort of custom cast-hybrid header. We'll see how far I get.
I'm sure the whole idea seems crazy and you're all just screaming "Just bolt on a T-II setup and be done with it!", but I'm in this for the challenge and education, otherwise I'd just do a RWD conversion and drop in a Viper V-10 which would probably be equivalent to my development costs before this thing is over
