Ben's 914 TURBO Official World Premier, 'cuz it didn't blowd up. Options

[airsix]

Ok, so it isn't as cool as Chapman's 914-6 Turbo 3.0, but it's a turbo 914 all the same. Ladys and Gentlemen, at about 10:00 PST I got boost and there was much rejoicing. I took the car out, filled it with premium, tuned it with the laptop a little to make sure it got plenty of fuel under boost, and the mission was a sucess. Boost starts to come on at ~2,700rpm and is going full-steam by 3,500rpm.

I stand (ok, sit) here before you my brothers to declare that yes indeed, you can turbo a 914. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif)

Details:

Engine: '73 1.7, stock internals
EFI ECU: Perfect Power MIC3 (Cost ~$500 to get on the car and running 3 years ago)
Misc EFI stuff: Subaru 1.8T injectors, Holly throttle body off a 3.0 Chrysler, BMW 5xx fuel pump, foam motorcycle aircleaner (temporary)
Turbo: IHI off 1.8L Subaru (including wastegate)
Misc Turbo stuff: Bosch blow-off valve (for a Saab I think). Cheap. Plastic. Works great.
Total cost to add turbo: $175 (EFI was already on the car. Use Megasquirt+turbo and you can do this for <$400 easy)

I tried to modify my fuel pressure regulator with a boost-reference port like the in the dune-buggy.com article but I broke off a wire guage drill bit about 1.5" deep into the bolt. Dang. Only had about a quarter-inch to go too. So I just bolted it back on the car and set the fuel pressure at the 30psi I have the ECU turned for. I tried to crank up the injector pulse width under boost to compensate, but they hit 100% duty cycle at 5,000rpm because at that point they only have 20psi effective pressure (because there's 10lb of boost by that point). So I'm keeping it under 5k rpm until I get a rising-rate pressure regulator. The wideband O2 says mixtures are just fine below that point. I estimate I'm getting 110hp (That's not a WAG. I really did the math) which doesn't sound like much but is sure better than the 80hp I had before. I would still like to add an intercooler which could put it in the neighborhood of 130hp without getting too boost-happy. Even as it is now I would say it's 100% more fun to drive. I'm really happy about it. I'll get the pressure regulator issue squared away so I can run it up to 6k and I think it'll keep me happy for quite a while.

Rick said "This thread is worthless without pictures" so here's the best I could do. If you missed the earlier thread I'll throw in one of the earlier pics too. I tried to make a video but all you hear is wind noice and the blow-off valve between shifts.

[lapuwali]

The '63 Olds Jetfire had an aluminum 215 cu. in. 215HP V8, 10.25:1 CR, and 8 lbs boost. It too had a Rochester side draught carb ahead of the turbo, but with an elaborate alcohol injection system...Had AC, no knock sensors, no electronic boost or timing controls, and no detonation.

All very true, but in 1963 the gasoline coming out of the pump wasn't 85 octane fuel with a 10% alcohol content, and they could run the thing at 10-11:1 AFR w/o altering any smog police, as they're weren't any.

GM fooled around with turbos in the mid-60s (and were pioneers largely forgotten today by some who think it was Porsche and BMW who brought turbos to the street in the 70s), but they'd given up on them for a very long time, not to reappear on gasoline engines until the 80s, and even then I can only think of the GN. American Iron is not my subject. It's also interesting that it still took 25 years for turbos to appear on cars at all, since they were first developed in aircraft applications before and during WWII. Perhaps they were still classified post-war (they certainly were during it).

The history of turbos on production cars is an interesting one, with lots of ups and downs. Big hit in the early 80s, then they died off again for awhile (partially replaced by superchargers), and are now making a comeback.

Interesting you should mention the '63 Olds engine, since that's the Buick/Rover V8 so beloved of many Brit-car fans. All aluminum pushrod V8 of modest (by American standards) displacement that was very light (less than 300lbs). If it would fit, it would probably be an excellent 914 engine.