MOOG: Welcome to another episode of Mighty Car Mods

MARTY: Recently we uploaded 3 massive videos showing you how to turbocharge your car

They went for hours and took weeks to make

MOOG: So in this video we are condensing all the information down to just a couple of minutes

For anybody who's ever wanted to know how to turbocharge their car

And at the end of the video we are going to give ya links for the full length versions so you can get more detailed information

So this is how to turbocharge your car in just a couple of minutes

So the first thing you're gonna need is a non turbo car

This is an MX-5 that we bought for 1500 bucks

You're also gonna need a turbo

We took this one from our Forrester XT

You'll also need a turbo manifold

intercooler

piping

water and oil lines, dump pipe, exhaust and an ECU to run it all.

Turbos uses exhaust gas to pressurize the intake

so everything before the intake manifold has to come off

as it's gonna be replaced

One of the trickiest bits is the exhaust manifold

You can either buy one premade or fabricate one

But be careful of the really cheap thin wall manifolds as they can crack

and in some cases even send dodgy welds down through your turbo

which causes major damage, and that sucks balls.

We're fabricating this one out of thick-walled mild steel bands.

The turbo is then rotated so the inlet and outlet are then oriented correctly

for our engine and for ease of pipework

which is created out of stainless steel bands.

We're reusing a front-mount intercooler

which has hot air in one side, cold air out the other.

and into our new intake piping.

The spent exhaust gases need to be dumped out of the back of the turbo

and into the exhaust

So we're also fabricating a dump pipe out of stainless steel.

Turbos spin super-fast and need oil to lubricate the bearings

in between the compressor and exhaust housings.

Tap a high-pressure oil feed from your engine block

Or tee off an oil-pressure sensor.

This feeds into the top of the turbo core

and then the low-pressure oil is drained down into the sump

where we've tacked a brass nipple (and nipples are awesome!)

A spinning turbo at supersonic unicorn speeds

creates heat, and water is used to cool a turbo down.

It's tapped from either side of the the water pump

for its feed and return lines, often using the heater hoses works well too.

Extra air in the engine means extra fuel is needed.

The stock injectors may run out of fuel flow,

so bigger injectors are a good idea.

We're going from 220cc to 450cc.

Meaning double the fuel flow,

And a more more modern injector is better for spray pattern and atomization.

An upgraded (or at very least brand new) fuel pump

supplies good fuel pressure and flow,

to meet the needs of the injectors.

An after-market ECU allows you to map for positive pressure inside the engine.

You can go full standalone as we've done,

or use a piggyback ECU which retains some of the factory ECU functions

ECUs need sensors to read air and water temperature

along with manifold pressure and RPM.

Some of the factory sensors are utilized

but we need to install an intake air temperature sensor

to accurately measure the temperature and therefore density

of the air entering the engine after it's been pressurized by the turbo

and cooled by the intercooler.

The ECU is wired in and calibrated so it knows exactly what point the four-stroke cycle

it can then inject fuel and fire the sparkplugs

at precisely the right time as dictated by the mapping.

The car's strapped to a dyno [dynamometer], also known as the rolling road,

which accurately measures power

and allows the tuner to hold the car at certain load points and road speeds.

We've installed an electronic boost control solenoid

that the ECU will control to bring on full boost as quickkly as possible

and then hold that desired boost level according to the engine mapping.

Low load tuning's done first, so the car drives well on the highway and around town

and then power runs are done to map out full-throttle response.

With 146.9 kilowatts achieved on the dyno at the wheels,

a drive on the road confirms the map's complete.

We've managed to double the factory output of our little MX-5

resulting in an awesome driving experience.

MARTY: So that's a summary of how to turbocharge your car.

Now there's other things to consider like clutch, brake, differential upgrades,

and lots of other turbo-supporting mods

but that varies depending on what car you got.

Luckily for you, there's books and Internets full of information

that'll help you get your conversion right.

MOOG: Now the other thing that is really important to consider

is that you've got to see how turbo conversion affects your registration, insurance, engineering

But again, that varies so much depending on your country and region

so you're gonna have to do your own research.

Now the most important thing that you have to do now, Martin,...

Is smash that subscribe button. I don't even know where it is!

But find it and smash it!

Mighty Car Mods is full of DIY episodes and videos

showing you how to customize and improve your own ride.

Plus road trips and other silliness.

So make sure you hit the subscribe button!

MARTY: That's right. If you're hungry for even more info on how to make your car mad,

check out the Mighty Car Mods magazine.

MOOG:That's right, there's links in the description

but now, for those of you that want more information about turbocharging your car,

make sure you click on one of these three videos.

♫ Dooo, do do doo, do ♫

MOOG: Can I stop now mate? MARTY: Nope

MOOG:

MOOG: Can I stop? MARTY: Not until everybody's watched all three, man.

MOOG:

MOOG: Hell, I'm hungry, man.