marklamond

After spending hours on and off over the past few weeks trying to think of an easy way to plumb in an intercooler on my CRX with 92-95 greddy kit i have found a solution - rotate the compressor housing. Now with a 90 degree silicone elbow i can get boost over to the left hand side of the car for a neat intercooler install. It clears the radiator, downpipe and outlet adapter and oxygen sensor just perfect and then a charge pipe can take boost round to the front when i hack it apart for the I/C. Return will come out the other side and over the gearbox.



More pics here http://www.marklamond.co.uk/temp/rotate/

Well pleased with the weekend's work. All i need now are some pre-made steel bends to make the rest of the charge piping, and see how big an intercooler i can get in there.

sushibug

this helped answer one of my questions. i bought a greddy turbo kit used and i had a stainless steel elbow left over, im guessing you have to modify your intake arm as well? gl

therealciviczc

What exactly does it take to do this?

Its just a clamp right? Did you just unclamp it, turn the compressor housing, and move the WG over one hole? That sounds easy enough. What else is involved?

marklamond

Yeah, basically what you say.

This is what i did, bearing in mind i'm no turbo shop engineer so anyone feel free to make any comments. Remove the radiator first for easy access.

Remove the WG actuator and get it out of the way, next have a look on the back of the compressor housing where it meets the centre cartridge and you should see a flat black circlip all the way round. Now, if you can reach the ends with a pair of 90 degree circlip pliers then compress the circlip and grab onto the housing and you should be able to rotate it slowly. Let the circlip snap back in the groove and the housing should lock solid again. If you can't see the end of your circlip you will have to take the turbo off the car to get to it and do it on the bench with vise holding it securley - the circlip is a big ***** and wants to fight back at you.

The best thing is you know when you are correctly aligned as the WG hole lines up, which saves having to mess around for too long. You have to use a good pair of circlip pliers to do this or you will end up in trouble.

Now you can blank off the spare hole in the housing (as it's directly into the outlet so it would leak boost) with a bolt - remember to use threadlock or a split washer etc to stop it rattling loose. Watch the length of the bolt compared to the original so it does not protrude into the housing too much.



New actuator pics are here:
http://www.marklamond.co.uk/temp/rotate/

I just finished tapping a new hole for the actuator bracket tonight. You can do this on the car no problem as any chips/swarf will fall downwards. Protect the inlet with some tape to stop crap getting in. Clean the housing outlet and feel for any burrs inside where the new hole is - it's easily within a finger's reach (shouldn't have burrs with sharp drill bits). I wouldn't use compressed air to clean the housing out in case you blow chips back in the turbo, i used a rag and WD-40 to clean out any crap from the housing. If you don't know how to tap threads (i'm just an amateur) then i'd get someone to help you.

Get a new R clip for the wastegate arm, and bend it to hold it in place. Took me 2 hours all in to tap the new hole and put everything back as it was.

BTW, you need to tap the hole M8x1.25. Don't forget to have a bolt to plug up the old hole before you drill the new one or you will have to get one on foot as it will leak boost. I don't suppose you really need to tap another hole for the actuator, but i just did it anyway for neatness.

Cheers, (apologies for the crap quality pics again)


[Modified by marklamond, 1:06 AM 4/30/2002]

therealciviczc

I may be lucky here. Going by memory I think my clip 'clips' in the front and center of the unit. I'll look again.


I followed everything up until here. I know I should know this, which part is the the R clip?

marklamond

The "R" clip is the wire clip thing that stops the actuator rod falling off the wastegate valve arm.

Cheers,

therealciviczc

I'm stupid. I thought maybe that is what you were talking about once I looked at the pictures.

I'm going to look at this option tonight. If this works, you are officially my hero!

Thanks for the great idea!