Turbocharging an N/A Motor

[Irish_Mechanic]

Originally Posted by Chambers

I'm doing the same thing, I have everything ready but intercooler lines and wideban. I plan to turbo my NA with out swapping everything off the turbo engine. From what I am aware of, the NA do not have a fuel cut, but I could be wrong. I'm getting a wideban O2 sensor and gauge to make sure I don't blow my engine from a to lean mix. I would suggest you get that before you do anything, hook it up and make sure it works before you go putting the turbo on. I would also suggest you get a metal head gasket and ARP headware, otherwise you will pop a head gasket pretty quickly.

If you don't get a fuel computer you will have to adjust the timing and run high octane fuel so you don't have any detonation. I would also upgrade the spark plugs to a higher thermal level.

I agree, to avoid pre-detonation in a turbo motor, the highest octane rated fuel is ideal. the plugs will likely be the best iridium plug with a decent thermal rating i can get.

In the 90 talon TSI build i was involved in, the stock boost guage only went up to 14psi, so there was an 'A pillar' guage set installed to more acurately meter the boost (in excess of 26lbs). The OLD boost meter was then wired to the O2 Sensor! this gave a clear view of how the motor was running! sorta neat how it worked. i think i may try to find a turbo instrument cluster to swap in and i'm planning to do the same thing.

thanks for the advice! let me know how she turns out!