Turbo M42 More-Door

[Joseph93]

Looks like good progress so far! Can't wait to see it finished I love m42's

[Leon T. Trout]

Long time, no update. After a ton of frustration it's all on and I've got boost! Initial frustration was from trying to get the exhaust manifold off. Of course the nuts on the flange between the manifold and mid-pipe were completely rusted and took an hour to get off. Then the new manifold interfered with the AC compressor.



The turbo clears the hard line coming down the wheel well, but you can't connect the lines to the compressor. My AC wasn't working, so i just pulled it all out.

Everything else went on pretty easily, but i had to shorten a few of the pipes and generally cram it in. The area around the turbo is obviously very tight. You have the compressor inlet and outlet, oil return, bypass valve, and radiator lines in very close proximity, so it takes some work to get it to fit.





You can also see the new 80/88 fan switch, it works perfectly. Fan kicks on just past halfway on the dash gauge.

Then, when I opened up my ECU, I found that I had a Turner chip! I thought the car had more power than stock, and that totally explains it. Unfortunately, the turner chip also has a little riser that flips the chip around, so I installed the turbo chip backwards. I think that caused the injectors to open, so when I tried to go start it, it was hydrolocked, or fuel-o-locked. I pumped out the fuel, flipped the chip around and got it started, but it was running really poorly, and super rich, so I think at least one of the injectors was still sticking open. A quick email to Jake and new injectors and chip were on their way.

I got them a few days later, installed it all and fired it right up! You have to trim the valence quite a bit to get the intercooler to fit. Here's what it looks like.

[Leon T. Trout]

Overview Pics







You can see that there are a few more things to button up. I need to figure out some sort of bracket for the AFM/Filter. I did go ahead and plumb the valve cover breather to the intake tube, just before the turbo. I might add a catch can, depending on how much oil I get in the line.

Driving the car is a completely different experience. The power builds really quickly after 2500 rpm and unfortunately my old clutch isn't up to the task. Major slippage around 5000 rpm in second, so now that is on the list!. Highway driving is a lot of fun. With a 4.10 diff, 70 mph is right around 3000 rpm, so just a little more throttle builds boost and you are up to passing speed in no time. So much fun! There is a bit of lag down low, but I'm starting to get the feel of keeping the revs up a little more.

Still need to get my boost gauge and wideband installed, hopefully this week, then look into clutches. Recommendations?

[SSE30]

This thread is an inspiration. I may have missed it, but did you do a 5-Lug swap, or did you use adapters to run the Style 38s?

[jakeb]

Excellent to see it all together.

Get that boost and AFR working so you can see what everything is coming back at. The wastegate preload might need to be adjusted to make sure you are sitting around 9psi. You could be pushing 11-12psi with the preload that is set. Also adjusting it can affect when it spools. As does your exhaust behind the turbo.

The turbo really does make it feel like a BIG M42. Still keeps the rev happy feel.

[Vivek]

I have no personal experience but people seem to like f1 racing clutches (especially for the money). Stage 2/3 should be good, and you should be able to use an f1 m20 clutch if you get a single mass m20 flywheel which is an upgrade in itself.

[wazzu70]

Get the M20 single mass flywheel and use any of the popular turbo clutches.

The F1 stage 2 or 3 as mentioned should be fine. Clutchnet is another popular brand, ect.

[jakeb]

I second the m20 single mass....or a lightweight flywheel designed for the m42.

I had a clutchnet clutch and it wore out in 2000miles. It was a 6 puck unsprung disc and was just on and off. I would NEVER buy a pucked clutch again. Full face is the best way unless it is a ONLY track/drag car.

[Vivek]

Does anyone have personal experience with an f1 stage 2? Everyone on here seems to get the 6-puck stage 3 but that seems like overkill.

[wazzu70]

I agree the pucked clutches suck for regular driving.

I have a F1 stage 2 on an M50 ltw flywheel on an M42. Havent driven the car yet though since its still a WIP.

The M50 F1 flywheel and clutch will not fit in a G240 just as a heads up.

[Dj Buttchug]

I have an f1 stage 2 with an m20 light fly. Its nice but its basically on/off as well. It is streetable tho.

It holds the power no problem. chatter is minimal but it is MUCH more aggressive than a stock clutch

[wazzu70]

With the larger M20 clutch you could probably get away with an OEM clutch if you were worried about chatter. If I was going through the effort to change a clutch though, I would get stg2 because you know it will work!

[unevolved]

My friend had really good results with Clutchmaster's customer service. Little bit more money than an eBay special, but you get what you pay for.

[Leon T. Trout]

Thanks for the input. At this point I need driveability. I daily this car with some city driving, so I don't want to be fighting an aggressive clutch. I feel like this amount of power is just above the upper limit for an OE replacement M20 clutch, but it seems like a Spec Stage 1 would be a good compromise between grab and driveability.

[Leon T. Trout]

Got my gauges installed last week, really liking the setup.



Boost gauge replace the econometer in the cluster. 30 psi is complete overkill, but I got it cheap on the for sale board.



Wideband is the Innovate MTX-L. The installation is still pretty rough. I need to trim a little more out of the vent. AFR is really good, idle and cruise between 14 and 16:1 usually hovers right around 15:1. WOT is about 12:1. I was having some hesitation during partial throttle acceleration, so after checking for vacuum leaks I checked the TPS and AFM. TPS looked good, but the resistance on the AFM jumped around a bit.

I cracked it open and tried to adjust the sweeper arm because there were some pretty good grooves in the track, but couldn't get it to budge, so i jut cleaned it up with isopropyl alcohol. Just doing that really smoothed out the throttle response, and the AFRs jump around less.