Re: [doc] To Turbo or not to Turbo

[Martin Gutkowski <webmaster@xxxx>]

I spent some time last night picking Si's brains about turbocharging (again)

I sent him Bruce's post off the DML and also some pics of Rich's engine. 
There's no "wrong" way of doing this, but there are cetainly things to 
avoid. Unfortunately one of the main ones is something unavoidable on 
the DeLorean.

The optimum position for a turbocharger is between the air flow sensor 
and the throttles. On the PRV this is about 2" and a solid ally casting. 
Doh.

The Island kit could well have problems with oil leaking from the turbos 
seals into the intake due to the turbos having to work hard at sucking 
the air down through the intake, air-flow sensor and throttles, plus 
about a metre of pipework. The air flow sensor itself on the K-Jet 
system is very restrictive and if at all possible should be replaced 
with a modern EFI system. Si went through a couple of approaches to air 
metering systems, but suffice to say the two he mentioned do not 
restrict the intake AT ALL and although one is a "best-guess" system 
based on computer mapping (Ford style) it is still predictable enough to 
be much better than the K-Jet system. Secondly there's a dynamic system 
which though remarkably simple, would take ages to set up corectly. This 
is how the high performance Jap cars work.

What it comes down to is that turbocharging is the cheapest easiest way 
to get a lot of extra power form the PRV. Unfortunately, you are 
building on an engine with some serious shortcomings when compared with 
modern lumps. The PRV has huge potential but fix the shortcomings first 
before adding blowers. The easiest way is to pull a later PRV from a 
Renault 30 V6 Turbo IMO.

Martin



Paul Salsbury wrote:

> As I move towards the conlusion of the main
> restoration of #6463, I am looking for a winter
> project. The first thing that came to mind was a
> Right-hand drive conversion..... However I do like the
> left side driving.
>
> So the next Idea was and after market Turbo. After all
> the conversation going on around this subject, I am
> really starting to get fired up to do this.
>
> What I am looking for are suggestions, hints and tips,
> do's and do not's, around this sort of project. 
>
> If you have done this please advise
> If you know where to start again please help.
>
> Cheers
> Paul #6463
>
> paul.salsbury@xxxx