K8yLouGTI

I am thinking of turboing my R reg 1.8 Escort GTI Zetec..... How? I have no idea and I know you will all say... bolt a turbo on but is that really the best way? Anyone with feedback would be great!

mergal

Its not to hard to do if u no what u r doing, however if you dont then it will set u bck quite a bit of wedge. Check out zetecinside.com for info on how to do it urself or i think puma racing or puma build will be able to give u info on how much it will cost to do it (but dont hold me to that). If u need ny mre info pm me as am building 1 now!

K8yLouGTI

ok thanks, I also heard that a place called Power Crazy are also good when it comes to Fords and things like this. I am not bothered about how much its going to cost as I have close friends who can do it. Also it's not a matter of time either as I have a company van so the car can be off the road all winter if need be.

Bailes1992

No such thing as a 'boplt on' turbo. All turbo's bolt on. For starters do you know how a turbo works? If you dont then have a read...

Exhaust gasses go in the red side and spin the turbine. This spinnign motion is sent down a shaft to the compressor which sucks in air and sends it into the engine at high pressure.
More air + More fuel = bigger bang.
Bigger bang = More power
Problem is when you start stuffing air into your engine you increase stress on rods, pistons crank etc. I'm not exactly sure what the 1.8 Zetec engine can take (more of a diesel man me). Chances are you will either have to uprate all the inards of the engine or you can add a decompression plate onto the head. This decreases the compression within the engine lessening any stress on it. Also the turbo will need an oil feed to keep the sheft in between the exhuast and exhaust wheel lubricated. Again not sure how easy this is on the Zetecs. Then you also need to think about intercoolers. An intercooler is basically like another radiator that sits infront of your car. When air is compressed by the turbo it heats up, the intercooler reduces the air tempreture. Colder air = More oxygen = Bigger Bang = More Power!
Instead of an intercooler another option would be water meths injection which is cheaper but probably won't get you as much power as an intercooler.

And if you don't know how an engine works I wouldn't bother.

Then again I wouldn't be suprised if theres an off the shelf package avalible for the escort GTi somewhere, but it will probably be more than what the cars worth! I know theres lots a 2.0 Zetecs that have been turbo'd and supercharged. How about sticking one of them in the 'scort? Or even an ST170 lump?

K8yLouGTI

"And if you don't know how an engine works I wouldn't bother"

Harsh....

RichardPON

I wouldn't bother anyway - complete waste of money.

Just save up and buy a better car.

conor.rst

iTrader: (3)

Hmm Wouldent bother with it either really. may aswell buy somthing like a frst or a s2.

farquar35

you say your into diesels bud maybe you could shed some light on a few things for me

robp-tt

iTrader: (1)

the best thing to do is fit a 2.0 zetec, fit a set of cams and fit a st170 exhaust manifold and either go throttle bodys on it with aftermarket managment or rs1800 inlet and 130 spec ecu ect and a chip, depends on how much power your after adn how much money you have

or to go turbo and to do it propely will cost 5k+

chaffe

Technically not how most conventional turbos work as this one has no provision for a wastegate

chaffe

I wouldnt pay someone to do it, but if you had the skills and knowledge to do it yourself then it is a cheap and very worthwhile method of tuning, better than a 2 litre conversion, and quicker, more drivable and more reliable than a 1600 cvh with MFI. But for someone without a garage and the tools, knowledge and skills i would recomend looking into another car, unless your heart is set on keeping this car and doing something with it.

Mike C

iTrader: (1)

Have a look at Stu Occleshaw's old GTi Turbo for an idea of how to do a quality 1800 Zetec Turbo conversion on a sensible budget. Was featured in Performance Ford sometime in 2006. Was actually for sale on PistonHeads a few months back.

He did it as a kind of experiment. He wasn't short of cash and could (and did) build some monster Zetec Turbo's, but this was his way of finding out how cheaply a quality job could be done. So no corners cut etc.

chaffe

Agreed, ive built some cheap ones and some expensive ones

Mike C

iTrader: (1)

This one was built 90% by raiding Ford's (and Nissan's) parts bins.

chaffe

Nothing wrong with that, some of my best finds are in the scrapyard

K8yLouGTI

Ok lots of mixed responses but good! I have garage and tools.. boyf is a mechanic. I dont want another s2 as i dnt like how unreliable the cvh engine is and know as had one. I think zetec is deffo the way to go and I deffo want to keep this car as I dont see that many decent ones around any more and don't want to follow the way all my mates seem to go which is Jap Crap!

chaffe

Focus rs manifold and downpipe and t25 or t28 turbo, fifth injector kit and keep the std management, get your lad to bolt it all on, he will need to mod the sump for the oil return and use an rs turbo oil feed, a few boost hoses here and there, should make 170 bhp with 9-10psi boost, std clutch should hold that and the gearbox should stay together. For more power you will need to go low compression and aftermarket standalone management ££££.

boy-racer-1

surely a de-compression plate is needed or pistons changed? or theres going to be a crap bhp increase, im sure ebay.com (american ebay) do a 2.0l zetec turbo conversion with everything you need and even ship to uk cant remember how much it was though

chaffe

Not at less than 10 psi, a "crap bhp increase" of 30 percent and the same increase in torque is ecellent when you compare it with the retards who think some cams and a k&N and an exhaust is tuning

conor.rst

iTrader: (3)

Cvh arnt unreliable if you look after them. just get a s2 get a decent managment system and you will get good power.

boy-racer-1

ok i don tknow much about the 2.0l zetec and modifying it, but what kinda bhp are you looking at it being with the turbo conversion running 10psi? around 200bhp?

chaffe

If you go 2 litre turbo you are speaking thousands, new engine, pistons, HG, the whole turbo kit, management, a decent competition clutch, and an mtx75 gearbox out of an rs2k, putting a little boost into a std engine will be fine, everyone seems to forget Turbo Technics did it years ago, and ford still gave warranty.

chaffe

But then she is going backwards, you wouldnt put a x flow turbo in an s2, so why put an old smokey cvh in a zetec engined escort

conor.rst

iTrader: (3)

I said get a s2 Whole car,

chaffe

My 1800 zetec turbo made 204bhp and 214 lbft @ 12 psi, albeit with a 1.6mm decomp plate (£117 from ferriday) at lower boost a decomp plate is not needed imo

chaffe

She doesnt want another one mate

chaffe

as quoted

boy-racer-1

ok, so without a decomp plate and 10psi shes going to be looking at getting say about 180bhp if that? im sure ive read before that different cams and a decent inlet and filter bring a 2.0l up to 200bhp? so surely its easier/cheaper to do n/a if the power is higher? if not then shes best off doing the turbo properly with decomp plate/pistons and pushing the boat out with the money? like i said i dont know much about the 2.0l zetec but you have to look at what your getting for your money

conor.rst

iTrader: (3)

Yeah thats my point tho, she said she dosent want one becuase they are unreliable. but we know thats not true. for the sorta money she will spend on getting her escort turbo to a good spec she may aswell just buy a decent spec rs turbo or even a frst.

chaffe

Probably about 170 bhp and the same torque, for around 500 quid. An na 2 litre making 200 bhp would need headwork, high comp pistons, different management, cams, throttle bodies id guess about 150 quid for the engine and maybe 500 for the cams, 1000 for bodies and management, 500 for pistons, so about 2150 quid, and it would be wank on fuel and drive like shit low revs due to the high comp and cams, plus you might not get it through cat emmisions.

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Sell it and buy either an rs2000 if you really like escorts or something else that has a turbo already.

DIY turbo when you dont know what you are doing is a potential total nightmare!

chaffe

agreed, you need to know your way round it

K8yLouGTI

ahhhh Chip my halfords car park not quite buddy lol... forgot theres you who knows all lol

K8yLouGTI

so in other words, don't turbo what I got and just add small things for a little more power.. or buy something thats already got a turbo....like what? (not a s2) also i dont want an rs200 cos then id be just about in the same situation as i am now. If i get anything it has to be different and not whhat everyone else has got.

Martin-Hadland

iTrader: (2)

You either need to spend a whole load of money or do something wacky like cover the whole car in ginger pubic hair if you want something unique

K8yLouGTI

lol ffs

Chip

iTrader: (3)

If its different to what everyone else has got then as a general rule its cause its isnt worth the effort either in terms of hassle or money.

Do a turbo conversion if the act of doing it and learning from it is worth a couple of K in entertainment to you, but if its the end product you want rather than the journey, buying something that already works is a lot better bet.

1.9 xr2 on 40's

i would turbo it
given you have a mech at hand (hopefully good)
the price of a good t3, welding to exhaust
frst managment
spacer plate
head set and drilling for the t3
fuel pump frst? same fitment i expect
suitable inlet (get a rover turbo unit of ft.com easily i expect)
aftermarket cooler are cheap as chips and hosing can be made up easy
if i found a clean gti i would do it (as i have all parts laying here)
but if hes not all that then it may be a bit of a job, a simple servicing mech wont know the in's and outs, i worked in a main dealer and the guys there were haynes mechs it didnt go further than a book for most of em

shopping list
t3 turbo complete (oil feed, mani,actuator etc)
unrestrictive exhaust (magnex are good on gti's)
decent fuel pump
managment that allows turboing (cheapest/easiest being fiesta turbo)
intercooler
hosework inc charge carrier
inlet manifold suitable for turbo zetec

that would allow a bit of poke on std compression
if you then go into the engine you can low comp it in a veriety of ways (£50 to £2k! depending)

if you wanted it very simple scrap yard situation you coudl zvh it, cvh head 2i inlet (frst act) and a zvh kit would cost pennies

chaffe

problem is a mechanic may not be able to turbocharge an NA engine, whereas an Engineer could, takes a different kind of person to understand all the syatems involved and engineer solutons for the problems you will encounter.

massivewangers

iTrader: (1)

As Mike C said; there's a good website on doing a budget conversion which is worth a read. It will give you an idea of what's involved in it, and some rough costs, so you can decide what you want to do with it. I personally wouldn't go above 6/7psi without a decomp plate myself, as that's what I've always been advised.

You can do a reasonable budget one with a decomp plate and 200bhp is possible, but it needs to be mapped spot on, as any kind of detonation will soon blow the standard bottom end to bits. So I certainly wouldn't skimp on management and I'd have the set up work done by someone who knows what they're doing, so that will obviously push the cost up a bit.

But for the rest of it, you can just rob parts from other cars really. Focus RS exhaust manifold fits straight to your engine, you can use the Focus turbo, or adapt another T25 from a 200SX or something. Use an intercooler from another car, or one of the ebay jobbies with all the pipework. Injectors are available from other cars and can be made to fit. You don't need to bother changing the standard inlet if you're not going mad, so don't waste money there. There will be some fabrication involved, but if you know someone who can do it for you, it shouldn't cost the earth. Like I said, the big payment will be for management and mapping. You'll also need uprated valve springs unless you're using a tiny amount of boost, so factor that in too.

At the end of the day, ignore everyone above telling you to buy an S2 or something else and do what YOU want to do with it. Work out the cost, and if you think it's worthwhile, go for it. It's your money, no one elses.

Personally, I think if you can do it on a sensible budget, go for it. No one expects a MK6 Escort to be quick, so a turbo one will really surprise people, and even a properly built budget car can give pretty decent performance. I seem to remember the car Mike C mentioned above was timed in the mid-6s to 60mph, which isn't half bad for a car built on a budget. I'd take a 200bhp turbo GTI over most S2s any day of the week