88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

I have a DOHC ZC and was wondering if anyone has been sucessful in putting in a Tbird turbo. If not, does anyone know the specs. Im afraid it might be too big since its off a 2.8L and its stock 15psi. Any help would be appriceated.

Thanks

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

You'll be just fine.
If you stay with the stock internal WG, you may need to do Frank-special spring setup, or cut it off and install a mid 80's Nissan 5psi gate. (84-88 200sx or 84-89 300zx)

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

Cool, I looked for the compressor maps and was unsucessful. I was worried about hitting the surge limit with such a big turbo. If anyone has a link with these maps, they would be great help.

I was also wondering if anyone else has tried this combo and delt with the mounting issues. Thanks for everyones help. This site has given me the insight into starting my own project.

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

i had a t-bird 60/48 on my D16A6, i liked it. bounced off the revlimiter a couple times because of it (at 7100ish) which hasnt really happend with my other setups...

btw thunderbird turbocoupes are 2.3L...

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

You'll be fine, I'm going to use the .60/.63 manual turbo coupe turbo on my Z6/A6 hybrid, and it won't flow near the amount your motor will..

Think of the turbo as a poor ( or smart ) man's super-60 garrett turbo.

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

Uh, isn't the factory wastegate on the t-bird's set at 10psi? ???

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

Stealthmode,

I beleive they were set at 8 - 11 depending on manual or auto trans. The manual ran 11 psi I'm almost positive.

Anyways 87-88 Thunderbirds used IHI turbo's unlike the previous garrett's in the previous models. I used to own a 88 turbo coupe. Pretty peppy for a 4 cylendar full size car if you ask me. It was my first car I enjoyed it for 4 years.

I found this a long time ago it has the info for the previous thunderbird turbos but not for the IHI-52 which is what is says is used for the 87-88.

Hope some of this helped you

http://www.geocities.com/ttskipp/turbochargers.htm

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

Very cool everyone,
I think I got all that bogus info from some f-d website. Anyways, i pulled the turbo from the yard and found no shaft play, no signs of cracking and perfect seals. Now I need to figure out how to mount it to an STD mainifold I have laying around. I have access to a mill, so I think the adaptor shouldnet be that bad since I can angle the flange and inset bolt holes.

Thanks again everyone.

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

what these guys said for the most part...

tbird is a 2.3L motor... same as used in the murker xr4ti, mustang SVO... except they all used a garrett t3 60 trim turbo... with no IC... for the Tbird they poped a smaller turbo in but used an IC to help charge temps

the 60 trim guys like to downgrade if they are auto-x types... it spools quicker

factory wastegate is set to 10psi... there was a button on the inteior... if you used crap gas you shut the button of... if you've got premium you turned it on and it adjusted boost to 15psi

man i wish i had a murk :(

mark

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

Donalson your right.... there was a nice little button for that :) It was up on my dash and was marked premium :)

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

my tbird turbo come from a manual 88 tbird and the number on it is IHI RBH52 do you know the specs?

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

The reason I ask is because I have the oil cooled IHI? and a garrett oil/water cooled and I want to use the factory wg but you guys are scaring me with all that 15 psi talk. I'm clear. The wg is tough to pull open though.

How did the button adjust the boost with one springed wg?

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

Stealthmode,

The button did not change the boost that I noticed. What it actually did was advance your timing some more or retard it. I know that on my 88 auto I would hit almost 10 psi of boost. The manuals ran more... 11 - 15

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

i pulled the turbo off one the other day, there was no boost solinoid on it. the button has to be for something else...

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

Makes more sense now 8)

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

And what's the specs on my IHI RBH52 are wrote? AR on the turbo? I dont find them :-[

Re:88 TBird Turbo on a 4G Hatch??
 

My T-Bird turbo boost about 7.5PSI and full boost is a little past 5000rpms on a B16.