Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Hi all, not many people know me because I'm rarely here. However I was compelled to post up my homebrew staged boost controller. Let face it, we're all here becuase the most of us are cheap/broke speed junkies. I'm always on the look out for a good deal or creatively cheap way of doing things.

My car has traction problems (like most FWD chassis turbo cars do)... 6~7psi most of the time will burn down 1st and 2nd gears without careful roll on throttle application, any higher boost than that makes my first 2 gears useless period. This is on a decent suspension, a Quaife LSD, and BFG DR's. I've always wanted some way to control boost over speed/gear, but short of buying a AVC-R or doing some in depth electronics work that prolly won't happen.

I figured why not make myself some sort user of selectable MBC(s)? So with a trip to the spare parts bucket I cobbled together a little 3 stage selectable boost controller that runs W/G spring in the first stage and MBC settings on stages 2 and 3. Total cost on the whole rig was about $40....cheap enough I suppose. The majority of that cost for me stemed from the "Grainger" valves that I purchased to use as ball/spring MBC's($9/per). Also I purchased a shift knob with 4 buttons intergrated into it from the local Autozone for $15 on sale...I've seen them for this much online as well. Your own MBC's can be whatever you having laying around/purchased but they have to be ball/spring type. ** Vacuum bleed type will not work with the diagrams I have provided. I can however produce a diagram that will work, but it will be much more complex than the current design.**

The basic principle I designed this setup around was to allow me to run multiple stages of boost without having to fumble for switches or take my hands far from the steering wheel/shifter.

The "Grainger" valves used in my setup fit perfectly on the honda/acura purge control solenoid. They can be purchased at your local Grainger store if you can find someone with a commercial account, they don't sell to the public(part # 5z763). If you are unable to do this McMaster carries the same pressure relief valve, part # 48935K25. They sell online to anyone. Both will need a { 1/4" female pipe --> 1/8" barbed hose } fitting.

The fitting and "Grainger valve" looks like this -->
Attachment 29123

The real deal for your visual learners
Attachment 29124

Here is a diagram for ease of assembly.
Attachment 29125



The shift knob I spoke of earlier...really made things come together well. It is basically a 4 button wireless transmitter with a brain box the has the 4 outputs. It's a cheap peice but works none the less. You may need to do some relay/electrical tomfoolery depending on your own designs. I'm happy to provide diagrams of my own setup or help if there is interest.

Attachment 29126

Everyone enjoy...

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

What models come with PCS? Maybe you could take it to the next step and have it rpm activated. None the less another great idea for HMT :y

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

It's the purge control solenoid or evap control solenoid that comes on just about any of the 88-95 Honda's. Usually located on the firewall.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

so how do you switch the maps to accomodate this, while driving?

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

No real need, as long as you've tuned properly up to the maximum amount of boost you'll be running you should be fine. I've used a generic MBC to adjust the boost from W/G spring(6~7psi) to 20psi, making sure to correct the fuel map in the ECU along on the way at each boost range. Takes time when doing it solo but it works. I run a real-time programmable ECU with a seperate Wideband/Datalogging setup that allows me to do this. For those of you without such tools, I'd suggest a proper dyno tune for the entire range of boost your car will run.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Thats pimp however the shifter reminds me too much of fnf, maybe cuzz its from vatozone. If there was a way to hook it up to the speed sensor, you would be able to control boost dependant on gear selected. That would rip and it would be "hands free". hmmmmmmmmmm i have ideas runing in my head now...

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

my point is that it is still not fully tuned, all that does is adjust the a/f ratios...

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

What do you mean ??? You tune the car for the amount of boost you are running.He is doing this to limit the boost down low for traction control?That is pretty slick setup I'm impressed by the simple yet very functional setup. O0

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

very impressive!! i like!! :y :y

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Lever arm micro-switches down on the shifter FTW! There's your gear based boost, bitches.

You're saying you tune your 's AFRs via boost controller?

That's nice. :l

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Oh, yah, Speedy? Post pics of your car. :6

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

lol, thats genius

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Thanks, I know guys who've been doing it for 30 years.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

yeah for more simplicity sake you could run a WG with the boost setting you want in 1st and then in every other gear you could have a system like this to bleed style, upp the boost.... so have a momentary button on the shifter that will allow connection while your thumb is on it during 1st gear or whatever and connect teh system via a 5 pin relay and use the 87a pin to arm the boost upping system..... there fore youwill always be in higher boost unless your finger is on the button which will dissarm the boost controler.. falling back onto the stock WG spring setting

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

http://hondaswap.com/gallery/data/50...ntroller-2.JPG



this should work right???

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

You guys are making it too complicated, my wastegate helper spring raises my boost in every gear :6

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...hreak/crx1.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...hreak/crx3.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...hreak/crx5.jpg


It should, but why not just run one MBC for "hi-boost" and let the w/g spring take care of the low boost ?

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

lol

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

no, I was refering to his real-time ems...the a/f is tuned, but what about ignition.
thats all.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

most people using junkyard turbo's need more than the 5-7psi the stock WG comes with, but if someone is using an external unit you could leave it out



i know there is a VW part that you can use for the electronic 1-way valve but i have to remember the part number. they are like $10 at the dealer and can hold ~35psi,much more than what 99% of people need





EF's are the ---- in camo. and is that an Si seat in front of the tires in the first pic??

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

I have control over the ignition map as well, I can retard timing per PSI of boost I'm running. If you've ever used Crome, Ghettodyne, Turboedit, ect that should give you an idea about what I'm saying.

I'm running an HX35, the king of all junk yard turbo's ;) ...so my 6~7psi external gate spring is plenty for low boost. But I see what you're saying about the smaller junyard turbo's.

The honda/acura PCS/ECS i'm refering to can be used the same way as your 1-way valve....

No those are 92-95 seats...I do have a mint 90-91 Si seat in the shop tho

What if you're running a VTEC engine ?.....

The point is you don't NEED different maps for high and low boost. The ECU knows what it see's above WOT, be it 1psi or 20psi. Most aftermarket EMS' and "chipped" factory ECU programs know how to compensate for different levels of boost, mostly just due to the nature of how the sensors feeding the ECU work. So long as you don't run into the mechanical limitations of those sensors, and have taken the time to properly tune the entire boost range you are running.....there is no need to switch to a different fuel/ignition map just because you're running more boost.

....Unless you run into detonation in the higher horsepower range( and need to switch to a different fuel) of course

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Great write-up. This is how it should be done. :y Picture(s), diagram(s), and part number(s).

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Great job of encouraging him to post more tech up, guys, it's hard enough to browbeat him into posting to a forum where he's understood and appreciated.

If you have zero ------- clue about how a standalone works you need to read the stickies in the Engine Management forum, get the ---- out of this thread.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

my useless posts are gone, only my archaic picture remains

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Very good idea!! nice to see people are still contributing to this site like this.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

I like it!!! Think i'll give it a try. Where did you find those 1/4 x 1/8 fittings?

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Reread the original part, Chiovnidca, he says where and gives a part number, too.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

I see the number and source for the valve, am I overlooking the number and source for the fitting?

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Same place as the Grainger valve, or the plumbing section of any Homeboy Depot or Blowes.

Seriously, you n00bs need to walk through Homeboy Depot sometime with your thinking caps on. There's all sorts of killer ---- there, I find it impossible to build a 10 second car without a good dozen trips through the place for miscellaneous this and that. Very little of what you are sold by the way of plumbing, hardware, or lines are anything intended for the automotive aftermarket or even anything automotive at all.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Before posting I had already went to home depot, lowes , autozone and a few other places around town. None have it with the 1/8" barb. I searched the internet for a while too, including grainger and mcmaster carr. Same thing, no 1/8" barb on a 1/4 female fitting.

If it's so easy give me a part number.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

McMaster catalog, page 249, part number 5346K82, $12.75 for a pack of ten.

Grainger only has them in 1/4" barbed outlet - oh, well, just shove the hose up over it, it'll stretch, catalog page 1100, part number 6X412, $1.15 each.

"Brass fittings" or "brass barb" makes excellent Google search fodder, top five both times were Alibaba listings, for when you absolutely need to find who makes the $0.05 sweatshop labor chinese fittings found on all the hot SSAC MBC setups. Holy ----, baby jebus help us all if they don't have parts on the shelf and you have to get creative! Might as well buy prepackaged kits so we no longer have to be burdened by having to think, right?

Perusal and usage of this forum requires the user to be creative, adaptable, persistant, and somewhat intelligent. If you cannot acheive this then I politely request you delete your account and fly to turboD16.com - they are waiting for you with open arms, brother.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

Thankyou for the part number. You're better at the internet than me.

So did I catch you on a bad day or are you always a ------- -------? Do you bash on all the noobs so that they dont want to come back? I guess I shouldn't question you, you're obviously more intelligent than I am. :S

Have a nice day, dick.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

No, I'm pretty much like this all of the time. It seems to grow on people after a while and they love me for it. You know, down deep, that you want to love me, too.

:)

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

I've been thinking about running a staged boost controller for awhile now, my idea was simpler, but with a bit less control. I figured get a few DSM BCS's and switch them on sequentially. With two BCS's, one with the restrictor removed, and 3 switches you can wire up 4 stages of boost control (base, lo, hi, lo+hi). I think they were worth 3psi stock, and 5-6 psi modified.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

FYI...G2 integras have two solenoids mounted on the firewall that will do the same thing...I was getting ready to do a similar setup using those two solenoids and either Neptune or another EMS to activate the solenoids for gear based boost (via MPH).

I'll be posting pics soon, good job though :)

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

He he, I snagged these at the junkyard because I thought thats exactly what they are... I got a couple sets, going to try to throw something together.

Re: Homemade Boost control at it's finest...
 

I guess I could do 6, 8 and 10 as my three stages of boost. :y