m20 turbo questions from a novice newbe

[bigbhpwannabe]

first i would like to say hi to all you guys and girls at e30 zone this is my first post , i have done a little research into turbocharging an e30 bmw, i have a 1990 325 4 door wich is stripped out so is ideal to experiment with
i have also just bought a garrett gt40 with a .81 exhaust and .72compresser houseing . but that is it at the moment, i would rlly like to here from some one who has used or has seen being use=
1 a copper head gasket
2 318 is pistons in a turbo conversion

also i would like to no peoples opinions on trying to run this turbo on a standard bottom end maybe with a copper head gasket and studs insted of bolts, with bost pressures of aroun 28 psi
i have a hunderd other questions but just cant fit them all i one post
thanks
gary

[stitch]

28psi on a std bottom end just 2 words no way 15 psi tops do a search on turbo's on the zone all the info is there for you reading pleasure

[e30_Turbo]

Hi,

Copper head gaskets are a nightmare and you should only use them as a last resort, just getting them to seal properly is supposed to be a nightmare and if you don't get it right the leak will eat the copper away. There are metal gaskets which are much cheaper and will do the same job with less hassle.

Some people in europe have used the M42 pistons in the M20B25 but the stock pistons are good enough for 500bhp so I wouldn't worry. Unless you're really going for it.

28psi is rather a lot, 7psi will see you 250/280bhp and a 1 bar is about 300whp, so 350/370bhp, 2 bar would see well over 600bhp but I doubt any stock engine will hold that. Aim for 1 bar and I'm sure you'll be more than happy. Having run 1.3bar on mine I can say from experiance that things break at that pressure sometimes at a lot less.

Before you go anywhere near buying gaskets and pistons you need a ECU to run it, a decent manifold and some large injectors.

Check out the "update" thread, all the info you could need is in there.

HTH, Mark.

[midnight]

yeah well i had a copper headgasket on my rsturbo and it was an absolute pain in the arse, id stay away from them at all costs. and as fozzymonster said you have to think about the big bicture when it comes to doing a turbo conversion, you have to think about fuelling, management, manifod,, pipework, intercooler, oil feed and returns, etc. its not that bad to do if you have all the parts ready and have had a good bit of research on the site finding what is needed and how everything goes together.

[Gunni]

don´t forget clutch,
and lots of new halfshafts.

they´ll go quickly at 28psi

[bigbhpwannabe]

will they , cheers gunni , what cluch do you guys use? and do u use uprated half shafts or just replace them???
have anny of you used a 666 fabrication manifold???? because there the only people i can find that do a t4 flange with external wate gate? and does any one no if a mega squirt can run two maps ,as i would like a 1 bar setup for normal driveing and maybe about 1.8 for overtakeing ect
cherrs gary