Honda GA1 fitted with a City Turbo I motor for track days
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:25 pm
Hi,
It was suggested that I start a new thread and put some photos of a project I've been working on for a while with my Dad. So here it is.
Basically we had a Honda GA1 sitting around that had some overheating issues and a blown head gasket.
So instead of throwing it out thought we could have some fun and make a track car for fun days or club sprints.
We found a Honda City Turbo motor and gearbox that had been fitted to and old yellow Civic on ebay. Bought it and drove that weekend to Sydney to pick it up. The Civic was full of rust of not worth doing anything with. Someone had tried to connect the motor up to an after market ECU etc..
However a complete harness and ECU for the City Turbo was provided in the sale.
Below is the City Turbo motor before removal
Below is beginning of the engine removal
Below is the engine removed. However, there is still the gearbox and other bits still to be removed... Yep, got in trouble for dropping oil on mums driveway! (No, I don't still live at home. But all car work is done at the parents since I live in an apartment)
'Skip to the end'... (well it was no easy feat..)
Ok, so above the Turbo motor is in. As you may be able to see all the emission stuff is gone, including the black box that had solenoids and maps sensors etc
The pipe work goes to a small intercooler located beside the radiator. I know the pipework isn't very pretty but it is a POC (Proof of concept).
Couple of key points:
-Turbo I wiring harness was merged with GA1 one so all the lights/wipers etc work
-ECU and map sensors located inside car
-Cold start idle control valve bypassed.
-No idle up solenoid or control (engine idle set at around 1200rpm)
-Bigger Garret water/oil turbo (can't remember exact size etc)
-Car is fully stripped inside. no carpet/heater/air-con etc (only air blower for front window)
-Cobra race seat and six point harness (will put up some interior photos soon)
-Did have that hunting problem that is very common, but has been sorted.
-Did start to look at putting an electronic boost cut defender in, but the ECU threw an error code which I guess was due to input impedance miss match.. one day I will come back reverse engineer the circuit.. though 13-14psi is fine for the crap tyres at the moment...
Below is a shot of the rebuilt engine with larger turbo and increased diameter exhaust.
For the rebuild we re-seated the valves, honed the cylinders and added new set of rings.
Last weekend was our first real test day at Winton Raceway (photo above), Victoria. The rebuilt engine pulled really hard. Only running about 13psi
However, the stock suspension and street tyres meant handling was terrible!!!! The back kept wanting to exit the corners first. So much body roll, but the handling wasn't unpredictable, just crap.
I had a new GTR Skyline behind me for a few corners before he got sick of me a flew past at the first opportunity.. was cool though.
So the next thing to look at is suspension. I expect there aren't any bolt on options for this. Need to spend some time laying on my back underneath contemplating what can be done.
If anyone has some advice/experience with suspension for GA1 it would be appreciated?
Personally, I wish I had a City Turbo I or II Body to drop then engine into, the shape looks great and I suspect the suspension is probably much better!
I have more pictures which I will post soon, such as the interior, engine components and the track day...
At some stage I would like to put up a more detailed list things done to the car like custom engine mounts etc... not sure if forums is best place or on my own web page?
There are also about 100 photos or so...
It was suggested that I start a new thread and put some photos of a project I've been working on for a while with my Dad. So here it is.
Basically we had a Honda GA1 sitting around that had some overheating issues and a blown head gasket.
So instead of throwing it out thought we could have some fun and make a track car for fun days or club sprints.
We found a Honda City Turbo motor and gearbox that had been fitted to and old yellow Civic on ebay. Bought it and drove that weekend to Sydney to pick it up. The Civic was full of rust of not worth doing anything with. Someone had tried to connect the motor up to an after market ECU etc..
However a complete harness and ECU for the City Turbo was provided in the sale.
Below is the City Turbo motor before removal
Below is beginning of the engine removal
Below is the engine removed. However, there is still the gearbox and other bits still to be removed... Yep, got in trouble for dropping oil on mums driveway! (No, I don't still live at home. But all car work is done at the parents since I live in an apartment)
'Skip to the end'... (well it was no easy feat..)
Ok, so above the Turbo motor is in. As you may be able to see all the emission stuff is gone, including the black box that had solenoids and maps sensors etc
The pipe work goes to a small intercooler located beside the radiator. I know the pipework isn't very pretty but it is a POC (Proof of concept).
Couple of key points:
-Turbo I wiring harness was merged with GA1 one so all the lights/wipers etc work
-ECU and map sensors located inside car
-Cold start idle control valve bypassed.
-No idle up solenoid or control (engine idle set at around 1200rpm)
-Bigger Garret water/oil turbo (can't remember exact size etc)
-Car is fully stripped inside. no carpet/heater/air-con etc (only air blower for front window)
-Cobra race seat and six point harness (will put up some interior photos soon)
-Did have that hunting problem that is very common, but has been sorted.
-Did start to look at putting an electronic boost cut defender in, but the ECU threw an error code which I guess was due to input impedance miss match.. one day I will come back reverse engineer the circuit.. though 13-14psi is fine for the crap tyres at the moment...
Below is a shot of the rebuilt engine with larger turbo and increased diameter exhaust.
For the rebuild we re-seated the valves, honed the cylinders and added new set of rings.
Last weekend was our first real test day at Winton Raceway (photo above), Victoria. The rebuilt engine pulled really hard. Only running about 13psi
However, the stock suspension and street tyres meant handling was terrible!!!! The back kept wanting to exit the corners first. So much body roll, but the handling wasn't unpredictable, just crap.
I had a new GTR Skyline behind me for a few corners before he got sick of me a flew past at the first opportunity.. was cool though.
So the next thing to look at is suspension. I expect there aren't any bolt on options for this. Need to spend some time laying on my back underneath contemplating what can be done.
If anyone has some advice/experience with suspension for GA1 it would be appreciated?
Personally, I wish I had a City Turbo I or II Body to drop then engine into, the shape looks great and I suspect the suspension is probably much better!
I have more pictures which I will post soon, such as the interior, engine components and the track day...
At some stage I would like to put up a more detailed list things done to the car like custom engine mounts etc... not sure if forums is best place or on my own web page?
There are also about 100 photos or so...