CityTurbo.com

So in March 2018 I jumped into the city turbo world with an 83' city E that had been transplanted with a t1 engine trans and dashboard.

Firstly was a fresh coat of red paint followed by an upgrade to a rodeo turbo and a 2.5 " exhaust. This was a bit oversized, so swapped back factory turbo (plus rebuilt it) and increased the boost to 11psi.

Then added a fuel cut defender and rb30 fuel pump, running 17psi.

Next it was front mount intercooler plus enlarged intake (red manifold with pgmfi on it) & Bov.

Fitted bride replica bucket seat.

Managed to get my hands on a t2 bonnet, threw that on.

The little chonda was running good at this point, a lot of fun, making all the right noises, and lookin good!

when one day a wee red oil light appeared on the dash. Carried on to home only to find out there was zero oil pressure - the oil worm drive gear on the camshaft had stripped all the teeth off.

Unsure of the damage to the internals, and aware of how impossible it would be to find a new camshaft or get it repaired, I thought oh well, I'll use it as an excuse to do a D series turbo conversion

So I started on this, and after a years research, work, and trial and error I now have the following in my little City E:

-D15B vtec 122k kms wrecker engine (the 130hp one)
-D15B 5 spd manual gearbox
-550cc bosch injectors
-excedy hd clutch
-hasport hydro to cable clutch adaptor kit
-megasquirt MS1 extra ecu
-TD04L subaru wrx turbo
-civic standard radiator
-turbosmart 38mm ext wastegate
-2.5" intercooler piping
-FMIC
-DA5 front brake calipers
-240mm x 19mm 1998 holden barina vented rotors
-full custom bilstein adjustable suspension built by speed factor in tauranga
-tuned by megasquirt
-repaint in satin deep red.
-Led headlights with halo day runners
-t2 front bumper
-civic gauge cluster
-custom hd axles

And after all of this she made 145whp @ 8psi on the dyno at 5300rpm and 200nm. Also, 160nm from 3000rpm to 6000rpm.

Although the engine makes power to 7200rpm, the turbo cant flow any more air over 5500rpm so have ordered a bigger compressor wheel and cover to fix this.

Really torquey, builds full boost by 3200rpm!

Currently in the certification process as we speak.

Please see photos below!

Update 6th March 2020:

Finally got the cert done! just need WOF & Rego.

Bigger compressor wheel installed - 19T wrx compressor (even at 8psi this is way faster than before... full boost at 4000rpm, pulls right to 6.8k easy as)
Installed boost MAC valve for the wastegate, controlled by the Megasquirt (this is awesome, lets you bring the boost on smoothly to reduce wheelspin).

Bumped up to 12psi now, need to get back on the dyno again but man she moves now!

This bigger wheel definitely allows the engine to rev out more, pulls right 6.8k now easy as. Will need to tweak the tune up top and see how much higher the peak power is now.

Update 14th March 2020:

WOF & Rego all complete now, 100% legal!

Finally uploaded some photos!

Can you please send me photos would love to see it and pick your brain about the converison, Im from hamilton with 2 cabriolets

How i bought her:





Repainting:







New Dump & Exhaust:



FMIC Installed:





Bride Seat:




Looking Good!



OUCH! Oil pump drive gear destroyed itself, rounded off teeth.



Time for a new engine:



How about this one:



Hmm about here will do:



Wiring & Fun Stuff



Coming together!




Not a lot of ground clearance !



New Bilstein Custom Adjustable Suspension by SpeedFactor:



Get her running enough to do a bit of road testing, shakedown, find out the issues etc!



Found a few friends during testing!



Some Teething troubles with a high milage engine, swapped to a 122k km one.



Few New Goodies







DYNO DAY!! Made 145whp on 8psi at 5300rpm





Repaint again! Went to a satin deep red:







New Name :



New Gauge cluster:





Testing:



Big Brakes:



Moar power required!







Aaaaaand finally, the cert finished!!!



13x7 steelys? yes please!



Yay! i finally figured out how to post images!
EDIT: actually nope
EDIT 2: YEP!

Awesome man! Are you on the Hondacity facebook page?

Nah i'm not on facebook.. might have to hop on and have a look.

Damn you need to be! Can you tell us more about the coilovers you put in? More pics and prices?

Yeh it was all custom made by Speed Factor up in Tauranga, NZ
They just used standard Bilstein parts and machined them to suit my suspension,
On the front, just a threaded shock socket machined to fit the knuckle, and the right size hole in the upper stock bearing/bush plate.

In the rear also a threaded shock socket machined to fit the knuckle, and welded in threaded adjustable spring perches to the rear arms in the stock location.

Then just correct spring rates for the weight (little extra in front with the d15 in front, little less in back with stripped out rear).

I wasn't able to fit the sway bars back in due to engine size, and exhaust/ride height in the rear, but it handles extremely flat with minimal roll at all (nothing like the stock leaning mess at all ) feels really planted and balanced at all speeds up to 195ish ( ).

Spent $2900 for full installation (NOT the usual city turbo forum member DIY economy install i know, but i don't know much about suspension, i wanted it setup by someone who knows what they are doing, and it paid off!)

Also - They had all the plans from the last city turbo they did - KingCity had his done by them as well from years gone by.

how do i find the city turbo page on FB?

Make your way over here and ask for Toby! https://www.facebook.com/groups/HondaCityOwnersClub/

Update 1th Nov 2020:

Dyno day!

Changes since last dyno:
-Bigger brakes
-Bigger turbo wheel
-Boost solenoid installed

So we got her on the dyno again, and as my tuner had sent me a tweaked (very conservative timing and fuel) tune when I put the bigger turbo wheel on, it was actually only running ~138whp with 12psi (vs 144whp on 8psi previous tune). So he spent a bunch of time tidying all that up, fuel, timing, playing with VTEC points etc. Good tuners are definitely worth their money! knew exactly what to do and did it efficiently - 1.5 hours and done, $280 for a retune ain't bad!!

Sooooooo, the numbers!! We made 195whp and 248nm at 13.2psi!!

man she moves now, +45nm and +51whp on the previous setup, plus peak power is at ~6300rpm, so +22% torque and +35% hp.



As you can see, there was loss of power and torque from around 2800-3600 (about 30nm by the looks) due to the turbo spooling later (see the boost chart) but its still making 140nm at the wheels! Also it makes the surge later feel so much better.





Plus I also added a boost switch to disable the boost solenoid, so I can cruise around most of the time at 7psi (wastegate pressure), and then hit the fun button as needed to activate 13psi

Awesome Job mate! Now join the Honda City fb page so I can heap more praise on you

I need this for my cabriolet, well it will make it worth it if i fix all the rust as well!

hey guys, sad news, i may be selling the beloved Chonda, only to buy another car i have my sights on - if i can t buy this i will keep her.
just a feeler auction really, do you think i have the price correct??

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars ... f=XfuIsU0E