Well its finally done, I have a turbo-charged, 5 speed swapped 1997 Toyota Camry !
I finally have the car running exactly the way I want it so now it is time to make the official post. I bought the car as an automatic and swapped to a S51 5 speed so the car could deal with the power of a turbo application later. I chose an ACT heavy duty clutch kit mated to a stock reconditioned flywheel as the means of putting the power down. I converted the fuel system to a return type by installing a braided stainless steel -6AN hose under the car and tapping one end into the top of the fuel sender unit and the other mates up to an Aeromotive adjustable fuel pressure regulator. I bought a Tomei fuel rail adapter for the Nissan SR20DET motor and with a little modification it dropped right in to the stock fuel rail and has a male -6AN end on the other side. Fueling the fire is a Walbro 255lph high pressure fuel pump supplying 4 Supra 7mge green top fuel injectors. The injectors were cleaned and flow tested by Witch-hunter Performance and all 4 flow above 313cc. I used a Supra 3 bar map sensor to scale the injectors back and an SAFC2 handles the MAP signal modification. A set of colder NGK copper spark plugs gapped at 0.30 was all the ignition system needed and a Dynojet wideband O2 meter keeps tabs on the air fuel ratios. Since the car is OBD2 it will automatically retard timing when it senses knock. The turbo is a rebuilt CT26 with a ceramic compressor wheel and a ported out wastegate. I modified the wastegate actuator to regulate boost around 5 psi for now but with the custom TIG welded polished stainless steel 3 inch downpipe, boost sometimes creeps up past 6 psi in the higher rpms.
Oil is feed to the turbo via a -3AN stainless steel Teflon line with all aeroquip fittings. An oil feed restrictor allows me to regulate oil pressure down to 35psi and my electric Autometer oil pressure gauge tells me the exact oil pressure at the turbo at all times. The exhaust is custom 2.5 inch turbo back done by myself and still utilizes a magna-flow high flow cat. The piping is a basically straight shot back then two mandrel bends and out through a polished Greddy Evo style straight through muffler. The charge piping is all custom aluminum 2-2.25 inch flowing through a 26x8x2.5 inch front mount intercooler. Multi -ply silicone couplers and t-bolt clamps secure the piping (some of the pictures still show a few worn gear clamps that have since been replaced.) An HKS SSQV blow off valve to fight compressor surge tops off the whole system.
Parts:
-Walbro 255lph fuel pump
-Custom -6AN return line Russell and Earls fittings
-Tomei fuel rail adapter
-Aeromotive 1:1 fuel pressure regulator
-Supra 7M-GE 315cc injectors
-NGK BKR-7ES-11 spark plugs
-Toyota CT26 turbo rebuilt w/ ceramic compressor wheel
-Toyota 3SGTE turbo manifold
-Custom waste-gate actuator for 5-6 psi
-Custom aluminum charge piping
-Front mount intercooler
-K&N air filter
-Custom 3 inch stainless steel downpipe
-Dynojet wideband O2 with laptop interface
-Custom 2.5 inch exhaust
-Magnaflow high flow cat
-Apexi SAFC2
-Autometer sport comp boost gauge
-Autometer sport comp oil pressure gauge
-Custom oil feed and drain lines
-HKS SSQV blow off valve
-ACT heavy duty clutch kit
-Oil catch can
-Tapped stock oil pan
-Mobil 1 full synthetic oil
-Unorthodox Racing underdrive pulley
-Deleted AC
-Deleted Cruise control
-Deleted balance shaft assembly
Cutting the wastegate actuator open;
Welding it back up after cutting spring down a bit
There is probably more but I tend to forget mods after awhile I have so many little things now I forget that I even have them. I haven’t been able to find a dyno close by yet baut I am still street tuning, making a pull while my buddy records on the laptop, then adjust SAFC2 repeat. I run 12.3 ratio all across the board from spool up at about 2000rpms to 4000rpms, then the ratio drops smoothly to 12.1 and tapers steadily off to 11.7 at redline. There is no detonation, no knocking and the idle is actually smoother than stock (probably due to having perfectly clean injectors) at about 600 rpms. The car runs at 14.7 air fuel while idling and at low cruising loads but plunges deep into the 12’s the moment the throttle is floored. This does not seem to be a problem. The turbo has a nice shrill scream to it as it spools up and makes full boost at about 2500 rpms and it pulls very hard up top. Mustang GT’s, V6 stangs, Camaros, Nissan Maxima’s, all kinds of Honda’s, non turbo MR2’s, Celicas, 240’s, Neon’s, Ford Focus, Sentras, and Mitsubishi Eclipses all fall short of the Turbo Camry in the straights and it will hang with mildly modded Eclipse GST’s and turbo MR2’s. I have about 500 hard miles on the kit right now and it runs a little better each day as I work out the various problems and tweak things a little at a time. The car drips a few drops of oil a day from a leaky turbo to oil supply line gasket but that is an easy fix. I tapped the stock pan for the drain line above the oil level and removed the engine balancer while I was at it. I had a problem with the car hitting fuel cut due to me misreading a gauge and running the car at 10.8 instead of 11.8 that I thought I was but that is tuned out now.
Overall I spent about $2000 and I expect that I gained about 60-70 hp and that is fine for me. I have a reliable kit and it took me a long time to plan and buy part by part. I was fortunate to find a deal on the turbo, manifold, injectors, MAP sensor, oil lines, and wastegate actuators for $400. I also ended up with an extra turbo, manifold, and injectors that came along with that box of goodness. The filter I had, the piping was from a friend, the SAFC2 was $150 from a friend, the downpipe was expensive, about $200 but cheap compared to what some would charge. I did all the labor so in the end it was a good learning experience but now I think I will move on. I am selling the Camry and buying a civic. Just kidding, that car will never leave me for a long time but I am building an AE86 Corolla now as my weekend fun car so stay tuned for that!
Here is what was left of second gear after my 5SFTE ate it for lunch (Who needs a dyno, I know it makes more power now cause it didnt do that before!)
A view inside the S51 tranny after my 5SFTE bitch slapped it, way too much going on in there it makes my head hurt;
Here is what the spark plugs all looked like before I tuned, a little lean mabe but then again the stock plugs looked just like this:
Midway through replacing the tranny with a new 2001 S51 with 23k miles,
To all the guys thinking about doing this I hope this will help inspire you just like wraith, tony, nate, and everyone inspired me. Build the car the way you want and dont let anyone tell you what you SHOULD do do what you WANT to do, you drive the car not them. Turbo is a hard route to go but it is there if you want it bad enough and I didnt break the bank to get there. You gotta sift through a lot of BS to get to the real truth thats something I learned the hard way, I spent $3400 to go from an automatic stock motor to turbo 5 speed. It may be easier to build a Honda but turbo Civics are a dime a dozen. Follow the easy well traveled path if you like and you will have the same car many do and no one will remember you. Follow the harder route and people will notice.
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