- (imitating race car blowing up)
Ya (beep) up!
Because you boosted your car without the proper equipment.
What's going on guys, Gels from Fitment Industries
and today on this episode of The Build Sheet,
we are gonna be talking about mods needed
to boost your car.
Now, when you go into taking a naturally
aspirated engine and trying to add
either a turbocharger or a supercharger,
or any kind of boost into the engine,
you're gonna run into a few things
that you might not think about right off the top.
And it could be little things,
and it could be big things that you just overlook.
So on today's episode of The Build Sheet
we are gonna be going over mods needed to boost your car.
Now, before we get into it,
don't forget to subscribe.
Hit the bell button so you get notified
when we upload next.
And this month's giveaway, as you know,
we're doing a Klutch wheel giveaway
for the month of May.
Easiest way to enter is to pick up one of these shirts
at www.fitmentindustries.com,
check out all the rules in the link,
in the description below.
But let's get into it.
(base music)
So before you even think about trying to get more
power out of your engine,
make sure that everything is, like, good with your engine.
Actually, just make sure that everything is good
with your whole car.
It's like the general rule of thumb
when modifying your car,
and that's to make sure all the maintenance is done first.
And I know it sounds kind of boring,
but, trust me, it's gonna help in the long run.
That last thing that you want is to have a fast car
that has weak suspension, leaks oil,
and makes a bunch of other strange noises
as it goes down the road.
Not only that, but having a maintained car
going into things, such as boosting,
can raise other issues down the line,
that are going to have to be resolved anyway.
So you might as well get it taken care of beforehand.
So, after you make everything right with your car,
all the oil leaks are tracked down and fixed,
there are no more check engine lights on,
everything is working properly,
the next step would be to do your research
on your specific engine.
And do as much as physically possible.
Find out things that you never thought you wanted
to know about your car, or your engine.
The truth is, some engines are going to be an absolute
pain in the (beep) to boost.
You're gonna want to find out how much boost
it can handle, if you're going to need to upgrade
your internals, and look for any other issues
that people ran into while boosting their car.
Forums are an absolutely fantastic source for
this kind of information, and if you want a video
showing you exactly what to do,
there's more than likely a YouTube video out there to do it.
Research, research, research.
I can honestly not stress it enough.
There is nothing worse than diving headfirst
into a project, and running into issue after issue.
And maybe eventually causing more damage than anything else.
Kind of like going to install coilovers on a Focus ST,
and thinking you have to remove your windshield wipers,
remove some of the plastic pieces out of the way,
but you didn't research how to remove the windshield
wipers so you just went at it,
and you managed to crack your windshield in the process.
And then come to find out, you never even had to
remove the windshield wipers in the first place.
(coughs) Dakota.
(sad music)
So do some research, it will save you time and money,
and more than likely your engine in the end.
So the next step and first actual mod of the list
would be to pick out
what you're going to boost your car with.
Is it going to be a turbocharger, or are you going
with a supercharger?
Today there are a lot of aftermarket companies out there
that will make either a complete turbo or supercharger
kit for your vehicle.
These kits will include pretty much everything to add
a turbo or superchargers to your car.
The key word there being, add.
These kits normally include a turbo, an intercooler
with all the necessary piping,
a turbo manifold, some exhaust pieces, oil lines,
and if you're lucky, they may throw in an oil pan
with a pre-welded bung.
So everything you need to attach a turbo
or supercharger to your car.
Now if that was everything that needed to be done
to turbo car, that would be it.
And I wouldn't be here doing this video.
So, with that being said, there's still a little more
that goes into it.
One thing that you're going to keep in mind
is the possibility of having to upgrade your fuel system.
Mainly, your fuel pump and injectors for the most part.
With more air being compressed and forced into the engine
it also calls for more fuel,
which your OEM fuel system may not be rated for.
This comes back to the research that you, hopefully,
did beforehand, like I mentioned,
to find out what size fuel pump and injectors you
should go with, depending on your set-up.
The next things you're gonna want to throw on the car
would be a free flowing exhaust.
Now, more turbo applications perform a lot better
with a free flowing exhaust,
it allows for a lot better tuning,
you get a lot more power out of it.
Typically three inch is the standard
for any turbo application.
If you're lucky enough to find a three inch system
for your car, then great.
But sometimes it may come down to having to build your own,
or have a fab shop build one for you.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing,
it may cost a little more in the long run,
but whenever you get a custom exhaust made
it opens up a lot of possibilities for some cool things.
Maybe you want to do something along the lines
of a hood, or bumper exit,
or maybe you wanna just go
with something completely unique.
The next big thing that is gonna be needed
when boosting your car
is going to be an ECU that is capable of being tuned.
Some newer cars, fortunately like the FR-S or BRZ
can be tuned using the stock ECU because they are
writable by access to the OBD port.
However, older cars like Civics or 428 Eclipses,
are not so easy.
Usually you'll have to purchase a 3rd party ECU,
a piggyback system, or even a stand alone unit
that is able to flashed or programed to accept
the tune suitable for the boosted application.
You may even be able to get away with a mechanical system
such as a fuel management unit.
But either way, you're going to have to adjust
the fuel to compensate the increased amount
of air being brought into your engine.
And if you think that you can get away with boosting
your car without having to deal with tuning of some sort,
I got some bad news for you.
With more power comes more heat,
which requires more cooling.
And our engines would prefer to stay as cool as possible.
Upgrading your cooling systems are going to be another must
when look at boosting your car.
It'd be a great idea to look at an upgraded radiator
and maybe even some slim mount electric fans
to keep everything cool
now depending on the extent that you're going
with your build,
you may even want to think about relocating your entire
cooling system completely.
Rear mounted radiators can ensure that no latent heat
from the engine bay will soak into the radiator.
Now, of course, that comes with an extensive amount
of fabrication to achieve a set up like that,
but if you're looking to make a lot of power,
it's better to ensure that everything stays cool
and that's one way to go about it.
This next modification is somewhat of a controversial
topic, I guess I would say.
And whether or not you actually need one,
but adding a catch can to your system
is never a bad idea.
It is argued that they are not a necessary modification
but if you're looking at doing a build
with a high amount of boost,
you are increasing the chances of blow-by in your engine.
By adding a catch can to your system,
you can eliminate a large amount of oil vapor
that would be recirculated into the intake of your engine.
All and all, there are a lot of things that going into
taking a naturally aspirated engine,
and turning it into a boosted platform.
You're going to have to change a lot of things,
and adjust things that you probably would have never guessed
going into it.
Other things to keep in mind would be upgrading your clutch
to handle the extra horsepower that you'll be cranking out,
brakes to help you stop,
rear axles and then your axle shaft
because the OEM ones are made of (beep) glass.
Other small things such as smart plugs,
gages to help monitor all the needs you need to monitor now.
And new wheels and tires from www.fitmentindustries.com
so when it comes down to it, boosting a naturally aspirated
car is totally worth it, as long as you take the time
to do the research and save up for some quality parts,
it should go fairly smoothly.
So if you have been thinking about boosting your car
or are half way through the process, stuck on where to go
because you can't get your engine to run,
hopefully this helped out a little bit.
So go ahead and let us know your thoughts
down in the comments below and whether or not
you've taken a naturally aspirated car
and made it into a boosted car.
I'm Gels from Fitment Industries,
don't forget to subscribe, wheels, tires, suspension,
www.fitmentindustries.com
Don't forget the Klutch giveaway,
that we're doing for the month of May.
Easiest way to enter is to head over to
www.fitmentindustries.com, pick up the shirt,
get entered to win, free set of wheels.
I'm Gels.
We'll see you later, peace.
(weird music)