The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News - 3/26 M Car Covers (by State of Nine) | 12/12 Make Amazon Pay Saabnet!
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 00:19:33 -0800
From: Justin VanAbrahams <jvanabranopsamnet>
Subject: Re: Adding a Turbo


Mugsy wrote: > > I want to add a turbo to my 1989 900S Airflow, I was wondering if anyone > had any information a doing this. I have heard of using a setup to run at > 9psi and use a 9000 intercooler to simplify the process any info helpful > and appriecated. It isn't easy. That's for sure. The biggest difference between a 16v NA car and a 16v Turbo is the compression ratio - turbos (LPT or not) have a 9:1 and an NA has a 10:1. That right there must be kept in mind. Secondly, turbos have the APC system, which incorporates a pressure transducer, an overboost switch, a knock sensor, a solenoid, and the APC unit itself - plus all the wiring to hook it together. Aside from keeping really good control over the turbo, the APC system also monitors knock and keeps boost pressure low enough to avoid it. It's a big safety system, and without it you could melt your pistons. Besides these two big issues, you also have all the auxiliary stuff that comes along with a turbo - fuel pump, oil cooler, intercooler, the turbo itself, exhaust manifold, all the intake plumbing. By the time you add all this stuff on, it might have been better to simply sell the car and buy a real turbo from the start. That said, it's possible to add a turbo to a non-turbo car very easily... you just need the turbo (and its associated oil & water feeds), exhaust manifold, and intake plumbing from a turbo. The problem is at this point you've got great potential for disaster - lacking the APC system you are subjecting your engine to all sorts of stress it was never intended to deal with and you might very well end up wrecking it. The oil cooler might very well be the most important part of the operation. Keep in mind that on a 900, the "oil pan" is actually part of the transmission housing - all your hot oil it literally sitting on top of the tranny, heating up its parts and its fluid. Lack of an oil cooler could cause some serious problems for you - the hot oil coming off the turbo will quickly bake the transmission. Fortunately, adding an oil cooler is not all that hard, since the NA and Turbo cars share the same body you can mount an oil cooler very easily; furthermore, the oil cooler attaches to the filter housing, so you don't have to do any serious fabricating to splice it in. As far as adding a 9000 intercooler goes, that's a sketchy proposition. The problem is that the 9000 intercooler is VERY large and won't fit between the radiator side supports without some modification. Assuming you can handle that, you'll still need to remove your a/c cooling coils to make room (it won't fit behind the bumper). Not only that, but you'll need to have custom piping made, and figure out a way to get that piping past the radiator. The only way I've seen to do that is to use an aftermarket radiator that's narrower than the stock one, so you can run the intercooler pipes along side of it. All said and done, like I said, it's probably more trouble than it's worth. If you're dead-set on it, what I'd recommend is getting an engine and tranny out of a real 900 Turbo and transplanting it into your car. With that done, the only real thing you'll need to worry about is running all the piping (for the air intake and for the oil cooler) and finding a way to wire in the APC system. The Volvo APC Site http://www.teleport.com/~bertram/volvoapc/index.shtml is a good place to start. Good luck, -Justin

Return to Main Index
StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]