Elford Turbo Conversion...

[Steve-A]

I had the oil cooler off Lees FC.

Edit the EGI, not the cab.

[Ian65]

was forced into doing a few hours on this car today.....
when I fired it up the other week I only put water in it in case it wasn\'t oil tight and had to be stripped again but as the weathers turned nasty, I\'ve had to antifreeze it today.
I\'d already decided to put the larger S3 rad back on it so I changed the rad at the same time, put the e-fans back on and took that bloody oil cooler off.
I\'ve just bypassed it for now so that at least I can drive the car to move it about on the drive.
It wasn\'t half cold out there today ........ brrrrrrr!

Run it up to temperature and all is well.



.

[Ian65]

Noticed today how weak the side lights look compared to the light coming out of the headlamps which are running xenons.
The side lights look like there are a couple of birthday candles behind the lenses in comparison.



Might try some leds in the side lights or some more xenons

.

[CHC (RIP)]

Been considering upgrading the headlamps myself but didn\'t know which to go for.  Would you recommend the Xenons Ian?

[Ian65]

Been considering upgrading the headlamps myself but didn\'t know which to go for.  Would you recommend the Xenons Ian?

absolutely yes.
the standard lights are so feeble they restrict the 1st gens speed at night on dark roads.
These xenon lights are phenomenal, so bright and clear compared to the standard items.
I love \'em!!

[shaunwil]

Did you do the Relay mod too ? Made a huge difference to mine last year.

Shaun

[CHC (RIP)]

Did you do the Relay mod too ? Made a huge difference to mine last year.
 
Shaun

What would that mod be Shaun?  I normally don\'t do electrics so any help would be good.
:cheers

[CHC (RIP)]

absolutely yes.
the standard lights are so feeble they restrict the 1st gens speed at night on dark roads.
These xenon lights are phenomenal, so bright and clear compared to the standard items.
I love \'em!!

Sounds bl**dy good to me then, I\'ll be lookin\' into this now.
Ta

[captainbizzaro]

Basically Cliff, on a 1st gen the entire current being pulled by the headlights goes through the switch which is bonkers-so best thing to do is use the existing headlight feed as a trigger for the relay and run a more suitable main to the relay. That way the poor stalk isn\'t bearing the brunt.

[yoeddynz]

Hiya Ian,
Glad to see ya got this going. I\'m sitting here looking at my Elford setup- I need to move the turbo forwards to clear the brake servo in my viva. I will make a new exhaust manifold to suit but I will also need to sort out a waste gate. Yours looks different to mine- I have the original waste gate- a square cast iron item bolted to where yours bolts to- this is controlled by the actuator like most old school setups.



What type of waste gate is yours? It looks much easier to relocate than the massive set up mine has!

I shall be asking many questions as i get closer to fitting the setup you can be sure of that!

cheers
alex

[Ian65]

Hiya Ian,
Glad to see ya got this going. I\'m sitting here looking at my Elford setup- I need to move the turbo forwards to clear the brake servo in my viva. I will make a new exhaust manifold to suit but I will also need to sort out a waste gate. Yours looks different to mine- I have the original waste gate- a square cast iron item bolted to where yours bolts to- this is controlled by the actuator like most old school setups.



What type of waste gate is yours? It looks much easier to relocate than the massive set up mine has!

I shall be asking many questions as i get closer to fitting the setup you can be sure of that!

cheers
alex

Hi Alex,
good to see you\'re getting round to using your Elford!
I\'m still trying to get the spoiler off that silver car but no dice so far!!
Thanks for signing the guestbook on my website... it\'s nice to get some feedback.

The Elford setup is a real tight fit in a 1st gen RX7 so I\'d imagine it\'d be no easier in any other car.
There is hardly any info available on the Elford Turbo RX7 anywhere....
Elford turbo ltd ceased trading in 1994 and there are no manuals or diagrams anywhere to help you suss it out.
It took me nearly a year of research to work out how it works..... I\'m still trying to decode the wiring to the black box but you don\'t really need this, especially with your setup.

Elford used 2 versions of the turbo setup over the lifetime of the conversion....

the early one, with a boost-guard wastegate....





and the swing arm type that you have...



The Boost-guard was a pop open wastegate that was backed up by a microdynamics control module that provided a rev limiter and as a failsafe, above 8psi it cuts the trailing plugs and also every other spark of the leading plugs until the boost drops back below 8psi.

When Elford revised the wastegate and changed to the swing arm system in 1983, this box a tricks wasn\'t deemed as important as the swing arm was designed to be more reliable.

Both systems had 2 pressure switches linked to the inlet manifold to monitor boost pressure....
the 8psi one described above and also a 0.5 psi switch that reacts to any positive boost and retards the ignition by 1.25 deg for every 1000 rpm increase in engine speed.
This is the important one as it\'s designed to prevent detonation in the engine which will quickly destroy the tips.
I\'ve put together a diagram showing how this connects up on a pdf file  and I\'ll email it to you if you like.

If you\'ve got any questions, you can email me at ian08 at sky dot com and I\'d do what I can to help

I\'ll try to get my website up to date with the latest pictures regarding this conversion which again, may help.

cheers,
Ian

[Ian65]

these pics give a view of how the Boost-guard wastegate sits in the car....






.

[yoeddynz]

Cool- cheers for the info Ian! I didnt realise that there were two versions- I thought i had an old standard system and that you had added a after market wastegate- as it looks like one.

I will build a new manifold and put the waste gate in the centre just under the turbo- This I have been told by several will be a good reliable place as the gas pressures will be even from both ports there as well as it being a easy flow for gases to escape when the gate opens - the elford position is compromised by being in a very tight area- I guess its all they could do! Perhaps thats why they changed the WG?

I will also be saving around 104 kgs when I remove th elford cast iron manifold!!! its heavy isnt it- it will last many lifetimes.

I will be fitting a 38mm aftermarket WG- an adjustable one that happens to go down to 5psi- which seems rare these days.

I wondered about the two solenoids that were on the back of the engine- I guessed sort of right in what they do but will certainly ask more questions to you when i get to that point. I foolishly didn\'t take enough photos when I started to strip that rusty old Elford. I would certainly be interested in how the little black box and solenoids do the jobs! I\'ll send you an email.

I have made some mods to another sump and built a new removable oil drain- I want to keep all the elford parts intact in case I onday want to fit them into a FB.

Here\'s the build thread on Retro rides...

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=93269

cheers
alex

[yoeddynz]

Hey Ian,

Wondering if you got my email? I think i got email wrong. I would love any wiring info you have plus info about the fuel line placement on carbs etc.( oh how I wish I took more photos/wrote notes)

 If anyone else out there in elford land can help that would be great- very little info out there!

cheers

alex

[Ian65]

Hey Ian,

Wondering if you got my email? I think i got email wrong. I would love any wiring info you have plus info about the fuel line placement on carbs etc.( oh how I wish I took more photos/wrote notes)

 If anyone else out there in elford land can help that would be great- very little info out there!

cheers

alex

Hey Alex, you must be telepathic!

I\'ve just spent the last hour putting together a file showing you how to do this then logged on and saw this message.
check your email and  you should have it now.
If you need any other help mate, let me know!

cheers,
Ian