Elford Turbo Conversion...

[Ian65]

As some of you already know, I’ve just bought an Elford Turbo setup which I intend to put into my 1984 series 3 RX7 and I thought I would start a thread about it.
I would have preferred to have bought a complete car for the parts but non are currently available so I bought the parts instead.   
This leaves me with a few mysteries and problems to overcome.
I will need plenty of help and advice to do this install……
I have nothing to refer to for the throttle and choke linkages, fuel lines, engine and ignition wiring.
Elford Turbo Ltd ( ETL)are now long gone and as only around 500 or so conversions were ever done back in the 80’s, finding any information on the install will be a bit of a challenge.
As far as I know, there aren’t any diagrams or manuals showing how the conversion was done.
The only literature that I can find so far are a few old road tests and this old sales brochure...plus a price list.







I hope by starting this thread I will be able to pull together any information or advice anyone else can offer and also create a useful record of how it all went together to help anyone else wanting to do this conversion.
If anyone has any pictures of engine bays showing this conversion, please post up a copy, likewise any other info you come across which might help me.
I’ve been reading Albans thread about his gold car but as that was initially an Elford, he had a bit of a head start!.....
This conversion is starting from scratch!

 

THE CAR                          

Here’s the car it’s going into…. A 1984  â€˜A’ reg series 3 currently running the standard unmodified 12a engine…









The car is completely standard with the exception of :

1. The exhaust which is a stainless ‘double s’ system from the engine to the   back box which is the stock Mazda back box. The headers are also part of this after market system. The air pump and associated junk are long gone.

2. The car is currently running twin electric fans from a 1994 Toyota MR2 MK2    in place of the standard viscous fan.

The car runs fine in it’s current setup.

THE ELFORD PARTS

I bought these parts off Ebay last week and got:

12a Mazda engine with the full ETL conversion fitted to it.
Series 2 gearbox
Propshaft
Radiator
Oil Cooler
Control module
Assorted bits of the wiring loom inc coils
Elford stainless exhaust
Standard Mazda back box ( which Elford used )

The story…

The seller stated that he bought a white Elford RX7 some years back and as it was terminally rusty, he broke it for parts.
He stated that he hadn’t had it running but had been told that the engine had recently been rebuilt and had hardly been run since although he happily stated that he hadn’t got any paperwork to back that up.
 I must have heard that story about 100 times over the last 30 years!
 I only wanted the Elford bits so it the fact it came with a full engine that may or may not be ok was a just a bonus really.
The engine in my car is excellent and so I intend to swap the ETL parts over onto that.
I’m therefore starting with an engine known to be good so any running problems, shouldn’t be down to faults within the engine.

The seller also had the bodykit but:
it was buried in the depths of his storage shed so I couldn’t get to see it
He described it as having a lot of damage and needing a great deal of repairs

I’m still in the market for the Elford front and rear spoilers if anyone knows to any that may be for sale, plus the rear badge!

SUSSING OUT THE PARTS…

THE INDUCTION / TURBO





When I got the parts home I decided to 1st remove the whole turbo setup from the engine. I took plenty of photos to show where the oil and vacuum lines went and then unbolted the whole thing from the engine.
It came off as a complete unit and I then separated the various parts on the bench to clean them up.
The carb, a HIF44 SU, is seized and will need a rebuild.
The turbo, a Garrett AI Research, and the compressor spins freely, hopefully they will be ok.
I cleaned the manifolds up and put all the parts to one side for the time being whilst I checked out everything else.

ENGINE

I’d already decided that using my own engine was the way to go
ETL used the standard 12a engine, same rotors and compression but modified the sump to incorporate a separator on the oil return line to remove any air and froth from the oil before it went back into the sump.






My first thought was to just swap the sump onto my engine whilst it was still in the car but after asking for advice on both forums, I’ve decided to lift the engine out and do it on the bench.
The exhaust, fuel lines and linkages need to be changed anyway plus my clutch release bearing is noisy so I might as well take the engine out and do that at the same time.
It’ll also be easier to put the manifolds back on and connect up the lines with the engine out of the car.

GEARBOX

I’ll be using my own existing gearbox, not this series 2 box.
Mines good, it fits my clutch etc and I can’t see any advantage in swapping them.

EXHAUST



ETL used stainless from the manifold to the back axle to cope with the extra heat from the turbo but used the stock factory backbox.
The exhaust is in fine condition and just needs a coat of VHT paint.

PROPSHAFT & RADIATOR

Both ok but not needed for this project.

OIL COOLER

Scrap…. Dropped to bits as I picked it up. Does a 2nd gen cooler fit?
I want to lose the ‘beehive’ cooler and go to a front mounted one but I’m currently running a full depth series 3 radiator which I want to keep.
What do you reckon?

CONTROL MODULE



I took the cover off the Micro Dynamics control module to make sure it hadn’t suffered from water ingress and fried and it looks sound as.
It the date 14.08.10 written inside it, I presume from when it was made, so that gives some idea of the age of the parts.

LOOM

Loads of bits of wire taped together that I haven’t had chance to look at yet!

That’s about it for starters…..
If anyone has any info to help… please post it up or email me through my website.
I\'ll post this thread up on a couple of forums to try to get as much help as possible.

Cheers,
Ian

[Ian65]

1st question already!

These are pictures of the exhaust ports on a spare engine I\'ve got in the garage. This engine was running a \'Double S\' stainless system and headers...






Now these pictures are of the exhaust ports on the Elford engine...




The rear rotor port has an insert like this...





and the front rotor has an insert like this...





Questions are:
Are these inserts standard 12a inserts or specific to the Elford engine?
Why are they different between the 2 ports?

[myatt1972]

Ive got two engines at work, I will have a look at the ports.
Do you need an engine crane to get the lump out? Give me a shout if you do.
P.S When you have sussed everything you can tell me how its done

[Ian65]

Cheers, I\'ll take you up on that, I\'m going to get it all ready 1st then hopefully do the job over a weekend. I\'ve got to get the wheels on my project car 1st to get out out from over the pit.

[TRIND-FD]

http://pdfninja.com/Mazda/Mazda-RX-7-Gold-Portfolio-1978-1991.html
 
Dont Know if this book will help you.
 
Keith.

[Ian65]

Are you going to use a paper or liquid gasket when you put the sump back on. I would go for paper if you can due to the first one on my 13b leaked more oil than a rig in the gulf. Once I changed to paper,no problems

Yeah, I\'ll be using a paper gasket. In the past I\'ve used blue Hylomar but never on a rotary.... the workshop manual says use \'silicon\'? as well as the gasket...
do you use silicon Brian?

[kiwimazda]

I did have an engine built that use silicon and it leaked. I lifted the engine in the engine bay 2 twice more and it leaked again. There is only one place for that stuff now and thats on the front of a woman. Paper gasket every time for me

[Ian65]

Is there any difference between RX7 12A engine \'blocks\'?

I thought all 12a rx7 blocks were the same and that all emission stuff was just bolt on.

My Elford block has 1 hole below the exhaust ports...



but my other block has 2 of them...



The elford manifold doesn\'t look like it makes use of either of them...



I\'ve no idea how old either of these engines are .... were they different between s1,2 & 3 cars or different btw different markets?

I\'m trying to get my head around these exhaust port inserts... do I just leave them out altogether or swap them into my engine?

I\'m tempted to leave them out... surely the more flow into the turbo manifold, the better?

[myatt1972]

Oh bo**ox, I forgot to look at the engines I have at work.
Will have a look tomorrow to see if they are the same.
Im not sure about the ports, they may smooth and direct the flow making things better. Its only 4 bolts you could do a before and after test.

[DRAGON]

Interesting to see some old skool turbo ideas, nice heatshield on the turbine.

[myatt1972]

Eventually got my spare engines out at work today and the exhaust ports are different on both engines and neither match yours Ian. How many different types are there I wonder, and why

[captainbizzaro]

I think I\'m right in saying that later 12A blocks had different exhaust ports as a noise reduction measure.

Also-are you certain that all your blocks came out of RX7\'s? Now I\'m just chucking ideas about here so anyone feel free to administer a flaming-I can take it.

[syebba]

so anyone feel free to administer a flaming-I can take it.[/quote]
 
:flamed     :evillaugh
ta stu..

[captainbizzaro]

yeesh it\'s getting hot in here

[shaunwil]

Another answer is the 2nd gen cooler will go into the 1st gen in front of the radiator. Good condition ones are hard to find though !

Have you done any searches on rx7club or ausrotary ? They have quite large 1st gen following.

Shaun