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Believe it or not the best base for an "all out turbo engine" is the 999cc/1108cc , this when referring to fire engines obviously. The 1242cc 8V being the best for a "low pressure turbo" system.

Note: The new 1368cc 16V engine is not suitable for boosting since it has an aluminum block and 11:1 compression, moderate boost would blow the pistons out of the bottom!!

What will I need?

The following is a list of parts you'll need for the conversion.

1- High pressure fuel pump
2- Fuel pressure regulator
3- Air intake pipe
4- oil cooler. (not essential for street car but a must have for the track)
5- Turbo (you do not need to use the same turbo I used, any small turbo can be used if sized right)
6- Turbo downpipe (the stock downpipe is ok for low boost but becomes restrictive at about 7psi)
7- Clamp on type air filter (any air filter is good but use one!! The stock airbox can be used but is rather restrictive and hard to adapt)
8- Decent large bore exhaust system (for best results use 2.25" or bigger. Do not go over 3" unless you want a high rev only car)
9- Decent radiator (You could get away using the stock one, in my opinion it's not worth the risk considering uprated unit are cheap or you can try the breakers)
10- Also worth adding is a braided Turbo oil feed pipe. (brake/fuel hose makes excellent oil feed/return hoses on a turbo, they can also be had cheap)
11-An intercooler is a nice addition but not necessary in most cases. (for low boost it's not necessary but it helps prevent detonation)

Other things to consider

1- Engine mounting points.
You can use all of the existing engine mounts, but it is definatly worth adding extra engine steadies and uprated bushes wherever possible.
Uprating the subframe mounting is also worthwhile.
2- Brakes and suspension.
If you're still using the stock parts uprate them before starting, don't forget all the extra speed and hard driving will cause extra strain on these. Its well worth spending some money here.
3- Cooling.
Quite often a problem on a standard engine, never mind a Turbo engine (the head will warp if it overheats). The cooling system must be in top order, and a decent radiator is essential. Also consider adding an oil cooler.
4- Oil.
Use a good quality oil and filter and change them on a regular basis. Don't forget the oil has to do the Turbo and engine.
5- Fuel feed and return.
The feed from the tank to the pump should be enlarged. I use 5/8" for both feed and return (stock should be ok for low boost).
6- ECU
If you're starting with a FI engine, you'll have three options;

having the original ECU reprogrammed to accommodate the turbo
you can fit an aftermarket reprogrammable ECU
using an FMU (fuel management unit)
converting to carb (you would be going backwards here)

Engine Build Process

Lets start with the Head.

A standard cylinder head is OK for the job, the 1108cc/1242cc 8V one being the best candidate.

A standard cylinder head is OK for the job and if you have a gas flowed one so much the better. Try to find a head that has not had too much skimmed of it as this will push up the target compression ratio. Make sure that the valve seats are cut nice and wide to give a good contact area to help dissipate some of the heat .

The compression ratio has to be kept fairly low for high boost to be used, so use dished pistons which gives a compression ratio of 8.0:1 (9.6-9.8:1 being the norm).

Good results can be had from the standard pistons and compression ratios as long as you do not use more than about 0.1 to 0.4 bar of boost. You could get away with more boost if you have an intercooler fitted (water injection!!).

The standard oil pump does not need uprating if in good condition. A turbo engine does not forgive lack of oil pressure, if the pump fails the turbo will seize within minutes of operation. There are various versions of the standard oil pump around depending on what engine is used.

The turbo needs its own oil feed for lubrication, this feed can be taken off the oil pressure gauge line using a T piece or from some other convenient point. The oil has to return to the engine some how. Some but not all fire engines have a hole cut in the block for this (it's sometimes blanked off). I used a return to the oil pan, another option is to use the fuel pump drive on carb engines (if using an electric fuel pump). This may not work well if the turbo is sitting lower then the return. There are other ways to return the oil from the Turbo to the sump (gravity feed is better so it won't place additional stress on the pump).

An oil cooler is pretty essential as well. I think that mine is a 13-row type and seems to cope well under all circumstances (a thermostat may be helpful under some conditions, especially in colder climates).

The standard camshaft is good enough but there are other options based on what engine is being used.

999cc -Panda 4X4 or aftermarket
1242cc 8V-Punto 75 or aftermarket

The standard water pump is OK but you may need to play around with the drive pulley size to help cooling (may not fit the standard belt if too large). I use a standard diameter pulley. I have never had the need to uprate the pump. The thermostat should be in place (some people think it works better without it!!).

Standard bearings and rods are good for about 8000 rpm (according to some people who use this engines as racing bases) so you do not need to worry too much about this. It may be a good idea to have the crank and Clutch dynamically balanced to reduce vibration.

Use good synthetic oil Mobil one is what I recommend. Although it is a little expensive it will increase the life of your engine and time between rebuilds.

The breather system for the block should not be connected to the intake, use a CCV bypass (this will prevent oil from being sucked into the intake). The other option is to use a 3-way valve found on some turbo cars and is a must if you are using a servo on the brakes (unless you find some other way to power the servo, maybe a vacuum pump). It allows a vacuum to be formed in the crankcase regardless of boost conditions. Essential if you do not want your dipstick shooting out due to high internal engine pressures caused by the rings passing little.

A high pressure fuel pump, a return line into the tank and boost sensitive fuel pressure regulator are needed to supply the Correct volume and pressure of fuel and dump the rest back to the tank.

A good air filter for easy breathing is needed, K&N or similar (some cars may be able to get away with the stock airbox, it'll give a more stock look and quiet the growl produced by the turbo).

A 1 7/8" to 2" single box free flow exhaust (twin box if you like very quiet).

One good idea is to add an Inertial cut out switch from a FI car. This cuts off the fuel pump and ignition if all goes Wrong. You should also avoid redline even with a rev limit, as the limiter (unless you have a fuel AND spark cutout) may cause lean running and that will destroy your engine (and we don't want that do we!!)

A manual boost controller should be used. This is because the standard waste-gate is set for a max boost pressure of 7 psi. You could run a max boost pressure of 7 psi but the engine may not agree (especially in stock form). You could always change the Wastegate actuator spring for one that is stronger/weaker.

The Distributor is standard just set to give about 20 deg advance. You need loads of advance with low compression engine to get the fuel burning early enough when the motor is off boost. Make sure you retard the timing 10 degree per 1 bar of boost if using stock pistons.

So What Do you End Up With Rolling road tests show 103 bhp at the flywheel about 80 at the wheels and that was using only 4-psi boost. Not much in the way of a horsepower boost, but the increase in torque is massive. The more torque that you have the faster the car will accelerate.

Fit a good rev counter or a rev limiter because once it starts to boost the revs pile on very very quickly, you just can not change gear fast enough.

For all the formula nuts here's one for you. Here's how to work out the theoretical 0 to 60 M.P.H. time of your car.

I have the formula to do the calculations for you.

You need to know the C.d. factor of your car. (C.d. Being the Coefficient of drag). The C.d. works out at about 0.34 on the MK1 Uno (0.30 on the MK2). I usually add two seconds to take into account wind drag over 60km/h

C.d. x Weight (in lbs.) Divided by the amount of torque in ft/lb.

The results will not be realistic in my experience as there is no way my 999cc MPI will pull an Uno chassis to 60mph in under 3 seconds but it should in 5.

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