best place to get a turbo fitted into an alfa 156 and other info needed

gline

I just bought an intercooler and turbo for an alfa 156 1998 model, i am just wondering where the best place to get all the parts installed is?

Probably going to have to get it re-programmed aswell, whats the difference between getting the ecu reprogrammed or using a piggyback device?

also i will need someone to make custom exhaust pipes to go from the turbo out.

Also can anyone recommend a decent tubing/piping kit for a turbo??

is there anywhere where i can get all this done?? (preferably in dublin or not too far for there)

Owen

I'll be banned for saying this, but it's worth it. Are you mental? You're turboing the most unreliable car sold in the last 10 years? Can I watch it blow up?

gline

ned78 wrote:

I'll be banned for saying this, but it's worth it. Are you mental? You're turboing the most unreliable car sold in the last 10 years? Can I watch it blow up?

sure you can if you want :P

ah i dont mind, should be fun

Owen

Seriously though, if it's done correctly, it should be nice. I have a soft spot for Alfas, so if it's a proper job - it should be great fun. Keep the Turbo Pressure low though!

gline

well its only a small turbo.... its a turbo and intercooler from an alfa 156 jtd model, standard is 155bhp for the 156 2.0 TS and ive heard the engine is safe up to 210bhp, so id say 200bhp should be fine for my motor... hopefully

C_Breeze

:eek: I would love to see that when its done!! that would be such a good sleeper car .

To answer your question , you'd probably be best lookin for somewhere up north to carry out the work.

gline

C_Breeze wrote:

:eek: I would love to see that when its done!! that would be such a good sleeper car .

To answer your question , you'd probably be best lookin for somewhere up north to carry out the work.

thanks, i dont really know anywhere though to get those done that is reputable.

also wheres a good place to go to get parts sprayed to match the original colour?? im buying a spoiler etc and need it sprayed to match

5500

Im out of my water depth when it comes to alfas but im reckoning your going to need a hell of alot more kit than that,ie manifold,oil lines wastegate possibly internal engine work too.Do you know anyone with a boosted alfa?

Again i wouldnt know what can and cant be done with alfas so ecu wise id be hazarding a guess you'l need an aftermarket unit set up for boost

gline

eireal wrote:

Im out of my water depth when it comes to alfas but im reckoning your going to need a hell of alot more kit than that,ie manifold,oil lines wastegate possibly internal engine work too.Do you know anyone with a boosted alfa?

Again i wouldnt know what can and cant be done with alfas so ecu wise id be hazarding a guess you'l need an aftermarket unit set up for boost

well i looked at a turbo kit for sale online and basically tried to get what that included

Cerberus

I seem to remember they're being a guy in Dublin who had turbocharged his 147 a few years back. Sorry I can't be more specific but it might help if you search different car sites for a irish turbo'd 147. Think it might even have been in Max Scour a few years back...it was running big power.

5500

Cerberus your spot on,the guys name is paddy and he can be found on some of the car sites,he got the work done by trackday www.trackdayperformance.com afaik he still has the car and id say at this stage silly amounts of money have gone into it.

gline

here it is http://www.trackdayperformance.com/portfolio/Alpha147.htm

thanks lads

just sent them off an email and see if il get a response

ciarsd

Gline, hows this project coming along? Just stumbled across this thread now!

gline

good, have the turbo and the intercooler... need to find out what else i need and order a new exhaust system and source someone that will fit it andd reprogram the ecu

ciarsd

Have you thought about fueling yet?

Your possibly going to need to uprate your injectors - even add a further one..

Your standard ECU won't be up to the job. You will need the likes of a Piggyback ECU - the likes of the Dastek units for re-mapping

How about brakes and suspension?

colm_mcm

Have you considered a GTA?

gline

ciarsd wrote:

Have you thought about fueling yet?

Your possibly going to need to uprate your injectors - even add a further one..

Your standard ECU won't be up to the job. You will need the likes of a Piggyback ECU - the likes of the Dastek units for re-mapping

How about brakes and suspension?

no need as its only 25% more bhp, the engine is good up to 230bhp

also i got sports brake pads+discs, not touching the suspension... yet, will probably lower it a tiny bit though

Anti

Personally i think your a bit of a loon doing this. But hey its your money chap. You WILL need mroe fueling too. Maybe a uprated fuel pump will do. If you take a look at the specs of the turbo vs non turbo engine you can see there are a hell of alot of differences. compression being one of the main ones. Also consider getting a new cluth fitted. From a diesel if possible, as they are far stronger.

touge_drift

westward engineering.. go down to martin tracey.. he's a ledgend when it comes to tuning

galwaytt

before you hack the car up though, have you double-checked that the JTD parts will work?

Reason I ask is that JTD rev range is probably 1/2 - 2/3 of the petrol engine, so you might be asking a bit much of it...........

gline

i got the turbo, its made by garett, il just check the specs when i get some time

touge_drift

gline wrote:

i got the turbo, its made by garett, il just check the specs when i get some time

ah there are a fairly good maake.. well for a euro car like....:D

dave2pvd

How much budget have you allowed for? I wouldn't be surprised if you go through a couple of thousand before you're finished.

Will you be changing pistons to reduce compression? Are the stock con-rods up to the job?

I seriously doubt the injectors will deliver enough flow.

Def need new ecu or piggyback. Possibly a new MAF sensor too.

Don't forget: dyno time. Where will you have dyno tuning done?

Don't mean to discourage you, but it seems a there's a lot you are unaware of. This is not a bolt-on, plug & play mod.

touge_drift

dave2pvd wrote:

How much budget have you allowed for? I wouldn't be surprised if you go through a couple of thousand before you're finished.

Will you be changing pistons to reduce compression? Are the stock con-rods up to the job?

I seriously doubt the injectors will deliver enough flow.

Def need new ecu or piggyback. Possibly a new MAF sensor too.

Don't forget: dyno time. Where will you have dyno tuning done?

Don't mean to discourage you, but it seems a there's a lot you are unaware of. This is not a bolt-on, plug & play mod.

exactly what he said... its not as eaasy as bolt on.. you need to tune.. oh and an ecu upgrade wud be essential to get any power of of it..

god i cud list on for hours

Gerry

Someone else has done this before in Ireland, saw this at mondello in june. Sounds really good, goes really fast, unfortunately I have no more info on it.

Click here to see Video

ciarsd

Gerry wrote:

Someone else has done this before in Ireland, saw this at mondello in june. Sounds really good, goes really fast, unfortunately I have no more info on it.

Click here to see Video

That'll be trailbreakers car (bmoferrall can vouch for this!) - it is far from a standard 156, in fact it started life as a GTA (3.2 V6).

It's not my place to comment on anymore of it, I'll leave that to the lucky & proud owner who I'm sure will give you the rundown if asked nicely

gline

i know its not a case of bolt on and go, but as far as i can see it will just be the turbo kit and piggyback, im not going for massive gains, maybe 20%

i was told that not much more would be needed then the above for such a small gain

astraboy

What engine is it? Why not do a 2.5L swop? Its an alfa engine available in your model 156, and should give you much more reliable power. The guy with the 147 I know from another site, TDP in Wicklow did the work and its still going strong. A lot of money is needed to achieve this however. If you want something different go for it, if you just want power there are easier ways.

bmoferrall

Gerry wrote:

Someone else has done this before in Ireland, saw this at mondello in june. Sounds really good, goes really fast, unfortunately I have no more info on it.

Click here to see Video

That's a supercharged, rather than turbocharged, 156. As ciarsd said, it started out as a 'humble' NA 3.2L GTA. The supercharger is just the icing on the cake with that car to be honest - the list of mods is endless!

Autodelta do a turbo kit (incl. installation) for the MkI 156:
http://www.autodeltashop.com/product_info.php?cPath=23_65&products_id=162

They will also supercharge for a similar outlay:
http://www.autodeltashop.com/product_info.php?cPath=23_65&products_id=511

Trackdayperformance (or Martin Treacy) will certainly fit the turbo kit for you but, as I'm sure Pat/AlfaDublin would tell you, doing it safely and properly could get prohibitively expensive.

Here's a detailed discussion on AO (involving AlfaDublin) which will give you more info:
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-147-156-and-159/39231-chip-vs-ems-vs-turbo-vs-supercharge.html?highlight=supercharge+turbocharge
In particular, note this:

Allthough i have the highest regards for tuners like Novitec, it does seem that the Turbo driven 2.0's made back in 99-2000 are now starting to cause grey hairs and finacial ruin to their present owners.. We have quite a few 156 novitec turbo's here in Denmark, and from what i heard recently, they are not cheap to keep on the road!

The point is, that unless you are willing to go all the way like AlfaDublin did on his engine, then it's probably not a good idea to put forced induction on the TS engines. They don't seem to able to hold up to the stress without expensive maintenance.

If you really want power, then You'd be better of trading your 147 TS to a 147 GTA.

Since you've already bought the turbo, it's too late to push you in a different direction, so best of luck with it!

gline

thanks for all the info

might just sell the turbo in the end :P do something else to the car

astraboy wrote:

if you just want power there are easier ways.

that being???

i was thinking of a preformace camshaft + ecu remap + lightweight flywheel + clutchkit from autodelte in england. Would that improve preformance much?