So I decided to test fit the turbo to the car tonight, in preparation for it's trip to the exhaust place on Friday. The car (DR30) was originally an NA FJ20, but I was upgrading it with some bits that I had collected over time - factory DR30 turbo manifold, S12 Silvia T3 and dump pipe etc, etc.

Guess what? It doesn't fit! The turbo fouls on the engine mount!

Is there a difference between the NA and turbo factory engine mounts? Engine mount brackets? Crossmember?

Help!

Pics would be good too, if you have them.

Yes S12 are different , they used a more conventional engine mount and bracket sort of like an S3 Bluebird . In a DR30 the dump assembly was longer because the outlet elbow bolted to the back of the waste gate flap valve plate . If you want to use original parts the DR30 bits are more common so not hard to find . You may find the .63 housing a bit laggy on a bush bearing T3 which is why the later intercooled version used the .48 housing . In bog std form it made more power and pulled from lower revs ie around 2500 so nicer on the road . They run out of puff at 6800-7000 on the std 6-7 lbs boost .

So is the .63 turbo physically bigger? I am wondering why it fouls on the engine mount, since I am using the DR30 exhaust manifold.

That's good information, thanks. Under the rules for Production Rally Cars, I am forced to use a turbo / parts that came with the car from factory, or were homologated for the car. I obviously want the engine to be quite torquey, as rallying uses quite a broad rev range.

So the proposed setup (for the time being) is: internally standard FJ20E (turbo ilet cam gear), S12 T3 turbo, DR30 exhaust manifold, 600 x 300 front mount intercooler, 2 inch piping from turbo to intercooler, 2.5 inch piping from intercooler to plenum, standard ET injectors, max boost of 7 - 10 psi.

Suggestions? Comments? Solutions?

OK, so I made a call to a friend and got the turbo (0.63), engine mounts, dump pipe and exhaust off a DR30. Upon inspection, the engine mount brackets are different. The turbo ones move the rubber mount itself forward by about 25mm.

Of course, the next problem comes up - if the mount is located in a differnt spot, then either the engine sits further back in the engine bay, or the front crossmember in the turbo cars is slightly different. I was under the impression that the front crossmember is the same for the L, FJ20E and FJ20ET. If that is the case, then the gearbox must move back by the same amount. I don't think that the gearbox mount will like that. Of course, there is a third option - the NA block has the engine mount holes in a different spot. GAAAAAAAAH!

Does anyone have any clues on this? Has anyone out there ever turboed an NA DR30?

The DR30 has the platforms that the engine mounts bolt to in a different position than the L series powered MR30 or HR30 . Really need that DR cross member or at least a look at one . I have an original DR30 parked in the rarge so I'll have a look in the morning . They are pretty cosy around the turbo and engine mount .

Turbo wise all you needed was the waste gate flap plate and the outlet elbow .

Thanks for that discopotato. Mine is an original DR30 (albeit an NA one), so I assume that I have the correct crossmember. Thus, using the turbo mounts actually moves the engine rearwards by about 25mm, which in turn causes problems at the gearbox crossmember.

I have basically given up hope of getting the car turboed before next weekend (I am competing in a rally Fri nite / Sat), so I may as well bolt it all back together and have another crack at it in the weeks to come. Next event (after this one) is mid-September, so I'll have some "fiddle time" - pending any altercations with the scenery, if you know what I mean!

If you could take a picture of the setup down at the passenger-side engine mount, I would be most grateful. Either post 'em up here or send 'em to me: fountainmass (at) gmail dot com.

Cheers,

Matt

Ok this is from a factory 84 mod intercooled car . I measured ~ 260mm from the front of the head (where the cam cover sits on top of it) to the flat section of bodywork just in front of the radiator top tank . From the same area at the back of the head to the firewall (sort of sideways rectangular pressing below the firewall lip) 180mm .

The engine mounting brackets are a two legged affair if you know what I mean . The rear of each leg is approx 90 degres (right angles)to the centre line of the engine (ie along the crank) . The forward legs angle forward towards the front of the car at the engine mount ends - in otherwords they spread forward . Naturally the off side bracket under the inlet manifold is shorter because the engine leans that side .

I have a feeling that either on this site or somewhere on the net there is an exploded diagram of the turbo DR30 engine mounting system and turbocharger . When I had one of these engines in a Bluebird we went through all sorts of contortions trying to get the brackets right on the JDM SSS crossmember .

Rather than bending over backwards to change this and that, why dont you just make one custom engine mount? Then no changing anything else. Maybe I have missed something but this seems the easiter way. If you have an angle griner, a drill and a welder youre away. Even if you dont have the latter, rent one for a few hours, its not too expensive and spot weld it (anyone can do this, its not difficult). If you cant do more than spot weld then take it to someone to do.

Youll be amazed what the turbo will do to your NA....but why not get a custom manifold then you can probably get away with not changing the engine mount at all. Also you could put on a GT28rs if youre racing.

Your call.

I suppose the question is - why should I have to custom make something that should fit perfectly? What is the crucial "different" part(s) between a factory NA DR30 and a factory turbo DR30?

Don't get me wrong, I would love to do as you suggest Boosted Frog, but the rules for Production Rally Cars don't allow it. I must use the factory inlet manifold, exhaust manifold, turbo, front crossmember etc, etc, etc. Aftermarket bits aren't allowed, unless they were specifically homologated for the vehicle. I can't even overbore it any more than 0.6 mm (basically first oversize).

I can modify the amount of boost, compression ratio, cams, etc. - but I won't for the time being. So basically, the Fury DR30 is what I would call the "upper limit" of what I can achieve if I had a limitless budget, as it competed under basically the same rules as I have to (Group A).

Discopotato03, thanks for that. I'll let you know what I find tonight, plus I will post some pics of the differences that I have found so far (just in case I am Christopher Columbus on this).

I went through this 16 years ago, and found the very same thing. I tried dropping a complete DR30 turbo engine in a NA DR30 engine bay, using the NA mounts (rubber and steel) . The turbo wouldn't clear the mount.
I cant remember exactly what the hell I actually did, but it involved modifying the steel mount on the block, and fitting a new rubber engine mount I found behind the workbench...

Can I take it as granted that you are using the fliud filled engine mount ? Its the one that has two studs or bolts between the mount and the bracket . Its not the S12 type mount with 1 stud above and one below . I would not be surprised if Nissan had a specific bracket on the exhaust side as most things in that area are only just clear of everything else .

I'll have a dig through the mountain of spares and see what I've got burried away .

Cheers -

A ok, ofcourse, no non-standard parts on the exterior of the engine. Thats a shame. That said, the stock manifold is very good and youll make heeps of power.

Good luck with the racing.

OK, update time. DP03, you are correct - the engine mounts are the oil-filled ones. I measured the physical location of the engine in the bay just as you did and came up with exactly the same numbers, so no change there. That obviously leads me to believe that the crossmember is indeed different.

The turbo engine mount brackets are quite different to the NA FJ20 ones.



With the engine mount bolt holes lined up, you can see that the mounting holes to the engine block are in different locations (~25mm).



This is how the crossmember looks from above. Note that the slot for the engine mount is almost directly inline with the front edge of the crossmember.



When the engine block bolt holes are lined up, you can see that the turbo mount bracket is 20mm longer.



Now to get a hold of a turbo crossmember...

Hi Mat.Yeah,you are spot on there.The difference is not in the actual crossmember,but the little mount bits that are spot welded onto the main crossmember. (yeak,ok,might as well be the x-member!) I had a similar problem to this in a '31 Skyline.The differences can be quite a lot sometimes,requiring new power steer lines,etc,to be made as they no longer fit along the contours of the different crossmember!