I've noticed elsewhere that these TB45E turbo builds usually generate a fair bit of interest so I thought I'd add mine and explain with pics how I went about it.
I've had this vehicle for 7 years now and I've gone through the usual stages of extractors + 2.5" exhaust system and finally added an Xede piggyback to make some changes to fuel & timing.
Each of these changes adds a little more performance but, as I'm hoping to hook up a fairly heavy caravan one day for the traditional lap, I really thought I needed a bit more power in reserve to cover those overtaking situations that many talk about.
I had thought about selling it and getting a 4.8 but the old 4.5s aren't worth a lot these days even if mine is a Ti with only 132,000 kms on it. I've done a fair bit of work on mine and just knew I wouldn't find a reasonably priced 4.8 in the same nick.
Then there's the fact that I have a heap of spares for the 4.5 (even a spare auto trans), I have the manuals & PDFs, etc and they are a far easier engine to work on than the 4.8 e.g. tappet adjustment is a $300 dealer job.
So, what about power.. the standard 4.8 puts out ~ 130 - 135 rwkW. Most turboed 4.5s can be made to reliably produce ~150 kW under 7 psi. I'm planning to run with the standard internals (don't see any point in opening a 130k kms engine) and limit the boost to 0.3 bar (~4.5 psi). That should give me what I need and still be reasonably kind to the auto trans. I have already fitted a TransGo shift kit to the auto and done the line pressure solenoid mod with a 2k ohm resistor as well as an additional big Davies Craig trans fluid cooler. I have a temp gauge on the trans and run Castrol TransmaxZ in it. My research tells me it should hold up if I don't drive it like an idiot.. at 68 not much risk of that..
Cost.. I did a bit of research and decided that I could keep this project under $4k if I do as much as possible myself. I was a mechanic in a much earlier life (70s - early 80s) and have a pretty well equipped shed. I have a welder and plasma cutter, a press, etc so just about all I need for light fabrication.
There was no way I could have swapped into a 4.8 in the same condition for that kind of money..
This is the vehicle I'm starting with..
These are my costs so far..
One thing I've done throughout this project is always keep the vehicle drivable. Even making up the IC frame, I could always get the airbox and intake pipes, etc back on within a half hour if I needed to use it.
You can't use the TB45E airbox so why not use a different Patrol airbox that drops straight into existing holes and lines up with the original hole in the inner guard where the snorkel enters.
To do that, you need to move the charcoal canister. If you throw it away, you won't get complianced.
I moved mine down behind the bumper. I welded up a simple bracket from some scrap flat bar. Obviously, you'll need longer vacuum hoses.
The clean air intake for the canister must be removed from where it goes into the inner guard. I routed it up behind the left headlight and fitted a small air filter to it.
An important point here is that you'll need to fit check valves into the 2 vacuum hoses to stop pressurising the canister under boost.
Here's the TD42 airbox fitted in place of the charcoal canister. The 3" silicone elbow will point down towards the turbo compressor once it gets fitted.
The mod for the cobra head is easy. There are threads elsewhere where people have done some better mods with flanges, etc but I kept mine simple and just cut the original outlet off with a Dremel and inserted a short length of 3" exhaust pipe with Sikaflex and 4 screws.
I cut the flat flange off the intake and passed a 3.5" short silicone hose through the hole to join the airbox intake to the snorkel. You need to pop out the left indicator to tighten the hose clamp inside the guard.
More coming...
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