Okay, I have a turbo question. Will the turbo setup from a 2.6L Starion work on a 1989 Montero with the same engine? Is the exhaust manifold the same? The Monty has a 2-barrel carb, and I'm thinking the Starion is probably fuel-injected? Did the turbo setup on a Starion include an intercooler? If so, I could probably mount that on the back side of the front skid plate. I've heard that as long as the boost is around 9psi or less, you don't really need an intercooler?

This Monty is slow as all get out, so I'd like to find a way to give it more horsepower, short of dropping in a V6. So I'm thinking swapping the turbo setup from a 2.6L Starion turbo would be the way to go?

 

I've got a line on some turbo system parts from a Conquest: exhaust manifold, turbo, piping, FMIC, intake manifold, throttle body, MAF sensor, injectors, ECU harness, and ECU. Keeping in mind this is 80's-era turbo technology, and my Montero has a 2-barrel carb on it now, are there any parts missing from this list to turbo my Montero?

I can get all these parts for $400, and pick them up on Sat (22 May), but I need to let the seller know if there's anything else I need. Again, NEED, versus nice to have (i.e. BOV, etc). For example, do I need a new fuel pump (doesn't FI require more fuel PSI than a carbed model, so the fuel pump on a carbed system won't put out enough PSI for an FI system)?

 

Picked up the Conquest turbo parts this morning: exhaust manifold/turbo assembly; various bits of piping; t-stat housing; timing cover; water pump; intercooler; oil cooler/lines; oil filter adapter plate. I'm keeping my Monty carbed, so I passed on the fuel-injection parts, so these parts ended up at $300. Here's a pic of the parts I got:



'Course now the challenge will be to install everything! On this setup, I can run either 7psi or 12psi, so I'm thinking of running 7psi w/o the intercooler, and 12psi with the intercooler. I'll make sure it runs okay at 7psi before upping it to 12 though, just to be safe. The seller really knew his stuff about Conquests, and I wished I would've driven the Monty instead of my SHO to pick up these parts. But he had some helpful hints, like getting the webbing on the exhaust manifold cut (to relieve heat stress, so it doesn't warp), and the mounting side resurfaced at a machine shop, to make sure it's flat. Also pointed out the difference between jet and non-jet heads, and how the steel jet heads aren't a good idea in an aluminum head. Also showed me a block with the balance shafts removed, and how heavy the shafts were, and there's a kit to remove them, block the oil galleys, shorter chain, etc. All good info, but something I'll consider way down the line, when it comes time to rebuild the motor.

Does anyone know someone in the Virginia Beach area of VA that is a Conquest/Starion guru, and may be able to provide some assistance? Or maybe even install it for a fee?

 

you may get more knowledge here
http://www.starquestclub.com/forum/

there are a couple people on here that know about the starion but they havent been active lately

 

I think I figured out why my Monty is so slow in it's current state of tune. Has to do with the stock 2-barrel Mikuni, and I don't think the secondary is working, so I'm basically running a 1-barrel carb. Apparently, the secondary is activated by some kind vacuum/pressure gizmo on the side, and they're notorious for breaking. So, during my search for a replacement carb, I think I'm going with a stock replacement Mikuni for $200, as opposed to a Weber 32/36 kit for $300, or a Weber 38/38 kit for $470.

Who knows, once I have a fully functioning 2-barrel carb again, that might satisfy my daily driving quest for a while, and give me more time to assemble the rest of the StarQuest turbo parts...

 

So I figured out how I'm going to mount the FMIC. The mesh top on the new front skid plate will have some good airflow going right to the FMIC, so it should work pretty well. I'll have to get some 90-degree and 135-degree fittings, in order to route the hoses from the FMIC back into the engine compartment, but hopefully that won't be too hard to find.




Once I get the oil filter adapter plate and related parts, I'll play around with mounting the oil cooler. I think I'll put it on the back side of the front skid plate, so I'm planning on cutting the metal lines and replacing them with some reinforced rubber lines, to make routing the hoses to the oil filter adapter a little easier. Also found a modded downpipe for $20, so that should pretty much complete the exhaust side of the turbo setup.




I have a replacement Mikuni carb on the way, and I might attempt to try and turbo the stock Mikuni carb. One thing already standing in the way of that is finding some kind of part that will bolt to the top of the carb, and has an inlet for the FMIC outlet hose to connect to. At 7 psi, I'm hoping the stock Mikuni can handle the boost, as well as the stock fuel pump.