Newsroom
8/12/2008
One of our major projects here at Unique Fabricating was the installation of a custom turbocharger for a customer with an Ariel Atom.
The original car had a 300hp supercharged 2.0L ecotec power plant. The supercharger had been running at the limit of the cooling efficiency of the car's intercooler system. The owner was interested in a significant increase in horsepower and so elected to turbo charge the car. Very few Atom's have been turbocharged and this would be the first turbocharged, GM powered Atom. So much of the construction had to be custom built.
The owner had his engine built up with forged internal parts to withstand the expected increase in boost that the turbocharger would deliver. The turbocharger, intake and exhaust manifold were supplied by Hahn Racecraft and we completed the remainder of the build. An intercooler designed for a supercharged Honda Ariel Atom was customized for this project. He delivered the car and engine separately and we did the rest.
The exhaust, cold air intake and charge piping was all fabricated in house for this project to fit the unique engine compartment of the Atom. Two versions of the exhaust were constructed. One was build with a catalytic converter for street use. The second was build with a repackable racing muffler and no catalytic convertor for track use. The track exhaust was given bungs for the O2 sensor and a wideband sensor.
The customer also was interested in using a methanol injection kit with his Atom. Given the wide open nature of the Atom's engine compartment, he wanted a methanol tank that would hold a large volume of methanol, but also not break up the exterior appearance of the car with an ugly plastic tank. We fabricated a stainless steel tank with materials that would not deteriorate when exposed to methanol. The tank fits next to the existing fuel tank and uses the same lines as the tank making it fit the cars exterior perfectly. A secondary charging pump was also installed using custom made brackets attached to the transmission.
The methanol injection kit was installed and wired, and a bung for the nozzle was welded into the charge tubing just ahead of the throttle body.
In order for the fuel injectors to handle the increased boost the engine would be seeing, we also installed a larger fuel pump and fuel filter into the car. We also fabricated a custom return flow fuel system with a fuel pressure regulator.
We also installed a Mastershift paddle shifter system into the car at the time of construction. The paddle shifter system would take the place of the standard shifter in the car. We had to construct a custom bracket to hold the shifter mechanism and fabricate a custom wiring solution to work with the customer's detachable steering wheel.
The customer also had us install a racing clutch and lightweight flywheel and new higher strength rod ends while we were working on the rest of the car.
The car is now back with the customer and he was able to achieve 350 wheel HP (over 400 at the crank) with his new turbo system in early testing. He is still in the process of tuning estimates another 50-75 additional horsepower before he is completed.
Written By: Unique Fabricating
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