The Parts
Saab Turbo T3
Supercharged buick junkyard injectors
Bosch junk yard diverter valve
Chinese water intercooler
Custom exhaust manifold
T3 Flange
AEM FIC (very used)
Bilge pump
Party Ice is the typical car guy “we should build this for laughs - bet you we could do it for cheap - I’ve got some junk laying around” story.
The name comes from the need for ice with the water intercooler, and buddy having come across a high quality image vector of “Party Ice”, the ice you buy at the gas station. It was going to be our fake sponsor, but just ended up being something we randomly shouted throughout the build. Mostly because they refused to answer our emails in an attempt to get sponsorship.
The Car
A $150 dollar Tercel was lined up for purchase that only needed some front sheet metal. For the price of scrap, it was a no brainer. Unfortunately a few days before delivery buddy backed out. Dedicated to the Tercel cause and armed with a borrowed truck and trailer, the static duo found the perfect replacement in a pinch.
A red Tercel was found a few hours away, an ex-drivers ed car - the outline of the company decal still glimmering through the faded red paint. 483XXX was not a problem the Toyota Guru advised. A brand new to us Tercel engine was included in sale, “running” and pulled from a junk yard not long ago was provided with the sale. It would need to be acquainted to the four speed auto, as the current boat anchor was toast. Upon removal of the original engine we found it had an impacted oil pan, likely due to the car being involved in some off highway adventures.
The Build
Engine
Toyota Guru furiously wrestled in the used heart out on his own. Previous one-point-five 5efe had turned it’s connecting rod into crushed ice, now glimmering through the oil pan.
When we contacted the previous owner to let him know it was running, he responded “no way I didn't think that engine would run after leaving it outside all winter”…
Turbo
Interior and engine bay bits ripped out, the custom manifold was mocked up. Amazingly no studs broke when removing the old manifold. Flange in place, a hole was cut with the angle grinder, and the manifold was welded into place using a portable 110v arc welder and a trusty board on a tire in the driveway work table. The turbo was offset on the passenger side and a civic half size radiator would be installed on the drivers side, giving us lots of room for piping.
After a few attempts to get the correct angle, a pipe fitting for the oil return line was welded into place, and gooped with JB weld. The turbo was then clocked, and the oil return lined up nicely. A standard barb fitting was threaded in but the eye ball measuring tape made for a uncomfortably short return line - it held.
Initial startup, we thought everything had fallen apart. The Saab impeller showed no life. Double checked the lines, and finally said screw it - a good shove of the accelerator and it spooled, apparently a little stiff from hibernation. Turbo noises were heard, we shouted “PARTY ICE” over and over, and the team was re-fueled.
Cooling
A quick run to the junk yard gave us less than stellar brake calipers - the team noting the junked example appeared in much better shape.
No scrap yards had a civic half rad - a key part to our build, since we had positioned the turbo with it in mind. The neighbour called a friend, who we nicknamed “Civic Rad Kid”. He promised a radiator from is hoard of parts from his past Civic oval racing days. Turns out his dad threw everything out. A man of his word, he secured a part from another friend who lived an hour out of his way, and showed up at midnight to deliver on his promise. Amazing! He included the radiator, stock plumbing and fan! Everything lined up well, a few tabs were cut from flat stock to secure it in place, and a mixture of tercel and civic pipe was used to plumb it. Rad Kid poked around, had a good laugh, and went on his way - having to head to work in few hours…
Inter-Cooling
Where the Party meets the Ice. Robbed from a Rabbit project, the intercooler was mocked into place. There was ample clearance between the exhaust and hood. Two existing holes on the block were tapped, and angle iron was bolted to create the intercooler bracket. Exhaust pipe was sliced into place, a reducer from the turbo into a 90 degree bend was punished into shape using the cut/hammer/weld method.
Exhaust pipe was used for the intake, and existing mandrel bend from the stockpile saved some fabrication time. “Stop trying to make it pretty” was shouted when the grinder tried masking the booger welds.
A colour coordinated cooler was attached to the passenger footwell. Two holes drilled hastily trough the lower firewall made room for 1/2 inch rubber lines. Ice water is circulated from the intercooler to the plastic cooler using a somewhat overkill rule bilge pump connected to a toggle on the dash. Added bonus - fish pond(Zen like) calming sensation with the pump running. The running water also makes you want to pee…
Exhaust
Left over stock F-150 cat back donated a nice 2.5? inch 90 degree mandrel bend off the turbo. The stock hangars were re-positioned and welded, and a new flex pipe was welded on. The downpipe clears everything, and a piece a few feet long move the exhaust fumes to the passenger footwell.
Wiring
Toyota Guru was not happy. Upside down in the passenger footwell, the AEM harness was installed, then ripped out, then re-installed, then ripped out. Trouble shooting turned into hacking the functional harness from a Ford Ranger project, it’s sad carcass now realizing it’s last chance for revival had just been stolen by a rotting Tercel. The Ranger project would be sold shortly after. After hours spent under the dash the FIC was finally functional, two way communication was established and injectors were scaled from the 19lbs toyota units to 36lbs Buick sourced Bosch injectors.
…
Wiring finally figured out, a wide band was installed in the dash. A basic tune was delivered from friends off the internet. Fuel was turned up conservatively and timing was pulled.
With all that completed we were able to back it out of the garage to see it in all it’s glory.
The first outing
After several evenings test tuning the car on the streets of mexico our amateur tuner was able to get the car running healthily on 5 psi. With import weekend approaching at our local (only 200km away) drag strip we were ready to go.
Our first 3 passes saw consistent 15.8 time slips. Slow by modern car standards but almost 5 seconds off of what the car ran when new only 5000000km before. It was quick enough to pick of a few newer bolt on equipped civics and get us very excited. Ultimately after working on the tune we were able to get a best time of 15.591@80mph.
Returning to the track several weeks later and with some small boost leaks fixed we were able to get a solid 7PSI of boost. Enough to get down to a 15.3 @ 90mph. Unfortunately due to rain and some errors on our part we were not able to unlock the fury of the 1.5 with our boost controller.
What now?
Since the last drag race event we have been able to return to Mexico with a functional manual boost controller. The car has been remapped and now has a conservative tune up with rock solid AFR's and safe timing. We have made street pulls on 14psi and we can assure you it's an entirely different animal than the low 15 second car we had at the track in September.
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