K4M Turbo Megane Project

[Kingtom]

Hi guys i am new to the forum, first post so a big shout out to all fellow French car enthusiasts! I am a budding Renault specialist (I work for a independent Renault and Nissan specialist). After being given another K4J engine by my boss, and urged by senior colleagues to do something stupid with it i decided why not got for a 220-250 bhp Turboed Megane. No one else is doing it that i know of so why not!

Basically i have a 1999 MK1 1.6 16v Renault Megane (K4M) and a 2000 1.4 16v Scenic (K4J) and a pocket full of dreams. (May i also state again i got the scenic for free hence why i'm going with that engine and not using another K4M or a 172 lump etc as why spend £300 when you can spend £0)

I know this has been attempted before but i don't care i will attempt it again as i'm not willing to buy a MX5 or Civic that seem to be the only cars kids modify these days.

I am at a understanding that the K4M whilst being a dated engine now is a pretty hardy engine and my understanding that the K4J is exactly the same engine bar different stroke so should be equally as strong? Can anyone verify there the exactly the same engine just with a different crankshaft?

My basic plan is to run a 7 psi turbo. New brakes, Coilovers. Convert rear drums to disc, powerflow exhaust etc. And my first step is gas flowing the head off the K4J which is in progress as i know for fact the heads are the same as the K4M's.

Any advice or useful information appreciated, pictures and updates to follow =]

 

[Chi]

Welcome Jaff

 

[Kingtom]

Hi Chi =]

 

[Chi]

Sounds like an interesting project fella.. Look forward to your build thread

 

[Kingtom]

Haha thank you, will definitely be a interesting journey Just waiting on better weather so i can finish pulling the rest of the block and engine bay loom out. Luckily the Scenic is at my garage so i can just do bits as and when i'm free with all my tools and the garage kit being there. I also work with 2 outstanding senior techs 1 of which is giving me much needed help and the other thinks i'm out of my mind and should just buy a 172 if i'm adamant of being a muppet haha.

 

[Chi]

Lol if you decide to buy one check my for sale threads

 

[Kingtom]

Haha definitely not! I am full steam ahead for my Turboed MK1! World would be a boring place if we all owned Clio's with white rims or matt nato green MX5's

 

[Chi]

True dat..

 

[Jaff.]

Anything you need to know about the meg give me a shout. There's not much I don't know about the f**king things.

good luck and yes K4m is just a 1.6 version of the k4j. Can't remember if it's bore or stroke that's different though.

cgeck out my project too, plenty if pictures to help you

 

[Kingtom]

Cheers man! Also any ideas on a LSD gearbox for something like that? Cant really keep the w**ky stock one!

Cheers yea thats what i was hoping, the old K4M's are very sturdy so that must mean by extension so are the K4J's. Same bore at 79.5mm, stroke is just 10.5mm shorter on the K4J.

There will more than likely be many a question! I saw your project man ,its actually what gave me abit of spurring on to do this (many people do not approve of my project but f**k that!), you used a F7R didnt you? What kind of turbo did you go for? Did you ever manage to finish it all off? Or just a on going project? =]

 

[Jaff.]

its an ongoing project mate, will update it later

yes f7r with internal mods and a t28 of some kind.

gearbox is a sore subject, my advice would be stock up on standard ones and just change them when required. its prefferable to trying to get another box to fit.
the k4 with a blower shouldnt go through as many as the f7/f4 with blowers do so i cant see it being too bad

 

[Kingtom]

Sweet man i shall keep following =]

Nice man, you using forged internals?

Yea i will be keeping stock tranny for a while as LSD is last on my list of mods, already priced up £800 and that's only the coil overs, forged pistons and a turbo haha. Gotta buy a new MIG as well ASAP. What callipers did you use? Im guna use standard scenic rear disc brakes for the rear to replace my drums seeing as i have all the bits for that free of charge (attached to whole scenic in the yard at work)

Not to sure though about keeping the stock gearbox in the long run though, i find that they aren't really able to keep up in the lower gears and the ratios are off and are just generally a bit s**t =/ However it may be easier to tinker with one that i have spare as i have 2 now and fitting a LSD diff and see what can be done about speeding her up.

 

[Jaff.]

Try a jc5 instead?

yeah I have forged internals.

as for brakes I bilieve the scenic rear disks are bigger so careful with that. They should be bolt on though. I used fiat coupe brembos on the front and f7r coupe disks on the back (same as Clio sport disks/calipers)

 

[Kingtom]

Having abit of crisis of faith one of the senior Techs came out whilst i was stripping out the rest of the K4J Block and told me he thought this was going to all end in tears (Gave some very good reasons like it constantly just throwing engine management lights and limp moding due to twitchy ECU's) . And that i would be much better off acquiring a crashed dropping a 172 or 182 for £900 stripping off the AC and Power Steering pumps and dropping that engine and gearbox in the megane. However my main issue with this is, that is going to be a f**k ton of pissing about with wiring looms is it not? Stripping the the 172 or 182 to bear engine requirements then stripping the megane loom down to bare chassis requirements then merging them. I know id most likely be sitting at 170+ just from the change but it seems like a much harder change over.

So im wondering if the claims of this thread could be true http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?543365-Renault-Clio-1-6-16v-K4M-Turbo.

Could i run a t28 or t25 turbo with complete stock internals and ecu at 7psi and just modify the exhaust manifold? (Obviously mods will be done for cooling aswell) He claims its 170bhp with no other mods other than different injectors, or that you could simply raise the pressure from 3.5bar to 4bar on standard injectors?

 

[Kingtom]

So i have 2 choices, both of which i will take off the AC.

Buy a 172 or 182. I could get the Loom out of the crashed scenic and use that to keep my car on the road.

Or work out if i could Stick a T25 at 7PSI with only changing the injectors on the K4J (Obviously with a 1.6 Crankshaft and ECU)

Both putting me at 170bhp+

 

[Jaff.]

If I were you I'd get stand alone management and make your own wiring loom. It's really easy and cost me in total less than £500.

it gives me complete piece of mind for any future modifications and all I've lost is the stock coolant temp gauge.

I've even done all the hard work for you and made electrical drawings of everything required

get on eBay and forums and search for a cheap standalone (I got an omex 600 with open loom for £350) buy about £50 worth of cable, idents and plugs and make your own. It's surprisingly therapeutic

btw 1*2 engines and excuse require emulators fitted etc not to mention splicing I to the car loom. If you were to go f7r engine I could make you an adaptor plug which would mean you just plug and play everything. That's 150 BHP standard and with a low pressure turbo takes you over 200 easy

 

[Kingtom]

Yea might be the best route. I'm just trying to price everything up atm just to get the engine running. Starting to consider the risks with just using stock conrods and pistons.

Yea i would like to atleast keep a sense of peace of mind with this project. Haha my budget of £2000 is starting to already go out the window! I suppose the logical solution to someone telling you the Stock ECU wont take it is to replace the Stock ECU haha.

Cheers man i may be needing them at some point.

Yea looked at a few ECU's couldn't find anything for around £300, Standalone £600 for a OMEX 600 or £400 for a Greddy Piggyback ECU.

Yea i think changing engines will be more hassle and more further expense than its worth. Hmmmmmm tempting..... F7R's as resilient as the K series engines?

 

[Jaff.]

F7r is the predecessor to the f4r (Clio sport engine) lots of people get good reliable power out of them and they drop straight I to your Megane with little fuss with electrics

if you go down the standalone rout search the forums, you'll fine a deal eventually

 

[Kingtom]

Haha I may have set my self an ambitious project especially after only 7 months in the trade. Luckily the lad teaching me is confident and f**king good tech! Also inspiring to see it's been done a fair few times with success. I think if I hit 170-80bhp I will be happy for the summer anyways!

Yea guna have a good look around, would you completely stay away from piggybacks?

Also what Cams would you recommend?

 

[Kingtom]

Can get a Greddy ultimate 2nd hand for £350 including harness.

 

[Jaff.]

all i will say is find someone who will map it for you. if you cant, find another brand. i went for omex as 90% of places will touch it.

id stay away from piggy backs with renaults. their immobilisers are a pain.

cams id stay with standard for the time being. it does depend on what engine you chose though

 

[Kingtom]

Okay man cheers, i'll make sure my local place will map the ECU i pick out.

Haha yeaaa dreaded Renault Immobiliser fault.

Okay man cheers will let you know as i progress.

 

[Scott rsi]

Haha thank you, will definitely be a interesting journey Just waiting on better weather so i can finish pulling the rest of the block and engine bay loom out. Luckily the Scenic is at my garage so i can just do bits as and when i'm free with all my tools and the garage kit being there. I also work with 2 outstanding senior techs 1 of which is giving me much needed help and the other thinks i'm out of my mind and should just buy a 172 if i'm adamant of being a muppet haha.

Where are you getting g the k4m turbo from I have a 1.6 16V rsi and want to turbo it