I got a 1992 323 Base Model as my first car back in 2014. It had an 8v SOHC 1.6 Big Nose and a 5 speed tranny. It treated me very well for the first 4 years I had it, but eventually I wanted a little bit more. 
Here are the stock specs. 82 Flywheel Horsepower and 92 Lb/Ft of torque. Pathetic.
After I had it ripped apart, I adapted the exhaust manifold to the Volkswagen Passat K03-015 turbocharger by beans of a custom J-Pipe (this got changed later to relocate the turbo higher up).
As you can see, the factory water pump inlet prevented me from raising the turbo any further. This meant the turbo sat too low and caused it to burn oil badly through its seals.
The only way to remedy this and retain the stock exhaust manifold was to modify the water neck. I did this by slicing it on an angle and rotating the end so that it hugged tightly to the block.
This meant changing out my admittedly-questionable first J-pipe for a version which ended up raising the turbo around 4 inches. This solved the smoking issue, and likely flowed much better than its predecessor.
For charge piping, I used 2.5" aluminum piping my friend gave to me and bought all of my couplers on Aliexpress. I used an intercooler off a 1.8T VW Passat, the same car that donated its turbocharger.
My fueling was an area where I chose to spend the most money on. I chose to run stock 1.6 ZM-DE injectors (I think), a Kemso 340 lph in-tank pump, and a SPA Turbo 14:1 Adjustable-ratio fuel management unit.
A spare OEM pump compared to the new Kemso 340
A newer ~1997 1.6 Protege injector compared to my older style oem injector.
in order to attach the FMU to the return line of the fuel rail,
I needed to rotate the oem fuel pressure regulator 180 degrees. It is a tight fit, but it will just barely slide in place backwards.
The FMU hooked up. The large screw on top adjusts base fuel pressure, and the small screw adjusts the rise rate per psi of boost pressure.
To tune the car with the FMU I needed a wideband O2 sensor and gauge kit, so I purchased an APSX D2 kit online and I have been nothing but happy with it. It uses a Bosch 4.2 sensor and has not given me any problems to date. I also picked up a fake HKS SSQV and flange kit on Aliexpress.
It works AWESOME and sounds PERFECT, but there was one issue with the flange pipe.
Nothing I couldn't take care of.
Boost gauge was another cheap Aliexpress purchase, but it is the one thing I am not satisfied with. I will have to get a better one eventually.
Here are the stock specs. 82 Flywheel Horsepower and 92 Lb/Ft of torque. Pathetic.
After I had it ripped apart, I adapted the exhaust manifold to the Volkswagen Passat K03-015 turbocharger by beans of a custom J-Pipe (this got changed later to relocate the turbo higher up).
As you can see, the factory water pump inlet prevented me from raising the turbo any further. This meant the turbo sat too low and caused it to burn oil badly through its seals.
The only way to remedy this and retain the stock exhaust manifold was to modify the water neck. I did this by slicing it on an angle and rotating the end so that it hugged tightly to the block.
This meant changing out my admittedly-questionable first J-pipe for a version which ended up raising the turbo around 4 inches. This solved the smoking issue, and likely flowed much better than its predecessor.
For charge piping, I used 2.5" aluminum piping my friend gave to me and bought all of my couplers on Aliexpress. I used an intercooler off a 1.8T VW Passat, the same car that donated its turbocharger.
My fueling was an area where I chose to spend the most money on. I chose to run stock 1.6 ZM-DE injectors (I think), a Kemso 340 lph in-tank pump, and a SPA Turbo 14:1 Adjustable-ratio fuel management unit.
A spare OEM pump compared to the new Kemso 340
A newer ~1997 1.6 Protege injector compared to my older style oem injector.
in order to attach the FMU to the return line of the fuel rail,
I needed to rotate the oem fuel pressure regulator 180 degrees. It is a tight fit, but it will just barely slide in place backwards.
The FMU hooked up. The large screw on top adjusts base fuel pressure, and the small screw adjusts the rise rate per psi of boost pressure.
To tune the car with the FMU I needed a wideband O2 sensor and gauge kit, so I purchased an APSX D2 kit online and I have been nothing but happy with it. It uses a Bosch 4.2 sensor and has not given me any problems to date. I also picked up a fake HKS SSQV and flange kit on Aliexpress.
It works AWESOME and sounds PERFECT, but there was one issue with the flange pipe.
Nothing I couldn't take care of.
Boost gauge was another cheap Aliexpress purchase, but it is the one thing I am not satisfied with. I will have to get a better one eventually.
). I got a spare piston and rod from a spare motor and a new set of rings and rod bearings. I gapped the compression rings to .018" which is about triple factory spec. My haynes manual says no more than 1mm, which is .039", so it's still reasonable. I took a chance here but I couldn't risk them butting against each other again if that's what happened. I installed the mahle rod rod bearings as they came from the box after soaking them in 10W-30 Castrol for break in lubricant. I also ran a hone through all 4 cylinders.
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