Eaton M45
Custom mounting and belt tensioning, with clearance checks throughout the installation.
Chapter 06 / Forced induction
THE M45
AWAKENS.
An Eaton M45, a 1.8 VVT, and an awful lot of careful packaging. The photographic record of turning Nemesis into a supercharged sleeper.
Engineering / Not just a bolt-on
Making it fit. Making it work.
The Eaton M45 conversion brings a custom drive arrangement, intercooler and charge pipes, Bosch injectors and ME442 engine management to the Mazda BP 1.8 VVT. The photographs follow the installation as it progressed, including temporary mock-ups and unfinished stages.
Front-mounted intercooler
Pipework routed low through the front structure and wheel-arch area to reach the engine bay.
ME442 ECU
Calibration in development. Approximately 190 bhp is the project target, not a verified dyno result.
Fabrication / Noise management
Built for the road, not the racket.
After the mechanical installation came a second challenge: taming the characteristic M45 intake whine. Cardboard and blue-sheet prototypes led to a folded 1.5 mm aluminium intake enclosure, secured to existing mounting points with rubber sealing and external acoustic deadening. A remote cold-air feed is part of the ongoing development.
The photo archive records the process rather than presenting every early mock-up as a finished installation.
Installation / Photo archive
From bare brackets to airbox.
Original installation photographs, from the belt drive and intercooler routing to the custom intake enclosure. Select any image to view the larger photograph.
Initial engine bay and clearance survey
Eaton M45 positioned alongside the VVT engine
Early supercharger mounting arrangement
Belt drive and tensioner arrangement
Close-up of the drive belt and tensioners
Fuel rail and injector installation access
Engine bay with intake and cooling components removed
Intercooler core before installation
Intercooler installation behind the front panel
Intercooler and mounting bracket detail
Routing charge pipes around the front structure
Silicone charge hose and alloy joiner
Charge hose routed past the chassis and steering components
Clearance around the lower pipework
Lower charge-pipe routing
Intercooler pipe and chassis bracket
Routing around the front anti-roll bar
Cooling and pipework installation progress
Engine bay during the supercharger installation
Trial fitting the insulated intake pipe
Cardboard mock-up for the intake enclosure
Blue-sheet prototype for the airbox
Airbox mock-up clearance around the power-steering reservoir
Trial fitting the enclosure alongside the intake pipe
Folded aluminium airbox installed
Airbox mounting tabs and sound-deadening materialDevelopment status
Still evolving.
Vacuum routing, idle behaviour, intake-air temperature calibration and ECU tuning are being refined as part of the ongoing build. No final power figure is claimed until measured.
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