Finally Getting My Turbo Set Up Going

ASSISTANCE Forced Induction
1

Hell must of froze over cause after years of talking about it…I’m finally getting my turbo set up going =]

I don’t have very many parts at the moment, but I’ll continue to post photos as I get more stuff and have more updates to share.

This is what I’ve got so far…

Cheap cast iron log manifold. This will not look this shitty when it’s on my car at the end

Got a blow off valve and some piping thanks to my friend Cody. I’ve got some plans to change the colors on this thing. Chrome and purple will not match my engine bay very well

Got a test pipe to replace the restrictive cat thanks to my friend Jose. This is already on my car as of last night and somehow my exhaust sounds even better

On Saturday I got my turbo =]! Thanks to my friend Taylor. I should of taken a photo of it just on the ground, but I forgot. So here it is test fitted onto my car.

I had to shave quite a bit off my block to get it to fit, but it fits & I can keep my ac.

Today I went ahead and started pulling the turbo apart to clean it

Blades all look good. No chips or scratches

Compressor housing is dirty on the outside, but is pretty clean on the inside. No sludge or oil which tells me it wasn’t leaking

After the compressor housing is all cleaned up I’m gonna have it powder coated black just to make it look a bit better and match my engine bay. I still need to pull the exhaust side off and clean that out, but I’ll do that later this week.

As of right now that’s all I’ve got. It’s a start, but I’ve got a ton of stuff I still need for this. It’s gonna be a slow process, but I’m hoping to have it done by the end of the year.

This is my first time ever messing with a turbo so I’m gonna be asking a ton of questions as this goes along

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id recommend not using that log manifold… Check out the turbo guide in the stickys up top as to why that mqnifold is a bad idea. other than that looks good. keep it up…

3

Are you referring to the wastegate position? It’s in a bad spot I know, but i’m running a turbo that’s internally gated. I’m buying a block off plate for that manifold that’s why it didn’t bother me that i was only on 2 of the runners. Thanks for looking out though

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you nailed it as to why i said something…

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just watch out for the flap door getting stuck on the internal wastegate because boost spike will make you very mad…

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lol yea, i have read that turbo guild several times now. I’ll keep an eye on that flapper and make sure it’s good. Sucks that the wastegate has a 12psi spring in it and i can’t change it out. I didn’t wanna run that much boost. I might try to find an aftermarket actuator that will fit so i can put an 8 or 10 psi spring in it

7

Well ran into my first problem already. I tried to go ahead and clock the turbo to how it’s going to need to sit. I got the compressor side where I want it, but the exhaust side is stuck to the chra. I sprayed some pb on it and let it soak and kept spraying and let it soak for a few hours, but it’s still stuck. I tapped it with a rubber mallet, but nothing. I even heated it up with a blow torch and still nothing. Any ideas?

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How is the progress?? Hope you got those bolts loose.

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Nothing going on with it right now. I’ve been so busy with everything else. I ran into an issue with my car running crazy lean and ended up finding a fuel leak at the rail. The turbo has just been sitting. I haven’t tried to get it to break free yet. I planned on doing it this coming weekend, but I decided to go to TX2K13 instead. Like I said before this turbo thing will be a slow process for me, but it’ll get done. I wouldn’t of made this thread if I didn’t plan on finishing through with it

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Got an intercooler =] One more thing I can check off my list. My friend who gave me the turbo gave me his intercooler. He decided to sell his blown rb20 and go with a different swap

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Ok turbo people, need some advice. So far on this turbo set up I haven’t paid a single dime =], but it’s time to start buying parts. I’ve got some spare cash and can’t decide on what part to buy next. I guess it really doesn’t matter since I’m gonna need it all in the end anyway, but I’d like to see what you guys suggest as the next part to get.

Here is a list of what I’ve got so far
Manifold
Turbo
BOV
Some piping (not much)
intercooler

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Welp…radiator blew today =[ Guess that answers my question as to what I’m getting next. I hate to go half size, but looks like i’m gonna have to. I also lost my ac today =[ The hole on the radiator seems to be cause by it rubbing on the condenser, so I think the condenser got a hole as well and leaked all my freon out. I haven’t checked that yet though cause I need sunlight for that. I really, really, REALLY wanted to keep my ac, but if the condenser has a leak, then it’s all coming out. I’m not gonna deal with getting a new one and recharging the system. I just don’t have the money for that.

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Half Rad it is…you will appreciate the space that it frees up. Just do the research and make sure it has enough cooling efficiency for your application. Maybe something like an all aluminum dual or triple core/row. My setup was made to retain the AC as well, just have not gotten around to making the custom lines. AC is nice to have. I’m sure you can find a replacement condenser in a junkyard somewhere. Good luck.

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Yea i’m either getting the skunk2, blox, or blackworks, they’re all dual core. It gets hot as shit here in texas so believe me I want ym ac, I’m just on the fence about it right now. This car isn’t my daily and I only drive it one night out of the week to go to the meets so not having ac wouldnt be terrible, I just wanted to keep it more for the fact that most people don’t. To me having ac on a turbo set up is the proper way of doing it. What ac lines are you having to make custom?

She looks so depressing right now =[ (this was before I could the condenser out)

Oh I also removed those ps cooling lines to make room for the intercooler

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I’m having both lines remade. As you can see in your picture the one from the condenser to the compressor is too long and sits right on top the turbo manifold. I’m having it go straight from the condenser to the compressor. The trouble is getting the bends to make it go direct. Also the one from the cabin/evaporator will be re-routed to go around the engine and then to the compressor.

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our car bay space is so tight its really hard to keep the a/c. but of-course it can be done if willing to put money into it. i want it to keep a/c so bad, but at the end had to let it go. i think it get so hot in the bay when you boost your car eventually some a/c components will break.IMO

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I’d hate to spend the money on a new condenser and shit just to have it all fail on my down the road

ahhh I say what you’re saying. If I had the money I’d do that too. I always though those line were in a stupid spot

Ok so after doing some research on which half size radiator to get I stumbled across this one GO-AUTOWORKS -6AN return Radiators GT Ball Bearing water feed GT30 GT35R GT28 GT2860RS GT3071 GT3076
What caught my attention was the fitting at the bottom for water cooled turbos (which my turbo is). Now i’m kind of confused about it though because it says that fitting is used for a return…idk why there would be a return at the bottom but this might be a good thing to have since my turbo is oil and water cooled. Any thoughts on this? Thanks

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I don’t know much about the water cooled turbos…they are normally found on OEM applications(factory turbo cars) or ball bearing turbos. That fitting on the bottom might be for Automatic transmission cars as they use the bottom core of the radiator to cool its transmission fluid. I don’t know, it may work well for cooling a turbo granted it has a source and a return.

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that would be 100% correct… that fitting connects to the Auto transmission for trans fluid to flow through for cooling

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Hmmm, well doesnt normally that require 2 ports for the auto trans cooling? This is just the single fitting. It says this on that page as well “GO-AUTOWORKS 1/2 Sized Aluminum Radiators w/ -6AN return. These radiators come equipped w/ a -6AN male bung to easily plumb your coolant return line to from your GT series or water cooled turbo.”