Is doing a custom turbo really that hard ???

[Hof]

Hi all,

Well after pricing a number of TD42 turbo kits (approx $3-4K) i'm seriously considering doing it myself..

I know there is a fair bit of info on here once I sift through it..

But question is --- Is it really that hard to do it all yourself and would I save much money??

I am reasonably capable, but have never had anything to do with turbo's at all..

Any advice would be great and also if there is anyone on here who I could contact etc with info or pictures that would be awesome..

Thanks everyone,

Hof

[NutterGQ]

how mechanical are you? its not hard, if you know what your doing only you know the answer, i probably wouldn't dive in if your not up to it.

[nastytroll]

td42 ard proberly the easiest to turbo provided you get the right size turbo, if your motor has a few K's on it maybe put a set of main and big end bearings in it while you have the sump off it to fit the oil return. some people dont remove the sump but I find it the best way. also a compression test before you start buying bits will give an indication on how good the rings are.

[outback_pootrol]

i think its really easy, im doing one for my mate shortly, gonna be a custom high mount setup and its gonna go sick as

[azzad]

Id be keen on this also, I have good mech skills but never had anything to do with turbos

Dazza

[Hof]

Ok,

So basically I'm going to need the turbo, and find out which one, dont want to water cool so not sure what this limits me to???

Manifold, which I want to do high mount, either cast or custom..

Dump pipe..

Oil lines and air connections..

NOW, is it true with high mount you don't need to tap sump and can just run back into line that the alternator oil line uses, and furthermore you pickup the oil feed from the oil sensor on the other side of the motor???

Keep the information flowing !!!

Thanks for the replies,

Hof

[marko]

Yes if the turbo is higher than the vac pump drain plug, that can be use. The oil gallery that feeds the vac pump(if it has one)is the gallery to use to feed the turbo. You could use the the oil sender gallery, but can't see the point.

[xenith]

piece of cake mate two ways to do buy second hand turbo from some were like sss auto dismantlers eg rb20 , rb25 , vg30 . then ether buy a manifold for exhaust shop and make an adapter . or make a manifold using steam pipe bends and buying the flanges but i hope u can weld good and have a good die grinder

[outback_pootrol]

this is the way im doing it!(19yo)
get exhaust manifold and blocking off the original outlet, cutting a hole into the top and welding a flange to suit the desired turbo on the top,
whacking turbo on and running oil in from the spare grubscrew in the oil pump on the side of the block, running oil out into a y piece into the altinator drain(y piece so it drains down instead of a t piece so it doesnt go back into the altinator)
cutting into the heater hoses if water cooled turbo used with t pieces
make a custom 3 inch inlet into the inlet manifold, run a tiny 3inch piece of pipe and a few rubber elbows to plumb the turbo for now till we get an intercooler from a gu to hook into(i was going to run a huge frontmount on mine)
take to mate in exhaust shop to run dump pipe and get pyro gauge point welded just behind turbo

and tap boost gauge and boost controller in and away we go, with all the parts there it should take about 1-2 days im hoping(minus exhaust)

so far it owes him $625, new garret tubo and a flange, all the other stiff i can do at work for him


i was doing it on my td42 but i got too many k's on it so i told my mate how cheap and easy i can do it and he said lets do it,,
he is "MyGQ" username on here

[marko]

whacking turbo on and running oil in from the spare grubscrew in the oil pump on the side of the block, running oil out into a y piece into the altinator drain(y piece so it drains down instead of a t piece so it doesnt go back into the altinator)

Don't understand the above, any chance of more info.

Welding flange on a stardard manifold is that possible, wouldn't that crack being cast, thinkin it will take longer than 1-2 days

[Hof]

Ok sweet,

I get it.. The Y piece is a good idea to limit flowback..

Next question.. What turbo are you using, model etc??

I want something that spools up quickly, not so worried about high rpm as I dont drive my 4x4 that way.. Lucky to get over 3000rpm..

Cheers,

Hof

[outback_pootrol]

longer than one to 2 days yeah but he has got a spare manifold so i can take to work and weld with low carbon rods so it wont crack

if you look at the oil pump on the side of the block on the td42 you will see next to the oil sender there is a spare spot to tap into, thats where i get the oil from for the turbo and drain it into the back of the alt,

the y piece is like a t piece but like a y, my personal thoughts are if i run just a t piece it will be like an intersection on the road, you can go left or right(in this case to the alt or the engine), a y piece is like merging traffic, you got no choice as you go with the flow of the traffic there fore not blockages and no oil build up in the line so it can exit the turbo as fast as it goes in and doesn't pool up in the turbo and screw the whole show up

did that help anymore??

if not i will be back here tomorrow night and will answer it again as im tired and have welding flash so my eyes are rooted

[outback_pootrol]

Ok sweet,

I get it.. The Y piece is a good idea to limit flowback..

Next question.. What turbo are you using, model etc??

I want something that spools up quickly, not so worried about high rpm as I dont drive my 4x4 that way.. Lucky to get over 3000rpm..

Cheers,

Hof

i will find all that out for you and let you know tomorrow,

[marko]

longer than one to 2 days yeah but he has got a spare manifold so i can take to work and weld with low carbon rods so it wont crack

if you look at the oil pump on the side of the block on the td42 you will see next to the oil sender there is a spare spot to tap into, thats where i get the oil from for the turbo and drain it into the back of the alt,

the y piece is like a t piece but like a y, my personal thoughts are if i run just a t piece it will be like an intersection on the road, you can go left or right(in this case to the alt or the engine), a y piece is like merging traffic, you got no choice as you go with the flow of the traffic there fore not blockages and no oil build up in the line so it can exit the turbo as fast as it goes in and doesn't pool up in the turbo and screw the whole show up

did that help anymore??

if not i will be back here tomorrow night and will answer it again as im tired and have welding flash so my eyes are rooted

That does help. So you mean the turbo oil drain will go into a Y piece. So one drain line from the turbo and the other the vac pump drain mergers into one then into the block. And the turbo oil feed will be taken from the filter housing is that correct? Why don't you just take the oil feed from the oil gallerey next to the alt drain on the Lh side of block(pass side)

[xenith]

mine had 380 000 gen k's on it when i did mine and i run 20psi now has 420 000 the to many K's on it is just sales man keep it safe talk

[zzzz]

Don't you have to manage the air/fuel and other things like timing?

cheers

z

[Tiny]

talk to dumbdunce, he is a bit of an expert on cheap turbo set ups on the toyo and datto oilers, I understand its the turbo off the 300z he uses, there would be others that would suit, these run about 12psi well, the turbo would be maybe $600 add maybe $400 odd for a custom manifuld, my sugestion is ghet a set of extractors that come up into the correct flange look at the ones for the tb40 I think mulisha? got made up, they look the go, it worth looking at an intercooler, $300 will get you a cheap chinese bar and plate for a good front mount set up and a few dollars for decent pipework also make sure you get a decent 3" system put though as well

[Andrew_C]

Myself and a mate did mine. Standard Gu TD42. We did the same - my mate is a quality welder which helped for the exhaust and dump and cross over - so we went:
*Garrett GT25 Roller bearing turbo @ $1200 ,
*Steam pipe manifold from the place at Dandenong I cant remember the name of (but there are pics on the site of them here somewhere) $800.
*Oil line from pertek that goes from the oil pressure sender (you need a T piece to reconnect the sender also.
* Water lines from heater lines at convenient spot - so pertek for T piece adaptors, two Silcon water lines - and very expensive little anodised alloy fittings for the turbo end.
*Custom 3 inch dump pipe with the flanges cut by plasma then the elbow made to fit with minimal flow restriction.
*Straight through 3 inch exhaust - so various 180 degree mandrel bends that we cut down. Over the diff, we had a section made up for us and just welded it on. Piece of flex under the firewall.
*Cross over out of various bits of pipe and silicon hose. Adapted to fit straight onto intake 63mm fitting.
*Tapped oil drain into sump and then bent up a pipe to suit and a couple of rubber fittings to join together.
*Waste gate - tapped line onto crossover, then made a bracket for the actuator and adjusted to suit.

Then off to dieseltec in lilydale for a good tune. Really good torque and bottom end. Goes really well as my daily driver and brilliant offroad except maybe a little low geared even with 285s on it for anything over 110 kph. All up without labour - was probably close to $3500, but a system worth well and truly more.

I also have a subaru RXturbo water/air intercooler in the garage that ive had modifed and hope to fit in the next few weeks - then back to the tuner for a checkup.

[xenith]

my conversion only cost me about $400 with top mount intercooler off 1hz motor but i had a lot of the other stuff already and like i said before vg30 turbo. It is an 300z turbo and they are only about $350 secondhand also a 7m turbo will do the job and self tune with piero gauge in the exhaust

[MyGQ]

this is the way im doing it!(19yo)
get exhaust manifold and blocking off the original outlet, cutting a hole into the top and welding a flange to suit the desired turbo on the top,
whacking turbo on and running oil in from the spare grubscrew in the oil pump on the side of the block, running oil out into a y piece into the altinator drain(y piece so it drains down instead of a t piece so it doesnt go back into the altinator)
cutting into the heater hoses if water cooled turbo used with t pieces
make a custom 3 inch inlet into the inlet manifold, run a tiny 3inch piece of pipe and a few rubber elbows to plumb the turbo for now till we get an intercooler from a gu to hook into(i was going to run a huge frontmount on mine)
take to mate in exhaust shop to run dump pipe and get pyro gauge point welded just behind turbo

and tap boost gauge and boost controller in and away we go, with all the parts there it should take about 1-2 days im hoping(minus exhaust)

so far it owes him $625, new garret tubo and a flange, all the other stiff i can do at work for him


i was doing it on my td42 but i got too many k's on it so i told my mate how cheap and easy i can do it and he said lets do it,,
he is "MyGQ" username on here

Yeah this is the way we are gunna do it, we will post some pics up for u's to have a look at, Just got a Garrett GT28 Turbo for her.

[choppa1978]

2nd hand turbo use a VL commodore standard tubo/fj20 intercooled turbo/vg30 early turbo, i have tried rb20 rb25 gt25/gt28/gt28-60 gt28-86r
and none of these work as good and as reliable as the above mentioned, as for manifold u can buy a log style for 400ish, and water lines tap into heater hoses oil feed use the bung on the rear of the block or t piece the oil sender , drain either weld a fitting into sump or t/y piece into alt drain back, works fine on the cheap and is reliable also.

[eighty8]

Hi all, this has been a thread full of basic info for me. Dont have alot of turbo knowledge. This is great keep it coming.
The turbo's from a vl, rb20, 300z, do they all share a similar bolt pattern to mount to manifold?. Or are they different and need to get a manifold made to suit each ?.
What is the basic difference between a vl, rb20,25 &300 turbo? , Size, power etc?.

thanks, Alex

[sidewayz]

hmmmm

yes im also very interested to know if the flange pattern for a 4.2 td manifold is the same as the flange pattern for a rb series engine???

ie: vl turbo, rb25 turbo bolts straight on to the manifold.

matty

[azzad]

hmmmm

yes im also very interested to know if the flange pattern for a 4.2 td manifold is the same as the flange pattern for a rb series engine???

ie: vl turbo, rb25 turbo bolts straight on to the manifold.

matty

I was told previously that the TD and TB42 manifold are different to the rb25

[nastytroll]

on the manifold the head flange are different but the turbo flange my be the same. some manifolds us t2, t3, t25 or different footprint you would have to check with the manifold manufacturer and the turbo you wish to use. I would like to know what the flanges are that are used on the fore mentioned turbo's also

[hotturbo]

The rb series manifolds are a different pattern than tb and td motors.

I can sort anyone out with a stainless steel manifold to fit either tb42 tb45 and td42 with a t3 flange for $500

If you want to fit a smaller turbo i can sort you out with an adapter from t3 to what you need.

[sidewayz]

is that stainless mainifold high mount or low mount?

is it possible for you to email me some pics?

mattysaidso@hotmail.com

cheers

[outback_pootrol]

is that stainless mainifold high mount or low mount?

is it possible for you to email me some pics?

mattysaidso@hotmail.com

cheers

post up the pics

[azzad]

is that stainless mainifold high mount or low mount?

is it possible for you to email me some pics?

mattysaidso@hotmail.com

cheers

post up the pics

x2

pics pls

[Clarkie]

Ive just finished mine a few weeks back,used the std mamifold made up a J pipe and welded it on the bottom of manifold(can see in one of the pics painted black)I run max 12psi and about 3psi on cruise at 100kph,goes much better and doesnt use any more fuel.

Shane