Turbo Replacement/upgrade - Your Thoughts?

[DaveB]

Thanks guys. Hadn't considered injectors; I guess max is pretty similar for R33/R34 (I think it's about 370cc's).

I will ask about the intake, whether it will take the 90 degree elbow off the standard turbo or whether something will have to be adapted. Also asking them about actuator (ie. does it come with one? what pressure?), oil & water lines (because if it costs me another $200 then it's suddenly not worth it) and whether it will fit under the stanadard heatshield, and *does it have the threads to accept the standard heatshield* because I don't really want to run without a heatshield. Oh, and if the dump is the same flange (I think it is - says T3 though and I thought RB's were T4).

Will let you know what I hear...

[wolverine]

T3 flanged.

[DaveB]

Cheers That's metric and T4's imperial, right?

[DaveB]

Thanks guys. Hadn't considered injectors; I guess max is pretty similar for R33/R34 (I think it's about 370cc's).

I will ask about the intake, whether it will take the 90 degree elbow off the standard turbo or whether something will have to be adapted. Also asking them about actuator (ie. does it come with one? what pressure?), oil & water lines (because if it costs me another $200 then it's suddenly not worth it) and whether it will fit under the stanadard heatshield, and *does it have the threads to accept the standard heatshield* because I don't really want to run without a heatshield. Oh, and if the dump is the same flange (I think it is - says T3 though and I thought RB's were T4).

Will let you know what I hear...

Well, I spoke to Morrie at hpinabox about the 2871R for RB25 today. Unfortunately it's not a completely straight-forward swap; there is most of the usual fiddling required...

- water outlet is M14 (Garett); stock fitting is M18 (Nissan) - needs a reducer, easy if you can find one

- oil return needs 'filing out'? Not exactly sure what that means, I think he meant the return pipe fitting needed enlarging... but it can apparently be made to fit the stock return easily

- inlet may need a reducer, depending on inlet size selected (and he couldn't remember off the top of his head what the stock size of inlet pip is)

- Morrie recommended fairly strongly that oil line should be replaced with the turbo anyway, to prevent the old one clogging (perhaps braided lines are less susceptible to this than the solid copper ones)

apart from those hurdles, it does at least have the standard exhaust inlet (T3) and will mount to the exhaust manifold OK, and has the standard Nissan dump connection (6-bolt). The actuator is included, and is set to 14PSI.

I didn't even get to asking whether the exhaust housing had threaded bolt holes to accept the factory turbo heatshield; I am guessing that it doesn't?

So yeah I would suggest that if these modifications are within your capabilities (& patience/time constraints), that this would be a pretty cost-effective upgrade... but for me I think it is going to have to be the GCG, as I just can't see myself messing about with a turbo more than replacing the turbo & oil line.

Edited November 4, 2008 by DaveB

[wolverine]

hi dave

the HKS GT-RS aka (T3 version HKSGT2871) comes with all new oil and water lines and bolts up exactly to the factory inlet and dump. the turbo would work better than the HPIAB version ie prob more top end and no decrease in response but would cost a little more as the bits are assembled and have R&D factored in.

i reckon you are bolting the right turbo on if you go with something capable of around 420-450hp (flywheel) ie GCG, HKS GT-RS etc

the GCG should work out to be the best value due to the "true" bolt-on nature of the turbo.

good luck with it you won't be disappointed.

[Tangles]

sounds like for ease of fitment the GCG is the way to go, and sell your turbo for a few hundred.

grab a custom oil line anyway, braided of course. Got mine made at Pirtek for around $60.

standard water line should be a.o.k. but you could replace both at once.....

[DaveB]

Yeah seems it just doesn't get more bolt-on than the GCG; opened my eyes to how much it can cost just making a turbo fit

re the oil line; I did think of Pirtek. For that sort of price I'll do it.

bit confused re. selling my turbo... doesn't GCG take your turbo as a trade-in?

Edited November 4, 2008 by DaveB

[KiwiRS4T]

Yeah seems it just doesn't get more bolt-on than the GCG; opened my eyes to how much it can cost just making a turbo fit

re the oil line; I did think of Pirtek. For that sort of price I'll do it.

bit confused re. selling my turbo... doesn't GCG take your turbo as a trade-in?

They actually rebuild yours. In my case i bought one off a SAU member in Sydney and am getting that highflowed as i didn't want to be without mine while it goes from Auckland to Sydney and back.

[DaveB]

Ah ok thanks, I thought that was it. I think I will see if I can put a deposit down so I don't have to send my turbo off first.

[Tangles]

Dave, Id suggest buying a blown turbo (r32, r33 or r34/vg30 turbo) for $100, get that done by gcg, and sell your r34 turbo (worth $450 as its a large rear housing, bigger than r32 and r33 turbo's)

an r32 gcg highflow (Sydneykid uses one) has no lag, better than stock I hear, good power for around 240rwkw

an r33 gcg highflow is slightly lagier than stock, neither here nor there, but great power for around 250rwkw

an r34/vg30 highflow is bigger again, more lag than stock (use a good ebc to set the gain, etc), but massive power up around 270rwkw

Id be selling your turbo for as much as possible ($500 is a decent sale price, delivered with oil line, lol), and spending $200 on a blown skyline turbo and the pirtek oil line

depends if you want to muck around a little to maximise your savings

best of luck (thats what I did with Slide, gave him a blown R32 and blown R33 turbo, and had the R33 one sent back to me, sold my turbo, all up change over cost no more than $600)

[DaveB]

Dave, Id suggest buying a blown turbo (r32, r33 or r34/vg30 turbo) for $100, get that done by gcg, and sell your r34 turbo (worth $450 as its a large rear housing, bigger than r32 and r33 turbo's)

an r32 gcg highflow (Sydneykid uses one) has no lag, better than stock I hear, good power for around 240rwkw

an r33 gcg highflow is slightly lagier than stock, neither here nor there, but great power for around 250rwkw

an r34/vg30 highflow is bigger again, more lag than stock (use a good ebc to set the gain, etc), but massive power up around 270rwkw

Id be selling your turbo for as much as possible ($500 is a decent sale price, delivered with oil line, lol), and spending $200 on a blown skyline turbo and the pirtek oil line

depends if you want to muck around a little to maximise your savings

best of luck (thats what I did with Slide, gave him a blown R32 and blown R33 turbo, and had the R33 one sent back to me, sold my turbo, all up change over cost no more than $600)

Ah, I get you now... hadn't realised that there was that much difference in lag either. 240rwkw still sounds pretty good (I don't think that will 'limit' me); that's not as bad as I thought then for a '32 turbo. Looks like any second-hand turbo will do pretty much, but I'll be aiming for a '33.

Not sure what my '34 turbo is worth as it is whistling a bit; probably rubbing? Does that count as 'blown' lol?

Thanks Tangles. cool sig btw - changes daily lol!?

[wolverine]

dave i would be paying the deposit and once your turbo if off inspecting it then with the following options:

1: forwarding your one if it is knackered,

or if it is ok

2. sourcing a blown one on the forum for $100ish and sending that one.

ps. i wouldn't be buying your turbo at this point based on what you have said about its condition unless it was for $100 to send it off to be hi-flowed.

Edited November 5, 2008 by wolverine

[_Ryan_]

r32 housings get machined out to r33 size dont they :S

[DaveB]

dave i would be paying the deposit and once your turbo if off inspecting it then with the following options:

1: forwarding your one if it is knackered,

or if it is ok

2. sourcing a blown one on the forum for $100ish and sending that one.

ps. i wouldn't be buying your turbo at this point based on what you have said about its condition unless it was for $100 to send it off to be hi-flowed.

I looked into the deposit situation with an Adelaide-based company that GCG suggested, who were going to charge me $100-200 too much anyway; their advice was that GCG don't accept deposits anymore, something about not receiving the right turbos back??? I would've thought "simple, don't refund the deposit!" but I don't know...

re: the turbo condition... it whines, and when I remove the inlet pipe I can feel a tiny amount of play longitudinally and laterally in the inlet shaft. My guess is ~1mm but that is an absolute *guess* since my fingers aren't micrometers (darn ). But it has been like it is for as long as I've had the car (about 6 months & 20,000Ks), and nothing has changed. So it can be used I guess... I just wasn't comfortable with using it with the IEBC install I am about to do; I always planned to upgrade to a GCG in the future but I didn't plan an order of things... that has changed. Plus there has always been a bit of oil in the inlet pipes (pre-turbo) and leaking out of the J-pip on the inlet manifold side, so I thought it best to repair it now. If it's only worth $100-150, and going from the suggested laginess of the '34 housing as compared to the '33 housing, then I might sell it off if and when I can get a cheap blown '33 turbo, as I would prefer the extra response over the extra ~20kw.

Thanks

DaveB

[wolverine]

i don't think the R34 will be noticeably laggier to be honest but the logistics of taking your turbo off and waiting for the turnaround might be an issue hence a blown R33 makes a lot of sense.

the hp difference at best is usually between 5-15kw at the top end depending on who has tried the different housings.

have you called GCG and ask if they will accept a deposit just in case they will.

just a thought, is the whine due to a manifold gasket leak? has this been checked because you may have a pristine R34 turbo which will be worth selling whole if this is the case.

when the turbo comes off it may be worth removing the manifold and replacing the studs as they usually snap over time anyway. more money but it might be worth asking the mechanic. there should be signs of a gasket leak if they inspect it.

[DaveB]

thanks yeah I will try calling GCG; the dealer they gave me I think was inflating the price a bit 'cause he was asking $100 more than ATS (who didn't recommend the GCG hi-flow in preference to their GT30 rebuild lol).

When I got the car back from compliance it had this whine, so I checked the forums and pulled the turbo and found a cracked gasket between exhaust manifold and turbo. I thought "yay I've found the problem and it only cost me ~$50" but unfortunately the whine didn't go away.

I have an ex manifold gasket, studs and locknuts on order, I will replace the studs. Hopefully I can also secure a 2nd-hand manifold too because knowing my luck, that will be cracked between 3 & 4. Anyone know if there is a difference in manifolds between RB20 - RB25?

I spoke to the workshop when they did my 100,000K service and they wanted an extra $500 on top of the service to replace studs, more if any of them broke.

When I pull the manifold I will check for leaks. I just hope I'm not gonna need a stud extractor kit because it's not gonna be easy to get half a stud out of a turbo head, I'm sure...

[Tangles]

dave, get a quote from Boostwerks to fit the gcg turbo, to do the exhaust studs, and to tune

talk to shaun and say big brendan sent you

ask him if he's got a blown r33 turbo on hand ~

[DaveB]

dave, get a quote from Boostwerks to fit the gcg turbo, to do the exhaust studs, and to tune

talk to shaun and say big brendan sent you

ask him if he's got a blown r33 turbo on hand ~

cheers Tangles. actually that workshop was Boostwerks; they're about 20 minutes away. I figured I'd supply the labour content of the stud replacement and save ~$500. I didn't name-drop though... wonder what'd be the difference in price. unfortunately car is undriveable atm. I should know before next week whether I have been successful; turbo off for the second time. Now if I could just get the damn bolts on the dump undone...

I call Boostwerks from time to time for quotes on this and that; I will probably get them to tune the beast when the new turbo's on and fit an FPR & maybe a fuel pump (or else I'll fit the pump) after I have the turbo, exhaust and DFR/SITC/IEBC sorted.

[Tangles]

noice davb

can always ask them to get the apprentice to do the work to save a little coin

shaun looks after me with quality of work and pricing, best Ive come across, damned honest as well. which is a big thing for me

[DaveB]

Yes have had no problems in that department. I usually get Shaun on the phone and he's pretty helpful; said they could do a custom exhaust sounds like they do a fair bit in-house. The tune they did for the service seems pretty good; made 130rwkw completely stock. I had some trouble with the gearbox though; I'm hoping this has nothing to do with tuning on a rwd dyno, I'm pretty sure that if you pull the front driveshaft though it can't hurt it... but still doesn't sound ideal (there's been a LOT of discussion about this!)

Edited November 7, 2008 by DaveB