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Okay for about 6 months now i've been working on my series 1 r33. And the difference between this conversion and many others is that i'm not just doing the turbo conversion - i'm also going to be doing the 5 stud hubs, series 2 front end, turbo brakes.

The first part is well underway "the turbo conversion." I figured out a few things before i started, nothing aftermarket (excluding turboback for obvious reasons", Budget $1000 for turbo conversion and no outsourcing.

So far i have done the following,

  • 3" turboback $300
  • r32 turbocharger (quicker spool) $100
  • 370cc standard gtst injectors $20
  • standard manifold $17
  • standard turbo shield $20
  • standard manifold shield $30
  • r33 wastegate actuator to limit boost to 7psi $50

Still much to be done i know, very limited by how often i can buy parts due to being a second year apprentice mechanic.

But here is my list of what remains to be done.

  • turbo outlet pipe
  • oil/water lines
  • intercooler and piping (bought, not yet fitted) $20
  • fuel pump
  • gtst ecu
  • crossover pipe + bov
  • spark plugs

For anybody else planning to do this, IMO Swapping the injectors is the hardest part. Followed by doing the water lines (im still not sure what my plans are with them) But the rest is pretty easy and shouldn't be much trouble.

Feel free to ask me any questions or give me any feedback :action-smiley-069:

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ok can i just point out a major flaw in your plan?

you are putting a r32 turbo on with the plan of quicker spool, and while that is the case, it will also mean that it runs out of puff extremely quickly, and will most likely blow quickly too from the extra heat generated. a little fact for you, a turbo r33 with the stock turbo will make full boost by well under 3000rpm. i was running 14psi on the stock turbo in my 33 and it would make full boost by about 2700rpm, so if that same turbo was bolted to natro 25 then it would make full boost by under 2500rpm at a guess (other people who have done the conversion could give a more accurate figure).

also the stock r33 actuator is only 5psi. the r33 uses a solenoid to take it up to 7psi and is only triggered at 4500rpm (although most people ground it so it runs 7psi all the time).

and i think a lot of people who do turbo conversions also do the brake upgrade.

finally, have you considered a LSD diff upgrade? or does your car already have a LSD?

oh and swapping injectors isn't that hard. sorting the oil lines will be the hardest part.

the mod from gympie and Zebs are on the money.

depended on the temp of the night etc, but with a $20 boost controller an r33 turbo was on at 2,400-2,500, great response for the road.

get an r33 turbo and most people find with a free flowing exhaust and a decent intercooler boost will probably go up by 1-2psi. otherwise get a good cheap boost controller, even though mine didn't have a gain setting I still felt it aided spool.

I did some parts of the initial conversion, but I left it to the pros to do my injectors, t-off water lines and find where to tap an oil line - there is a small flat spot on the passenger side of the block, about halfway down and little past halfway horizontal closer to the firewall about the size of a 20-50c piece - thats where they did it . I think there was another bloke on here that teed off some othe oil line so no drilling.

Also you have forgotten about afm.

Brakes are a good thing to have yes, I started to notice I really needed them at about 180-200rwkw, gts ones would die within minutes. gtst ones have been great so far but if your just going for standard gtst boost for now they can wait.

good luck.

I plan on doing this, however I'm not even going to think about engine related work until I've done the breaks, diff etc, and replaced all other necessary parts. Then it's just a matter of buying a stock rb25det and dropping it in the bay.

you know that NA R33s are worth more than the turbo ones in NSW/VIC now right?

Thats a good point, it would make sense to sell an NA, then buy a gts-t with some spare $ left over.

I think a heap of P plater guys spend a lot on getting their car looking exactly how they want (because there is no point doing engine mods), and by the time they get their full licence they are attached to the non turbo car purely based on looks. After throwing a turbo in you end up with a car thats exactly how you want it to look + the extra power and a great base for engine mods in the future. Thats in my case anyway.....

Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy to run factory boost so no stress with the higher boost issues or running out of puff, I do have an LSD.

And zebra I'm assuming you mean exhaust side of the head being restrictive? Any recommendations? And I'll never sell it so I'm not interested in the price of na vs turbo. WYTSKY will I need to change afm just due to restrictions or more because of how it communicates with the gtst ecu?

Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy to run factory boost so no stress with the higher boost issues or running out of puff, I do have an LSD.

And zebra I'm assuming you mean exhaust side of the head being restrictive? Any recommendations? And I'll never sell it so I'm not interested in the price of na vs turbo. WYTSKY will I need to change afm just due to restrictions or more because of how it communicates with the gtst ecu?

By exhaust restrictions, he meant the small turbo. I don't think you realise just how bad of an idea putting that turbo on could end up being. If that turbo fails, which it most likely will due to the amount of heat it will be experiencing, you run the risk of it resulting in engine failure.

And I'd say that even at stock boost you will probably find that the turbo will run out of puff at higher rpm. It's a turbo designed for a low compression 2L motor that is prone to failure due to excess heat. Putting it on a high comp 2.5L engine isn't going to end well.

Thats a good point, it would make sense to sell an NA, then buy a gts-t with some spare $ left over.

I think a heap of P plater guys spend a lot on getting their car looking exactly how they want (because there is no point doing engine mods), and by the time they get their full licence they are attached to the non turbo car purely based on looks. After throwing a turbo in you end up with a car thats exactly how you want it to look + the extra power and a great base for engine mods in the future. Thats in my case anyway.....

the problem with that is...when you do want to sell the car you wont be able to

those in the market for a factory turbo wont buy it, and those wanting a non-turbo cant buy it

so you are left with a car that is worthless, unless you spend more money taking it back to standard

will I need to change afm just due to restrictions or more because of how it communicates with the gtst ecu?

I think it will be a combination of both - a restriction as it only reads from 0-5volts based on the amount of air it can read sucking into the motor. now with a turbo your well and truely adding in more air then the meter can read (you will be in the +ve pressure range, those afms go on motors that go from -20 vacuum to a max of 0 +ve pressure), the motor is not going to think there is as much air in the chamber, therfore less fuel = lean. someone correct me if I am wrong.

as well as communications with the ecu, if it's a turbo ecu and and it expects 370cc injectors instead of 270cc and a standard gtst afm, how is it going to cope with a gts afm?

oh, just thought of another thing that is not a question to do, if you do all this you HAVE to do it - the clutch - I killed the stock gts one within a couple of days, I don't do burnouts in the car, just simply the massive increase in torque from the motor when the car hit boost compared to when it was na.

Ok so anybody care to recommend a turbo? Im going to assume an exedy heavy duty gtst clutch will be fine but open to sugestion, And a gtst afm. Sound more plausible now? Haha

umm, how about a stock rb25 turbo? it is about the only turbo you will get on a budget that is worth putting on there, and based off the fact that you were keeping the boost stock anyway, it is ideal for what you are doing.

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