A long time coming, Rob's 4motion turbo build!

[WhO]

Haha beware i might just never stop!!!

In news related back to the car i dropped the turbo off to get looked at and it appears that the damage is limited only to bearings. They're going to pull the wheels off and shaft out tomorrow morning and if its not damaged then getting it rebuilt will be financially viable and i'll get out of it not too badly off. If the shaft has susained damage / if theres more damage they find then i'll be up for a new CHRA which will be likely around double the cost of rebuilding it. Looks like pulling it out was the right decision.

*fingers crossed* waiting for that phone call tomorrow!

Today i also cut, rejigged and re-welded how my wastegate is plumbed into my dump pipe to make it flow and fit bit better as i wasn't happy how it all sat before. I shall be ordering exhaust bits hopefully next week and assuing i get the time to put it all back together and fix the timing cover leak it *might* be running again in a week or two.

[McDub]

good to hear you're getting on top of it. so why would the bearings have gone on the turbo?

[WhO]

because of this :/

Pulled the oil feed line off the turbo and there was no oil in it. Upon pulling all the lines and fittings off i found that a small male to male adapter off of the t piece hadn't been machined properly and wasn't drilled all the way through. Thus the turbo's been running for a week with no oil. Not sure exactly how much damage has been done but turbo doesnt sound great, but does sound better now it's got oil.

So essentially a close to 2k turbo has been lunched by a fitting worth less than $5. It's still boosting fine but im sure the life of the turbo has been significantly reduced. I'm just going to keep driving it for the time being, but if it sounds any worse i'll get a mate who works at a turbo re-seller to get it rebuilt.

Damnn

[Back Door Shenanigans.]

Where did you get all your information for what you need from i.e what turbo etc? I'm trying to price up a build at the moment. Wanna see what i can't get. I know you and dyldo have shown yours but i was just seeing as im poor haha.

[McDub]

a week without oil, ouch. goodluck anyway mate

[WhO]

Regarding turbo size i simply spent too much time reading various build threads on vw vortex and i also did some calculations using the compressor map and the given formula's on the Garrett website.

In regards to everything else, this isn't actually the first car i've added a turbocharger to so i had a reasonable idea of what i needed, admittidly its the first one i've done all the fabricating work on though. VW vortex and reading many many of the build threads there was a wealth of knowledge too. You can easily cut down costs a bit but not without sacrificing quality of key components. You could get a half reasonable journal bearing turbo turbo for about half of a garrett ball bearing turbo, if you have a half reasonable exhaust you could just keep that and simply have the dump pipe made to mate up to it, you dont need a boost controller if your wastegate has the appropriate spring etc. Best bet is just read heaps of build threads and troll the net for prices as much as you can!

Where did you get all your information for what you need from i.e what turbo etc? I'm trying to price up a build at the moment. Wanna see what i can't get. I know you and dyldo have shown yours but i was just seeing as im poor haha.

[Coralon]

Where did you get all your information for what you need from i.e what turbo etc? I'm trying to price up a build at the moment. Wanna see what i can't get. I know you and dyldo have shown yours but i was just seeing as im poor haha.

vwvortex is full of crazy people doing insane things to the VR6 engine and is a great source of info. A couple hours spent with google searching for "VR6 turbo -some part-" will net you a wealth of different tuning companies that either produce or sell kits and components. Ebay, UK and US will also find you some cool bits but the single biggest issue is finding suppliers that ship to here. The first post of this thread alone was enough info with google as my right hand to find most of the parts.

Now back to the build at hand... Who did you choose the Garret simply because you like it best or was it easier to source and get shipped than the others? Also your intercooler... can you share where it came from and possible show a few more pics of how you have the tubbing running through. I have seen many other V6 turbo shots but yours is really stealthy and you managed to get the engine cover back on which is perfect.

[WhO]

I chose Garrett because they have a long history of being a solid and reliable turbo thats why i chose them. The intercooler i bought many moons ago from Just Jap. I think i originally bought it just after i bought the car when i was hatching plans to boost it and it just sat around for years untill i actually got myself into gear.

I'll happily post up more photos when i get the chance! Unfortunately i dont have any close up ones of behind the bar but i'll get some next time i pull it off.

On a side note unfortunately ECS Tuning has not replied to any of my e-mails regarding them shipping the wrong gauge. I would've thought being such a large company and being such a minor easily fixed problem they'd have the courtesy to reply with something but no, no reply at all. I'll call them sometime next week and see what they have to say. Needless to say this combined with a complete lack of reply from another US company i bought items from that failed (unrelated to this thread) has left me a bit disappointed with my recent online shopping experience.

Now back to the build at hand... Who did you choose the Garret simply because you like it best or was it easier to source and get shipped than the others? Also your intercooler... can you share where it came from and possible show a few more pics of how you have the tubbing running through. I have seen many other V6 turbo shots but yours is really stealthy and you managed to get the engine cover back on which is perfect.

[Coralon]

That sucks about ECS man, hopefully you get it sorted out. I cant think of anything worse than a colour flashing gauge, why would they even create something so ghastly.

[WhO]

I could *almost* understand if they were hesitant to exchange it since i've installed it and opened all the packaging but to not reply at all is just not good enough, plus it was their mistake not mine. I might just lick my wounds and buy the correct gauge from New South directly. In the grand scheme of things its a tiny problem and a minor expense but it really puts a bee in my bonnet when companies whom many have pumped huge amount of money through give piss poor customer service, especially to international clients who inevitably may get chucked into the too hard basket. I was going to buy my swaybars and coilovers through ECS but think i might re-consider. Again although its only a boost gauge i'm strong with my principals and will hesitate to purchase anything from them again untill they at least make contact with me.

Hope i'm not sounding too petty, i'll close that chapter off now as i think i've whinged about it enough now!

In happier news turbo should be in SYD now getting rebuilt and hopefully i see it later in the week! I'll order my exhaust bits this week and also pull the timing chain cover and re-seal it to stop it spewing oil down the underside of the car. I'll hopefully have the car running again by next week although i've got a few things happening around home (bathroom reno to get organised and a new fence to go up) so that might take priority.

Anybody in Adelaide know any good detailers and also any good spray shops? My RH front guard could use a respray and massage from where the tire grabbed it once upon a time and also my front bar is stone chip city.