budget turbo build! advice/info needed

[FL318i]

well my engine blew up, so time for a new daily driver, since i gotta dig in the engine to get her running again ti thought about doing a really cheap budget friendly turbo kit, i will be getting parts from the junkyard/ebay and anywhere i can find.
knowing that this will be on a budget (not set yet) im only looking at about 200/250 whp or whatever the stock ECU can handle for the moment.

engine will be completely stock
i will be doing this myself so any help will be apreciated

question #1 : from what car should i get the turbo from at the junkyard??

perhaps a VW gti??? what are my options on this

any info or criticism welcome, i know there is very experience people in this forum so this is more of a learning process and weekend hobby type of thing for me as it will be my first time going turbo.

[rob_e30]

You're starting in the right way... by asking questions.  The toughest thing to find will be a manifold.  The rest is pretty straight forward, but you need to set a budget and at least double it.  I'm not sure where to find one in a junk yard, but I'd look at a GT2860 based turbo.  You'll still end up touching every major system in the car so take your time and do a lot of research.

[FL318i]

thanks for the reply rob, i just got "maximum boost" by corky bell and seems to be a very helpful book so far but there's some stuff is not very clear to me.
like chossing turbo size, but i cant get the turbine size, compressor and A/R in my head to make the decision.
i figure the gti turbo would work but i dont think that will fit as a top mount.

wouldn't the gt28 be a little to big for stock displacement??
however i did think about a gt25 but what size A/R??

would a t3/t4 with a .63 A/R be to big??

if i can get boost at 3000rpms i'll be happy

(once i get the turbo dilema out of the way i'll move on to the next step but i will like to keep the thread more like a guide book step by step with possible options/prices as i get all the parts figured out)

[hoevesruperd]

perhaps you'd like to see this video

many salvaged cars use turbos and intercoolers as stock. i think of volvos and volks (dont forget the lovely TDI) which are easy to find. as rob said, try to find a manifold first. it will be pricey, the rest can be built.

will you lower the compression or run at very low boost? maybe a thick head gasket?
i never heard of anyone running the stock ECU with a turbo'd setup... you might want to look into an aftermarket solution (i might be wrong)

what went wrong with the engine in the first place??

good luck and keep me posted on what you find!

[FL318i]

like the title said, i will do this as cheap as possible so changing internals and standalone/piggyback are not an option so far and yes i will be running about 8 psi.
 as far as manifold i will try moding the m50 ebay cheapo crap and be the guinea pig on that, dont get me wrong im not de de dee, i know im not getting good quality but this is my first turbo and is more like a learning process so i fugure for trial and error rather be dirt cheap and learn from my mistakes before i invest on a good setup.

as far as the engine, well it overheated due to a problem with the radiator, for some reason it had a lot of pressure on the hose and the level of the water wouldnt reach the temp switch on the other side so i guess water went thru the cap making the system fill up with air and i let u guess the rest....

anyway thanks for the reply hove

how about a 98 eclipse turbo?? i found one very cheap.

[FL318i]

forgat to mention that i wanna learn about turbocharging i dont just want a fast car, i take a lot of pride in what i do, mainly because i do it, and i like to be able to do this with you help people ofcourse, but just the fact that i want and hopefully can do it means more than gettin passed by a geo metro on I-95 (lol)

[BrandC]

I would also suggest learning a lot more about tuning. You're going to be doing a completely custom project, so your ignition/fuel maps are going to be proprietary only to your car. The one thing that many people neglect MOST with FI applications is proper air/fuel/spark management.

You can probably put together a budget minded turbo setup, but the tuning you probably shouldn't skimp out on. At least if you want a car drivable for more than 4 blocks...

[FL318i]

i am aware of that, i never said i wasnt gonna do anything about it i just didnt get to that point yet like i said on previous post i will like to do this step by step, so im not sure yet about managment but when we get there we'll figure it out as of right now i will like to get the right turbo to start with.

any thought on that brand??
maybe a little oversized wouldnt be so bad since will generate less heat i dont know.

[FL318i]

this is my idea of the manifold






my dad works at a shop where they do custom exhaust so the moding on the manifold wont be a problem and im pretty sure it will fit right on as top mount

[FL318i]

how about any of these
garret t25 (98 eclipse)

mitsubishi TD04

[nuvolarossa]

I bought a rebuilt T3 60 trim from a merkur/svo/ t-bird... they are watercooled too...
it should be enough for your demand too... sometimes you can find them rebuilt on eeeebay...
I don't remember but one of three cars mentioned before use the .48 A/R turbine housing and the others 0.60, pick up the .48 it should help with spool..
otherwise some nissans have GT2xxx turbos from factory, just don't remember wich!
 
these turbos are very used on miata turbos, and they are good! for comparisons, spool times, and dynos check miataturbo.net at diy turbo section, their engines are 1.6 and 1.8s, so we are there!

[nomad]

Want to do this in the future too.
If your dad works at a custom shop then why doesn't he just make a manifold for you? He should have nice SS bends around and a few plates later you're all done. Heck, go grab a OEM header and see what he can build off of it.

[omar85]

you might want to look at turbos from the s13 community. i used to have a T25 and later a BB T28 on my SR (stock 2.0 turbo motor). the T25 was good but the T28 was great. I would look for a T28 used. there are plenty around b/c they like to upgrade to GT2xxx

did u ever consider this mani. im not sure if it will fit on the e30 chassis though. no one seems to know on here, e30tech or bimmerforums. i was going to be the first to find out but if you beat me to it let me know.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OBX-Turbo-Manifold-Header-BMW-E36-318-4Cyl-W-Down-Pipe_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247QQcategoryZ33742QQihZ003QQitemZ130210334875QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

[WeirdYo2]

I did this exact same thing, If i were to do mine again I would go with a mercur xr4ti turbo i think they are a garrett .48 hot and .60 cold or something close to that.  Right now i have a .48/.42 t3, same thing you can find on a old dodge/chrysler 4cyl turbo, but without the weird flange.  As for the manifold, I think you should go to a plumbing supply store and buy some butt weld fittings, it was so much easier to just make your own even if it is a log style rather than keep trying to modify another design and it will hold up for a long time.  The last thing i wish i knew before i started my project is that you should def. buy some nice mandrel U bends for the I.C piping and have a nice chop saw, It will save you a lot of time.

[omar85]

I did this exact same thing

so what manifold did you use and how did u tune it?