My engine bay and engine redo - 98 TA
I might be changing plans slightly. I noticed with the battery and fuse boxes relocated, there is plenty of room for two turbos. Hmmmmmm.....
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
I bought a turbo off a local guy and some hot side parts off of ebay. The ebay stuff looks ok, it is all stainless and the welds seems strong (although they should fire their welder or send him for some more training) so I'm pretty happy with it.
I threw a 5.3L block I had in there with my T56 and bolted it up. I started bolting up the turbo setup, and I realize why cheaper is not better.
I have the eBay PTK knockoff hot side parts, and I think they must have been machined by a drunk, crosseyed, mildly retarded Chinese man. The front bolt holes in the headers are nowhere near where they should be, some of the mounting surfaces of the flanges on the kit have slag on them and don't fit right, and some other stuff.
It really doesn't bother me too much, as I have the tools and ability to fix this kind of stuff. The cost I saved is worth it to put a little work into it since my labor is free. Luckily I have everything out of the engine bay so it was easy to get to everything. Can't imagine trying to do this while the radiator/ brake booster, computer and wires, etc were all in there.
Nightmare I tell ya.
If you plan on installing this kit in your driveway with a set of hand tools, think again. I used the grinder, dremel, c-clamps, vise, and stong will. Plus I did it in a clean garage with plenty of space to work, and I took up a lot of the driveway laying out parts to try and get them ready to go on the car (did I mention there were no instructions, too?)
Anyway, I'll keep plugging away at it. This week I'll hopefully have it ready for paint.
I like your thinking....this winter I did heads/cam and some other crap...next winter I'm gonna relocate my fuse box, PCM, and either relocate the ABS block or remove it. You have any pics showing how you mounted the fuse box better than the one you posted? I'm thinking about removing the passenger air bag, making the air bag dash cover velcro accessible, and putting the fuse box back there and the PCM in the glove box.


