My first single turbo build
It gained me about 2psi with a very weak 4psi spring
Today I ordered a four port boost solenoid. Hopefully it will allow me to boost a litttle more than 9 psi while keeping my low boost in first gear. If I can do that, this will make for a pretty quick street car without having drag tires on it all the time. I can ramp boost in any way I like and I’ll dial it in to ramp it just to the point of spinning in second and back it down a little.
Well as you guys know, we always want more. So I’ve decided a few things could be upgraded to increase power and efficiency. First thing is I picked up a billet 7875 from VS racing. I can’t say enough good things about VS. Viren always answered all my questions very quickly. Even late one Sunday night. I can’t say the same about on3. I was going to go with an on3 but I decided not to spend that much money and his sparse replies helped to reinforce my decision. So, I ordered the turbo on Monday morning, it was sitting on my doorstep on Wednesday. Wow!
Next is the airfilter and the down pipe. As pictured in the previous posts, I had to smash my 3” downpipe to get it to fit past the frame. Not ideal, but it works. In an effort to make more power, I order some 3.5” oval tube from cx racing. I should have done that from the get go but my budget was blown at that point. I chose 3.5” because it’ll give me room to grow and it’ll fit and probably flow better than a 3” oval pipe. I have a buddy who has a professional exhaust bending and swerving machine so I’ll get him to swedge pipe for me to match the 3.5 and 3” up together. The air filter was just too small too so I ordered a green filter that’s a bit bigger for more flow.
o and I'm adding a cutout. I hear they work wonders on turbo cars.
Next is the airfilter and the down pipe. As pictured in the previous posts, I had to smash my 3” downpipe to get it to fit past the frame. Not ideal, but it works. In an effort to make more power, I order some 3.5” oval tube from cx racing. I should have done that from the get go but my budget was blown at that point. I chose 3.5” because it’ll give me room to grow and it’ll fit and probably flow better than a 3” oval pipe. I have a buddy who has a professional exhaust bending and swerving machine so I’ll get him to swedge pipe for me to match the 3.5 and 3” up together. The air filter was just too small too so I ordered a green filter that’s a bit bigger for more flow.
o and I'm adding a cutout. I hear they work wonders on turbo cars.
Last edited by Kfxguy; Dec 3, 2018 at 11:02 AM.
At those temps I wouldnt even bother with the fans. They will be more of a restriction and not really benefit to much... 135*F isnt bad. You could do a small shot of water/meth if your really worried about the heat and detonation. I would leave it alone.
Boost controllers are easy. Manual or electric...You can do a cheap manual "hallman" style for like $25 is on ebay. they require some tuning and driving/logging/adjusting. But your stuck on what you set it at and you can't change it easily and accurately. Electric you have a few choices, AEM truboost, Turbosmart eboost/eboost 2 etc. If your not willing to shell out $500 then your really stuck with the truboost or other cheaper EBCs. I rock the truboost and its the best thing I have done for my turbo. I run a spring that nets me 6-6.5psi (8.5psi Electric cutout open), with the truboost "off" (push of a button) it gives me those pressures. With the boost A setting I have it set at 50% duty and that nets me 11psi, Boost B setting at 70% nets me like 14-15psi. It also has a boost scramble mode which allows a custom 30s of boost control... like a kill mode. activate with a switch or something by grounding a wire and you go into scramble mode aka kill mode. Its a pretty sweet little gauge with max boost recall and I love it.
If you want more features than that your stepping up to a Eboost2 which are the best. You get lots and lots of features like boost by gear and I think it does meth controll or activation as well etc. If you want convience and full adjustability on the fly on a low/medium budget you go truboost (Less than $300, I paid like $200 off ebay with a 20% off coupon). If you want to spend $30 then get the MBS hallman style (ceramic ball) but you dont get easily controllable boost and its a low budget option. If you want the best and all the bells and whistles your going Eboost2.
If your car was mine I would leave the FMIC, get new MT street SS tires and go from there. If you want to go boost controller I would do truboost or Eboost2. I'm constantly switching my boost controller settings and activating/deactivating mine while driving as its just not needed to be on kill mode all the time lol.
Boost controllers are easy. Manual or electric...You can do a cheap manual "hallman" style for like $25 is on ebay. they require some tuning and driving/logging/adjusting. But your stuck on what you set it at and you can't change it easily and accurately. Electric you have a few choices, AEM truboost, Turbosmart eboost/eboost 2 etc. If your not willing to shell out $500 then your really stuck with the truboost or other cheaper EBCs. I rock the truboost and its the best thing I have done for my turbo. I run a spring that nets me 6-6.5psi (8.5psi Electric cutout open), with the truboost "off" (push of a button) it gives me those pressures. With the boost A setting I have it set at 50% duty and that nets me 11psi, Boost B setting at 70% nets me like 14-15psi. It also has a boost scramble mode which allows a custom 30s of boost control... like a kill mode. activate with a switch or something by grounding a wire and you go into scramble mode aka kill mode. Its a pretty sweet little gauge with max boost recall and I love it.
If you want more features than that your stepping up to a Eboost2 which are the best. You get lots and lots of features like boost by gear and I think it does meth controll or activation as well etc. If you want convience and full adjustability on the fly on a low/medium budget you go truboost (Less than $300, I paid like $200 off ebay with a 20% off coupon). If you want to spend $30 then get the MBS hallman style (ceramic ball) but you dont get easily controllable boost and its a low budget option. If you want the best and all the bells and whistles your going Eboost2.
If your car was mine I would leave the FMIC, get new MT street SS tires and go from there. If you want to go boost controller I would do truboost or Eboost2. I'm constantly switching my boost controller settings and activating/deactivating mine while driving as its just not needed to be on kill mode all the time lol.
I am leaving the FMIC. May upgrade to a 3" one before too long. I got some Mickey thompson et street SS also. I went with a cortex boost controller because upon further investigation the eboost2 wasnt true Boost by gear and the cortex is. You do NOT need to add additional switches and it senses up shifts as well as downshift. Pretty nifty and accurate setup. Its only 4 wires to hook up and cortex provides you with vehicle specific instructions. I do also ride around with a neutered setting and at the press of a button i can put it on kill mode. It has scramble too and i can get a mathanol water flow sensor to safeguard against meth failure.
I am leaving the FMIC. May upgrade to a 3" one before too long. I got some Mickey thompson et street SS also. I went with a cortex boost controller because upon further investigation the eboost2 wasnt true Boost by gear and the cortex is. You do NOT need to add additional switches and it senses up shifts as well as downshift. Pretty nifty and accurate setup. Its only 4 wires to hook up and cortex provides you with vehicle specific instructions. I do also ride around with a neutered setting and at the press of a button i can put it on kill mode. It has scramble too and i can get a mathanol water flow sensor to safeguard against meth failure.
I'm a big fan of water meth. If I can get 118octane from 93 **** pump with $2 wiper fluid I'm sold. And (knocking on wood) have never had an engine failure with it even on my stock 5.3 short block and been up to 15lbs.
Going from a 2.5 to 3" wont net you any real gains. A 2.5 charge pipe is more than adequate for large HP (as long as the IC is efficient enough AKA pressure loss). I went with a 3" as I had a 3" oulet on my SC at the time and had all 3" tubing/piping so it was easier to just get the 3" vs a smaller 2.5" and have to get reducers etc. But now that my turbo is 2.5" I needed an adapter to 3" to run my system... going to a 2.5" wouldn't net me a loss in power and it would be easier to package but I would have to buy all new tubing/IC and couplers so I'm not doing it.
I'm a big fan of water meth. If I can get 118octane from 93 **** pump with $2 wiper fluid I'm sold. And (knocking on wood) have never had an engine failure with it even on my stock 5.3 short block and been up to 15lbs.
I'm a big fan of water meth. If I can get 118octane from 93 **** pump with $2 wiper fluid I'm sold. And (knocking on wood) have never had an engine failure with it even on my stock 5.3 short block and been up to 15lbs.
yea, I've really been considering meth. But here's my dilemmas:
1) my engine probably wont last very long past 12psi. I'm currently at 10.5 right now. Its ok with 12 degrees of timing as it is. I have to ask myself, Do i really NEED to go higher?
2) what if dial it in on the water/meth and i run out? Have a failure....etc. then motor go boom. I thought about another thing. The Boost controller I has an option for a water/meth FLOW SENSOR so if it doesnt see water flow when it supposed to it cuts the boost automatically.....but that damn thing is like $169 by itself. Then I gotta get a meth kit.
Add in the fact that i just picked up an aluminum 5.3 that I need to upgrade the bottom end in for the next phase.....it gets expensive.
so do i really need to push this motor any further?
Last edited by Kfxguy; Dec 3, 2018 at 05:44 PM.
duley noted. Thinking the bigger hole in the intercooler might flow more air?
yea, I've really been considering meth. But here's my dilemmas:
1) my engine probably wont last very long past 12psi. I'm currently at 10.5 right now. Its ok with 12 degrees of timing as it is. I have to ask myself, Do i really NEED to go higher?
2) what if dial it in on the water/meth and i run out? Have a failure....etc. then motor go boom. I thought about another thing. The Boost controller I has an option for a water/meth FLOW SENSOR so if it doesnt see water flow when it supposed to it cuts the boost automatically.....but that damn thing is like $169 by itself. Then I gotta get a meth kit.
Add in the fact that i just picked up an aluminum 5.3 that I need to upgrade the bottom end in for the next phase.....it gets expensive.
so do i really need to push this motor any further?
yea, I've really been considering meth. But here's my dilemmas:
1) my engine probably wont last very long past 12psi. I'm currently at 10.5 right now. Its ok with 12 degrees of timing as it is. I have to ask myself, Do i really NEED to go higher?
2) what if dial it in on the water/meth and i run out? Have a failure....etc. then motor go boom. I thought about another thing. The Boost controller I has an option for a water/meth FLOW SENSOR so if it doesnt see water flow when it supposed to it cuts the boost automatically.....but that damn thing is like $169 by itself. Then I gotta get a meth kit.
Add in the fact that i just picked up an aluminum 5.3 that I need to upgrade the bottom end in for the next phase.....it gets expensive.
so do i really need to push this motor any further?
I understand. I ran a AEM fail safe gauge which was a flow gauge with built in controller to control a relay or a solenoid etc. datalogs flow and if it doesn’t see any it cuts boost. either waya it’s going to cost u money so I get it. But most of the time it’s a non issue. You shouldn’t be “ depended” on the meth. The water is a safety factor which I use in the case of bad gas as an extra precaution. My setup isn’t aggressive in that I run more timing than you like 16*-18* at 10psi but I have a stock. low compression stock 5.3.
bigger hole don’t mean jack if the tubes in the IC are the restriction which is usually the case. Basically the core is more of a restriction than the pipe ID otherise the 2.5 or 3” pipe (if it was a restriction would by itself net a pressure drop) but it’s the core that’s always a restriction bc it sorta needs to be to give the air enough contact/time to disperse the heat.
I understand. I ran a AEM fail safe gauge which was a flow gauge with built in controller to control a relay or a solenoid etc. datalogs flow and if it doesn’t see any it cuts boost. either waya it’s going to cost u money so I get it. But most of the time it’s a non issue. You shouldn’t be “ depended” on the meth. The water is a safety factor which I use in the case of bad gas as an extra precaution. My setup isn’t aggressive in that I run more timing than you like 16*-18* at 10psi but I have a stock. low compression stock 5.3.
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Thanks fellas.
I might as well update. My flex bellows on my crossover pipe broke. I noticed I wasnt getting but 7.5psi instead of 9.5-10 like normal. I think it happened slowly because the car started getting louder but didn’t sound like a leak. What alarmed me is twice going through a drive through I had to kill the car because they couldn’t hear me. I was thinking that was really weird. Then I took a coworker for a joy ride and beat on it a bit. Then it got even louder. I thought maybe the manifold had cracked. Pulled the car up on the ramps and found the culprit.
So i took the opportunity to fix the pipe like I should. I had a warped v band flange on the crossover. I originally fixed it with a custom copper gasket but still knew the flange was warped. So I chopped that side off the pipe and redid it and put a new flange on and dodntbwarp it this time. Learned some new tricks on that. No bellows this time. I need complete reliability.
I might as well update. My flex bellows on my crossover pipe broke. I noticed I wasnt getting but 7.5psi instead of 9.5-10 like normal. I think it happened slowly because the car started getting louder but didn’t sound like a leak. What alarmed me is twice going through a drive through I had to kill the car because they couldn’t hear me. I was thinking that was really weird. Then I took a coworker for a joy ride and beat on it a bit. Then it got even louder. I thought maybe the manifold had cracked. Pulled the car up on the ramps and found the culprit.
So i took the opportunity to fix the pipe like I should. I had a warped v band flange on the crossover. I originally fixed it with a custom copper gasket but still knew the flange was warped. So I chopped that side off the pipe and redid it and put a new flange on and dodntbwarp it this time. Learned some new tricks on that. No bellows this time. I need complete reliability.
Well a little update. I think I had mentioned that I was going to change to a billet wheel turbo. I had some extra time on Saturday and figured it should only take an hour or two. Ha. Lmao. Lol. Yea. Right. Never works that way for me, let me tell you. First problem was the oil drain. The way this turbo has tabs to secure the compressor. They get in the way and the billet compressor came with a billet flange that angles it so it doesn’t hit the compressor. I had a slip fit and this required a cutting of the hose and change to an -an fitting. Not a big deal, jack car up and take oil line off and make the changes. Then I had installed some studs in two of the holes for the turbo flange. No big deal if they would have been screwed in from the top, but I left part of the bolt on it so it had to go back out that way. Of course they didn’t just turn easily and come out....I mean with my luck, why would they? Tape everything off and cut some slots. Got em out. For illustration:
then I had to run to the parts store, because you think I have some bolts to fit? Nooooo. Of course not. Have about every other size but this one. Hour down the drain. Now it’s time to mount the turbo. I’m sure you can tell which is the billet one.
i ended up forgetting that it’s such a tight fit that I threaded two of the holes to get the bolts in easier and not use bolts with nuts. Why I picked such an oddball thread I have no idea. 12mm x 1.25....my tap just wasn’t cutting it either. Another 2 hours gone because I went by four auto parts stores and Home Depot. Nope. Damnit. So then I kept looking in my taps which are pretty organized and found another. Damn. Ok. I’m an idiot. Time to mock up the turbo and make sure it fits. Nope. Of course it don’t. See how my down pipe is in the above pic? It slides into the turbo housing. Thinking something is wrong, I try to fit a fresh piece of 3” pipe in and nope. Don’t fit either. What-tha -fuuuuu. Bout .015 too small. Seriously???? So I remove the turbine housing. I chuck it up in my lathe. I turn it on for a sec to see how it’s going to behave. NOPE. big mistake. It’s so off balance that my lathe was just about to flop over. Bad idea. So......two hours later and a sore arm, using a flap wheel, I got it to fit. Here’s the finished product...... and I do have some comparison pull videos if anyone is interested.....
then I had to run to the parts store, because you think I have some bolts to fit? Nooooo. Of course not. Have about every other size but this one. Hour down the drain. Now it’s time to mount the turbo. I’m sure you can tell which is the billet one.
i ended up forgetting that it’s such a tight fit that I threaded two of the holes to get the bolts in easier and not use bolts with nuts. Why I picked such an oddball thread I have no idea. 12mm x 1.25....my tap just wasn’t cutting it either. Another 2 hours gone because I went by four auto parts stores and Home Depot. Nope. Damnit. So then I kept looking in my taps which are pretty organized and found another. Damn. Ok. I’m an idiot. Time to mock up the turbo and make sure it fits. Nope. Of course it don’t. See how my down pipe is in the above pic? It slides into the turbo housing. Thinking something is wrong, I try to fit a fresh piece of 3” pipe in and nope. Don’t fit either. What-tha -fuuuuu. Bout .015 too small. Seriously???? So I remove the turbine housing. I chuck it up in my lathe. I turn it on for a sec to see how it’s going to behave. NOPE. big mistake. It’s so off balance that my lathe was just about to flop over. Bad idea. So......two hours later and a sore arm, using a flap wheel, I got it to fit. Here’s the finished product...... and I do have some comparison pull videos if anyone is interested.....
Last edited by Kfxguy; Dec 26, 2018 at 09:23 AM.
Didn’t want to keep going and going in the last post. But I do want to give my assessment of it. Let me first say, I’ve read so much on the differences between a cast and a billet. So much conflicting info and opinions. I only found one Dyno test. And it seemed promising, it didn’t increase peak power but it did light off faster and increased the mid range power. My butt Dyno, videos and logs confirm this. People are going to say it makes no difference going from cast to billet, and I agree. To an extent. What you have to understand is the wheels are totally different designs. That’s what makes the difference. Not the material it’s made of. What I’ve found is on some 60-100mph runs, the billet turbo is about a 2-4mph gain. I have an overlaid video and the cast wheel one starts with about a 2mph advantage and the billet one pulls ahead by 1-2mph by 100mph. No other changes and boost wasn’t changed. It does seem to have more midrange boost which I think is the difference and it does pull harder noticeably in the 6000-7000 range. Tell me what you guys think. The overlay one, the billet turbo is on top. And I do like how the cast one sounded better, it whistles while the billet one is quiet. Bummer.
Last edited by Kfxguy; Dec 26, 2018 at 09:29 AM.
TECH Junkie
Joined: Jul 2015
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Likes: 48
Didn’t want to keep going and going in the last post. But I do want to give my assessment of it. Let me first say, I’ve read so much on the differences between a cast and a billet. So much conflicting info and opinions. I only found one Dyno test. And it seemed promising, it didn’t increase peak power but it did light off faster and increased the mid range power. My butt Dyno, videos and logs confirm this. People are going to say it makes no difference going from cast to billet, and I agree. To an extent. What you have to understand is the wheels are totally different designs. That’s what makes the difference. Not the material it’s made of. What I’ve found is on some 60-100mph runs, the billet turbo is about a 2-4mph gain. I have an overlaid video and the cast wheel one starts with about a 2mph advantage and the billet one pulls ahead by 1-2mph by 100mph. No other changes and boost wasn’t changed. It does seem to have more midrange boost which I think is the difference and it does pull harder noticeably in the 6000-7000 range. Tell me what you guys think. The overlay one, the billet turbo is on top. And I do like how the cast one sounded better, it whistles while the billet one is quiet. Bummer.
https://youtu.be/bvlFIXW1pwc
https://youtu.be/bvlFIXW1pwc
I would agree, you are likely making a little more power, but like I said in the other post, the torque is likely the same. I lost 50rwhp going from a billet precision to the cast on3, verified by the rollers, same ones on both test. Side question, do you drive around with your brights on all the time?
The light icon icon lit up is for fog lights, if that’s what your talking about. When my high beams are on, the high beam icon is blue.
TECH Junkie
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 3,012
Likes: 48
Gotcha. I drive for a living, and it seems that more and more people drive around with their brights on, and refuse to dim them for any reason....even if they are facing other drivers. If yours were on, just wanted to get an outside perspective on it.
nah they weren’t. But I can relate. The highway by my house is filled with idiots. People who keep their brights on and it agitates me. I’ll give them a quick blink. They don’t cut them off, I just turn mine on and leave them till I pass them.
Lmao. I just have to share this. When I first installed the turbo a few months ago, on very low boost I wasn’t getting the blow off to open. I guess. I’m not sure what I was thinking, I pulled the stuff spring out and left the soft spring.....more about that in a minute. I’ve noticed that my boost has been slowly dropping from around 10 to a max of 8.5 and I think that was a spike when I shift gears. I’ve been thinking to myself what could be causing it? For some reason I had a wild hair and decided to take the blowoff valve off and leak test it. My buddy told me a while back that a lot of the cheap ones will leak because the seat on the head of the valve isn’t cut centered. Yea. He was correct. Plus the guide the valve goes in was really loose and worn. It was leaking badly. Doh. I have a spare tho. So I check it. Yep. It leaks too. Chucked the valve up in my lathe and cut the sealing edge so it centers. Now it seals perfectly.
So I think the combination of a weak spring, loose valve and a non squared up valve face was causing me a serious leak I didn’t know about. Under boost it had to be leaking because it would drop and that one little weak spring wasn’t holding it. I put the stiffer spring it it now, but I may need to just use both springs. It starts cracking open around 13-15 inches of vacuum. I need to test how much boost it’ll hold.
Anyways, I just wanted to share a good up. And yea, she pulls even harder now! No boost drop and it got 9.9lbs in third and that wasn’t during a shift. It never would get over 7.5 in second and now I see about 8.9. Yep. I’m excited now. Lol
So I think the combination of a weak spring, loose valve and a non squared up valve face was causing me a serious leak I didn’t know about. Under boost it had to be leaking because it would drop and that one little weak spring wasn’t holding it. I put the stiffer spring it it now, but I may need to just use both springs. It starts cracking open around 13-15 inches of vacuum. I need to test how much boost it’ll hold.
Anyways, I just wanted to share a good up. And yea, she pulls even harder now! No boost drop and it got 9.9lbs in third and that wasn’t during a shift. It never would get over 7.5 in second and now I see about 8.9. Yep. I’m excited now. Lol