so i decided to do a budget sts turbo buildup. so instead of dropping 5 or 6 thousand dollars at once, im doing it part by part. heres how im doing so far:



what i have:
-sts turbo
-o2 sims
-sts instructions
-02 bungs, exhaust wrap
-gutted cats(in the mail)
-wideband airfuel (in the mail)
-walbro 225 fuel pump
-42 pound injectors
-sts oil pump
-ls6 pcv setup
-90degree elbows, MAF relocators
-sts switch
-air filters, breather, hardware


what i need:
-waste gate
-oil return (either cap or tap into pan)
-lots of piping
-a good shop to tune

i want to have this done before my summer starts, its been pretty fun trying to find good deals and gathering up all the parts. i will post a FINAL price of every dollar that went into this, to see if doing it yourself is really cheaper than just buying the complete kit. any opinions or comments???

 

How come you have half a kit?

 

I fab'd my intercooler setup, but happy i bought the kit. Dont know about you, but some months i have more money than time(cause my dumb@ss is working all the time)

I would add a blow off valve, vacuum manifold, intercooler, and few gauges.

 

half kit?? mabye you didnt read my post, ive been gathering it all part by part, im still not sure about adding an intercooler, n i will be buying a boost gauge along with the wideband air fuel

 

hmmm those look familiar

I didnt know you were actually doing a rear mount turbo.
Few questions:
What turbo is that?
Why the LS6 valley cover?
How you doing PCV setup?
Where you located?

and some tips:
-get McMaster Carr Vac Manifold to go into the brake booster. I got the 3 port which can do the BOV, WG, and boost guage. You can get one with 4 ports if you wanna do a vacuum FPR.
-find a local exhaust shop for the charge piping. Ive seen guys spend upwards of $300+ just for some bends and straight pipes. You'd be surprised what a local shop charges for cheap 2.25" piping. I did a V6 rear mount for $80 for the entire charge piping and downpipe.
-Go under the rear axle for charge piping.
-keep stock manifolds and wrap it up to the turbo.
-ebay has plenty of different ICs for cheap. Im personally gonna cut the bumper and foam and run a 4" up front. Theres other guys that have made a pusher fan setup that mounts perpendicular to radiator.

I think for the amount of time and effort spend in a DIY setup you'll get pretty close to a nice TRT kit. It all depends on what your time is worth. Some prefer not to run around test fitting stuff and crossing fingers so a kit works good for them. Either way goodluck

btw were you still interested in that vband clamp?

 

Yeah I was just wondering how you came across just part of a kit. Sounds like you have a good idea and could potentially save some big money doing it this way.

I am +1 for going to an exhaust shop and having them do the hot side work. I had 3" dp back exhaust done for $125 even, bends and all.

Best of luck with it.

 

Hey buddy just finishing up my diy rear mount, I did obx fmic everything is fitted up and put together, fuel system is done gauges are in. I can put some pics up if you would like. I am waiting for a tune. Plan on running 6.5-7 psi with the base sts turbo. I have almost 2 grand into it.

 

The turbo is the standard 60-1 that comes with the STS kit.

I just did my PCV system this weekend and it turned out great. Here is a simple and effective was to setup the PCV system on an STS setup.

- cap off intake manifold, TB, passender side valve cover ports.
- Add a breather (thunder racing) where the oil fill cap goes.
- run the oil return line to the rear port on the drivers side valve cover. I took the quick release fitting off and connected the fitting from the pcv that plugs in the drivers side valve cover, fits perfect. This seems to be a really clean setup that works effective.

 

JD did you sell him your old turbo or is this your kit. Im confused. lol

Im currently setting up my PCV like you said.
I cant remem if I've asked already but are you running a check valve (if so, where?) and is the original PCV valve still there or is it just the plugs and return line?

eatinstang post up some pics, i wanna see

 

I just sold him my old turbo.

Heres my new pcv system.
2nd pic is the return line that now goes to the drivers side valve cover.
Every thing else is capped off.

 

it seems soo easy. I feel like im missing something. but this is the setup Rick from STS recommended (if i remember correctly). Workin good for you so far? I feel like a catch can and vacuum is needed for venting (maybe from intake of turbo).

 

This is the setup I talked to Rick about (my idea). Rick said it would work fine as long as I'm venting the crankcase. I drove the car around yesterday and seems to work fine for me.

You could run the 2 ports on the passenger side to a cc w/a breather to help seperate the oil. The setup I have now works great and looks a lot cleaner then running a cc and all the pcv lines.

 

Eatinstang4life, id appreciate some pics of your setup. right now im kinda stuck on the i pipe, waste gate, and if i wanna buy the sts piping up to the throttle body, or try to fab it myself, also i currently have subframe connectors welded in

 

the only sts peice on my car is the flagne pipe where turbo mounts and wastagate I will get some nice pictures up later. I have sub-frame connectors welded in also I use 2.5" pipe no clearance problems.

 

Jeff i'd recommend just going to a shop. Unless you've fabbed stuff before, youll get better results and hopefully better price at an exhaust shop. That was my problem before, most everyone selling the pipes wanted a lot of $$.

 

hey Eatinstang4life how did you get a hold of that pipe?? your right thats pretty much the only pipe a shop cant easily make. i havnt had much luck getting a hold of sts, let alone trying to order parts from them. yea a guy in the for sale section wanted 2500 for pipes only : (

 

isn't that 60-1 a little on the small side?

 

I saw your post. That was what I was referring to. I was lucky and got that special pipe from a guy when I bought his turbo. I wouldn't rely on STS selling you parts. They won't and AFAIK they never have unless your a customer and something is broken. Its just their policy, trust me i've already tried.

Not really. It depends on your goals. Overall for a 346 a T67 is a better fit. Actually a T70 or 76 would be good too. But a T60 will make 450+ and wont choke too bad.

 

im not looking to make over 500 whp on a stock engine bad things might happen// jd might be able to tell you all why... umm has anyone here bought a kit from sts themselves?? pm me if youd like to help me out with ordering some "replacement" parts from them

 

I dunno man... the 60-1, which is technically a T59, is more suited for 2.5-3.0l engines. People have been running them on the 2.8l VR6 engine for a while now with great results, I think its going to be a little on the small side for a 5.7l 346. I hope atleast you have the FULL T4 version and not the hybrid with the t3 exhaust side and 59mm compressor wheel.