The OFFICIAL Ebay Turbo "Kit" Thread
The OFFICIAL Ebay Turbo Kits Thread yay!
using this auction as an example
I will try and upload this page to a webspace for future refrence.
Let me start by saying I know a lot of people already know a lot of what I will say in this thread. Some will agree and some will disagree. This is more for the people who don’t have any experience and who may think this is a great deal.
It seems like a lot of prospective turboers express an interest in these kits since it seems they will save them thousands of dollars. So let’s take a look.
I picked the most complete kit I could find for my example. It is officially named the “D16 SUPER SINGLE SLAM SETUP” by the seller. It was also one of the most expensive “kits” as it came in at a whopping $925 usd buy it now + shipping and brokerage charges. Usually these guys will only ship these whole kits via UPS or Fedex ground. So get ready to bend over.
These kits are generally all the same. They usually include an obscure named turbo (or no name at all!), a “Tial style” wastegate, a “Tial style” or “TurboXS style” blow off valve, a polished stainless manifold, polished stainless downpipe and charge pipes, an intercooler, an assortment of brass fittings, clamps, couplers, hoses…etc… usually described as below:
Garrett T3/T4 TO4E Turbocharger
.50 STAGE iii WHEEL
GARRETT HYBRID
GARRETT INTERNALS
(1) SUPER RACE TURBO MANIFOLD
STAINLESS STEEL
(1) STAINLESS 4 BOLT DOWNPIPE
( Hand made tig )
(1) Full set of TIG Welded Complete (5) piece 2.5" charge piping.
(1) WASTEGATE DUMPTUBE
(1) SUPER 38MM WASTEGATE
(1) SUPER RFL BOV
( 1 ) SUPER 680mm X 460mm X 180mm INTERCOOLER
The seller further goes on to describe the turbo manifold:
HAND MADE STAINLESS STEEL RUNNERS 45MM , POLISHED
3/8TH THICK FLANGE
2.2MM THICK PIPE - WILL NEVER CRACK!
SUPPORT WELDS ON EACH PRIMARY TUBE
POLISHED STAINLESS STEEL
PORTED FOR HUGE HP GAINS!
So besides the obvious cheesiness and mistakes in his auction description we have a pretty basic understanding of what were buying.
-So let’s start off with the turbo manifold.
Normally these come with 3/8” stainless steel flanges. They use stainless because it polishes up nice. The preferred material for flanges is cold rolled steel. Mild steel is MUCH less susceptible to warping due to heat. It is also a lot easier to machine, especially after welding and or use.
To add a 3/8” flange will warp over time and use. If the flange does warp and you must get it machined you may not have much left after enough material has been removed to make the surface true!
Another thing relating to thickness; these manifolds will crack (will elaborate next). If the crack is fixed properly i.e. Tig welded, it will change the length (sort of. maybe more like stress) of that part of the tube that is being repaired. If this happens you’re almost sure to warp the head flange (depending on where the repair is done on the tubes and how bad the crack was)
So on to the tubing. We all know these are made cheaply overseas. The mill spec on the metal tubing they use is normally very poor. This means that the quality of the actual metal can very greatly between manifold to manifold.
Also this seller is claiming that his manifold is 2.2mm thick. Most of these manifolds were upgraded a couple years ago from standard 0.065 wall or 16 gauge tubing to 14 gauge due to mass failure. They were all cracking bad. So they upgraded one gauge thickness. This helps but is still pretty thin for a turbo manifold. Combined with shitty mill spec you get manifolds that do crack after a while.
I know someone who has been using one of these manifolds for about 2 years. He welded braces on it as soon as he got it. The car has probably only had about 10k put on it and the manifold is cracking like crazy. Most people I talk to who have/are running one of these do have problems after a while. Normally it’s not the welds that crack (although many have) it’s a crack in one of the un welded sections of tube.
-So next is the actually Turbocharger itself.
These things really are junk. I have had the pleasure of seeing a couple of these in person. The quality of the castings is terrible; the machining of the housing and cartridge is downright horrible. Bolt holes milled/tapped crooked. Bolt holes too close to the edge of the casting. Crooked mating surfaces. Sloppy edges….etc….
One can only assume the quality and tolerances held by the oil rings, thrust bearings ….etc… would not meet very high standards. These things fall apart, leak, and don’t spool properly….etc...
-The bov and wastegates are copies of real products. I have seen these bov’s work and not work. Also this style bov doesn’t work well in cold weather. Just the design.
For me, a wastegate is the last thing I would be cheaping out on. If it fails kiss your engine bye bye. I have seen first hand one of these eBay wastegates fail. One of the little screws that hold a piece down to the diaphragm came loose. If you take your new wastegate apart and make sure everything is ok and tight you should probably be ok.
Like I said, I would never run one on my own car.
-As for charge pipes I cannot verify if these do in fact fit ok. I have never seen them, installed them or know anybody who has.
-The clamps and silicone connectors in this kit seem nice. T bolt style and real silicone. Looks good.
-I would not bank on using any of the oil routing hardware. It’s all brass and looks cheap, also incomplete. I would not ever use brass fittings on any of my own cars.
Be prepared to spend at least $150 for your oil feed and return at mopac. I always use Aeroquip and earls fittings/lines. That way you don’t every have to worry about it!
-Ebay intercoolers generally seem to be ok. This one is almost exactly the same as a precision core. They probably come from the same place lol. The other ones I have seen, tube and fin, are pretty heavy duty construction, work well. I would rock an ebay ic if i was on a budget.
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Probably the best piece of advice for anyone looking to turbo (or modding in general).
