I have turbo headers and thats it, I need everything else. Where is a good place to buy turbos online? Is there any place I can order up some junkyard turbos? I have a $1000 maybe $1250 I can spend.

 

ebay

 

From my research everyone says Ebay turbos are crap. Could anyone point out a good ebay seller to buy from?

 

Ebay is not that bad. You just have to know what brands are good and what are bad.

 

Stick to junkyard stuff. I did my entire setup for $900.00, including the expensive chrome plating and polishing of parts, and braided lines. I even put another spare alternator I had laying around in place of the a/c compressor. I did not feel like spending $80.00 on a stupid a/c delete pulley.

Now, you do need to have the skills and tools to do everything your self for a low build cost. Trust me, Its soooo worth it. I am making more power than I expected.

Its awesome seeing the look on Import guys face when they hear me arriving and racing. I break their necks soo bad, it cracks me up with laughter. American Muscle on Boost = lots of raw power and fun. I love , blowing the doors off srt-4's and sti's.
Get inspired.

 

My twin kit is for sale. 800 bucks and its yours.

 

mine too, $900

 

Why are you guys selling yours? I am curious to know.

 

selling mine because I need a tranny (and car insurance money)! the stock 700r4 didn't hold up behind the twin turbo motor. I work on a golf course (closed for season) and go to college full-time. I don't see much money coming my way untill summer, but untill then I need a car to drive. I'll build a new kit later.

 

I'm sure you can do it if you are careful where you spend money. I have about $3500 in my TT system (I guess I wasn't too carful). I did have trouble with two turbos I bought off eBay. There are a lot fo guys on there selling turbos that are copy-cats of Garretts. The ones I had were terrible, if you must know I can tell you, but its a long story. I had two junkyard turbos on my car for 7,000 miles, and when I decided to upgrade, I bought turbos off eBay ($400 each sounds like a bargin for Garrett T3 .63/T4E 57 trim hybrids, doesn't it?). I had one fail before it ever made boost. I replaced it, and then the second one failed after 200 miles. I ended up taking them to my local turbo shop, and the only thing we were able to reuse was the compressor housings, and even they needed machine work to fit properly. And to think my JY volvo T3s were working perfectly. If the Volvo units hadn't been a bit of a restriction to my poiwerband (they were on the small side), I would have been miles ahead to let them on there.

So my point- you can get good turbos on eBay, if you get the real ones and not the knock-offs. But I would still pay a visit to my local A-Z U-pull-it before browsing eBay.

 

89JYTurbo, You did your setup for a fair price. You have a good looking reliable setup. I have seen pictures of some of the < $1000 setups and most require a AAA card to go with them or the better half following it around because the setup could break at any moment.

I nickle and dimed every piece of my TT setup using JY stuff were I could and not impact reliability. I made everthing I could. Total cost was $1800, BUT I already had a new fuel pump ($120) and moved the battery to the rear ($300). If I did this when I did the JY setup it would have been a total of about $2200. Now I am putting an intercooler(&piping) in it so add another ($250+$200) = $450 for that. A total of 1800+450+300 = $2750.

Anyway, what I am trying to say it that it all depends on where you start. For instance, if I already had new injectors......then I could pull $300 from the JYTT cost. Overall, your setup is worth the 3K. I am not knocking others.....just stating that yours looks like a nice setup. I *think* a carb setup is easy to do for less than $1000. Probably because I have so many removed Holley's kicking around.

NoItsNotForSale,
Do like 89JYTurbo said and check local first at car yards. Also, learn about diesel turbos and check the truck yards and also local fleet/construction shops/diesel repair shops. My first JYTT 350ci setup cost about $1800 for just turbo stuff. The two T3 60 trims were $400 for the pair. I am currently doing a JYTT T3 45 trim 305ci setup and I am on target at $1000-1200 with new injectors. Why so much cheaper?? The pair of turbos were $100. The smaller injectors are cheaper, smaller pipe is cheaper, etc.

The more info you have, the better chance you have at saving $$$. Search and read as much as you can both here at thirdgen and at turbomustangs.com

 

For EFI computer skills are helpful, perhaps even going to an aftermarket ECM. I'm working on my megasquirt right now (had it hooked up, probably need help with tuning) and am wanting to do a TBI boosted system. An injector upstream of the intake that is switched on with boost has been used, don't be afraid of it if you can tune for it.

 

I am selling cause I need a paint job more then anything.

 

MegaSquirt is in my plans as well. I'm not sure what type of injection or carb I'll be using yet (hell, I don't even know what engine yet), but can ya send me any special tips/tricks to be aware of? I have a lead on a built 350/500HP, think it's carb right now but I'm not positive. I'm acquiring a roller soon, and one of the first projects will be installing an MS3 (or maybe MS2.2, gotta research both of them a lot). It will be full-standalone system, no stock computer/wiring. Thanks

 

V2.2 versus V3 PCB versions is a misconception. What you're interested in is Megasquirt I versus Megasquirt II. The V3/V2.2/V1 PCB is the main one that has the injector drivers, input sensors etc. on it, the MS-I or MS-II is the microprocessor unit it's self. The V3.0 board is what you want wether or not you get the Megasquirt I or II processor unit.
The Megasquirt II unit is way different then the I, it supports GM idle air controllers, several different types of ignition systems (DIS, EDIS, HEI, etc. etc. etc.) Right now I"ve basicly got a bone stock 4.3L I'm using to learn on, I'd reccomend this path. Something that I would do is pay attention to detail, it'll make or break you. I'm running a basicly stock TBI 4.3L right now, and have this installed on it. I'm using the Megasquirt II with HEI, the stock IAC and had to add the MAT. IMO if you're not retrofitting either getting a good salvage yard harness and modifying it or buying a new harness is money well spent. one of the biggest nuisances IMO was trying to solder the DB-37 connector for the outputs, I eventually took another route.

I like this pretty well, albiet I probably sohuld have just gotten some high end Amphenol connectors something.

I've probably been through the manual reading it several times, something I"ve noticed is that you've gotta pay attention to detail. Some things I've messed up so far on include trying to use VR input with HEI which requires a hall type sensor, and due to misinformation on the internet I had 40# injectors in my settings rather then 45s, thereby making my setup roughly 12.5% rich. If it were me I'd want to use *at least* a 3 wire oxygen sensor, probably a WB but this is a cash deficient operation so I use what I can afford. It's also a stock engine, which supposedly makes them tamer as well, with a 350 that's putting out 500hp you may have quite a bit of trouble getting the tune right. I was always more of an electronics person then an automotive person, so I'm trying to bridge the gap right now. This is very new territory for me, albeit I'm not afraid of working on a vehicle. If there's anything specific I can help with don't be afraid to ask.

 

Cool, thanks for the info. Yea, I completely forgot that 3 vs 2.2 is a board, not the unit

There is no harness in the car right now, so I plan on using E-Bay to buy a pre-made GM type MS-to-engine harness That will greatly simplify things IMO. I'm still considering a few engine options, I need to sit down and tally up all sorts of costs, and just "How fast I want to spend" as they say. I'm sure someone will come in here and tell me to buy an OE computer & harness, blah blah blah, but once I add boost to it, the OE stuff will need to be yanked out anyway. Better to just start with MS in the first place, esp since the car will be apart anyway (making wire routing & hiding much easier). I would like to run WB O2, but I'll only be able to if I come across one hell of a deal. I'm in the money boat with you Once my bike \/ finally sells, I'll be able to afford some more stuff for the Bird.

BTW, where did you find a copper 'housing' for the MegaSquirt?? That looks pretty good And it'll keep EFI/RFI away from the MS too

 

The case is aluminum, but the light's off in the photo. I bought a kit from
http://www.glensgarage.com/
That came with basicly everything but the harness, cost was about $250 shipped if I remember correctly. Sure it cost a bit more, but it also included the case. You may wanna ask on the msefi forums about that engine, the vacuum may be a bit lacking. From my understanding speed density and huge duration cams aren't exactly.

 

Cool, thanks. I've seen MS on E-Bay too, both DIY and pre-built. I'll prolly get the DIY to keep myself busy for awhile, haha. Case will be something for me to think about tho. I was reading up on the new MS-II v3, and saw that it can handle up to 20PSI, and even right next to a MSD 6AL, had no noise. So a copper case would be extra insurance, but most likely would be overkill. It's pretty cheap tho, so it's overkill that I"ll probably do.

I'm waiting for my buddy to e-mail me back about the 350, and other misc parts he's got stored up too. The info I got is from another buddy of ours (those two are like best friends) and he couldn't remember the exact numbers, just that it's close to 500HP.

 

20 PSI will be enough for most applications that aren't running race fuel, but getting a 3 bar is minimal add on effort. I'm used to being around a soldering iron, and it took me 4-6 hours of build time. I also had an O-scope, variable power supply and signal generator to help me out when things weren't working, so I didn't buy the stimulator. If I didn't have bench gear I'd be buying the stimulator however, or being prepared to improvise something along those lines.

 

Cool, I guess I'll get the stimulator. I have a feeling that a regular ole multimeter probably won't be enough, haha. I'll probably grab that 3 bar too, it's cheap enough. Before I buy anything though, I'll be looking into a lot of info on MSEFI.com, I plan on twin turbo down the line, so if I can be prep'd for it ahead of time, that'll make things a lot easier down the line.

 

i don't really know much about the computer side of these cars (i only know subaru comps, my other car) but as for doing it for $1250, thats easy.... less computer stuff of course.....

go on ebay get a set of real garrett to4b's for $600 brand new(internally gated)

then get an FMU for about $150

go on summit and get some steel mandrel bendss for about $150 total

and get a walbro intank fuel pump for about $90

then assume about $200 for random an lines and connectors and about $60 in silcone connectors

thats my rough estimate, and i was pretty dead on when i budgeted the turbo poject on my friends 99 grand am. hope that helps ya

 

Twins for $1000? I guess it depends on how desperate or homely they are. I'm thinking if you are paying for it though, it's probably not worth it.

 

alot has changed since 2006 lol

 

u would be hard pressed to do it for under a grand on a efi car, i bought parts at the cheapest prices i could find and am still in my car for 3k just in the engine

though about 1k of that is what it cost me to convert the car back to tpi

thats for a system that is safe and reliable though

if the po didnt take the tpi off and convert to carb i could have prolly done it around 1,500 bucks