Red2001GSR

I am growing sick of having a slow car, and I think I'm ready to start building a turbo car.

My question is... what would I gain by paying the money for a Drag kit, as opposed to piecing together a kit, like:
http://coolazz.tripod.com/turbo.html or
http://www.homemadeturbo.com/

The obvious things I could see are:
1.) Research and Development
2.) fit and finish of the whole deal
3.) reliability (I wonder about the setups I see on those sites)

Is it worth the money to buy the whole kit??
It's starting to seem like it is, but it would be a lot cheaper to go another route.

Bah. I'm poor... my car is slow... and forced induction scares, yet excites me.

Flamenco-T

if you have to ask, you may just want to buy a kit...

saves the headaches and troubles...

civictypenos

i have a little under 2 k into my turbo kit on my b16a3,here are the ingrediants( i shoped very hard for some of these deals):$65 for a saab t3,used in in crappy shape(junkyard),brand new watercooled center section for turbo $100(ebay),2.5 inch intercooler piping and downpipe $120(jc whitney),equal length chrome turbo header $91(off ebay and the dumb *** spelled honda wrong),$300 for new rc 370's,$250 for vafc,$100 for greddy bov,$276 for new huge intercooler(ford truck intercooler split in half and rewelded to make smaller intercooler,32x6x3)oil line and fittings $75,oil return hose from home depot(hot water heater flex pipe)$5,pep boys cone filter $25,missing link $20 (ebay),super fmu $175,intank walbro 255 $125,misc clamps and silicone couplings $75( i bought the heavy duty t bolt clamps),the project took about 2 weeks from start to finish,i bought a welder and did all my own piping and everything

Red2001GSR

yeah, if I'm investing close to $2k in the thing... I may as well just buy the kit.

I need to start my shopping list I guess.

DigitalFusion

I am building a DIY kit. The only reason it seems cheaper to go this route is because people leave out the "small" things that make the big difference in DIY kits. You are going to end up spending as much, if not more on a DIY kit. If you have the $$ get a full kit, otherwise do like this poor-broke-sob is doing and get one part at a time as u can afford it to make a DIY kit

Etylorcen

The gains are you get the best parts of what you are looking for. Compared to a drag kit you can get a much better manifold like a inline pro or a mav rev. You dont need to waste money on a fmu and inline pump if you are going for larger injectors and a v-afc or stand alone. If you just are trying to be boosted for cheaper thats basically teh only advantage over the kits out there.

civictypenos

and what does a kit come with usually for 2k,no intercooler,no vafc,no injectors bigger than 310,2 inch intercooler piping,cast manifold,a kit costs alot more,my diy kit was under 2k,and i have everything,intercooler,bigger piping and bigger injectors,vafc,i have even purshased a t4 to make my t3 into a t3/t4,on a stock bottom end im pushing 10 psi,boost comes in very strong around 3k and holds up to 8k,its alot more work in my opinion,its very much worth it,if you find a good deal on a greddy kit,which is the only new kit you will find under 2k,you still have no vafc and no intercooler,granted,im still in the tuning phase,but with the tuning ive done so far,the car feels like a stock turboed car,boost is suttle between 2.5k and 3k.im very much satisfied with my 2k turboed b16a3.i dont even think im going to build the t3/t4.ill save that for hatch,the best part of it all was just fabricating things and making them work,i have also kept my a/c,that was a chore with the manifold i am using.i have not tried the vafc hack yet,im a little scepticale about it,if nayone has done it,id like to know more.

0project dc2

iTrader: (1)

got any pics of that intercooler civicytpe nos ?

DigitalFusion

CivicTypeNos,

Do u have any websites or documentation of your install/build that would be helpful to a guy doing damn near the same thing? I have the B16A3 with a Garrett T3. Been researching like a mad man and if u have anything to add it would be appreciated!


[Modified by CustomCockpits, 11:09 PM 6/9/2002]

Red2001GSR

I would like to start building a kit piece by piece then...
but I think I'm going to do it this way to get better components.

I guess I should start using the 'SEARCH' function to get a list of the required components.

You guys are about to hate me soon, because I'll probably ask a lot of questions. Oh well, I guess that's what the forum is here for.

DigitalFusion

they wont hate you as long as u atleast try to find an answer urself, then if u cant, post here...

DigitalFusion

redgsr.. do u have AIM? i have learned a lot about DIY's in the last week or so, i could prolly answer a lot of ur noob questions to help y a save some time

Red2001GSR

Yes, I have AIM...

My AIM name is Digital Joeker.

What is yours? I'll buddylist you, and annoy you with my questions.

DigitalFusion

thewebgeeks

I prolly wont be able to answer everything, but i am thinking we can network together and help each other out

civictypenos

count me in on that one boys, sikassscivic should be my aim i guess,its my screen name with aol.try it.