Alright people here it goes. I just picked up a godspeed GT35-1 turbo. It is the journal bearing version. I figured Id post a review of it since I cant find any definitive review of this particular turbo. Some people would call this an Ebay turbo, and for the most part I will agree. The only reason I would say it isnt is that I got it direct from Godspeed. But I will still say it is an Ebay turbo. When I picked it up and did notice that it is very.....very similar to the ones you see on ebay except for the GSP product I.D. they riveted to the compressor housing. Some of the advertised dimensions they have are slightly different from some of the other Ebay turbos and the wheel diameters they have on the site differ from the sizes on the box. So I decided to see just how accurate they were. First thing I did when I got her home is inspect and dismantle. The shaft play is very very minimal and within spec. The whole unit was assembled pretty well. I measured the wheels just out of curiosity and advertised comp. ind. is 66.6 and a read 66.58, and advertised turbine exd. is 64.5 and i read 61.45. So wtf?? The clearance from wheel to housing is fine. I even measured the outlet diameter nd even it was 63.42. So either I got a completely different turbine or someone cant measure, and that someone sure as hell isnt me. Other than that everything looks cool. Im sending her out tomorrow to get it balanced checked and i might even replace the seals with some quality pieces. Ill update as things progress. Lemme know your thoughts

 

cant wait to see some dyno results

 

Oh! I forgot to mention the rest of the turbo specs. .70ar compressor, non ported housing. The turbine being a .63ar "twin scroll" housing with a t3 manifold flange and 2.5" 4 bolt exhaust flange. And I can officially say from a hands on point of view that this is not a true twin scroll. It is nothing more than a divided housing. And for the few people out there, yes there is a difference.

 

Heh. That's like that on MOST turbos that people call "twin scroll". They're simply divided housing. See sig.

 

A twin scroll is a divided housing. BUT jus cuz its a divided housing doesn't make it a twin scroll.

 

dont use e85 on that turbo!! my homies godspeed has held up great than he put it on e85 and blew out and bought another godspeed and went back on 91 and no problem

 

I'm wondering if the exhaust gas has a chemical effect on the turbine shaft. If the material of that turbine shaft is susceptible to fatigue or the turbine metallurgy is of a different material than what is used in the "more expensive turbos", it could affect the sealing ring's ability to keep oil from staying within the cartridge. This is something I've never seen before. I'm just openly stating ideas that really have no merit or empirical data...just plausible reasoning, that's all.

 

o rly?

 

Alright. Have a quick update for you. I took the rotating assembly in to get the balance checked on it. It was 4x the max limit for imbalance!! From the factory!!!!!! Holy gumballs...wtf?! I would bet that this is one of the main causes of "Ebay" turbo failure. That imbalance can smoke a bearing quick not to mention the stress it puts on the seals. But we r all good now. She's gonna spin nice and true. We inspected everything else and the journals look good, clearances r nice. The seals will do just fine. So there shouldn't be any other factors that can smoke this turbo. The only thing that will cause this turbo to fail is the use of inadequate materials which I will soon find out after installation. Another thing we found out is that put nxt to a real Garrett GT35R, its a night nd day difference. This turbo is actually more like T04R than a GT35. We will soon c how much power per pound of boost she can put down

 

Now i have her all back together. Before i reassembled it i filed down some rough cast spots wear the material had burred a lil bit and a sprayed the comp. housing with carb cleaner to clean out the filings. I would recommend you do this anyway just to make sure there is absolutely no sand left over from the casting process. Now i have everything clocked in the right position. and shes ready to prime and install. For anyone putting on a turbo, Ebay or not, you should always make sure all your components are facing the proper direction before installation. Another probable cause of turbo failure is improper oil drainage. Not just oil feed. (ill get to that later) you may have the correct size oil return and all the proper fittings but if the bearing housing is at an improper angle, this will hinder oil flow as well. Ideal position is 90 degrees vertical, straight up and down with oil feed at the top of course. But what if this interferes with the setup your running? have no fear, 15 degrees forward or back from vertical is fine as well. Just make sure you can get that oil out with as minimal restrictions as possible

 

What so this turbo was way out of balance from new ! ?

It sounds like your on top of everything and know what your doing. Keep us all update I normally turn my nose up at cheap parts but i'm quite interested in this. I hope it goes well anyway.

 

Ya! That thing was way out from the get go!! Surprised even me that it was that bad. I figured it'd b in the ballpark but it wasn't even close. Nd thanx for the support. Ill b sure to keep yall posted on the assembly tomorrow. And I may even post pics if I can figure out how

 

all the godspeed turbo stuff is chinese garbage....stay away from it you have been warned.

 

Well this thread was supposed to b a godspeed turbo review, hence the title. So I am well aware of way most of the Honda community will say. So if u dnt hav anythin constructive to say, kindly shy away

 

ive seen to many fail that were put on new and just doing dyno pulls....these turbos are a joke. if you tuned as many cars as i have over the years and had actual experience with them you wouldnt even think twice about throwin it in the garbage.

 

Well maybe state some ways they've failed instead of just knockin em

 

buy a real gt35r turbo not that junk ****.

 

umm he was reviewing it. its junk pretty much is what he and so will everyone else that dont half as their stuff will say.

 

I had meant I'm doin a review on this turbo nd I dnt want this to become another Ebay hater post

 

I have that same ebay turbo from another 'manufacturer'. Made 538whp@31psi on a 85mm B16. Numbers seem great but.... seals seem to be fading and shaft play is slowly progressing after 2 months. I had luck to find a "big" shaft ebay turbo but ive seen too many comp wheels give away and crack at moderate/high boost levels. Also many lose their wheel clearance and give way to the wheel touching the housing and boom, fragments into ur engine... say bye bye. People making these turbos just want to mass produce it and not really put the time down for quality since they're trying to make a quick buck.

I say ebay turbos are to pass the time until u save up to a real turbo. There will never be a real subsitute.

PS- Last time I was in Mexico, I visited a factory where they make these ebay turbos and they're all the same. Godspeed, tacotaco..... same turbo with different names. From what I heard and saw, they pump out about 50 turbos a day. Go figure.

 

I agree 100%. This turbo is so I hav somethin to play with till I finish my swap. That ones gettin a Borg Warner S374

 

he said this is a review learn to read first. sec he has had the turbo balanced. , maybe the reason they are junk is because were improperly put together. again a review

 

To do what, launch into space? That size turbo is one of the worst street combinations to ever be put on a 4 cylinder. You have Supras who have difficulty getting the right tune and power to that size turbocharger. I could see an S366, but that's just more than a bit of overkill. I remember I had a few people who wanted me to get that combination for them, as a "street/strip" turbocharger. The first I let him have, and he completely hated life... all 2.4 litres of Honda technology. The other person, I simply chuckled and recommended something else.

 

we use a s372 on our drag cars....but we are also pushing 30+ pounds of boost on a 2liter....we just sent back one s372 to have a new compressor wheel put on and the compressor cover cut to 74mm to make it a s374.
i can see where the shodan is coming from....that turbo would suck on the street unless your going to pre-spool them at every stop light and lay rubber for blocks (stupid)....the only place they could be used is the freeway for doing 180mph runs which would be insanely stupid.

 

so mac.... no ls/vtec gt45? lol

it doesn't surprise me that it was that far out of balance.... the quality controls on chinese turbos are so bad a blind kid with no thumbs could do a better job.

I'd be interested to see how the wheel castings themselves hand long term abuse (assuming a bearing still doesnt take a dump)