well boys here it is my 89 ef hatch. got it about a year ago and fixed the blown head gasket in the d15 and let it sit for a few months til it was stolen. got it back and decided it was time to be rebuilt. so i figured if i was gonna swap, i may as well just go k series and get into the 21st century. got k24a4 and tranny for 300$ from a buddy out of an element. pointers in the right direction would help, yes i know theres a search button but a friendly point in the right direction specific to my situation is helpful being as im now at a stand still wondering where to go next, after paint. at this point with a low ammount of spare cash im considering just getting a kpro and some mounts and getting it put in and running rather than the turbo build i want to do but im hoping that with a little help from other members i can meet somewhere in the middle with a modest turbo build of maybe 7-10 lbs boost

angine bay as is with tranny on ground still linked up

k24 out of honda element, 80k

another bay shot, more pics to come

 

My advice to u would be a k20 head.

 

kseries is an ef is a whole undertaking.
good luck>
ive never done something as complicated as taht before sorry :/

i4updates tho.

 

Most builds wind up going well over $10k... If you get steals on everything you probably still wouldn't be able to do it half way right for under $3-4k if you are lucky... probably more towards $6-7k if you are lucky... Do yourself a favor and research A lot. You say you can't find any when all I do is type "K swap EF" in google and get tons of results... Reading up will hopefully save you from headaches and headaches; hopefully from wasting money too...

Just my opinion.

 

check out K20a.org. there are lots of info on Kswap on EF.
i have not done EF kswap yet (soon) but from reading and experience of others, k20 is suffice on daily driven EF. with a k24 in EF, you will encounter traction problem.

 

Doing it big. What tranny are u using? Your gonna need Kpro and engine harness and power harness from rsx or ep3.

 

You can get a turbo kit off ebay roughly 1000 duckets.

 

i could also do a custom kit with a used garett turbo for probably a bit cheaper for that also. im using the element tranny if i can, havent decided yet but id prefer 6 speed if i do switch, i just dont want to create another problem for myself down the road by changing out a part that may work. anyone have an opinion as to the key essentials to get internally? cuz im not sure if rods cams and pistons will be enough to keep from blowing the engine boostin

 

well if your going to boost it i would do rods and pistons. make sure you get a bigger fuel pump to. are you going to use the element head or use a rsx type s or tsx head? i have a ep3 i plan on doing a tsx swap to and boosting soon.

 

walbro 255 pump good enough? im using stock head for now, hopefully a head with vtec on intake AND exhaust soon lol because this one only has vtec for intake lol but also what injectors are recomended and what cars should i be looking for when scouting a turbo in the junkyard? i want something similar in size to a t3/t4 for both the high pressure and also the quick spooling

 

A 255 will do good. As for injectors it depends on how much hp you are trying to achieve. 300 hp I would go with 550 cc. Your going to what to get bigger injectors then what your power goals are so you don't max out the duty cycle. For the turbo, if your going to get a junk yard one I would try to find one off a volvo or maybe a old turbo thunderbird or turbo mustang.

 

im focusing in on saab's now as there is hundreds of them in the closest junk yard to me. which model should i be looking for though?because id prefer a turbo that i can locate both a flange and rebuild kit for relatively easily. externally wastegated haha

 

Ebay has cheap turbos. I bought my turbo for $130. My buddy has same turbo too. He made 380 hp @ 18 psi.

 

Aww ****

 

You NEED to figure out what your power goals are before you even waste your time and money.

In for the lulz of the meaningless "18 psi" and "7~10 psi". Meaningless until you say exactly what turbo you are talking about.

XXpsi from this


.. or this




You go ahead with that "ebay turbos" after dumping $6~10K into your build.
Fantastic idea!
You get what you pay for.

 

theres nothing wrong with ebay turbos first of all. I kno several people that use them and they work like a champ. last i heard of any of them breaking was after 3 years of hard usage. the seals went out. wippteedoo. for a 130 dollars you can buy another one. do what u think is best with your money yes. I havent had no problems with ebay turbos at all and dont even kno any one that really has. and yes i dumped 10 grand into a car and still ebay turboed it thank you. only on the east coast i quess.

 

heres a video of my friends ebay turbo. same turbo i have EBAY.

http://www.streetfire.net/video/b16c...gra_725810.htm

 

What a great first post... not really.

I have first hand experiences with eBay turbos after mixed reviews - We tried a few different ones out just for fun. Essentially they are the same manufactures making all of them just different stampings from the companies that buy them. The one that lasted the longest before the seals went was ~1,000 miles. Take it for what it's worth...

 

I looked at that link and all I got was this...

http://www.streetfire.net/video/alex...10_2059391.htm

 

I had them last way longer than that. My friend brian uses one on his daily driver. He still driving it around town. Mine i dont drive my car but on the weekends but never had any issues with it. even after 5000 miles no issues. idk.

 

funny...

 

Guess I said it wrong. I think eBay turbo's have their place in the world - just not on builds that people expect to last long and perform well. I don't think it's nice to recommend an eBay turbo to this build as it's going to cost the OP quite a bit of money just to get the motor installed and running.... adding an eBay turbo would be like squatting on the engine bay and taking a dump on it.
eBay turbos are cheap for a reason. They are knock-offs so they save on R&D costs. They use inferior manufacturing and assembly to cut costs. Build material is inferior which is why so many cracked impeller and cracked housings complaints. Bearing and seals are cheap as can be to cut costs. And no warranty.

.. but you can't beat the price.

It's like buying the 10 pack of toy cars at the thrift store or buying 1 name brand Hot Wheels.
Knock off ones never roll right and break easy.

 

I love my ebay turbo. Sorry you guys haven't had a good experience with them. I reffered it because it think its a good product and know other people that used them with good results. When I turbo my ep3 its gonna have an ebay turbo. Hate all you want. My opinion is they are good.

 

Try to get 1988-1990 saab 900 turbo. It a garrett t3. After 1990 they switched to a mitsubishi te-05 turbo which was smaller then the t3. They are interal wastegate but you can convert them to externall wastegate.

 

this thread is now the ebay turbo kit thread. jk. good to hear all of your opinions and should help anyone thinking of getting one. research research before u make any purchase .