Im gunna turbo my b16a2 in my ef civic soon and i fancy avoiding a kit and doing it myself. I have access to a full garage setup with rolling road, tuning gear all tools and welding gear, ramps and air tools, plus trade connections and Im pretty good with a spanner.
So i was wondering, what are the pros and cons of doing it myself?

I have no experience of doing turbo conversions and little of turbo setups but im willing to learn and prepared for downtime.(did a search, looked around, was wondering what u people thought).
I fancy running my modified ecu and fuel system, instead of additional injectors and water injection without inter-cooler for simplicity. I would like to make 300-350horses (yes i have driven cars of this power, im not pipe-dreaming!).
Suspension and brakes already sorted.

 

have fun spending large amounts of cash!!! if i were you, get a full turbo kit and do some research on what parts are better...etc. sell ur parts and buy the ones that are better. this is the only sure fire way to do it right the 1st tyme. i think the kits come with instructions, if not look on h-t and everyone has a step by step turbo install. 300-350?! build tha block yet? head? hope thats not daily

 

300-350 whp with no intercooler......thats just silly my friend. Am I missing something here???

 

hey, im looking for suggestions here, if u think 350 w/out inter-cooling is not possible then say so, personally, i think it might be, and i want to do it different. U'd be amazed the difference in cost that the proper trade connections can make.

 

Pros
Save money
Pick you own parts
Satisfaction of doing it youself and learning somthing

Cons
Take more time then buying abolt on kit
Things may not work tegther (manifold + turbo como may not clear block/Raditator)
Most likley you will have more down time.

There are some good site about DIY turbo setups. I don't know what the address are but I am sure somone here will.

 

I would not run more than 6psi without an intercooler. You should really get one, they are not that expensive. If you are doing it yourself you should check out the intercoolers on ebay, they are pretty cheap. The good thing about doing it yourself is it cost's about half as much but the bad thing is it's a lot more work and unless you take your time and get nice welds done on all the piping it won't look as nice as a bolt on kit.

 

I really dont care how it looks, and i wont mind spending time. i may get a manifold made, plus a decent exhaust. Do u really not recommend going down the water injection rather than intercooler route? this would really limit detonation...

 

Check this link out, it should help...

http://www.cse.uconn.edu/~yele....html

 

homemade is cool way to go. i love mine and only spent 1200. sure i could've bought a kit and then added the other things i wanted, but i would've spent close to 4k then.

go here to learn more about the homemadeturbo.
http://www.homemadeturbo.com

 

thanks.

 

I got my intercooler for 300 shipped off of ebay. the thing that sucks about custom turbo kits is the wait. someone might not have the parts you need in stock or shipping might be 3 weeks like my injectors took. I spent 2500 on my turbo kit, and everything is top notch. thats including hondata.

 

Custom

Heres what i spent:

Engine:
Inline Pro 3mm headgasket $300 (brand new)
STR cam gears $165 (brand new)
ARP studs $100 (brand new)
Total: $565

Turbo kit:
T3/T04E 60 trim .63 ar $500 (brand new)
Meng Style manifold $175 (Brand new, then i welded braces and braced the turbo)
Tial 35mm $200 (brand new)
IC piping with sheepdog bov $150 (used)
31x7x2.75 FMIC $230 (brand new)
3" DP $100 (homemade)
3" exhaust piping $200 (brand new)
Oil feed/return kit $110 (brand new)
Total: $1665

Fuel:
Hondata s100b $395 (brand new)
CPR 52lb injectors $200 (brand new)
walbro fuel pump $90 (brand new)
3 bar map sensor $50 (brand new
Total: $735

Misc./Gauges/Electronics
Greddy EGT $130 (brand new)
Blitz BL boost and oil pressure $200 (Brand new)
Greddy TVVC boost controller $100 (used)
Vaccum box/vaccum lines $25 (brand new)
Clutchmasters stage 3 $175 (used)
Total: $630

Total cost for evertyhing to turbo my car....$3595, not bad considering thats a litte more than a drag or revhard kit costs and i got better parts and all gauges, clutch, exhaust, thicker headgasket, etc Im going to get tuned @ 14psi in a few weeks

 

cheap parts= cheap results

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GOLDBERG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cheap parts= cheap results</TD></TR></TABLE>

so your saying if you got a free turbo kit? you will have no results?

cost doesnt effect the outcome. If you find good deals, more power to you

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GOLDBERG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cheap parts= cheap results</TD></TR></TABLE>
Sounds like ur trying to justify spending alot of money there? I know, i've been there!
I never once said i was trying to do it on the cheap, i just want to spend money where i need to for the results i want.
At the moment im heading towards this setup:
Custom intake piping(mostly silicone, with or without i/c)
Second hand or reconditioned turbo+wastegate
New fmu(to go with my uprated pump+lines and my tunable ecu)
New custom 3" exhaust(local place should do it for £300-400)
New bov
Water injection for sure
Still unsure on manifold, they're not readily available over here, i know of a place that makes manifolds if you give them the gaskets...

any comments/thoughts?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by UK CIVIC B16A2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Sounds like ur trying to justify spending alot of money there? I know, i've been there!
I never once said i was trying to do it on the cheap, i just want to spend money where i need to for the results i want.
At the moment im heading towards this setup:
Custom intake piping(mostly silicone, with or without i/c)
Second hand or reconditioned turbo+wastegate
New fmu(to go with my uprated pump+lines and my tunable ecu)
New custom 3" exhaust(local place should do it for £300-400)
New bov
Water injection for sure
Still unsure on manifold, they're not readily available over here, i know of a place that makes manifolds if you give them the gaskets...

any comments/thoughts?</TD></TR></TABLE>

dont' worry about getting a brand new bov, exhaust, etc, spend money on buy more important things than can go bad like the turbo, etc...personally i would go without water injection and run an FMIC, i would also upgrade teh fuel.