Forced Induction Turbo Install Begins Now!

I agree, but my goal here was to get a turbo and to help TSI fix there kit for other Corolla owners and I hope they make good on that fix. Turbokits.com is delegating the information I have to TSI so they can make changes to the future v2 kit which will hopefully be a direct bolt on for our cars. That is the dream and the goal here! I just wish I didn't have to suffer so much hehe

"Jerry so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Corolla so that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have proper turbo kit fitment."

VVT-I 3:16

I believe you are the sacraficial lamb of the corolla world.
Just remember Jesus DIDN'T complain!

Hang in there.
Ok, maybe he did a little.

Jesus was complaining today when he made me a sandwitch w/ french fries in the cafeteria today But yeah my poor Corolla is still sitting in the garage in peices but I think tonight we're going to make some good progress.

Before you know it you'll be cruisin' the streets eating srt-4s for dinner.

This spring there's going to be a Phoenix Tuning turbo kit on the market, and then the world will be saved.

Dr Tweak, when your kit is ready let me know. I'll install one and compare it with the TSI fixed kit when they make revisions.

It would be nice to have two kits to choose from.

Sounds good, should be around April/May if all goes as planned.

-Doc

will u make a kit for 93-97 rolla?
just wonder?

Yes, I sure will.

-Doc

what turbo are you using for the phoenix tuning kit tweak? wat kinda fuel management etc, any expected horsepower figures? prices?

if im not in a new car or get a project car, im gona go through with this

I would pay $4k easy for a kit that just bolted on and worked like a dream. So far this TSI kit has been a nightmare. But after I finish with this nightmare I'm providing TSI with all the info to fix there kit so everyone else can go turbo for under 3k.

The trouble is that I don't have a car to test it on, and I was counting on a few other people to bring their cars up to be worked on. They didn't follow through, and I've been so busy doing other swaps. Right now I have a guy with an '02 scheduled to be here in March/April for the turbo kit R&D, and after that the kit will be released.

That is, of course, if he follows through.

I just don't have $8000 laying around to buy a newer Corolla to build the kit on!

But yes, it IS coming. I'm sorry it's not here yet, when I see stuff like this going on it makes me sad that I haven't gotten it out yet.

Of course, by the same token, people wanted a rear disc conversion and I sold all of ONE of those, so who knows if the turbo kits will be worth it!


Bulletproofswordsman, here you go: (most of this is still right)

http://TRDforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1853&highlight=turbo

I'll give you guys a status update. We mounted the turbo manifold for good tonight and sinched her down on the ARP studs. We had to use a dremel to eat away a part of the manifold so we could fit a wrench into the tight space to tighten the manifold, really bad design but I'm going to send pics to TSI so they can re-tool a bit or atleast do the dremeling before sending it to people. We also got the oil fittings installed but the threads were damaged on the oil fitting so I had to clean them up with a file but finally got it all sealed up. We also finished the custom downpipe tonight, took 2 days but its finally finished, strong and air tight, looks like butt though but its a temp solution until TSI can get me the correct downpipe. Thank god for friends with portable mig welders or the downpipe would have been a real pain. The oil pan has been drilled, cleaned and mounted with the new oil drain in place which required some modifications to the baffles but what else is new so far. The project presses on slowly and consumes all of my time but we estimate that sunday night the car will roll out of the garage under its own power

I would buy a rear disc conversion in a heart beat if it didn't require me to buy custom drilled rotors or have 5 lug wheels in the back. Figure that one out and I'll buy one from ya

Dang, can I send you a box of random parts for you to design MY turbo kit so that I can sell it to other people too? I sure hope that they GIVE you that turbo system once you're all done.

Not going to happen, I'm afraid.

On a good note, I've recently discovered that going to 5-lug at all four wheels is pretty easy.

-Doc

Hey tweak do you still have or can you still get the oem parts route so you dont need drilled rotors?

I would consider going 5 lug on all 4 wheels Also I doubt TSI will give me the kit for free but I really do think they should considering the problems I have encountered with it and corrected for them. But I did get the kit at a discount and they will give me a little bit of money for the fab work I have done.

I figured I would post a pic of the down pipe I created for the Garrat GT25R turbo.



What, no comments on my shotty craftsmanship? That damn pipe in the picture took me 12 hours to make and fit properly

Considering the fact that you are totally redesigning their turbo kit, and then they're going to take all your hard work and make money off it, then yes, they should not only give you the kit but pay you for your time.

If you want MY input, I would say fit the kit to your car, and DON'T help them redesign their crappy kit. Leave the market fresh for me.

BTW, if whenever you want to go to 5-lug just let me know. It means that you get bigger brakes up front too!

LoSx, I can, but it's very expensive. VERY. Unless you can find the parts on ebay or something. And then, you're stuck importing rotors every time you need them, and possibly pads too, from JAPAN!

-Doc

they made all the mistakes..let them suffer for it...it's apparent that they didn't even fit the turbo kit, when still being designed, onto a 98-02 corolla. I'm surprised they got a few things right....I wouldn't help them one damn bit...

The problem is I promised turbokits.com that I would help them resolve the problems with there kit in exchange for them selling it to me for $2000 which is $800 under retail. I feel that I have had to almost completely redesign the kit but I did promise that I would do my best to help fit it. But I'm talking with them right now asking for compensation and reimbursement for the heavy work I have had to do. If they do not respond nicely to that then I may not help them fix the kit because of the ammount of time and effort I have put in. But Turbokits.com is awesome, the guy that owns it is a real stand up guy and has stopped purchasing kits from TSI until all my issues are resolved and that goes to say something about them. But TSI so far has only communicated with Turbokits.com and they delegate to me so we'll see what happens.

Well my installer took the night off so we're going to try and get the car started by tomorrow night. I keep you guys posted.

Tonight we got the intercooler mounted and found a really badass way to run the IC pipe so its not super visible. Here is a pic of where we left off.



If anyone ever tells you that its easy to turbo a corolla they are lieing

its not that hard.... took me a week of custom mfabbing pipes and another 4 days of continous install but i had no lift or anything cool like that

But it's not EASY!

sheesh.

Hell no its not easy, do any of you guys have clearance issues? My turbos turbine sits about 2" from the firewall and I'm afraid if I gas the car hard its going to run it into the firewall? Has this ever happened to you guys?

I thought the week of custome welding pipes with the 4 continous 12 hr days of install would give away that it was a PAIN!!!

Uhmm I think my turbo sits a bit further from the fiewall then that but its a close cut.... the turbo shouldnt hit though.... mine doesnt..... The engien shouldnt be rocking 2" though because thats a hell of a lot of movement.... Uhmm if your that worried you can try to get tougher engine mounts... I replaced my front mount with the inserts but I had to buy like a corolla 03 mount with a celica gt engione mount and put the inserts in that.... not that fun... and the real engine mount i plan to fill with polyjunk later on.... but you should be ok I think... take a pic... but again the engien doenst move that much!

as for clearence issues I swear my entire setup has like 1 or 2" of clearence before it touches something...

I can only sort of see your piping route gotta take some better pics but its definately seems hidden... looks liek it does a 180 off the throttle body and goes down to the left of the intercooler and the the right side of the intercooler goes to the turbo... but then again I cant tell too well from the one pic...

oh and good luck! I think you had an even more dificult task then I did almost because at least I was able to make pieces that worked vs having to modify everything that should have worked... and the heater core etc etc etc... not much fun it seems liek LoL... I remember mien was a PITA though as well.... its not easy to get it up and running.... Steve/Hazer/Phycochild or whichever name he uses made his as well and trust me he will tell ya you run into shitloads of problems here and there!

you have a crap load of space up there, you should do a v-mount

What is a v-mount?

when you say v-mount I hope you dotn mean putting the intercooler on top because theres not that much space up there...

a v-mount is a way to run intercooler and radiator and pipes...

____ = intercooler
..../
../
/ <-- radiator

basically the theory is the hot air will run under the car and cool air will go through the intercooler and usually out a hood scoop.... It works well when you have a radiator mount like that already.... unfortunately we dont have that much space in our cars to do that.... Or at least I doubt we do.. I have the celica gt manifold (plastic one) and I definately cant clear it