Yeah, I can promise you that the $100 40hp mod is a bunch of bulls**t. It's hard enough to get 15hp on a d-series spending $1,000 on an intake, header, and full exhaust, let alone 3 times that with 1/10th the money.

And the $900 turbo kit is a sure-fire way to waste an engine. The used garrett turbo I just bought was $400 by itself; what does that tell you about turbocharging costs? You're looking at $2-3k for a semi-reliable turbo kit.

 

^^^bingo. I was gonna go for a budget build, decided to say eff it, and it was almost 3k all said and done. Beware, once you go boost, youll wantmore. For instance...my new project is either a built block ls or z6 built block, and minor head work on whichever i choose.

 

Yeah, the more I think about it, the less likely it seems that I'll actually end up boosting this year. It'll probably be another year until I actually start buying more ish. I only have $2k to play with, and that also has to pay for gas and food (I already have rent/insurance figured into my budget)... Could I do a bare bones build? Probably. But what's the point? I'll be limited by what I have. So basically I'm going to be a ricer with an Apex'i SAFC in the car and a mostly stock engine lol

 

mehhh...i wouldnt say your a ricer, you got a swapped out engine. Ricers dont do that, they put wings and stickers that say dohc vtec on there cars lol

 

Well I meant I'll have a piggyback ecu device on an engine with just bolt ons (that obviously doesn't need any more fuel)... wow we're really getting off topic here.

Back on topic:
H-series = good
Ebay turbos = you might have a reason to do an engine swap when the turbo blows.

 

Well thanks for the tips guys! I didn't know the ebay turbos where as bad as you make them out to be. I guess it'll be safer to put more money into it and get a better turbo kit.... and the thing my mechanic was talking about with the pipes was changing the manifold, airintake(which is already done) and ecu. He said I should be able to do that for about 100$ in parts and it gives me 30ish hp to stock engine.

 

lol @ the piping... with a cold-air intake, an aftermarket intake manifold, an aftermarket header, and a full cat-back exhaust, you'll be lucky to see 20-25hp on a d-series, and it's not going to be anywhere near $100. An intake (a decent one) on average is $150-200, an intake mani is around $300, a header is $150-$300, and an exhaust is $300+. Also, modifying the ecu with just an intake and an intake manifold is stupid; you'll lose fuel economy and gain no real power.

And yeah, ebay turbo kits are a sure-fire way to blow an engine (or at least the turbo). Word of advise: don't cheap out on something imperative to the safe operation of your vehicle

 

and to back up what reaper said, those bolt ons he listed will require a tune to get the best out of them so its wise to just save up for a turbo built, plus you need to do some more research, watch videos, read forums, buy like 3 books.

 

I've read more on the ebay turbos and people are saying that they're a hit or miss type of thing. Some say that they're crap and break within a week. Others say they had them installed for more than a year and still no problems. AND the few did minor-large modifications to the ebay turbos to make the more reliable... and say its holding up for them without problems... I asked my mechanic regarding the ebay turbos and he agreed with it being somewhat of a gamble, but also mentioned that as long as I break in the turbo(not ride it hard for the first month or so) and maybe do a few minor mods to the pipes/manifold to keep them from leaking, I shouldn't have much problems. So I was thinking I might go and try this ebay turbo for myself and see....
What are other peoples 2 cents on this?

 

Like I said before, I would absolutely not use an ebay turbo. I'll admit the manifold I plan on getting is an ebay manifold, but, realistically, the worst that can happen with the manifold is it can crack. I really wouldn't trust an ebay company to produce something that can safely spin in excess of 100k rpm, not to mention the cost of a replacement if/when the turbo goes, and the cost of a possible replacement engine if worst comes to worst.

But hey, it's your decision. I'm just saying I wouldn't risk it. Junkyard build ftw... a reliable setup for $2k