Ok, I need some advise please... SR Upgrades

[FSUDrifter]

I've been doing research for the past few weeks and now I need to make a decision. Here's the situation:

I bought a s13 hatch with a redtop already swapped. I didn't get a chance to look at the car before I bought it because I was leaving the country for 6 weeks and it seemed like a good deal. The shell has 69k original miles and as you can tell from the pics it looks great aside from the paint and dirty engine bay. The previous owner said he was going to upgrade the turbo so he sold the stock turbo and injectors and ended up getting another car instead. So, the car has been sitting for some time not running. I get back to the states next week and will have 3 weeks to get the car running and reliable before school starts. I need to buy a turbo now so I can start getting everything together ASAP.

Here is what the car came with:- S13 Redtop- Koyo radiator- Apexi GT Spec exhaust- Tial BOV- FMIC- Blitz downpipe - Cometic head gasket- ARP head studs- Stock exhause manifold- Walbro

Now I have money, but I really would only like to spend around $2000-$2500 to get this thing running.

This is going to be my daily driver for school so it needs to be reliable/realistic for a lot of city driving.

Right now I'm thinking gt2871r w/ .64 ar, deatsch werks injectors, z32 maf, enthalpy tune, cams, rocker arm stoppers, better fuel rail, not sure on the exhaust manifold, whatever electronics i need. Also I'd like power steering and A/C possibly. I plan on doing all the work myself aside from the tuning. I've never had a turbo before, but I'm pretty smart and I've rebuilt a few NA engines before.

So, what I'm asking is... does this sound good? What setup would you recommend? Are there any other supporting mods that I'm going to need with a bigger turbo?

Sorry for such a long post, but I'm really paranoid about buying the wrong stuff.

Pics:






Modified by FSUDrifter at 8:00 AM 7/30/2006

[FSUDrifter]

no one has anything to say? could someone at least tell me the prices for the deatsch werks sr injectors? ... the website is blocked for some reason here in china

thanks

[wildacexxx]

wat u posted sounds good. invest in a good electronic boost controller if u can. here are the prices for injectors480cc/min INJ-NIS1-480-4 Set of 4 $279/set

550cc/min INJ-NIS1-550-4 Set of 4 $299/set

600cc/min INJ-NIS1-600-4 Set of 4 $299/set

[otterman]

Sounds good/safe to me. If you've never driven a turbo car before, be careful with that setup.

[FSUDrifter]

what do ya'll think about getting a used turbo. i found one for a decent price with turbo, wastegate/actuator, stock lines, megan mani. i guess it has around 8k miles on it but the guy says no shaft play.

How many miles are turbo's usually good for if they are maintained well?

Also, I need to know this: If I buy a new turbo does it usually come with the exhaust housing? Then I have to buy wastegate and actuator, turbo lines, manifold, elbow... what else?

[drifter_for_life06]

if you want to save some cash and still be able to make 370whp this is what im doing for my turbo solution

http://linux.forcedperformance...Turbo

[FSUDrifter]

interesting, it's like a sleeper turbo haha... you know anyone who has this? I wonder how durable their thrust bearings are...

[ILikeMy240sx]

FP big28 sucks donkey balls in my opinion... at the kind of power level, you are really pushing the turbo to its limit. I think it has way too big of compressor wheel for its size and seems mismatched.

Anyways, I have a similar setup to yours minus the cams (I want driveability and some low end torque) but I do have a greddy intake mani. Cams and greddy intake mani are crucial if you want to make some high power with that setup.

GT2871R .64 a/r with T28 style compressor housing. It looks like a T28 from the outside but inside is the same ceter cartridge as GT2871R. This turbo is identical to HKS GT-RS turbo. due to its T28 style compressor housing, it makes intallation much easier. You do need to modify compressor inlet pipe so its facing the correct way. Also, compressor outlet pipe so it lines up with S13 hotpipe.

Deatschwerks 740ccs -> Talk to the guys over there. They gave me a decent price when I told them Im from NICO. Injectors came with lube and orings and which made installation easier. Also comes with flow rating so you know you are getting good injectors.

Tune wise, I have Enthalpy. I havent hooked it up to dyno or wideband so I dont konw how well its running.

But everything in my setup was plug and play. Very easy stuff. I swapped out the turbo + injectors and switched out the MAF then ECU and BOOM the car started no problem.

As for the power delivery. I love it. When the turbo kicks in, its violent and comes full power around 3800 RPM.

1/4 mile time was hideous due to my all season tires and hopping and $h!!ty launch. I did trap at 106MPH which is good for high 12s with a good launch.

[FSUDrifter]

yeah so greddy intake instead of cams...

next question: Enthalpy tune or Power FC?

I'm not really planning on modifying the car much after this. I just want it to be reliable as possible.

[karmakaze]

yeah so greddy intake instead of cams...

next question: Enthalpy tune or Power FC?

I'm not really planning on modifying the car much after this. I just want it to be reliable as possible.

enthalpy. then tweak with safc2 if needed.

[sr20-thoj]

seems to be a good setup you have going on there.. by the way i have some rocker arm stoppers. basically new, I installed them to see how they work but then my motor wouldnt start.. so im deciding to go a different route. throw me an offer..

[FSUDrifter]

what kind are they?

[otterman]

I dont think anyone said anything about your used turbo question.

I think buying a used turbo would be fine as long as you bought it from a trusted company or someone on here who everyone knows and people will vouche for.

[highmilehatch]

yeah so greddy intake instead of cams...

next question: Enthalpy tune or Power FC?

I'm not really planning on modifying the car much after this. I just want it to be reliable as possible.

Camshafts will make much more of a difference than intake manifold, especially with a T2 based exhaust housing. In your situation, I'd go:

-keep stock IM-HKS 256-2871R with the .64 w/T28 compressor like Iliekmy240sx mentioned-A'pexi Power FC.

Contact me if your interested in getting tuned by an authorized Power Excel dealer.

[FSUDrifter]

well i was thinkin that cams would hurt my low end and this car is gonna be driven in a lot of stop and go traffic so i need low end.

- is power fc really worth it if i'm not really planning on changing my setup?

- is 8k miles too much for a used turbo?

highmilehatch - I live in florida so unless you know of an authorized tuner in florida i was thinkin the place in kennesaw if i go that route.

[highmilehatch]

well i was thinkin that cams would hurt my low end and this car is gonna be driven in a lot of stop and go traffic so i need low end.

- is power fc really worth it if i'm not really planning on changing my setup?

- is 8k miles too much for a used turbo?

highmilehatch - I live in florida so unless you know of an authorized tuner in florida i was thinkin the place in kennesaw if i go that route.

Such mild cams such as the 256 won't affect your low end as much as you think.

Yes. Do it right the first time.

No. Anything used is always a crapshoot, but I've had lots of success with used parts.

[VitaminT]

Its your deal but I am pretty sure if you get most of the stuff listed in the thread you are way over 2k$.

Ok, if you aren't planning on changing your setup I would get a tune from Enthalpy. I mean if you do make changes you can get a safc and tweak it or pay something like $150 for a retune.

Personally I would only buy a used turbo if I knew the guy locally and could see it before I bought it. If the turbo is from the guy online selling it for like $900 I don't think I would buy it over a new one for a $200 savings. Usually the acuator is included (others will correct if I am wrong on this) and you normally have to purchase an o2 housing separately.

Like others have said cams will make more of a difference than an intake manifold. Most people only get the manifold when seeking over 350whp from a t2xxx turbo. If you get 256 or 264 step 1's you shouldn't see too much difference in low end.

Personally I think if it was between say an O2 housing and a set of cams (due to cost constraints) I would get the greddy o2 housing and a set of stainless braided flexible turbo lines. You can always drop the cams in later but pulling the turbo to put the o2 housing on is a pain. Hope that helps.

[FSUDrifter]

hmmm... maybe no cams or intake. the car is a 4x4 on steelies right now. i guess maybe i'll save some cash to get a cheap set of rims and some coilovers.

So you can get an enthalpy tune re-tuned?

What do you think about the Enjuku Turbo Kit ?

[ILikeMy240sx]

You can get Enthalpy retuned for 100 bucks with FAST FAST turn around time.

Here is the summary on tunes

Best performance/flexibility: Stand alone (power FC, AEM EMs, etc). Require dyno tunning. Cost: $$$$$

Good performance / relatively simple installation: tuned ECU w/ piggy back (S-AFC, E-manage, etc). Requires dyno tunning. Cost: $$$

Ok~Good peformance / plug n play: tuned ECU only. No dyno tunning necessary. Cost: $$

As usual, more performace = more money but pick and choose what you want based on what you need and how deep your pocket goes.

[FSUDrifter]

ok so i've decided to go with power fc. so now i need ebc...

how does wideband work with power fc? i'm a little confused, do i use the readings from the wideband to tune the power fc? or is there a way I can connect the wideband to the power fc and tune it all together?

EDIT: Okay i found the answer to my question.

So is there a certain wideband that you all would recommend?
Modified by FSUDrifter at 8:22 AM 8/5/2006

[teddy]

So is there a certain wideband that you all would recommend?Modified by FSUDrifter at 8:22 AM 8/5/2006

Check the advertiser specials. They're having a good deal on NGK widebands, or check out Innovate or Zeitronix.

As for my input on what you should do. IMHO, I think you should just put a stock t25 on it and get it running well first, then start throwing parts at it. It's the biggest headache in the world when you upgrade half your engine at once, and something isn't working, to try and pinpoint what's causing the problem.

I threw tons of new parts and engine management at my motor before I had it running well in stock trim, and now I'm starting to regret it, with major idle problems, fuel problems, things not functioning right.

[gr8bryt]

Hey Josh, I think Teddy has a good idea. Get the car running in stock trim first to see what all might be going on with it. It may turn out that the motor will require more maitenance to run properly, which in turn will eat away @ your aforementioned cash. Once you have it all sorted out, then consider what mods to get with the remainder in your pocket. Furthermore I don't think the Power FC would be necessary for just a basic turbo upgrade, imo that's kinda overkill. The Enthalpy and safc-II should be able to give the tune that you want, especially since A'pexi recommends professional Power Excel tuning for the Power FC, whereas you could adjust your tuning with the safc a lot easier and less $$ out of pocket for tuning.

[FSUDrifter]

anyone have a stock turbo and injectors layin around?

these aren't the most common things these days since people keep blowin their turbos

[FSUDrifter]

does anyone know if there is anyone in the florida/alabama/georgia area that can tune a power fc? i saw one place in kennesaw, ga but that's like 5 hours away.

[gr8bryt]

does anyone know if there is anyone in the florida/alabama/georgia area that can tune a power fc? i saw one place in kennesaw, ga but that's like 5 hours away.

http://apexi-usa.com/dealers_powerexcel.asp Here ya go, hope this helps you in your endeavors!

[FSUDrifter]

yeah that's where i saw the kennesaw place, and there are none in florida or alabama.

[gr8bryt]

It sounds like you may have to alter your plan a bit and perhaps use the Enthalpy option instead.

[gr8bryt]

BTW, I was looking at the pics and of the listed items that were included with the car; I noticed that there's no IC piping for the fmic:confused Do you already have some or does that need to go on your list as well?

[FSUDrifter]

it was removed when the pic was taken, it should come with one. the guy said all that was missing was the turbo and injectors. i think i found someone to tune my car. I'm pretty sure any shop wiht a dyno can get it pretty good, from what i've heard, they come with a base tune.

[gr8bryt]

Sounds good, at least to get you up and running anyway.