I am looking into rebuilding my Turbos myself with a 360 rebuild kit - which I have found quite cheaply, but I am a bit concerned about the effects of NOT having the internals balanced (which I can't do at home)

 

Has anyone rebuilt their own Turbos before?

Good question - I would be interested in this as well if anyones done it.

ok - even though I can get the 360 rebuild kits for 160, not getting them balanced just doesnt seem worth it!

 

I have done a full search - I dont want all you grease monkeys telling me about slight vibrations at 1000000000000000000000 RPM smashing my engine to bits!

Turbo rebuild place will balance them for about 50quid.

so 2x turbo kits £320 + 17.5% = £376 + 2x £50 for balancing =

 

£476 for a pair of reconditioned 360 T25's that still sounds good to me...

I wouldn't bother trying to rebuild a turbo with a rebuild-kit

I lost count of the stories about (proffesional) rebuilt and rebalanced stock turbos that didn't even last for 6 months

 

Best way (IMO) is to rebuilt it with a brandnew CHRA (center section)

Garrett partnr. for the CHRA (manual turbos) : 431876-0041

 

I'm currently looking into the possibility using GT20 (ballbearing) CHRA's for stock turbos.

Only problem sofar is the compressor housing needs to be machined slightly to make it possible to fit the 5mm larger compressor wheel

I feel that turbos are far simpler than many people would like us to believe. Keep us thinking they are High Tech and charge us too much. Turbo Developments in London rebuilt a T3 for £175 plus Vat. And one form a renault 5 for £150. With warranty. My friend has used them for 15 years with zero problems. My two pence worth

I wouldn't bother trying to rebuild a turbo with a rebuild-kit

I lost count of the stories about (proffesional) rebuilt and rebalanced stock turbos that didn't even last for 6 months

 

Best way (IMO) is to rebuilt it with a brandnew CHRA (center section)

Garrett partnr. for the CHRA (manual turbos) : 431876-0041

 

I'm currently looking into the possibility using GT20 (ballbearing) CHRA's for stock turbos.

Only problem sofar is the compressor housing needs to be machined slightly to make it possible to fit the 5mm larger compressor wheel

 

Eric very interested in this do you have any more details

 

Ryan

Turbo Developments in London rebuilt a T3 for £175 plus Vat. And one form a renault 5 for £150

 

a new T-series CHRA from a commonly used turbo costs less then that and with the right tools, you can rebuild a turbo yourself with a new CHRA within one hour.

You won't have to balance it since the CHRA comes prebalanced from factory and you basically end up with a brand new turbo.

GT-series CHRA's (ballbearing) are slightly more expensive but still very reasonable.

 

 

Eric very interested in this do you have any more details

 

Garrett pn. for the GT20 CHRA: 433289-96

 

compressor-wheel

Dp (inner diameter) = 41.6mm (versus stock turbo : 40mm)

Dg (outer diameter) = 56.0mm (versus stock turbo : 51mm)

trim= 55 (versus stock turbo : 51)

 

turbine-wheel

Dp = 47.0mm (versus stock manual turbo : 47.0mm)

Dg = 40.0mm (versus stock manual turbo : 38.9mm)

trim= 72 (versus stock turbo : 69)

 

The turbine housing from a manual turbo fits, although it might need some small machining to make a little more room for the slightly larger exducer.

 

The compressor housing doesn't fit without machining, since the GT20 wheel is quite a bit larger.

dunno if it helps but seems this chap has done it ok http://www.vfaq.com/mods/Turbo-rebuild.html

Lymon, I have a jap spec TT, auto. my tubs are fine, but I have to remove the engine so I thought I might have a go at the tubs while I am at it. So what do you suggest I do with mine? My car runs about 1 bar. I am looking for reliability more than all out HP. Someone suggested I run BB turbos. can I convert mine to this spec myself? Thanks.

shaft and wheels that are not correctly balanced will not last 100 miles!

ALWAYS have them rebalanced, even if you just change the nut on the end!

Lymon, I have a jap spec TT, auto. my tubs are fine, but I have to remove the engine so I thought I might have a go at the tubs while I am at it. So what do you suggest I do with mine? My car runs about 1 bar. I am looking for reliability more than all out HP. Someone suggested I run BB turbos. can I convert mine to this spec myself? Thanks.

 

If the turbos are fine (no oil leaks or excessive play on the shaft) I'd leave them.

If they need replacement for whatever reason, you could replace the CHRA with the original CHRA, which is probably the most reliable and cheapest way to get them back to "as good as new".

I haven't found a GT/BB CHRA that is a direct fit for stock turbos yet

The GT20 CHRA is the closest I have been able to find, but as I said before the housings need machining.

There have been a few posts on twinturbo.net on how to fit the Garrett GT28R turbos as a cheap turbo upgrade.

 

-Eric

Thanks, what is a " CHRA" ?

i think eric is talking about the bearing housing

Thanks, what is a " CHRA" ?

 

the center/core section of the turbo