For those of you engaged by the

 

Turbo System, Version 1.0:

In April of 2002, I bought the third, possibly the fourth, Speedcraft turbo kit. That kit included the following components (most of which have been removed, replaced, or otherwise junked):

Turbonetics TO4B 60:1 Ball Bearing Turbo
46mm Tial Wastegate
50mm Tial Blowoff Valve
Holly 250 Forced Induction Fuel Pump
Vortech Fuel Pressure Regulator
Oil Filter Relocation Kit with Stainless Steel Lines
Front Mount Intercooler
Mandrel Bent Intercooler Tubing
3 Inch Down Pipe
3 Inch Stainless Exhaust w/A'PEXi N1s
Profec-B Boost Controller
GReddy EGT and Boost Warning Gauges
A'PEXi V-AFC

Shortly after having the kit installed, it became clear that some other mods were necessary or advisable. These included:

Split Second Voltage Clamp to replace the check valve that came with the kit
Clutchmaster Stage 3 Clutch (the stock clutch fried in 1000 miles)
Toda Lightweight Flywheel
Mugen Radiator Cap
Mugen Thermostat
Mugen Fan Switch
Upgraded Oil Bolts (four hole bolts to replace the two hole bolts that came with my car)
WorkMeister S2R 18" Wheels
Upgraded Rubber : 255/35/18s (rear) and 225/40/18s (front)
O2 Simulator

The following were done for other reasons and shouldn

 

Turbo System, Version 2.0:

In the summer of 2003 after months of fiddling and a handful of track events, it had become clear that the fuel tuning provided the Speedcraft

 

Turbo System, Version 3.0:

Several track events at Portland International and Pacific Raceways made it clear that excess heat was a potentially serious problem, so in the late fall of 2003, I had a custom C&R radiator with an integrated heat exchanger to cool the oil installed. For more information, there

 

Turbo System, Version 4.0:

After track events at Laguna-Seca and Thunderhill in February of this year, my turbo starting leaking oil at the junction of the center cartridge and the turbine housing. (I had already suffered recurring but minor smoking problems when the car was idling, which I had written-off as being the result of the oil return line being mounted too low in the pan.) An inspection by Turbonetics revealed that my turbo had gotten too hot. To fix the problem, I switched to a water-cooled center cartridge (using the coolant lines that used to feed the stock oil cooler) when I purchased a new turbo this spring. In addition, I raised the oil return line to the girdle (which sits above the oil pan) and replaced my oil return line with one that has an optimal curve and runs downhill the entire stretch back to the block. I took advantage of having the turbo off the car to have my dump-tube welded back into the downpipe, so that the excess exhaust gasses flow back into the exhaust system (rather than venting below my feet) in the hopes of reducing the (to my ears) obnoxious exhaust note of the A

 

Going forward:

For the first time in more than two years, I

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Wow, when you lay it all out there like that, you've done a hell of a lot of stuff with this turbo!

Post some pics of the engine bay and give us a "tour".

 

Kudos to you for having that kind of patience. I would have given up about 2 years ago.

And 2000 miles on a race weekend? I sure hope that includes mileage to and from the track! I got about 6mpg last Friday at Roebling Road, but I only ran 6 20-minute sessions (about 2 tanks), I can't imagine the fuel bill for 2000 miles!

We have an Atlanta owner who's nearing the one year mark on his turbo quest, and the last I heard the car ran fine as long as you stayed below VTEC. It will probably be an awesome machine when he's done, but it's not been pretty getting there.

Your story makes the SC kits look too easy (child's play), but for those of us who need to drive our cars every day (like me), it's not a bad option.

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Great read Chris. This community has certainly gained valuable information from your experiences. I for one owe you a debt of gratitude. Good luck with the latest adjustments, I hope all turns out well.