Joey's kits an option, or buy a used S/C and bolt on...but 300 whp may cost you a little.

Dude...as for your personal finances, good for you...it sucks your mom doesn't have a job..maybe wait and then she can get one and pay you rent.

 

honestly, with all the responsibilities you mentioned in the first post. DO NOT DO FI AT ALL. the biggest problem people run into, is not being able to afford the tings that come up after. if your barking at 4k for a turbo kit, then you def dont need to be looking at FI at all.

listen, forget the turbo kit for a sec.

clutch alone with install is gonna run you what, 1200? maybe even 1500.

lets say you can do it yourself, then your looking at more like 700.

well your turbo kit needs a way to tune it, so kpro, emu, aem ems. emu is cheapest, but still around 600. then you will need to tune it. even if you tune it yourself, your looking at 50-75 an hour for dyno time and 3-4 hours of time.

soo,

not even buying the turbo stuff yet, your at and this is low side, assuming yiou can do it all yourself
700
600
200
total 1500 and you havent even bought one turbo peice yet.

now u need injectors, pump, thats 500 bucks for both.

total 2000

so now we need a turbo, mani, intercooler, wastgate, bov.
say
800 turbo
300 log mani
400 intercooler
200 wastegate
200 bov
soo, 3900 for all things so far. oh wait, piping, this one can be a killa, i have heard 600-1000 for charge piping and a down pipe.
damn 4500-4900 ish. this is all low end approxs. and trust me, there are always hidden costs

it is true, expect to pay around 7-8k for all parts, this is all encompassing. kit + clutch+other crap.

then, if you are unable to install yourself, expect another 500-2k for install of all things.


theres a reason people throw around 8-10k for good quality turbo kit.

SC yeah you can get that in the i think 3k ish used + 1k for other parts and crap. then again theres the install.

no matter what, have reserves. so for you, i reccomend you pay your mortgage and save money until you can afford to do it right.

 

My motor build for power and reliability is at a little over 20k. It still is not running and needs more parts and tune.

Point is stay away from FI at your current situation

 

I'm fixing your thread title..

"truth be told" is horrible.

 

I got 7k into mine and had to give up for a while. It's way more than the initial kit price.

 

mine came with the car, that was jolly. then it got stolen


a turbo kit can be had for very cheap, it seems that T3/T4 hybrids even from names like Garrett are being thrown into the trash. It's up to you to use it to your advantage. Some people who quit on their dreams are willing to let stuff go for cheap. get a manifold, a cheap turbo, find deals on ur BOV/wastegate, and slowly piece it together from the cheapest good-quality stuff you can find. for injectors with a mild power goal i'll recommend siemens deka injectors, no one has heard of them so they are very cheap. I sold a set of 65lb (600+CC's) ones for 80$ and they worked fine (ran it for 5000 miles myself, previous owner had it 15000 miles) the EMS is the thing you cannot cheap out on, so be fair on your budget for that. but you can usually find a used one for a deal. oh and as a pointer, get a blown up journal bearing turbo and have it rebuilded, i think shops charge between 150-250 to do that service. IMO not bad for some of the better ones such as a blown Precision SC61 that i've seen FS for 150$.

I'd say that for the turbo kit without EMS or tuning, to stay under 4k is very easily done. it's just the extras and stuff that you should be prepared to pay for. I'd say for a log setup you can very easily stay under 2500$ for used stuff that work flawlessly

 

I will tell you that I put together my own kit and I am putting down over 400hp. What I wont tell you Is that It was cheap to do. The best thing about putting together your own kit Is that you can research each part and find out what you think will be the best part for the power goal you have in mind. Also another thing that Is good about It Is that no matter how much It cost you to put together your own kit It Is never all at once. You can buy a part here or there untill It Is completed.

 

haha, i thought my thread was deleted. (tittle changed)

ok guys, i appreciate all your input. it seems that even those of you with a "piece it together kit" are spending a bit more than i can afford right now! i guess im gonna have to roll NA for a while. i dont have a prob with that as i understand what comes first (responsabilities).

hey, i got a hardtop right? so thatll keep me happy for now.

for now, ill stay away as many of you have thoughtfully recomended. i guess ill just work on stuff like "maintanance n reliability, so this car last me long enough for when i can afford a kit."

thanks again!

 

im like 2300 into my kit without tunning.. after gauges, clutch and tune... i should be about 3k done. Used greddy kit is your best option...

 

Don't jump the gun yet. Wait a little longer and save $$$. Once you go boost you will probably not be satisfied with 300whp. Hang out in the F.I. forum and do more research and ask lots of questions.

From my experience I went from the Greddy turbo kit to a Vortech Supercharger kit. If I were to do it over again I would have just went with the Vortech Supercharger. I'm not trying to knock the Greddy kit, but the boost bug bit me after 300hp. It is a pain trying to get more than 300whp out of that kit.

I don't think $4K is a big enough budget. You have to calculate other costs such as tuning, clutch upgrade, upgraded braking, more frequent oil changes, blown hg's, blown diffs, blown transmissions, cooling mods, and the urge to go higher boost.

My advice, save up $$$, do your research, ask lots of questions, do it once, and do it right.

I am very happy with the current setup I have because I get 350+whp(waiting for smaller pulley, hoping for 400whp) with drive-ability.