[JDMFantasy2k]

Oil Lines

More important than the turbo itself. If your turbo doesn't get the oil it needs, it will break; the end. Turbos spin upwards of 100,000 RPM and ride on oil lubricated bearings. Now the oil feed line should be stainless steel and have -AN fittings. -4 and -3AN are both common sizes. However you need to run an oil restrictor in the oil line, otherwise you will blow the seals in your turbo (trust me i've done it). Hondas have around 90 PSI of oil pressure and as a rule of thumb turbos don't like more than 35 ish (but don't go below 20). So in that repsect, it's a good idea to get an oil pressure gauge. Now you need to get your oil source from where the oil pressure indicator switch is on the back of the block. It's near the oil filter and has a wire comming out of it. You'll need a T fitting so you can have the oil pressure switch and your line. Also the block has BPST threads while almost all of your other hardware will have NPT threads. You can use an NPT T fitting in the hole, but you will likely crossthread the block and run the risk of leakage. Best bet is to find a T fitting that has a BPST male fitting, a BPST female fitting, and an NPT female fitting. Then run your oil line and another T fitting if you want the oil pressure gauge. Finally run the line to the turbo. The restrictor is just a simple ball valve which can be put near the turbo or block, whichever is easier. Now the return line is just as important as the feed line. If you get a kinked return line, it can kill your turbo just as badly as not having any oil (well, almost). The oil feed line should be at least 1/2". 5/8" heater hose works awesome and the line should be as straight down as possible. NO KINKS. The biggest causes of smoking turbos is kinked return lines and/or too much oil pressure. Now when you drill the oil pan, make sure the hole is in line with the turbo outlet. This was my big mistake as my hole in my oil pan is actually about 1.5 inches to the right of the turbo outlet, so my line is not completley straight, which may have cost me my first turbo. Also make sure when you drill the hole that it will sit above the oil and that it's not too close to the top of the pan. Use common sense, and make sure to clean it very good and take your time. Now if you don't tap and thread the pan you can weld it, however it can be difficult as many honda pans are alumminum ( get the tig out) and are usually very thin. A great alternative is JB weld, which is a welding epoxy. Mix it up, throw it on, and give it 24 hours to cure. Great stuff. Now ebay does have oil line kits, if you look around there are better ones too. Don't spend more than 100. You can also make your own. Just get the inlet or outlet flanges for your turbo and open up the summit racing catalog. They have every oil line part you need. Just research it a little and it'll make sense.

Blow Off Valve

This is more of a bling item. Yes the blow off valve serves an important purpose (venting boost pressure when the throttle plate is closed, thus preventing compressor surge and the demise of your turbo), however many people will spend upwards of 300 on it because of the brand or noise or whatever. All you need is a 20 used DSM blow off valve. But if you want to spend some money on a bov that you like then by all means do it. They all work the same way, and most have a tension adjustment, so play around with it. I paid 200 for my blitz dual drive and i absoluely love it. Even made one girl wet. So it's your call here. Also if you can't weld it in, then try to find a BOV that's alredy attached to a pipe and use connectors to plumb it inline. Lastly, there's always huge controvesy on where the BOV should be placed. Most people put them after the IC before the throttle body, however i feel that it should go directly after the turbo. The reasoning? The BOV's function is to vent the boost and protect the compressor from surge, so if you put the BOV near the turbo, then trapped boost pressure won't be able to reach the compressor. Plus porsche race cars actually have the BOV integrated into the compressor housing so that's reason enough for me.

Wastegate

Now the wastegate is very important. It regulates your boost pressure. Look at it this way, if your wastegate fails, you can very easily blow your motor. With that said, there are 2 styles of wastegates, internal and external. Some turbos come equipped with internal wastegates (mostly OE turbo'd cars) and they consist of a diagphram with a rod attached to it, which opens up a valve in a special housing. This in turn vents exhaust gasses around the turbine and stops the turbo from boosting any more. Internal gates are okay, and have a preset pressure (most are between 8-13 psi). Sometimes the rod is adjustable or you can bend it to change the boost. You don't really want to run an internal gate if you're looking for power because an internal gate will boost creep like a mofo. Basically the turbo will move so much exhaust gas that the gas venting around the turbine will be inadequate to slow the turbo's boosting, and the boost will continue to grow. The other type of wastegate is external. This wastegate gets mounted to the manifold and simply opens up and vents boost out of the manifold. With this style you will need a dumptupe to carry the gasses away from other components. You can let it vent openly (aim the pipe down away from everything) or you can plumb it into the downpipe. I suggest doing both. I had mine venting openly and then i plumbed it into the downpipe. 2 very different effects, and after you've done both you can decide which you like best. Although i love the smell of it open, i like the sound of it being vented into the downpipe, plus the enigne bay stays a little cleaner. Also be careful not to melt anything cause my dumb ass half melted a JDM headlight. External wastegates can be cheap or expensive. I HIGHLY recommend Tial. They make an excellent gate and it's pretty affordable (usually around 200) and they come in different sizes. The most common size is 38mm, but make sure it will fit your manifold because there are also 44mm gates and some have different flanges. A 38mm should suffice up to around 350 HP, around there you may experience some boost creep. There's also other brands like HKS which can go as much as 800 bucks. Not worth it in my opinion since many people pushing 5 or 600 horse still run tials. Try to buy new unless you see a used one in good shape. Also turbonetics makes a decent gate i'm told. Also external wastegates can come with different springs which will control the boost pressure they're set at. I think they may go as high as 22 psi. However it's a good idea do get a wastegate that will vent half of your targeted boost level. So say you want to run 20 psi. You get a wastegate with a 10 psi spring, and use a boost controller to raise the boost up to 20 psi. Running the wastegate by itself is fine too.

Boost Controller

This regulates boost obviously. You don't necessarly need a boost controller if you want to just let the wastegate do the work that's cool. But if you don't feel like changing out springs and want to change boost often, then pick one up. There's two types, manual and electronic. Electronic is far more expensive and probably over kill for anyone doing a homemade turbo setup. They're usually 300+. They cosist of a control box and a silenoid which regulates the boost. Manual controllers are great because they're cheap, simple to use, and basically all the same. I like the turbo xs controller personally, it's easy to use, sexy, and i picked one up for around 70. There are cheaper ones out there, though. Basically they all have a ball and a spring and when you twist the knob, the spring tightens up. When the boost hits the ball inside it has to push it agains the spring. Once the air has pushed the ball far enough the pressure will vent out a hole and the off to the wastegate which will open instantly (because the boost controller setting is higher than the wastegate). Otherwise, they're pretty simple, and don't get crazy with boost.