i have done quite a bit of researching on rebuilding the stock twins and i even had a nice convo with the guy at turbocity about the stock turbos. he said -as i've see many on here say before, including bryan@bnr- that the stock turbos' shafts are usually worn too badly and the stock housings are usually very beat up.

well, i have some pretty good condition turbine housings (with little to no cracks on the turbine inlets) and i found a guy that has 2 brand new OEM stock turbo turbines.

if i have new OEM turbines and good condition housings, could i have my turbos rebuilt and balanced without having a longevity problem? this seems like a great idea. anyone please let me know if i'm overlooking something, or if there's another part to the process that would make rebuilt stock turbos unreliable.

 

Go for it. New turbines sound like great insurance and you won't have to pull a bunch of old twins apart to find good ones.

Just make sure the center housings are ok where the turbine seal rides.

I pulled a bunch of turbos apart when doing my rebuild and I only saw one shaft being worn out where the bearings ride. The problem I observed is the groove that the turbine seal rides in being worn out.

 

I don't see any reason not to purchase the centers. That's the same way I 'rebuilt' my turbos. Purchasing muliple sets until I found two cores I could use is the way I went.

 

well it's not the whole center section, it's just the turbine wheel/shaft.


did you rebuild yours yourself or did you send them off to somewhere like turbocity? i have read a few threads on here about people who have done it and apparently it is pretty easy to mess up.

 

update: i found a place that sells NEW CHRA's for the stock FD turbos...

they have both stock turbine shafts for 90 a piece, and both CHRA's for 30 bucks a piece. so hopefully i'll just get these and get the rebuild kit (2x) from turbo-city.

 

post a link please.

If these are new CHRA's then don't they include the turbine and impeller, at least thats my definition of the CHRA, the entire turbo minus the housings.

 

good point. actually it's just the center section. the turbine shaft/wheel and compressor wheel are seperate. unassembled and unbalanced of course.

 

i think i am going to bite the bullet...

this is so much cheaper than a single turbo kit.

 

Let us know how it goes.

I've got a spare set of turbos with almost-perfect manifolds, but I know one of the cartridges is crap. I can put in spare cartridges but I've been hopeful that what you're doing will be even better.

Dave

 

Post some pics and let us know what you get. I have a spare set of turbos which could probably use a little refreshing.

 

this is the company (on ebay) that has the turbine wheels and center sections:

http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZturbosQ5frQ5fus


the way i figure, the turbin wheels will be about 200, the center housing about 60, the rebuild kits about 350, and i could reuse my housings and compressor wheels, as my turbos arent blown very badly. balancing i'm not sure of the cost but it's not much.

my turbos just blow oil smoke pretty bad when the car is cold and started after sitting overnight. after warmed up and in boost and everything they are fine.

 

Balancing I recommend turbo city or perhaps BNR if he's into it. It doesn't cost much.

Remember to loctite the nuts. Use orange high heat high strength (I got mine from mcmaster.com) and use the primer for plated surfaces since your new nuts will be plated.

Failure to use thread locker will result in loosening of the nut. I found this out the hard way...

Edit: also, you may not need new center housings. The turbine seal is stationary in them, but it can wear the turbine shaft groove and probably has if it's smoking. Clean your center housings and inspect them. The bearing bores should be smooth and you should see machining marks going around the inside of the turbine seal bores.

 

Primer is sorta optional IF you're willing to wait 36 hours for it to cure. I recommend loc-tite 2760.

Dave

 

interesting... you rebuilt yours, right? i'm guessing your center section(s) bearing grooves weren't worn out? i talked to the guy at turbo-city for a while and he said the turbine shafts' grooves were usually the culprit, but i figured there would be wear at the center section end as well...

i was actually just thinking about purchasing this seal kit from turbo city and the turbine wheels from that ebay company and just taking it all down to a turbo place down here in nashville.
it's funny i've done several rotary full rebuilds, but i'm scared to rebuild some turbos. it wouldn't cost much to have a turbo shop assemble and balance these turbos with my new parts would it?

 

if your already going to be into it for 600 (factor shipping) dollars why not just upgrade to the BNR stage 3's, also much cheaper than a single.

 

because they are about 4 times the cost, if you factor in shipping of course.

 

are you serious?

where do i begin...
1. 600 dollars is nowhere near 2350 dollars (cost of bnr twins)
2. if i was going to spend that much money, i'd get a single turbo kit for the same price and get rid of the twin turbo setup and be much happier.
3. add 1000 dollars onto the cost of the single or BNR's for EMS, as there will need to be a lot more fuel added to compensate for the extra air.

so uh, i guess what i'm trying to say is i'd rather spend 600 dollars than 3400 dollars, as i don't need 400whp.

 

so you don't have a PFC (per your sig), I could be wrong because I'm a haltech guy but unless I'm mistaken thats an EMS.

To me it would be worth it to run over over 15 PSI, stock twins might be capable of 350 whp or whatever, but my first set ate themselves running 13 PSI.

I have a different perspective on it as a single is out of the question due to my living in CA.

 

I found this thread on some Mx6 forums. If you're looking for a project give it a read.

EDIT: also note that there are a few different kinds of HT12. Several Nissan trucks used an HT12-11, and a datsun truck used a 12-19.

It might be a crap shoot.

 

oh, sorry for not clarifying, my thread is a little old. i sold the powerFC a while back. i'm currently running the stock ECU, so i'd like to stick with the stock twins.

 

what do you people think of this rebuild?