Someone did post a week or so ago about the cxracing kit. The turbo went out on him after 6 months. I've also have friends that have gotten them and cracked the manifold and other finicky things. Honestly I'm thing about getting the cx kit mostly cause it comes with everything and I don't have to jigsaw the pipes together. I can always rebuild or replace the turbo.

 

If you end up burning the turbo up get an EMUSA turbo to put in place. Get it from the speedy racer site. It's cheap as can be and actually balanced.

 

That's exactly what i was planning. These kits can't be as bad as people make them seem. From the few that i read, they last quite a while.

 

They can be as bad as people make them seem. You don't have to actually use something to know it's not good. I've seen "cheap" turbos next to "good" turbos, and there is a difference in build quality. I'd much rather have high quality welds and construction, especially on something that gets as hot as a turbo.

You are talking about buying the cheap turbo now, but just replacing it 6 months down the road, when it goes bad. What does that tell me? 1) You know it's going to go bad, so you know the quality is poor 2) You enjoy wasting your time.

Spend double the money of the crappy turbo and buy a good one, and you won't have to replace it 6 months down the road. Not to mention, if it catastrophically fails, it could destroy other parts. I don't mind skimping on some stuff, but car parts isn't one of those things. Do it right, the first time. Besides, there is plenty of information floating around about "cheap" turbos. Here is a thread right from this forum:
http://www.240sxforums.com/forums/s...om/forums/sr20de-det/53062-ssautochrome-ebay-turbo-kits-not-garrett-turbos.html

 

I just put an Emusa on mine and I still can't figure out what the noise is when it boosts. Its getting better than what it was but it still doesn't pull nearly as hard it should. Just my $.02.

 

I know I can "edit" to add this to bottom of my above^^post, but I want the extra post to drive home a point.

Many, many people now-a-days complain about the price of "quality" parts, then they go off and buy the cheap knock-off. Why are "quality" parts so expensive? Because people by the cheap parts. If people would buy good parts, then the prices would start coming down again. Simple economics, the companies have to raise their prices to meet the profits. If you buy from them, then the prices go down. Don't ever complain about the prices of name brand parts, if you're rocking "off brands" on your vehicle.

/end rant/

 

Im shooting for both sides of the fence on this one. Ive seen knock off turbos go to no end, boosting like a motherfucker and be fine... But I have also seen them blow seals, grenade, or shaft sieze. I have also seen all the name brands do the same (granted its not as often). Everything is hit or miss especially something mechanical with such small tolerances...
Would I buy a cheap ebay turbo kit for my daily? Maybe, but thats because I have a spare motor just waiting to be dropped in in case my motor shits on me.

And for the turbo prices themselves... Most companys do not stock them, but get them drop shipped from the manufact. Yes there are exceptions but thats the majority of the time, and then tack on an additional cost (say original cost multiplied by 1.3) to make a profit.

Yes prices could be lower but then again we could get free beacon samples at the grocery store too, and that aint happenin.

So spend the extra money to better your odds. Id hate to bank on having down time on my daily driver.

 

ive been looking into the ebay kits and for 600 you can get everything, i was thinking about going that way and then just buying a turbonetics and slappin on it and using the ebay for if anything ever goes wrong with the other. since a good turbo can run up to a grand.
just my two cents

 

Yes. Everything but the wastegate and BOV and turbo. I remember seeing a greddy FMI and piping for around a grand a year or so back. I was scratching my head wondering what jackoff set the prices...

If you buy the big $$$ parts they send a sticker worth 10hp lol.

 

6 Months is a handfull, and rarely do i drive around my 240 like a delirious psycho. With 6-7 Psi. I'm sure it'd last me more than 6 months. It really all depends how we drive our cars. In my case, it's just a daily driver, that's it.

Home --> Work
Work --> Home

5 miles a day.

Hoping to bump into some fun in between.

Story of my 240's life.

 

i hope this isn't a thread jack, but it's kind of along the lines of "budget" build turbo. i did some looking around and didn't see anyone post anything about this one. i say budget build, but it's more along the lines of a low price starter. granted, i'm sure you could piece it together for maybe a little cheaper, but for what you get in the kit it seems to be pretty tits. and i haven't seen anyone with it on either. what do you guys think?

ETS Nissan 95-98 S14 240sx Budget Turbo Kit

 

Nice link. I might consider this instead. Though it says 95-98 (As i have a 92). Doubt it wouldn't matter since it's all going into the same motor. But correct me if i'm wrong.

 

ETS is legit. But expensive IMO.
Seen a few of there kits used all with good results.

As for anyone looking to buy a eBay Turbo kit. I hope it catches on fire

 

And scoot, you should never hope for a 240 to be in such danger. Instead, hope for the driver to catch on fire.

 

Well considering the driver would do such a thing I would rather it and the driver burn then see it ever again in the same state of crap...

 

If you have fabrication skills the cheapest route is to build everything you can yourself. I built my turbo ka-e entirely including buying the engine for $700 thanks to fabricating stuff myself, taking time to piece it together from people getting rid of old parts they had no use for and good friends that hand shit out like candy.

 

Here's a couple real world accounts, one firsthand and one secondhand.

One of the local racers around here has a Civic running an eBay turbo kit - the car is NOT a daily driver and not even street legal. It's just used for autocross and drag events. He says he has to weld back up something on the turbo manifold every month or two because it's always cracking.

We decided to experiment by ordering a set of no-name Chinese turbo headers for the Nova project off eBay. They were advertised as fitting in our car.The headers wanted to occupy the same space as the steering column. There was no way the headers would fit the car without major cutting and welding, or possibly a rack and pinion steering conversion. It's painfully obvious many of the sellers have made no effort to verify their parts work for the application they claim they fit.

 

I bought a used garrett T25 for $100. I bought used parts to complete the kit. I ended up spending around the same price as a ebay kit but instead I got quality parts. The turbo has minimal shaft play but at worst, ill buy a ebay turbo rebuild kit for $70. It obviously takes longer to piece together a kit yourself but I believe it makes more sense.

 

^^^It does make sense.

There is common theme here. The people that are defending the "cheap" kits and saying they are going to use them, also are admitting that the quality might be bad and that they might have to replace parts prematurely, in the same exact post they defended the kit in. If you're admitting that, why not just save up some $$$ for a few months longer and buy something that doesn't have questionable quality?

 

I agree with everything with rik is saying. And even then, my moms fiancé said today's expensive parts are extremely cheap compared to wat he payed for in the 90's. But then again he also was raceing his 914 and 911 with his brother