Bob-o's EWG GTX3071

[Bob-o]

So after a long wait, and much searching, I found the perfect opportunity to get on upgrading my turbo from the stock k04 to a much better replacement

I bought the turbo used off the forums from helmetface, and was presented with a big box full of goodies!

Not only did helmet help sell me his turbo, he also gave me a nifty little instructional message to help should I run into any snags.

Overall the install took 2 days. We started around 7:00PM on the first day and finished with getting the turbo hung by 12:00, and decided to call it a night. The next day, we realized we needed to pull the turbo because we forgot to hook up the oil drain/coolant lines, which started a familiar trend. Lines back on, we bolted the turbo back up to the downpipe, only to learn that it needed to be pulled again to put a softer spring combo in the wastegate. It came with a 16psi spring combo, but after much deliberation with Lex, we opted for the 11.40psi spring.

Once all the hardware on the turbo was figured out, we thought things would be smooth sailing from here. Wrong. WRONG.
My coolant drain was being rather difficult in that I was given a banjo fitting and custom line, which did not want to work. We decided to say fuck it and took the stock banjo fitting, heated it up and bent it straight, and used a bunch of different fittings and hoses to make it work. This took a long time, and sort of sucked... a lot.

After we got everything with the coolant line under control, it was a matter of putting the car back together and seeing if our hard work paid off! We started around 9:30AM, and worked well into 1:00AM, but after much deliberation all systems were go! There were no leaks, and everything seemed to be holding up alright, so we put the car down and took her out for a drive!

A small aside: When we pulled the turbo, we drained some coolant from the radiator, but for some ungodly reason decided not to drain all of it. We said: Oh thats plenty, the lines should be drained in the turbo and other connections. WRONG. My garage floor took a good coolant bath cause we were smart enough not to clamp the line, so lesson learned. In preparation to get the car running, I bought some coolant, mixed it 50/50, and topped up the overflow. It being late, i forgot that coolant takes a while to get through the entire system, so during our initial test, my temp needle shot up to the sky. After a careful drive home, we popped the hood and saw the overflow was boiling, so we immediately let it cool down to normal level, topped it up again, and after that everything was all good.

On the actual initial drive, it felt like I needed to relearn how to drive my car. The way the turbo reacts to specific loads is MUCH different than the k04, where there isn't instant boost whenever you fancy. One the snail does spool up though, holy. The power holds ALL the way to redline, and when the wastegate cracks open, the party really gets going. Never have I experienced such a sound, and it's rather obnoxious, but i love it.

I'm currently being tuned by Lex, and I'm also in progress of getting a PERM built 3.5" intake from no other than helmetface. That, in combination with my 3 bar map which is en route, will really open up the doors to see what the potential of what this turbo is!

I'm still a little lost with how I should hook up my wastegate to my grimspeed for two reasons,
1) my wastegate did not come with the top air fitting or plug, so those two ports are currently VTA.
2) when my 3.5" intake comes in, I need to figure out how to route my vacuum lines because there is no nipple for the turbo inlet

Do I need to have those top two plugs capped off/connected to a vacuum line? I was told it was fine to have them both VTA, but second opinions are more than welcome.

This is where I hope the gurus of MSF can chime in and help me make sure I have everything all figured out so I can safely make some good numbers

Shout outs to @Lex; for tuning me, @helmetface; for giving me some tips and the turbo, and @Swinger13; @madspd6; @mikespeed3; @780mps3; for helping me do the install! I couldn't have done it without these people!

Now onto pics


Stock vs. GTX3071


All lines hooked up


Ghetto rigged lines


Everything back together


Finally done