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[Joebickerton89]

Hi all I have a pre face ep3 I was debating keeping it n/a or boosting it and I'm choosing to boost it. I've had a search on google on the cost and etc but can't find much info n the ones I have seen have been on American forums.

1 what's the cost of doing a turbo conversation

2 what power can the stock block take Safely

I'd be piecing a kit together so I'm hoping to get it done for in and around 2500-3000 is that do able??? Thanks chaps

[AdamB92]

Cost wise you'll probably be looking at around £5000-6500 ish, no doubt you can pick up kits cheaper, but I certainly wouldn't recommend any ebay specials.
Power, I think TDI North has done 450bhp? But to keep it reliable and safe around 400bhp is probably best.

Don't forget it won't just be the turbo, manifold, downpipe etc, you'll also need things like clutch, injectors, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, fuel return line, good brakes.

[Joebickerton89]

I'm only after 350-400 mate but thanks for the Info il be piecing My kit together myself so won't cost me asmuch as kit from a company
and not all parts will be new only clutch and Afew other bits

[jamesyy21x]

Cost wise you'll probably be looking at around £5000-6500 ish, no doubt you can pick up kits cheaper, but I certainly wouldn't recommend any ebay specials.
Power, I think TDI North has done 450bhp? But to keep it reliable and safe around 400bhp is probably best.

Don't forget it won't just be the turbo, manifold, downpipe etc, you'll also need things like clutch, injectors, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, fuel return line, good brakes.

Do you know if the TDi kit includes the things in bold? clutch is of course your responsibility along with brakes but what else do you need to get?

Cheers

[AdamB92]

Here's what you get in the turbo kit from TDI North

http://www.tdi-north.com/products/ep3-turbo-kits

It's not generally the kit itself that costs the money, it's all the supporting parts to go with it, so buy the time you add in everything you need, you really are looking at around the £6000 mark.

That's not to say you can't purchase used/ second hand parts at a discounted price, or even do fitting yourself to free up some money.

[jamesyy21x]

I don;t understand why turboing an ep3 is that much tbh....

[Joebickerton89]

I reckon it can be done for around 3000 all in using second hand parts and fitting it myself lol

Added in 3 minutes 25 seconds:
I was going to use

Cast iron manifold
Gr30 turbo
Not sure on injectors yet

[1812_s]

you probably can do it for 3000 with used part's but it's whether you can find them all used

as for injectors your going need 1000cc ones preferably

[AdamB92]

No doubt you can do it cheaper, but then comes the question of the quality of the parts you're fitting.

It's not very often I see turbo parts come up for sale, so trying to source second hand is probably a struggle. The best place to look would be over on K20.org, but its a US site so buying and importing could be costly.

[baddohc]

£6000 all in.
Drive in, drive out.

Generally on a stock k20, you'd be around 10-14 psi. 360-390 bhp.
Torque kills engines/rods not bhp.

Stuff like mapping £450
Etc soon tally up quickly

A decent kit to buy your looking at around £3k for a side wonder jobbie

Brand new

If your budgets smaller maybe look for a super charger kit

[Lewisgame]

'Torque kills engines' doesn't even make sense. The amount of torque an engine produces doesn't necessarily mean the amount of strain on the engine. If anything it's more strain on your running gear.
A poor map with to much boost or detonation will eventually kill your engine. Quality of parts and of the mapping will determine this.
Not sure why anyone would blow £4-6k on a turbo kit for a car potentially only worth £3k.

[AdamB92]

Not sure why anyone would blow £4-6k on a turbo kit for a car potentially only worth £3k.

Waiting for the cheaper and faster than FK2 comments

[Lewisgame]

Not sure why anyone would blow £4-6k on a turbo kit for a car potentially only worth £3k.

Waiting for the cheaper and faster than FK2 comments

You'd just buy an Evo or M3 for £10k. Far better overall than a turbo EP3. People are fixated on big BHP and top speed figures.

[baddohc]

'Torque kills engines' doesn't even make sense. The amount of torque an engine produces doesn't necessarily mean the amount of strain on the engine. If anything it's more strain on your running gear.
A poor map with to much boost or detonation will eventually kill your engine. Quality of parts and of the mapping will determine this.
Not sure why anyone would blow £4-6k on a turbo kit for a car potentially only worth £3k.

We are talking turbos/power not mapping. Of course A poor map will kill anything. That's the stupidest statement to make. Why don't you state something like low oil kills engines too.

Torque does kill engines.

Why do tuners limit the torque? What causes rods to bend? The weak link in most engines?

Why do you think super chargers are a lot easier on engines? As they produce smooth linear power/torque unlike a turbo.

I seriously think you need to spend time modifying cars, tuning and so fourth.

A good tuner will probably limit the K20 to around 260/280 ft lbs of torque. yes torque....

It's pretty the same case with most cars, German cars - again a Leon Cupra r for example. Tuners will not let it go above 300 ft lbs on stock rods.

[jonezy]

Tdi as far as I can tell aim for about 285lbsft and many others aren't far off. However it's the way the torque comes in that matters, smooth and linear instead of one great big slam of torque will last much longer, and drive much nicer.

What is current spec of your ep3?

I would say if home building, 3-4k is a credible budget and would be doing the job properly too with high quality stuff where it matters.

[Joebickerton89]

Sorry chaps not been on for a few days

I'd be buying bit by bit each month so it'll take aslong as it takes n cost what it'll cost I suppose.

One question was do the ep3 need any compression lowered or is it fine how it is?

Added in 2 minutes 44 seconds:
Was thinking of using a cast manifold to avoid any cracking or anything anyone have any recommendations???

[baddohc]

No one can give you a guarantee.

The reason why most engines last is due to quality parts/turbo kits.

If your going to be on a budget building it, you can be sure as hell your going be on a budget and skimp on things such as oil etc.

[jamesyy21x]

What i learned from talking to people about this, who know what they are talking about, is that really you are only going to save when it comes to labour on the instal.

If you got to TDi, thats £1.5k saved. However, there probably is a reason for why they charge that for an instal. unless you take your time, and do it slowly then you are still running the risk of doing damage even before you have finished.

I'm pretty sure you have to move the fuel feed, heater/ coolant lines, if you do that wrong then you could set it on fire.

[baddohc]

£450 is the mapping charge. So you don't save the full £1500 from fitting yourself.

[jonezy]

Moving the fuel, heater lines, brake booster lines and evap is pretty simple, once you know all the sizes.

You can make the build easy by relocating all the above before you even touch a turbo and manifold. That £1500 from Tdi is also excludes VaT I believe so bump that a lump more.

DIY parts these days has never been cheaper or easier as about 10 of us have done it now all with good success and no reliability issues related to the actual turbo build. Just age related stuff.

I would start with a solid fabrications manifold, downpipe and dump tube combo for about £1200.

£7-800 for a precision 5*** turbo
£250-300 tial wastegate
£3-400 ID / DW injectors
£40 boost solenoid
£150 all lines and fittings
£95 map sensor
£100 heat protection
£380 clutch
£100 intercooler
£100 of cooler pipes
£130 of gauges (pro sport)

Just a few prices to get you going. I wouldn't skimp on oil, injectors, wastegate or turbo.

Rest of the genuine stuff is so cheap it's not worth the saving to even skimp