After owning a mostly stock Supra for 5 years, I finally took the plunge and installed a single turbo. I went with the BoostLogic kit with a T61, a HKS Type S intercooler and HKS SSQ BOV. I think this offered the best compromise between performance and safety on stock fuel and MAF, at a very reasonable price. BL has been getting rave reviews from it's customers for it's quality kits and excellent customer service. I did the install myself, and learned quite a bit.
Before I go any further, I'd like to say thanks to Phil Panas. Without his help, my car still wouldn't be running. He answered a lot of questions, gave me a hand lifting out the stock turbos, and welded a bov flange to an IC pipe and fabricated an intake pipe on EXTREMELY short notice last Friday, even though he probably had a lot of work to do for the Road Atlanta/AAP mini-meet. Thanks, Phil!
Removing the stock turbos was everything everyone said it would be. There were a few tricky parts, but nothing impossible. The most difficult part was lifting the manifold and turbos out as a single unit. For this, I got Phil's help, as I thought the position would be too awkward for one person to lift them out alone. Ha! When we were lifting them out, the oil lines still attached to the engine (but disconnected at the turbo) snagged on something, so Phil lifted and held the turbos/manifold while I crawled under to release them. Other than that, it was pretty straightforward.
Installing the HKS Type S was also pretty easy. The trickiest part was removing the stock PS cooler while the car was on jackstands. I opted not to use the HKS-provided PS cooler after reading about people having PS issues on road courses, and instead bought a Derale cooler from Summit. I used one of the stock PS cooler mounting brackets to hang it in the driver's side opening in the bumper. It's mostly behind the turn signal though, so I'm not sure it will get enough cool air. Time will tell.
I've never installed a single turbo before (or worked with any other kits), so I really don't have anything to compare the BL kit to. All the piping (intake and exhaust) was ceramic coated except for the header, which I had coated black. All the welds looked great, too. It's advertised as a complete kit, which is (mostly) true. I didn't have to go shopping for any major parts, but I did have to supply several minor fittings, all the hoses, some clamps and a few gaskets. While you may not HAVE to replace the gaskets, you can save yourself a lot of trouble if you use new ones. I replaced the header gaskets, the aluminum crush washers from the oil feed lines and the gasket for the oil return line. Also, the nuts that hold the header to the head are marked as non-reusable in the FSM, but I didn't find this out until I was almost finished with the install and decided not to tear everything apart. I also had to buy a 1/2" vacuum hose connector in order to connect the breather filter to the PCV. If I had installed a breather on the IACV, I would have needed another (3/4"?) connector. In addition, I needed to remove and reuse the O2 sensor studs. Also, BL has not written instructions yet, but Kean was always available to answer my questions either by email or phone.
The BL kit was designed with a Greddy 3-Row in mind, which means it ships with a 2 1/2"-to-2 3/4" adaptor to connect up with the Greddy IC piping. The HKS Type S uses a 2 1/2" straight pipe here, so I had to buy a silicone connector. Also, the BL kit assumes you're running a VPC or other MAP conversion. I purchased a 4"-to-3 1/2" adaptor to fit the MAF, and then had to cut the end of the stock pipe off because the MAF is actually 3 1/4". I also bought a short 3" K&N intake filter, as the one supplied was 4" and too long to be used with the stock MAF.
When I received my kit from BL, I dug through and verified most of the major pieces were there: nuts, bolts, header, turbo, downpipe, midpipe. However, I didn't notice that the 4" intake pipe was missing until I unpacked the entire box in order to begin installing the header. I called Kean, and he apologized and said he would ship one to me. When I asked Kean if the pipe would support the stock MAF, he told me that it didn't have provisions for the IACV, and was a 4" pipe so I would need a reducer. In the meantime, Phil had parts shipped overnight in order to fabricate a pipe for me to use that did have nipples for the IACV and the charcoal canister.
Before I installed the header, I plugged the rear oil line and installed the oil feed line. I test-fit the header, and everything lined up perfectly, but the lower header stud on the #3 cylinder was a tad too long. Kean had warned me about this, and I filed it down slightly. After I installed the header, I bolted the turbo to it. As simple as this looks when the two are sitting on your workbench, it's a much tighter fit in your engine bay. In particular, the stud sitting under the middle of the turbo (front, engine-side) is nearly impossible to get to, and there's not much of a range of motion on any of them. I used a crows-foot on three of them and a stubby wrench (and lots of patience) on the bolt under the turbo. The bolts that sit on the passenger-side of the turbo were slightly too long, so Phil ground about 1/2" off of them and they fit perfectly. When I mentioned this to Kean, he told me that this has been fixed since I got my kit.
Then the real battle began. I began installing the pipes that run from the turbo to the intercooler. Another thing I hadn't realized is that the Type S requires you to reuse the elbow that fits through the hole in the fender, so make sure you have enough connectors and hose clamps. I don't know if the BL pipe was slightly too long, or if it wasn't bent at a sharp enough angle, but whenever I got the plastic elbow connected to it, the other end of the elbow was at a bad angle under the fender, and pressing firmly into the fender itself, making it impossible to connect it to the IC pipe. I struggled for four hours to find the perfect alignment of turbo housing/pipe/elbow/IC pipe that would allow all of them to be connected with 3" silicon hoses and have a reasonable chance of being clamped. At 4:30 am Saturday night, I had everything except the IC pipe connected in a reasonable fashion and went to bed. Sunday morning, it took me another hour to get the IC pipe connected, but when I finished, everything looked pretty good.
After the IC piping was installed, I tackled the oil return line. The trick with it was to loosely test-fit everything, mark everything, and then assemble it on my workbench before installing. The return line is a tight fit with the header, but everything did fit.
In stark contrast to the turbo-to-IC piping, the wastegate, dump tube, midpipe and downpipe fit like a dream. The only trouble encountered here was that two of the HKS-supplied bolts that hold the dump tube to the wastegate were too long (or the dump tube flange was too thin). I ground a few threads off them and they went right in. After installing the exhaust pieces, all that was left was running hoses and tightening clamps.
All in all, I found the kit was a good value, and the build quality was excellent. Customer service and support was also excellent, and it sounds like BL is continuing to make improvements to the kit.
Jim
'93.5 T61 6-speed hardtop
Before I go any further, I'd like to say thanks to Phil Panas. Without his help, my car still wouldn't be running. He answered a lot of questions, gave me a hand lifting out the stock turbos, and welded a bov flange to an IC pipe and fabricated an intake pipe on EXTREMELY short notice last Friday, even though he probably had a lot of work to do for the Road Atlanta/AAP mini-meet. Thanks, Phil!
Removing the stock turbos was everything everyone said it would be. There were a few tricky parts, but nothing impossible. The most difficult part was lifting the manifold and turbos out as a single unit. For this, I got Phil's help, as I thought the position would be too awkward for one person to lift them out alone. Ha! When we were lifting them out, the oil lines still attached to the engine (but disconnected at the turbo) snagged on something, so Phil lifted and held the turbos/manifold while I crawled under to release them. Other than that, it was pretty straightforward.
Installing the HKS Type S was also pretty easy. The trickiest part was removing the stock PS cooler while the car was on jackstands. I opted not to use the HKS-provided PS cooler after reading about people having PS issues on road courses, and instead bought a Derale cooler from Summit. I used one of the stock PS cooler mounting brackets to hang it in the driver's side opening in the bumper. It's mostly behind the turn signal though, so I'm not sure it will get enough cool air. Time will tell.
I've never installed a single turbo before (or worked with any other kits), so I really don't have anything to compare the BL kit to. All the piping (intake and exhaust) was ceramic coated except for the header, which I had coated black. All the welds looked great, too. It's advertised as a complete kit, which is (mostly) true. I didn't have to go shopping for any major parts, but I did have to supply several minor fittings, all the hoses, some clamps and a few gaskets. While you may not HAVE to replace the gaskets, you can save yourself a lot of trouble if you use new ones. I replaced the header gaskets, the aluminum crush washers from the oil feed lines and the gasket for the oil return line. Also, the nuts that hold the header to the head are marked as non-reusable in the FSM, but I didn't find this out until I was almost finished with the install and decided not to tear everything apart. I also had to buy a 1/2" vacuum hose connector in order to connect the breather filter to the PCV. If I had installed a breather on the IACV, I would have needed another (3/4"?) connector. In addition, I needed to remove and reuse the O2 sensor studs. Also, BL has not written instructions yet, but Kean was always available to answer my questions either by email or phone.
The BL kit was designed with a Greddy 3-Row in mind, which means it ships with a 2 1/2"-to-2 3/4" adaptor to connect up with the Greddy IC piping. The HKS Type S uses a 2 1/2" straight pipe here, so I had to buy a silicone connector. Also, the BL kit assumes you're running a VPC or other MAP conversion. I purchased a 4"-to-3 1/2" adaptor to fit the MAF, and then had to cut the end of the stock pipe off because the MAF is actually 3 1/4". I also bought a short 3" K&N intake filter, as the one supplied was 4" and too long to be used with the stock MAF.
When I received my kit from BL, I dug through and verified most of the major pieces were there: nuts, bolts, header, turbo, downpipe, midpipe. However, I didn't notice that the 4" intake pipe was missing until I unpacked the entire box in order to begin installing the header. I called Kean, and he apologized and said he would ship one to me. When I asked Kean if the pipe would support the stock MAF, he told me that it didn't have provisions for the IACV, and was a 4" pipe so I would need a reducer. In the meantime, Phil had parts shipped overnight in order to fabricate a pipe for me to use that did have nipples for the IACV and the charcoal canister.
Before I installed the header, I plugged the rear oil line and installed the oil feed line. I test-fit the header, and everything lined up perfectly, but the lower header stud on the #3 cylinder was a tad too long. Kean had warned me about this, and I filed it down slightly. After I installed the header, I bolted the turbo to it. As simple as this looks when the two are sitting on your workbench, it's a much tighter fit in your engine bay. In particular, the stud sitting under the middle of the turbo (front, engine-side) is nearly impossible to get to, and there's not much of a range of motion on any of them. I used a crows-foot on three of them and a stubby wrench (and lots of patience) on the bolt under the turbo. The bolts that sit on the passenger-side of the turbo were slightly too long, so Phil ground about 1/2" off of them and they fit perfectly. When I mentioned this to Kean, he told me that this has been fixed since I got my kit.
Then the real battle began. I began installing the pipes that run from the turbo to the intercooler. Another thing I hadn't realized is that the Type S requires you to reuse the elbow that fits through the hole in the fender, so make sure you have enough connectors and hose clamps. I don't know if the BL pipe was slightly too long, or if it wasn't bent at a sharp enough angle, but whenever I got the plastic elbow connected to it, the other end of the elbow was at a bad angle under the fender, and pressing firmly into the fender itself, making it impossible to connect it to the IC pipe. I struggled for four hours to find the perfect alignment of turbo housing/pipe/elbow/IC pipe that would allow all of them to be connected with 3" silicon hoses and have a reasonable chance of being clamped. At 4:30 am Saturday night, I had everything except the IC pipe connected in a reasonable fashion and went to bed. Sunday morning, it took me another hour to get the IC pipe connected, but when I finished, everything looked pretty good.
After the IC piping was installed, I tackled the oil return line. The trick with it was to loosely test-fit everything, mark everything, and then assemble it on my workbench before installing. The return line is a tight fit with the header, but everything did fit.
In stark contrast to the turbo-to-IC piping, the wastegate, dump tube, midpipe and downpipe fit like a dream. The only trouble encountered here was that two of the HKS-supplied bolts that hold the dump tube to the wastegate were too long (or the dump tube flange was too thin). I ground a few threads off them and they went right in. After installing the exhaust pieces, all that was left was running hoses and tightening clamps.
All in all, I found the kit was a good value, and the build quality was excellent. Customer service and support was also excellent, and it sounds like BL is continuing to make improvements to the kit.
Jim
'93.5 T61 6-speed hardtop