difference between PTE51 and a PTE53

[87owner]

This guy buys parts for his car but mechanics do the work. He bought some turbos and stuff years back that had to be returned and in the mean time just paid again and got a new turbo shipped out, while the other was replaced. He ended up with two turbos one got installed the other is still in the bag, brand new. He couldnt remember for sure what he bought, but he rememberd one being bigger than the other. He ended up getting two 53's two 51's or one of each. He's not even sure which one finally got put on the car, he just knows its fast. Any way the one in his attic is brand new in the bag from PTE. It even had the packing slip, which didnt help it said PT 51>53 on the slip. I didnt open the bag yet but all I know is that it said .60 on the turbo housing, and said precission on the exhaust housing. But, so did the one on his car. It is the complete turbo with adjustable actuator and housing that connects to the down pipe. He said it was 800 bucks. And is looking to sell it. But neither of us can figure out whats what. Is there some way to tell for sure. And is the price good at 800 for the complete setup. Thanks

 

[REDS HOT AIR]

51 and 52 turbo's have 10 blade exaust wheels 53 will have 11 blades

if they are pte turbo's they have the size scratched into the intake housing where the i/c hose hooks up... not a stamped number but scratched on the housing

 

[87owner]

ok thanks, what do you think about the price. The slip said they were from PTE, but I guess others have the precission exhaust housing right? So the scratch marks will say 51 or 53 or whatever. And how do I check the difference between the 52 and the 51. Also, do you think its true that you can get away with the stock TQ converter with the 51 for a while? Or will both of these turbos have me swaping converters. THANKS

 

[salvageV6]

I think $800 would be bit high, okay a lot high for a NOS turbo.

I'd shoot for $500-600 myself.

You can run the PTE51 on the D5 for years with the right chip, exhaust, and boost controller.

I used the ME-16 chip and BSTC and ran it for 3 years with no problems.

I had an Eric Schertz built Hi-Pro tranny added to the car with a 3200 stall Protorque and that was real sweet too but I took the turbo off two weeks later to put on my TA62 which has about the same lag now as the PTE51 had with the D5.

Livable but watch out when the boost hits.

I found my receipts for everything but the turbo, got mine from Modern Musclecar on sale years ago, wasn't $800 with the actuator for the PTE51 I know that much.

 

[87owner]

thanks, I thought 800 sounded high, but I knew that 51's were going for around 650 with no actuator or housing. So I was thinking after selling those parts on ebay it wouldn't be that bad. I would want a terry houston style pipe anyway, plus I just got a new adj. actuator. The main thing is the ID of the turbos. I need to get some facts on these things, stuff I can measure, or specific marks to look at. At this point I dont want the 53. Thanks for your input though, My goal for the near future is to run a 51 with the stock converter for a while.

 

[salvageV6]

Mine is on the bench and I can measure stuff for ya if need be.

PTE51 didn't get it put on the GN yet.

I can get some infor. tonight on wheel opening sizes and all.

Didn't look for any scratch marks when I bought it seems like a good thing to look for.

I think mine on sale with the housing and stock type adj. actuator was $690 or so.

It came complete and with a ported wastegate hole as well to work with the THDP.

 

[salvageV6]

Mine had a 1 which looked stamped into the air outlet housing about 3/4" down from the end. The one the intercooler hose goes too not the bell inlet from the MAF.

Probably the easiest way to tell, thanks for the info. Red.