It looked like I never got the drain tight from the start, so that's a pretty easy fix. While I was at it, I made a nicer spacer for the boost controller. I also swapped the spring so that I could make the full 25psi!
But.... that's when things started going downhill.
I certainly made an improvement because my drain wasn't leaking anymore. However, The turbo now leaks at the header. I tried eliminating the Remflex gasket and doing an RTV seal like everyone else, but I had a tiny leak right in the front of the flange. I also still couldn't make more than 23 psi even with the stiffer spring in the controller and maxing it all the way in. In fact, the boost controller seemed to have no effect on boost pressure. I was feeling defeated but wasn't going to hurt myself over 2 psi of boost right before Nats. The exhaust leak, however, would need to be dealt with, and I was already pretty sure what I needed to do. Just look at this rough surface! You can tell it's bad even through all that RTV!
It looks like my elbow is having problems too.
I was getting ready to attempt a resurfacing job on the flange when I noticed something gut wrenching.
She's toast after only a couple thousand miles. What did I do??
I found this all out on Monday, so it's too late to get a turbo before the big event and there's enough shaft play in this thing that I'm not willing to risk my engine by throwing it back on temporarily. There are some plusses though....
1) The car might still make it! My buddy is willing to lend me his stock turbo. The catch? He lives three hours away and my schedule is TIGHT. I'll be heading up there after work tonight and still need to be at work tomorrow morning. I have family obligations over the weekend in Chicago, and my wife is having a minor surgery tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping I'll be able to get this car together after I put my son bed because test driving Sunday or Monday is a real nail biter.
2) I was talking with Reed at Work turbos. Although I had already regretted the "TA49" for a while he helped me put into perspective how badly I got screwed on this thing. First of all, it's not a TA49 at all. He says the exhaust housing is some sort of larger frame Turbonetics unit. When measuring the inducer of the turbine (as best as I could with all the damage) I came up with 68mm! The compressor side is that of a TA60. He said this would be a great turbo for a guy with ported heads and a more aggressive converter, but I'm not there yet. It also wasn't machined correctly for that turbine wheel and may have been the real cause for damage. At least there's a chance I didn't cause this! Using a combination of parts from this turbo and my blown stock turbo (I still have it) he could build me a billet wheeled TA60 for a good price. I still haven't heard what that price is yet, but I see he's running a sale on the TA60 with core and I already have a good TA60 compressor housing and bell. Plus, the TA60 should spool way faster than the frankenturbo I was running before! To me that makes getting burned on the first turbo sting a lot less. In the end, I just want the car to work right!
Everything I've seen had me wondering if nothing was wrong with my boost control set-up at all. The turbo may have just been jacked up this whole time. I heavily considered holding out for deals from Precision and HPT at the GS Nationals, but in the end I don't think they have anything that's going to look or work right. HPT stuff is super nice, but even the smallest turbo they have is a bit aggressive for my car. PTE has some stuff that will work nicely but it's going to cost a pretty penny. I'm not scared to get a little aggressive, but I don't want anything to stick out like a sore thumb in my engine bay either. Maybe you all can convince me otherwise!
