rebuild stocker or go with a bigger turbo?

[Tom Tom Turbo]

My car has 78K miles on it and under full throttle she smokes a little. I am trying to decide between rebuilding the stock one or going to something a little bigger. I want to still use the stock converter and will probably just break down and buy 009s or MSD 50's. Will the ATR 2.5" dp bolt up with most aftermarket turbos and will it require an adj. wastegate? Any answers would be appreciated.


Thanks!

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

IMO I personally would opt for the 50lbers and since you are already set up for it ...In the words of Tim "the Toolman" Taylor... "MORE POWER..Ar.Arr. aArrgh!" You will be alot happier with not only a bigger turbo but a MORE effecient turbo. The charged air will be much denser and cooler and if you want you can run less boost and make as much power as the stocker. Just my opinion though

 

[Tom Tom Turbo]

so would I be better off with a TE44 or a TA49? I can never remember which one is stock appearing, not that it matters too much to me. How does a 44 or 49 compare in price against a quality rebuild for a stock turbo?

 

[turbo buicks]

go bigger turbo. ta-49 is stock appearing. i paid $600 for a full rebuild of my 49 with new wheels. depending on the severity of the damage upgrade may be cheaper. also you will have to get the 360* thrust bearing on any rebuild so that extra. 270* (stock) bearing is crap.

 

[turbo buicks]

btw b/w 44 or 49 go 44. looks cooler and offers a bit more flow from the TE housing.

 

[V6POWER]

I like my TA-49.

 

[GNVYUS 1]

Do not waste your money rebuilding the stocker. Go with the stock appearing and similar spooling TA49 since you are going to keep everything stock. You can buy the adj wastegate at the same time. I would recommend getting one as the stock wastegate diaphram tends to weaken and cause spool problems.

Atr downpipes will bolt on as the exhaust housing on the Ta49 is the same bolt pattern as the stock turbos ex housing.

Any high impedence injector will work and idle fine with the proper chip. Caspers (IL), Pte (IN), Ramchargers (MI)
etc could hook you up.

ANS (Melrose Park) is a shop in IL you should know about. So is LS1 Speed (Schaumburg)and Street Performance (Des Plaines I think).