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View Full Version : Getting more from your TD03 turbo's



Gingerfish
03-01-2013, 05:08 PM
Like a lot of VR4 owners out there, I would like more from my turbo's.
After a bit of searching through the generic internet search engines and a phonecall to the helpful guys at TurboDynamics I have a bit of up to date info for a TD03 hybrid conversion.

I'm sure there has been plenty of 'torque' ( see what I did there! ) and possibilities of how more power can be achieved from our tubs and I think I may go down this particular route myself.

In creating hybrid tubs, you remove and send off your turbo's ( would be collected via TurboDynamics own courier service ) and they will recondition, and replace your compressor wheels.

Once they have determined if your tubs are of 'satisfactory' condition to accept the uprated internals, they will then carry out the work and return them to you.

Your tubs should now be ready to refit, but need to be run 'off-boost' untill run in or kept to a low boost pressure. Once settled, supporting mods ( such as injectors, fuel pump and a good map with a dyno) can be carried out in order to achieve better power gains. I have been told that with good supporting mods, 400bhp is achievable with these tubs.

Cost of carrying out the turbo work is at present around £295 per turbo, which I think isn't bad. Altogether a cheaper route than changing to TD04's or equivalent.

I don't know all the ins and outs of this process, so I will endevour to obtain more info and should I go down this route I'll add my experiences along the way.

Thanks for reading and I hope this has been of some use to other members.

Feel free to add or change anything.

Good luck on your quest for power chaps :thumbsup:

lathiat
03-01-2013, 05:12 PM
Have they/you successfully done this to one of our turbos?

There was talk about how theres not enough meat to do this. No idea how accurate/authoritative those claims are.

Gingerfish
03-01-2013, 05:14 PM
I havn't done this myself ..... yet.
They have been successful in the past with the hybrid option. I'll try to obtain more info when the opportunity arises.

lathiat
03-01-2013, 05:17 PM
Would be awesome :-)

Davezj
03-01-2013, 05:50 PM
I think this has been tried before with not much success. this is not to say it cannot be done.
I am not 100% sure but I think the issue was the nut holding the compressor wheel on would loosen itself under load and this could potentially trash the compressor wheel and housing.

As to the resue of the housing, I suppose it depends on how big you go with the compressor wheel as to the rework/reuse or replace the compressor housing.
I don't know much about turbo specs/flow diagrams but it would interesting to find out if this can be done.

Gingerfish
03-01-2013, 06:02 PM
I think it's TD04 internals, but can't be sure.

elnevio
03-01-2013, 06:15 PM
My concerns would be two-fold - the strength of the remaining casing, and heat. What sort of warranty would be provided?

adaxo
03-01-2013, 06:46 PM
This looks interesting. Fairly cheap and straight forward, IF power output reach close to claimed mark I'm in.


Just, as mentioned above, warranty could be a potential issue, lets say we get this tubs changed then went on dyno for mapping and power achievable its well below lets say 340-380, so you will contact with turbo company they probably say its not good mapped, then you turn to tuner and they say this is due to tubs ect ect. and then what?

lathiat
03-01-2013, 06:49 PM
Then: nothing.. welcome to modified cars. :-) at your risk.

hbkuk1
03-01-2013, 06:51 PM
At that price I'm in for sure too and I have s pair of spares :)

adaxo
03-01-2013, 07:00 PM
TBH IMO its a very good price, even if 'reliable' 350 this mod will achieve,

elnevio
03-01-2013, 07:04 PM
TBH IMO its a very good price, even if 'reliable' 350 this mod will achieve,

:iagree:

John TheAntique
03-01-2013, 08:06 PM
I had two Garretts hybridised, if that's the right word, by Turbo Dynamics for my Starions. They did a great job which improved the performance considerably and both outlived the rest of the cars. I'm up for this.

Davezj
03-01-2013, 09:52 PM
i have a couple of spare sets of turbo's, so i am sure i can find a set to be hybridised.
just exact spec to work out, and expected improvemnt in performance.
then there is the money which would be about £600.

the next question would be could you get a single TD05 convertion for £600, probably not, but it would be a big chunk of money to put towards it.

Gingerfish
03-01-2013, 10:48 PM
I'll follow up on a few more details for exact specs, i.e. warranty, oil feeds, precise internals, best supporting mods, any extra possible costs etc etc.
I'll also have a word with the guys at the garage I use, they seem to know thier stuff when it comes to modifieds.

I'm a bit busy over the weekend, but I will follow this up. I can try to use my Legnum as a guinea pig although it won't happen quickly. I'll need to do a bit of digging for parts/ supporting mods and I'm currently waiting for a couple of parts that aren't available right now.

Does sound promising so far though.

swinks
03-01-2013, 11:01 PM
My concern is hot side of the turbo, very weak point in stock tubbys, not much flow. If machined out, then heating issue will occur. That is not good if we know hot hot even stock tubbys are.

Gingerfish
08-01-2013, 03:40 PM
Tomasz, do you think this problem with heat could be counteracted with a small scoop/vent in the middle of the front and rear of the bonnet. I know it sounds rediculous, but it's just a thought.

Do you think the generic vents available for our cars help at all?

Kryton
08-01-2013, 03:47 PM
I ceramic coated mine & used solder mat to protect alternator area. Not a cheap mod (ceramic coating part) but cheaper than replacing parts

Gingerfish
08-01-2013, 03:56 PM
Where those turbo Jacket things no good then?
I'm sure you were looking at something to that effect last year.

Kryton
08-01-2013, 04:38 PM
Hi Alex,
They would have been ok just for the tubs buy because mine are bigger, it moved all of the pipework so much closer to the ancillaries that I thought it best play it safe. Managed to get manifold etc done at the same time. The other problem I had was finding one the right size. They either seemed to be too big or in the states so wouldn't have got within the time scale I required them in. I prefer having them coated as it covers the entire area rather than just most & you can also pick what colour you want :)

swinks
08-01-2013, 05:59 PM
Tomasz, do you think this problem with heat could be counteracted with a small scoop/vent in the middle of the front and rear of the bonnet. I know it sounds rediculous, but it's just a thought.

I meant something different, more serious.
It's cast iron housing being weak due to machine out process. Then it will get hot quicker and cool down quicker.
Cutting long story short, casing is very likely to crack sooner than later.

AKKO
27-01-2013, 01:09 AM
Presume this idea eventually died the expected fate or is someone going to surprise us all?

WOODY72
27-01-2013, 03:44 AM
Hi Chris, Where in Perth are you? I'm over from the UK at the moment visiting in the Carramar area.

AKKO
27-01-2013, 07:37 AM
South of the river myself, near canning vale.

WOODY72
27-01-2013, 02:06 PM
Oh right, we're off to Freemantle tomorrow for a look see.

Gingerfish
08-08-2013, 09:24 PM
I realise I havn't really followed this one up recently, but I will soon be in the position to get a second set of tubs.

Once I have the new tubs in the next couple of months, I will do some more digging with the intention of trying it out.

WOODY72
08-08-2013, 09:48 PM
Might be worth having a word with a turbo rebuilder Alex?

khairunnain
10-08-2013, 07:07 AM
Very interesting, I wonder why this hasnt been done more for the vr4s. Rebuilt or hybridized turbos are commonplace for other cars (i've had 3 skylines prior).

I might try this myself as I have a very good turbo specialist locally.

Ive also had a rebuilt turbo lost its compressor nut while on the dyno (built by a different shop, wont go there any more). I was told this shouldnt happen on a properly built and balanced turbo.