Builds Ronny's Wits End Turbo lnstall

[Ronny Grady]

Fall 2018 my wife and I drove out to Sand Hollow to wheel and see friends. We took 120 through Yosemite and the high lands of Nevada. It was awesome. The '95 FZJ 80 (her name is AshleyOne) was slow.

I want to learn how to wrench. I like to have fun in my land cruiser. Hot darn it - I went for the Wits End Turbo pre-order.

 

[Ronny Grady]

This summer, post ICON truck / SEMA rollover, as luck would have it on a truck with 255k miles, the stock radiator failed. Ha! I probably would have suspected the turbo pushed the cooling system over the edge if I'd installed it first (sorry Joey, just being honest). So I decided to tackle the job in the driveway, and used the OTRAMM youtube instructions:

I really like my new 300 ft-lbs torque wrench:

First I tried wrapping a chain around the frame and one bolt on the main pulley - that snapped the bolt:

So I spend the rest of the day making the jig out of angle iron - that worked like a charm!

I got the oil cover off and seal changed using the Wits End kit. Having the right phillips heads made a big difference. The PVC pipe to jam in the new front main seal was a big help too.

The Ron Davis radiator has worked great for a month:

 

[Ronny Grady]

I've taken two big trips with the new radiator & seals - no issues. Then I got the word. The turbo was shipping. Booyah - I was getting stoked!

The turbo arrived - the day before I was heading to the sierra's to wheel. I'd have to wait for the install.

On the trip I through a repeated P0401. Whoa Buddy!

I decided to change the valve cover gasket, spark plug gaskets, and do the full P0401 once over from this thread:

P0401 Defeated - with pics

I started to throw a dreaded P0401 code that was constant, and recurring immediately after clearing. I have the FSM, and read God knows how many EGR and P0401 threads - More than enough burn my eyeballs and confuse the hell out of me, so I decided to dive in. Preparation - I had decided to...

forum.ih8mud.com

I painted my valve cover - thanks for the motivation Joey! I masked off the threaded areas for the spark plug cover - you can't see that area anyway once the plug covers are back on.

I put in a new distributor o-ring too - I don't want to get any more oil on the turbo than I have too!

Getting the Plenum off showed my novice skills. Wrenching is fun - and the chalenge of learning new things is really getting me pumped up. I spent almost two days fighting the Plenum. It was stuck because I didn't have a Torx-6 to remove the studs off the EGR. The plenum seemed loose, but would get stuck before removal between the stud into the lower air intake and upper and the EGR. You live and you learn.

I replaced all the vacuum hoses and some sensors. And then, bone head move, I broke off a bolt in the Plenum:

So, I'm still working on that broken bolt. Time for the turbo.

 

[Ronny Grady]

Wits End Designed the Turbo for a York Air Compressor.

I want to use it with an Auga Horn:

Most of the turbo kit has been a breeze. I'm doing the work in my driveway outside of my garage.

I pulled the oil pan - any whoa - I stuck gold!

I'm going to roll with it. I got the turbo and am installing it on a '95 with now 260k miles. I got a Blackstone oil test two months back and it passed with flying colors. I believe it has the original head gasket. Things are going to break. I have AAA. I'm going to have fun.

I bought a 90* drill and cut the hole for the oil return without issues. I used the plexiglass template. That was REALLY nice. making the cut without a guide would be more nerve wracking.

Getting the exhaust studs out between the cats was what you'd expect. The kit comes with a new gasket. I've ordered new bolts:

 

[Ronny Grady]

I've reached out to @NLXTACY a few times for support. He's been super helpful.

So far - the oil portion went very smoothly.

Vacuum - that's going great (minus my P0401 job!)

Tonight, I got the turbo perched in it's new home!

I wasn't planning to use any gauges. Live life taste death! I've had stock turbo cars with no gauges...

I bought a steel plug for the AFR sensor bung in the down pipe. After talking with Joey I may re-consider an buy a gauge or borrow one from a friend out the gate to check everything is running well.

A few installation learnings from tonight:

• It was easier to put the down pipe in place, fishing it past the AC line and between the fender and frame before bolting the turbo onto the up pipe. It gave plenty of room to maneuver.
• I had to remove rear heat shield to install the up pipe, I installed the up pipe from under the truck.
• I took the front heat shield off to install the oil the supply line to the peace pipe, it made getting the threads started and a wrench in there more sane!

 

[NLXTACY]

* note to future installers: drop the downpipe down into the engine bay from the top. You’ll curse my name less

 

[I Lean]

Watching. Your attitude while learning/breaking stuff is much better than mine.

 

[Jroc561]

Watching. Your attitude while learning/breaking stuff is much better than mine.

1000%

A broken bolt hurts.... two? Im going back inside for a few hours

 

[NLXTACY]

1000%

A broken bolt hurts.... two? Im going back inside for a few hours

truth!!

 

[ZackR]

Love the positive attitude and grab it by the balls approach, nicely done!

 

[Ronny Grady]

Tonight I brought the Plenum to my buddy who has some snapon reverse drill bits. The bolt backed right out. Then I realized I'm missing one intake manifold gasket! Anyway, I'm glad I got the part ordered. The Plenum re-install will be delayed another day.

I spend the rest of the evening installing the Tial waste gate, turbo, and oil lines. My learnings:

• It helps to have a friend to pull the down pipe around while you position the waste gate.
• Clock the turbo with oil in at 12 o'clock and oil out at 6 o'clock - thanks for the reminder and email support @NLXTACY !
• You want to have short 13mm and 15mm box wrenches to tighten the turbo onto the up pipe and to tighten the turbo clocking bolts down after you adjust it appropriately

I checked my exhaust location vs. down pipe now that everything is snug. I think it's going to line up well. I started soaking the O2 sensor in PB blaster tonight to install a new Toyota O2 sensor. Any tips for the weld? Should I try with my novice welding skills or just go to the pro's?

.

 

[Jroc561]

Any random exhaust shop, would do a small job like that for less than $50.

God a turbo looks so good next to this motor

 

[fjbj40]

Jebus, I would love to have one of these turbo set-ups. But due to the exchange rate it would cost me about $8500.00 Canuk bucks to get one here, excluding any extras or unforeseen things. So it ain't going to happen.

As stated, a turbo looks so nice in the engine bay!

 

[Heckraiser]

Speaking from experience, take it to the pros for welding if you're a novice Very easy to burn through thin exhaust tubing.

 

[Ronny Grady]

I remember some talk on the main turbo thread-

if I have an exhaust shop do the weld, what’s the best way to drive the truck there and route the exhaust so the engine can still see the O2 sensor? Any suggestions for a temporary exhaust tape or foil?

 

[ZackR]

I remember some talk on the main turbo thread-

if I have an exhaust shop do the weld, what’s the best way to drive the truck there and route the exhaust so the engine can still see the O2 sensor? Any suggestions for a temporary exhaust tape or foil?

The engine will live without the 02 signal for a short drive to the shop. Just take it easy.

 

[Dissent]

Wow! I love your positive attitude and play-by-play of both the good and the bad experiences as you wrench on but honestly it's hard to be sad about anything when you're bolting on 100HP/100LB!
I'm so beyond insanely jealous that you have that turbo! I've tossed all dreams of achieving that in the trash and buried the hurt deep inside my soul so I'll be living vicariously through you all that have the coveted precious!
Wrench on!

 

[tacocat]

The engine will live without the 02 signal for a short drive to the shop. Just take it easy.

No! Floor it all way there and let the Hills of San Francisco reverberate with the unrestricted orchestra of all 6 turbo charged cylinders.

Seriously, take it way easy, especially if that turbo charger is operational at the time. Not sure what would happen when you combine zero exhaust restriction and a turbo.

 

[NLXTACY]

I remember some talk on the main turbo thread-

if I have an exhaust shop do the weld, what’s the best way to drive the truck there and route the exhaust so the engine can still see the O2 sensor? Any suggestions for a temporary exhaust tape or foil?

I would do a couple spot welds and then wrap with exhaust tape. It’ll be fine. It’s just going to the exhaust shop not cross country.

 

[Shoredreamer]

John, it’s so rad to see you over the years with your 80. You literally tried to kill it in the early days, but never could, haha! As you upgraded it and replaced broken stuff, I saw the Cruiser addiction creep in. Now you got a freaking Joey Turbo! So sick!! Good job man! Wrenching is a blast too. We gotta hang out soon!