Builds Ronny's Wits End Turbo lnstall

[NLXTACY]

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!

you just help me name the kit for the Australian market: the Lil’ Roo Turbo

 

[Shoredreamer]

you just help me name the kit for the Australian market: the Lil’ Roo Turbo

Haha! That name was coined by Mr. @DanMedeiros in our daily 80 group texts. “Joey panel” “Joey turbo” “Joey rear heater bypass” it’s catchy!

 

[NLXTACY]

Haha! That name was coined by Mr. @DanMedeiros in our daily 80 group texts. “Joey panel” “Joey turbo” “Joey rear heater bypass” it’s catchy!

now I’ll never be able to sell Wits’ End since I’ll have to be part of the sale

 

[Ronny Grady]

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!

@Shoredreamer - who ever said I stopped trying to kill my 80? It's like the Scales of Justice - maintenance vs. wheeling & time! I'm ready to fire up the turbo and wheel!

 

[nigelsiam]

This is looking good!! The suspense for when you fire it up and burn rubber on all 4 tires is thick!

 

[TYM4FUN]

Nice writing. Good work.

 

[Ronny Grady]

Today was the day!

I got the plenum and throttle re-installed with all new vacuum hoses. Next I knocked out the air intake. Every tube seemed to be cut perfect out the box except the 90* bend out of the turbo. I cut the tube to fit.

It was then time to rumble through SF with a straight pipe. I took a quick test loop and set off a few car alarms. I was a bad ass. Then I drove to the muffler shop and had a good time haggling to get a decent price. It wasn't $50, but I think the guy did a good job. I'm going to swing the v-band around out of the line of fire.

I took the truck out and did some runs up Sharp Park and Hwy 1 in Pacifica "horsepower hill". The turbo is great. The truck still isn't a power house, but man it will get moving. It likes to go highway speeds. It is easier to drive having modern car power. I am glad I bought it - no buyers remorse here!

Here's the engine bay:

The kit was very complete. All I had to buy for the kit was:

• M18x1.5 steel plug (I'm not running any guages)
• New exhaust bolts & nuts for between the cats (I assume most people have to cut these off)

Unless these parts are very new on your truck - I consider these cheap insurance and due to replace during the turbo install:

• O2 sensor & replacement nuts - you want your ECU to have correct data for rich/lean
• PCV Valve and Gromet (others can correct me, but this seems like an important one way valve with a turbo)

 

[NLXTACY]

Today was the day!

About time! I mean...yay!

I got the plenum and throttle re-installed with all new vacuum hoses. Next I knocked out the air intake. Every tube was cut perfect out the box except the 90* bend out of the turbo. I cut the tube to fit.

So I don't cut either of the 90º tubes because there is some wiggle room on placement.

It was then time to rumble through SF with a straight pipe. I took a quick test loop and set off a few car alarms. I was a bad ass. Then I drove to the muffler shop and had a good time haggling to get a decent price. It wasn't $50, but I think the guy did a good job. I'm going to swing the v-band around out of the line of fire.

So my only nit on what he did, and I totally get why he did it, is that the tube flair is on the wrong pipe. You need to flare INTO the direction of the exhaust flow. The way it is now could eventually lead to a leak

I took the truck out and did some runs up Sharp Park and Hwy 1 in Pacifica "horsepower hill". The turbo is great. The truck still isn't a power house, but man it will get moving. It likes to go highway speeds. It is easier to drive having modern car power. I am glad I bought it - no buyers remorse here!

Woohoo!

Here's the engine bay:
View attachment 2099944

The only thing I would say is t trim the big 90º hose that feeds into the turbo. That way the intake pipes are pushed more towards the turbo. You can see in the pic that the 180º out of the MAF jogs over. Should be straight shot.

The kit was very complete. All I had to buy for the kit was:

• M18x1.25 steel plug (I'm not running any guages)
• New exhaust bolts for between the cats (I assume most people have to cut these off)

Noted. I had to do the same on my truck. I'll work on getting some hardware together and adding it to future kits when I start the next production run.

Unless these parts are very new on your truck - I consider these cheap insurance and due to replace during the turbo install:

• O2 sensor & replacement nuts - you want your ECU to have correct data for rich/lean
• PCV Valve and Gromet (others can correct me, but this seems like an important one way valve with a turbo)

I may start including those as well. Noted.

 

[Ronny Grady]

I've been traveling for work the last two weeks so couldn't drive the truck.

This weekend I got home and had time to do some more shake down runs. I'm leaking oil from the AN fitting to the turbo on the oil return line. I took out the air intake and tightened the AN fitting down ~2 full revolutions. It's a hard fitting to reach, this time I used the right wrench for the job. Hopefully it stays put.

I also got the air intake trimmed per @NLXTACY 's input so that the tube runs straight:

And finally got the right length vacuum hose installed from the turbo to the Plenum (I'd used the vacuum hose from the kit on my plenum re-build). I ran the top wastegate breather tube up to the firewall.

Assuming my oil leak is stopped, I'll be ready for some wheeling next weekend, no codes so far - I'm ready to rip!

 

[NLXTACY]

Go go go go!!!

 

[NLXTACY]

How has the past month treated you?

 

[Ronny Grady]

The truck is driving great with the turbo. I’m very happy with the power and how the truck drives in general. I’ve put 900 miles on with the turbo setup.

My oil leak is fixed - the OTRAMM video is right, installing the oil exit hose on the turbo before the turbo is on the truck would have been easier. I got it done though!

I’m going to fiddle with the air intake more when I have some time over the holidays. The air intake hose rattles against the air filter container when I’m stationary but in reverse.

I took the truck out for a day wheeling at Hollister. We hit the good stuff including upper Fremontia, Reed trail, and Gusto grade. The turbo went through the day with no drama.

Now I’m waiting patiently for the down pipe blanket and meth injection from you Joey

 

[NLXTACY]

Right on. I was just thinking about your install so figured I'd ping ya. Working on those two items

 

[Shoredreamer]

That turbo is a thing of beauty! Got to see it in person at Hollister.

And I agree, the turbo had no part in the drama that ensued that day hahaha!

 

[Outsane]

Dreamy! Nice work

 

[Ronny Grady]

I've been enjoying the turbo - gunning it from 40 to 80 on the highway and passing traffic makes the cave man in me grunt!

A few weeks back I adjusted the air intake to make 1/4 inch space off the air cleaner. My rattle in reverse is now gone:

I did some more tweaking to the kit over the weekend and made some small changes. I noticed I was leaking a small amount of oil from the vent hose. I changed from the tension clamp to a hose clamp to get a better seal:

I was also leaking a little oil out of the AN fitting for the oil line into the turbo. Note to self: check all the AN fittings are still tight after a few hundred miles:

I noticed that the cheap wire sleeve I'd used 5 years ago to install my auga horn was melting. The truck emits some hot smells after I run it hard - this was likely the culprit. I copied Joey's build thread and covered all my aftermarket and stock wiring around the turbo with TechFlex F6 Woven Wrap to pro-actively address the heat before I have any wiring issues. Better safe than sorry!

 

[NLXTACY]

You aren’t the only one with the vent hose sliding off the tube. I’m gonna research some better hose clamps for that. Or maybe a slightly thicker tube.

 

[haulin auss]

I've been enjoying the turbo - gunning it from 40 to 80 on the highway and passing traffic makes the cave man in me grunt!

A few weeks back I adjusted the air intake to make 1/4 inch space off the air cleaner. My rattle in reverse is now gone:

I did some more tweaking to the kit over the weekend and made some small changes. I noticed I was leaking a small amount of oil from the vent hose. I changed from the tension clamp to a hose clamp to get a better seal:


I was also leaking a little oil out of the AN fitting for the oil line into the turbo. Note to self: check all the AN fittings are still tight after a few hundred miles:

I noticed that the cheap wire sleeve I'd used 5 years ago to install my auga horn was melting. The truck emits some hot smells after I run it hard - this was likely the culprit. I copied Joey's build thread and covered all my aftermarket and stock wiring around the turbo with TechFlex F6 Woven Wrap to pro-actively address the heat before I have any wiring issues. Better safe than sorry!

Looks great! What size F6 wrap did you end up needing to wrap the factory harness?

 

[COYS]

I had a chance to check out Joey’s 80 recently. He was kind enough to gun it around the neighborhood. The added power is palpable and makes the 1fzfe a true daily workhorse in the modern age. The kit looks super clean under hood as well. Something you’d be proud to show off.

I’m def sold on it. Enjoy the drive!

 

[Ronny Grady]

@wbc - I used the 1.5” F6 wrap. It fit well around the stock wiring cables. 1.5” was bigger than required for the MAP connector, but works fine so far.