turbo glide kit install hzj79

[orangefj45]

one of my customers/buddies owns a 79. i had done an ome lift and some other work on it a few months ago. he took it to SNt and has been driving it quite a bit. when i initially worked on the cruiser i mentioned a turbo to him but he was reluctant;"it has enough power and i don't want to reduce the life expectancy of the engine". took some convincing but a couple of weeks ago he called me saying "turbo-glide kit from OZ is on the way via fedex. dropping it off to you asap. hope you don't mind". yeah, like i'm going to say NO to that job. LOL
anyways, got the truck and the kit a little over a week ago. i looked over the kit and instructions. the kit looked great, nice components. the instructions left a little to be desired and some of their 'techniques" seemed odd.
i got off to a good start by following the instructions although they leave a little of the swap up to the installer to figure out. no biggie. remove the air box, unbolt the existing exhaust, take off a few little odds and ends and you're pretty much ready for the install.
the turbo plenum adapter bolted right up. just to make sure everything would work, i did a mock-up first. that's when i ran into the first issues; brake line interferrance. so i removed the oem heat-shield from the chassis and gently bent the brake lines out of the way, making sure they'd be far enough away from the turbo to not heat up the brake fluid.
past of the conversion was to include a set og gauges; a pyro and a boost gauge. i opted to install the pyro in the turbo housing itself for a proper reading. i'd also heard horror-stories of people trying to drill and tap old cast iron exhaust manifolds and having them crack. ran into a slight clearance with the pyro. the best place to drill and tap the turbo housing seemed to be a boss cast in on the back side. mechanically a great spot; the housing is beefed up so there's plenty of wall thickness for threading it and there's good access. problem is that there's very little clearance between the housing and the engine block in that spot. so i tapped the hole at a slight angle downward. i had to use a threaded sleeve so the pyro would'nt bottom out in the housing. according to issopro ( gauge manufacturer ), the pyro should be at least 1/4-1/2" away from the inner wall of the shouing it's tapped into. without the sleeve, the pyro would have bottomed out in the housing. with it, i got 1/2" of clearance.
got that problem solved and the turbo mocked up. i used some heat-shield tubing on the pyro wiring to prevent any heat related issues given the close quaters.

 

[simonliew]

l usually put the pyro probe on the exhaust manifold just before the turbo.
true EGT.
Simon

 

[UpsideDown]

Hey Georg;

We did an install on a Turbo Glide a few weeks ago that a customer supplied (Isuzu truck). I was not that happy with the fit (hit) of the parts and the lack of completeness of the kit (numerous parts not included that should have been). The instructions, though not really needed at the shop level, were pretty much garbage.

There are clearly better turbo systems out there, but price point seems to be a seller for some...

Thanks for posting & hope you put up some more pictures and details (like performance gains).

~John

 

[orangefj45]

l usually put the pyro probe on the exhaust manifold just before the turbo.
true EGT.
Simon

"true EGT"?????????

how do you know? do you really think that there's a whole lot of difference between tapping bottom of the manifold and the location where i placed the pyro?! the thermal tip is literally 3" downstream of where it would have ended up had i tapped the manifold. i bet if you ran pyros in these two locations on the same engine you'd get two almost identical reasons.


this is why i opted to mount the pyro in the turbo housing facing upstream:
1) ease of install since i was able to drill and tap the housing on the bench
2) plenty of wall thickness. i was able to get 7 threads deep
3) easy visual inspection to ensure proper probe location
4) no worries about cracking the manifold
5) no worries about breaking off any of the bolts attaching the heatshield to the manifold
and last but not least, i "consulted" somebody whom i consider an expert. i asked my buddy Chip to stop by and go over the system with me prior to install. he owns and runs a local diesel shop. it's all he's ever done and his reputation proceeds him. so he's installed a few turbos and pyros along the way. fwiw, he also installed a 4BT with an NV4500 in one of his broncos 12 years ago before anybody else was doing it. he also came up with the hydroboost systems in the broncos so his opinion is based on hands-on experience, not hear-say. simply put, he knows his s***. i asked him where he'd put the probe and he said "right there in the turbo housing itself". he then elaborated on the reasons. i have a ton of respect for him and his experience. that's why i installed the pyro in the turbo.

hope this helps.

georg @ valley hybrids

 

[orangefj45]

Hey Georg;

We did an install on a Turbo Glide a few weeks ago that a customer supplied (Isuzu truck). I was not that happy with the fit (hit) of the parts and the lack of completeness of the kit (numerous parts not included that should have been). The instructions, though not really needed at the shop level, were pretty much garbage.

There are clearly better turbo systems out there, but price point seems to be a seller for some...

Thanks for posting & hope you put up some more pictures and details (like performance gains).

~John

hey john.
i agree. the instructions are terrbile. for a novice, they're just enough to get you confused and leaving too much open to "interpetation". to anybody with some experience, they're a good laugh. but the parts fit was very good aside from some interferrance issues.
i like the kit, don't like the instructions and some of the "techniques" are a little odd.

georg

 

[orangefj45]

i'll post more pics and info tonight. the truck is done and running well, but no time right now to finish the thread. gotta go work on cruisers......

georg @ valley hybrids

 

[yooper]

any updates? Did it end up working well? Explode?

I'm contemplating the same thing...

 

[Tapage]

I had better experience with the AXT kits .. not saying that T-Glide kits are bad .. just AXT in my case came with better finish and better instructions ..

I also have both of my EGT probes in the exhaust manifold .. the only issue it's IMOP remove the manifold to tap it right .. haven't yet any problem cracking manifodls ..

 

[maximBJ70]

So are you saying that you tapped the pyro downstream of the airflow of the turbo or upstream???

 

[crushers]

a pyro is a guide to follow.
pre turbo or post turbo doesn't really matter. if you are running at max temps then you need to alter fuel air ratio or change driving habits.
difference between pre and post turbo is roughly 200 degrees.
if i am installing a turbo i will stick the pyro pre turbo.
if it is a truck with the turbo already installed then i put the pyro into the elbo of the turbo.

either or, no biggie.

 

[orangefj45]

sorry i never finished this write-up. i'll try to dig up the pics to complete it.

the truck is running very well and the owner is super happy with it. we did adjust the fuel a little more and are happy with the settings now. since this one, i have installed another kit on an HZ and one on the 2H in my hj47 troopie; both turned out great. i have not installed any of the ATX kits yet but might give them a shot in the future. the service from turbo glide and their communications have been great. the instructions leave a little to be desired.

hth

georg @ valley hybrids

 

[yooper]

good news, thanks! I'm going with a Turbo Glide on my 1HZ...