Hey guys, I have a question. I always wondered why people with newer cars never piece together their own turbo kits. They seem A LOT cheaper from what I've read. People with 240sx's, hondas, miatas, etc are piecing together custom kits for cheap. I've always wondered why s2000 (previous car) and 350z (maybe my next car) or in general and newer car owners don't do this.

I'm sorry if this has been discussed before. I tried to search, but every time i search on this site 98% of the threads that come up have nothing to do with what I searched for.

 

SFR, GTM for VQ35HR, SP racing, intense power all of them do custom TT or single and ooh yaah its not cheaper

 

R&D to actually make everything fit/work and produce good power. Unfortunately, our cars aren't as simple to get good power out of... And yep, it's NOT cheap in relation to other kits on the market (custom shop fabbed or mass produced). Some have tried, but I've yet to see someone produce a monster setup from their garage. Even some of the shops have had big issues along the way...

 

it's all about doing it right...a lot of the homegrown turbos don't add in all the little things they end up buying...fittings...piggy backs...dyno time...broken parts from stupid mistakes...in the end they never produce similar performance unless they reverse engineer someone elses tried and tested system...it takes a lot of skill and know how to do it right. I do a lot of home grown work myself...and i've learned over and over...it's almost always cheaper and better to buy the right parts...now labor you can save some money on...installing yourself...but again...go back to the pro's for tuning...especially if there's someone near you that know's that type of setup.

 

I'm working on a custom setup, only thing is I want to use an existing twin kit's manifolds. I have my eyes on the JWT, and since I have an FX35, everything else would be custom fabricated from there on out.

I get cost on all parts and my brother does welding over @ AMS in West Chicago...

 

The cheapest thing you can do (not that I'm particularly recommending this, just saying) is buying a used F/I kit from another member. To save headaches make sure it is a full kit not missing any nuts bolts washers etc.

 

Simple - most setups that people put together are complete trash because they don't quite know what they're doing and they couldn't create a quality setup to save their life. Even if they can weld, 99 times out of 100 the have only the most basic of fabrication skills and end up with ugly globby *** mig welds, cheater bends, malformed transitions, etc. Most 350Z owners have enough money that they don't want to put trash on their car, but they aren't capable of fabbing up a quality kit themselves, thus they buy one. Most honda, miata, and 240SX owners are typically a different ( younger, poorer) demographic. Not always, but usually.

 

it's not a first timer project,if you have been around turbos and understand the details of fi it is a no brainer and you will save a fortune.but.....if you plan on learning as you go it will cost more than a kit making it an expensive learning experience.without welding skills you should not even try plumbing a system,unless you have deep pockets.