Probably not worth rebuilding. I'd just find a turbo that suits exactly what you want and buy it. Will cost basically the same. And there are a lot of places that 'rebuild' turbos and send you back something that dies within a few thousand miles

Also the sts kit comes with a crappy oil pump. You definitely want an exa pump. Speaking of I have one for sale, barely used. If you want it give me a holler.

The pumps that come with the STS kit are diaphragm and don't tolerate heat well. Which is ironic. But exa pumps are electric gear driven pumps so they can handle 450degrees oil no problem, and pump from some pretty crazy angles, and run dry indefinitely with no issue.

IMHO you're better off sticking to oil. It's much easier to figure out oil lines for a turbo, and buy a good pump, than figure out the plumbing for coolant all the way to the back of your car. That will probably cause more of a headache for you than doing it right with oil, by a long shot.

Do a search on exa pumps and sts kits. It's a very common upgrade.

 

i was wondering about using a comp turbo on a diy rear mount for a 370z. came to this forum to see what i could find out about the rear mount setups. but as far as being a hassel to run coolant lines vs oil lines how could it be harder? no return pump should be needed right? wouldn't running it inline with the heater hoses have enough pressure? from the small research iv done on these turbos they seem pretty solid with faster spool time aswell, wich i keep hearing mixed reviews on the lag issue on these rear mount kits.

 

Good question. The pressure in the oil system comes from the oil pump. Oil needs to be under high pressure to push through all the squirters, galleys, get in all the quite small spaces of the rotating assemblies, and operate the camshaft advancement gears. So the pump is designed to push fluid quite hard.

The cooling system is designed to be pressurized, not so much for flow, but to raise the boiling temperature of water. For every one psi you increase in the system, the water increases it's boiling point about two degrees. This increase pressure won't help push water to the back of the car, the water pump moves fluid. The water pump wasn't designed to push water all the way to the back, through a turbo and back into the system. It was designed to push through a relatively small block, and a relatively small radiator.

I have heard good things from friends about these turbos, and had an offer to put one on my car for a great price. But, I just didn't like the idea. They're normally pretty f***'n pricey from what I remember. So, if you are willing to figure out the lines, and potential need for a return pump, ontop of the price... Go for it. I've also read some bad things about them.

I know the V-8 guys and I think some guys on Viper Alley dig them. But, the LSX crowd have people who love ebay chinese turbos, and their smallest motors are 4.8's... And the Viper guys... Well they just have enough money to do whatever they want... As well as the shops that are willing to ring up any price they want

If you like them, do more research. There isn't that much out there. When you're building a turbo system, keep it simple. Less crap to fail means more time on the road. So whether that means oil or water for you, whatever. It's your car. Knock yourself out, but I for one don't want to mess with them.

 

Understanding what you're saying, but my personal opinion seems to like the water kit. Yes it is more money, in certain aspects. There are different things to consider when going with/without oil.
Your point about the cooling system not being made to pump that far/hard makes complete sense, however, out of all the reading I have done on these, I have not found one person that has had an issue with the coolant flow. Granted, there are not too many people that have tried these.

And here is one of the more popular viper setups

 

came across a guy with an frs that did a rear mount using the comp turbos, said he just used the line for the heater hose to tap into. looks like he used metal tubing to run the coolant back, perhaps 1/2 or 3/8? everything seemed to workout great for him and no issues with the coolant.

 

If the funds are right when it comes time to do my kit, I plan to attempt the oil less kit.
If funds are not right when it comes time to do my kit, I probably won't be adding forced induction