Small-Block Turbo Kit for $699! But Does it Work? 

why is everyone complaining they made a extra 250 hp for $1000 thats gotta be the best deal ive ever seen haha

I got one of these kits (without headers) for a steal and have seen it do 1000hp+ on a Mazda Starlet, the solution to the explosive boost problems was to replace the fake wastegate with a real 50mm progate. Go cheap turbo, piping etc if you want but don't scrape on the wastegate/blowoff valve they are the only things regulating the boost getting in your engine. Also thanks for a wicked video

"This thing makes too much boost." Diesel guys: "Too much boost? What's that?"

Geez when the music(?) kicked in @ 9:35 my heart dropped i thought you guys spun a bearing or something lol

Half metric and half sae, so it's an 80's GM product.

what I got out of this is this... buy the turbo itself. Everything else make yourself or buy from a good company

You guys have the old school knowledge that many people buying these systems on line DO NOT HAVE.... experience is the key.... Great Job Guys!!!!

At 6:16 there's a bird flying around in the dyno room...how many people notice that...lol

without a boost controller, you hook manifold pressure to the bottom Port of the wastegate and leave the top Port open. Then that pressure acts on the spring in the diaphragm thus opening the wastegate at the proper psi... they had the manifold pressure hooked to the top of the gate hence why it kept pegging the boost

i love how Robert Duvall is a Dyno tuner and actor i loved him in Secondhand Lions

When they said they were gonna hit it I thought they were talking about the spark plug at first 😂😂

I did the same turbo build but with a different manifold on my blow through 385ci 89 s10. Don't know the power level but it's set on 10 lb and I've been driving it for 2 years no problems. As long as you do the proper prep work and maintenance it will last for a long time

Just isn't the same not seeing freiburger in that room standing next to the motor....

A very good video, quite surprised me how that turned out with the power

Superb review. So many enthusiast forget just how hard it is to make a good turbo package work AND fit into a car. One thing I'm curious about and wasn't talked about, was what kind of fuel and timing was the engine set at, given the mild cam (which turbos actually like) and old truck style heads. I couldn't tell if they were early generation Vortec heads or not.

I’ve watched this a hand full of times over the last few years it never gets old lol

Thanks guys, this video really helped. It's nice to see people out there helping others & letting them know what really works & what doesn't work. Too many people go out there thinking they know everything & then blow stuff up. This gives me hope for a sleeper that I want to build.

this could have been an engine masters episode

Steve Brule, love watching him dyno he definitely is a wealth of knowledge. Would love to see this kit put on 4.6 Ford 2 valve engine for 97-03 f150. With proper tubing setup for street and economy with say 400 hp!

Would love to see how much it makes right before blowing the engine

Nice video showing what one is getting their self into by buying an eBay turbo kit...but the real question is longevity and reliability. Take that motor and drop it into...well, anything and give it to Freiburger and Finnegan. Have them drive it to Key West and back.

I found with many things, you can either spend more money, or more time. But either way you can't get something for nothing. This was a perfect example of that fact.

That is darned good advice at the end. It applies to so many of the things in our lives. What you put into your brain from firsthand experience, will stay with you for a long time. There is only shame in asking the same question over numerous times. This was very interesting to me. I had a good laugh at the flow path adjustment on the right rear header tube. “Hey Buford, if’n we whack it...........” Job complete.

The way the piping routes under the oil pan reminds me of my 3rd gen camaros exhaust piping style. Squeezes between the crossmember and the oil pan just like that.

13 pounds of boost at 1000 rpm's 😂😂🤣🤣😂💀💀💀

I'd like to know how much extra they spent to actually get the system to work.

I have that little Makita drill. Used it for over ten years. Highly recommend.

“Just like at home” *does it on an engine stand

I'll stick to custom junk yard turbo systems

Very informative, think I will be using tried and proven sets and leaving the mystery builds to the stunt men.

I was waiting for the bottom end to Grenade! So all together it needs a boost controller and a bigger waste gate or two small ones and some metal moving for spark plug clearance. All that for right around $1000….. wonder what it could do on a bone stock 5.3 with a carved intake and an edelbrok carb…??either way that motor should top out at 300-350 and it almost doubled that. Great video! We viewers need a detailed parts list please!!

Awesome video guys. I'm still debating on going turbo or supercharger on my 69 nova...

Might have to buy one of these cheap turbo kits. Actually, an even smaller turbo would be nice. Running a 1985 Ram D-150, built Torqueflite 727 auto trans, Dana 80 rear end, 318 V8, ported and polished stock heads, Comp 268HE cam. 318's enjoy boost. Low compression ratio, and an overbuilt rotating assembly from the factory, with a small bore and stroke.

The old guy looks like Robert Duvall :)

My dad gave me his old 1988 caprice with a stock 350 motor he maintain almost daily for 25 + years and when i got it car had barely 35k miles on it since pops worked from home and was more of a family town car ...first i rebuilt the engine my self top to bottom nothing was spared ...then i added bullet proof parts basically and the correct set up for procharger that was fun then i decided to add a huge turbo and some beautiful custom heads / manifolds and full exhaust to compliment the build and the car ...i didnt want it sound like a hood box chevy..i wanted it to sound like a Chevrolet 9c1 police intercetor that it was born to be ....i love america and its many American cars ....this one fits me like a glove....i also have a 1984 Fleetwood brougham de' elegance 4dr with same exact build.....beautiful Cadillac.........i love america

I plasti-dipped this kit. It looks so good with all the backwards piping....in stuff

“Set to kill” makes perfect sense.

You pay for convenience. If the company took all the guesswork and welding needed out of this setup, it'd be most likely 3 to 4 times as much...good video and good job.

This is amazing!!! That was ridiculous. I have a 350 crate that puts 330hp stock. I can't imagine how amazing my car would be with this.

It's the torque that gets my attention. A mildly built vortec headed three fifty and one of these kits with some good fabrication and you could have some real fun.

I would like to see the final dyno chart if possible please. Thank you.

Steve and Westech are all over RU-vid, lov'n it.

I’m definitely coming to you guys for an installment if I take my car on that route

If you dont run a boost controller you still need to connect the wastegate to boost pressure. Wastegate spring pressure means that if you fit a boost reference line to the top without a controller, the wastegate will open when it reaches that spring pressure. If you dont fit a boost reference, it thinks you're at 0 boost and stays shut.

Do one about an ls engine, like a junkyard 5.3 or 5.7

YES!!!!! Please do more videos like this!!!

Nice video guys, I would like to know more about the carb size, jets, power valve?, pressure to the carb bowls, ignition timing and fuel used.... thanks

Sounds like it'd be a better idea to piece a kit together yourself using a pair of low mileage WRX turbos as they have oil & water plumbed to them and are often sold cheap because the owner upgraded. They're intended for an engine that is 2.5 L at most each. Buy some generic intercooler piping in the proper size on eBay or Amazon. Buy a digital boost controller and a air/water intercooler OR a couple of used stock WRX intercoolers...also prone to being cheap as most swap them out for larger and have a space for a BOV...once again use a factory Subaru BOV as it bolts right on. Get a couple of bell-mouth down pipes and cut them to fit, maybe use a stainless exhaust coupler to join it up to the 3" exhaust. It would work well with a cheap Holley TBI kit that is user tuneable but use a boost referenced fuel pressure regular. Finally make sure to get a set of gauges to monitor your boost and fuel/air ratio. The aftermarket downpipe will be likely equipped with a wideband O2 bung for this. You'll have to come up with headers and flanges that will mate to the turbos and you'll be able to use the carb hat they showed BUT it'll be reliable and inexpensive as those turbos if cared for will go 200k miles or more. You WILL have to work for it a bit but no more than you would if you bought a cheap China kit. This is how I'd do it...on a budget with parts that I know work.

Damn makes me want to buy this kit now. Thats some great numbers for a old 305 👍

The hot side parts of this kit are a clone of a hot side kit originally sold by a company called BBS Designs. It is made to fit the 3rd generation F-Bodies. It was based on a custom passenger side manifold (which is why the flange on that side is so square/homemade looking) and a cheaper "shorty" driver side header from ebay/pacesetter/whatever which is why that side looks like a real aftermarket part. The crossover is in the same place where all the late 70's through 90's RWD SBC single exhaust cars have had it. Right between the oil pan and the cross member. Because it is made to fit the odd packaging for factory 3rd gen F-Bodies, with a few small compromises, it is not generally good as a "universal" SBC. Even in a 3rd gen F-Body it required plenty of fitment modification. I am a sort of third gen historian. Others know this stuff too, but there are less and less of us left all the time. Now you have the information.

I think the boost built so quick and high mainly because the stock heads aren't flowing as well as a set of performance heads/ ported and polished etc. The measurement of boost psi is the resistance to flow. A better setup would flow a lot better and you wouldn't see such a boost spike. But is what it is for what it is.

I built a DIY kit from ebay parts back in 2009 or so for my Lexus GS300. I easily hit 500hp on 100% methanol injection and did everything except 1 exhaust weld off the downpipe in my friends driveway. Total cost was around $1,000 including the turbo which was far cheaper than Supra stores "cheap" turbo kit which I modeled mine on.

Seven hundred dollar turbo kit and fifteen grand worth of specialist labour to make it run properly!!!

I like this. A build that will fit my poor ass budget. I would really like to know how long this setup would last in a daily driver under very moderate abuse.

This vid is awesome. I'm doing this exact setup on my sbc but it actually has forged pistons bored over .70, Big cam,double hump heads fully rebuilt. Would like to know exactly what extra blow off valve y'all had to get to control the boost control and what regulator as well. Please get back to me asap

Very well made video! In depth on the kit as well

"were going to build it like everyone else does" on that couple thousand dollar dyno?

I say if you want to buy a cheap turbo buy a cheap turbo take it to a diesel or performance shop and have them digitally balance the inducer and turbine as well as inspect the oil and water seals(if it uses water) that way you should be able to get years of use out of it instead of the possibility of it grenade-ing then just source your other parts elsewhere

The blow off valve adapter is a smaller size because it should go on the hot side of the turbo system. You want a smaller diameter pipe directly after the turbo and gradually step it up to the intercooler. After the intercooler you want your 3 inch .

Another question i was looking to be answered was, how long would the Turbo hold up, Turbos are really bad about shredding bearings or the Boost falls off because of Vein wear. Anyway, Y'all done a good job of showing just what to expect, Blowing up your Engine because of Boost Control is not good, again, THANK YOU!

This is good stuff, Hot Rod. Keep it up!

They have the manifolds on the wrong sides. Surely if they could weld an extra wastegate on thay could mod the crossover pipe to clear the engine dyno mount.

Thank you for buying that turbo kit and putting it on a regular motor. Not all of us can afford Forged this and that plus name brand turbo system. It's fun to truly hot rod your ride over the weekend and just have fun driving the crap out of the car. Some people just think every build is going to be show car caliber. Not me 😂.

Hay thanks for the vid I'm impressed ; been evaluating a boost system for my 02 GMC 2500 4x4 because I pull weight with it most of the time this vid was very interesting

Don't know about you guys, but I think I will pony up the extra green for something that fits a little better. CRX Racing comes to mind.

You got it to work on the Dino but I would now like to see you put that in a car

hell i barely got the motor in itself , i couldnt imagine pulling it out again and adding all this pipe and it actually fitting under my square body hood but damn id love tf out of this type of upgrade..

That cool old cat Steve Brule looks like Robert Duvall’s twin brother. Cool video by the way. Totally amazing how much HP and torque it put out after some major modifications.

the fly that flew infront of the camera - i thought it was in my room

I bet this kit was designed for a right hand drive vehicle. It came from Asia on the cheap. Sounds logical to me. The exhaust would have been routed properly and not be interfering with the steering or brake systems.

Great video guys! No goofy stuff and it was real obvious that you are all professionals.

Great vid, Is it me or the Dyno guy looks like Robert Duvall in gone in 60 seconds movie 🤣🤣🤣

Now, show how this is installed in the truck. The way you have it shown in the video, it would never fit.

the restriction you talked about could indeed help

Aight Looks like I'll need to buy two of these for my Cad 500 build. One for each bank.

I have a 2008 Chevy Silverado 1500 5.3 L I am very interested in looking to do a kit like this all my truck but from seeing what you guys did in here and what you guys said is there any way you would be able to respond with the list of what I would need to change in the kit in order to make a function on my truck without blowing it up I would greatly appreciate it you guys are awesome and I love watching you please help me out thank you

A cast crank going over 600 ftlb and 500 hp is kind of scarry

6:16 fly by

A tire shop next to my performance shop wanted me to put a Banks turbo on his Chevy PU. I refused and he wanted to know why. I replied that unless I built him an engine to handle it, he'd have nothing but trouble and fried pistons. Well, he had his guys install the turbo and he came by and did a burnout to prove me wrong. A week later I had his truck in the shop removing his TURBO and rebuilding/replacing his burnt and cracked cast pistons and doing a valve job. "I TOLD YOU SO GARY" and took his money, and the turbo in part payment.

I was waiting for that senior technician to say "Like a streamline butterfly"

This was a fun video to watch, these guys are real life MacGyvers. I doubt most of us weekend backyard mechanics/hotrodders could pull this off. You get what you pay for like Steve said.

"Once we got it running, it was actually kind of fun" hahaha boost has that effect on people!

Damn good little setup right there. I think I may do that for my 4.3 V6 and run e85 and do away with the intercooler.

Steve Brule is the dyno master! love watching him do what he does best, make horsepower!

Why couldn't the turbo be turned forward with the compressor housing clocked or am I missing something?

twin turbo set up ????? im getting ideas here

Could you cut the flange and spin it to point turbo right direction?

Did you have a blow through carb? what did you set your timing at and did you have to pull timing as boost went up ? if so what did you do it with?

I have the same setup on a tpi system works great. I made a short 5" extension to deal with the exhaust clearence issues added a second $25 waste gate. And she'll push 20 psi all day long.

I've seen this a million times tuning peoples cars with "ebay" turbo kits on them. The issue more often than not is not the wastegate is inadequate, often it's their lack of quality control. I've seen them come in with either missing or too small of firing rings causing leaks. I've also seen them come in missing washers or lose bolts around the plunger causing them to leak. While I DO NOT recommend these cheap kits, sometimes you get lucky and I've seen them work. I will say this, IF you must run one, I always recommend you disassemble the wastegate and loctite it together and do your own quality control of sorts, you have a MUCH better chance of success with these. Again, I don't recommend it, but if you must, be sure your wastegate is all good and test it after.

Did you remove the cover on the blow off valve to check the spring? On Chinese blow off valves they sometimes put multiple springs inside for shipping. There are usually 2 or 3 springs for different boost pressures.

I bought the twin turbo kit for my mustang and there is literally 1 inch between turbo on driver's side and the master cylinder. That's before downpipe which would never fit. Also passenger side I had to make an adapter. Finally got fed up and just put a nitrous kit. Not to mention took 3 hours to mount headers. Bought set of bbk and had them on in 20 minutes literally.

So this is what Robert Duvall is doing after Days of thunder. 😄😂😂😂

I Wana know where they got those amazon valve covers for $29.99. cheapest I found was $70

After the plumbing, it is all about tuning, and good monitoring.

So would that work in a rear engine Porsche with a Chevy v-8 conversion . I’m thinking the turbo facing that way would be easy to exhaust

The wastegate placement is the issue, not the gate size. That 38mm gate can easily regulate boost down far enough to be at safe levels. Done it many times on LS engines that flow more. Gate feed needs to be perpendicular to flow. The kits WG placement and your added WG is at a 90* angle to flow...that's horrible placement.

Yeah but how much was that blow through carb?

very informative video!! well done guys

I just can't get enough of videos like this!