Articles » Turbo Kits 101

Now that you have all the items, lets start off by removing the exhaust manifold / headers. It is 9 nuts. You will need a 14 mm socket and if possible, a big socket wrench. The bigger (Longer), the better! Because you will need to use less force with a big socket wrench. You may need to spray some WD-40 on them to loosen them. From the bottom, disconnect the exhause manifold / header flange from the catalyic convertor. It is only 2 bolts. You may need to spray some WD-40 on them to loosen them. Also, disconnect the O2 sensor! You will need a big wrench to loosen it. If it does not come off, disconnect the harness and remove it later with the exhaust manifold / headers is OFF the car.

Now try to pull the exhaust manifold out from the BOTTOM. If it does not move, then there are probably two bolts somewhere holding the exhaust manifold to the block. Loosen those and then pull out the whole manifold.

Now that is off, the next step, you will need to REMOVE the oil pan to tap that oil return brass that you bought from Home Depot! First, drain the oil!

Then you may remove the oil pan. To do this, you will need a 12 inch socket and a LOT of patience because there are 19 nuts/bolts that hold the oil pan to the block. Also, on one side of the oil pan, there are probably 2 or 3 bolts that are blocked. To get to those, you will need to remove the Flywheel cover. It is approximately 4-5 bolts. Two 17 mm and Three 14 mm I believe.

Now, if the oil pan does not come out, just tap on it slightly with a rubber malet or with your palm. It should come off with ease. Now clean it out with degreaser or the like. Use dishwashing soap and keep spraying water. It may take a while to clean it. Then rub it clean with paper towels. Now, you will need to get some drill bits. For the oil return line, try to keep it as HIGH up on the oil pan as possible! And drill the hole on the opposite side of the drain plug. Remember, keep it HIGH as possible! Start with the smallest drill bit and drill.

The hole should look like this:



Then try to screw the barbed return fitting. Keep widening the hole until you have a snug fit. The inside of the oil pan should look like this with the Home depot oil return fitting:



Once it is snug, get out the JB weld. Use some JB weld around the return fitting. Make sure it looks leak free. Then once your done, get some black high temp spray paint and spray the return fitting so it looks OEM. Clean all the metal shavings out from the oil pan and then if you want reclean it again with soap. If the oil pan gasket looks fairly new, you can reuse it. However, when in doubt, buy a new one! They are $30 at the Honda/Acura dealership. Bolt it back on. Installation is reverse of removal!



Next, we will prep the oil line for the turbo. To do this, look next to the OIL FILTER. On the left side of the oil filter, you will see an oil sensor which has some sort of rubber boot on it. Disconnect the wire, or just cut it off if your lazy (You can solder it back or tape it back later). Then, using a 23 mm DEEP SOCKET, remove that oil sensor. You will see oil come out slightly. This is how your turbo will get its oil!!

Using the stainless steel oil line that you bought from Summit racing, connect it to the hole. The other end will later connect to the turbo unit.

Now once all that is done, here is the FUN part. With the nice T3 turbo in hand, connect it (Screw it on) to the Revhard / Drag turbo manifold. There are approximately 4 bolts. Next, connect the downpipe to the turbo. Bolt down the wastegate to the turbo manifold.

Now, with the help of a friend, raise the whole big ass unit up from BENEATH and connect the manifold to the exhaust ports. Put the nuts on but do not tighten them yet. Also, you can reuse the exhaust manifold metal gasket. But if in doubt, replace it. Its only $20.

Align the downpipe so that it connects the Catalyic convertor. If it does not fit, you will need to modify the downpipe slighty. Buy a 2.5 inch flex pipe and two exhaust clamps. Cut the downpipe anywhere and cut off about 5 inches or so. You will need to use your imagination! The flex pipe will alow for the downpipe end to move around so you can connect to the cat convertor flange.

If your downpipe does NOT have a flange to connect to the Cat convertors flange, get one welded on. They are around $10.

Also, make sure the compressor side faces straight downward. If it doesn't, you will need to rotate it. To rotate it, loosen the bolts on the turbo's compressor side. Do not remove. Now rotate it and tighten the bolts down once its pointing straight down. Make sure the oil return is facing STRAIGHT down! You will need to clock/rotate the turbo. Just loosen the bolts and mess around with it until both oil return and compressir side's port is facing straight down.