I had a pretty bad month in April, so I decided to spend some time in the garage to find my chi again.
Here is pretty much what happened

It started off with a timing belt install and ended up with a turbo kit install.

Stock is so gay

new timing belt installed

intake removed

stock header with 2 cats

stock midpipe with 1 more damn cat

exhaust manifold test fit

turbo test fit

The turbo didnt fit due to placement issues with the strut tower. The choice was simple, find another manifold, go with a smaller turbo, or get creative. So a little fabrication was in order

Once that was taken care of I needed to get the FMIC mounted. It didnt require a whole lot of work to get the 4" core to fit.

had to get it to stay in place, so a new brace was made

 

finally the crash support was trimmed and fitted over the intercooler. I would have cut out the center portion to allow the intercooler to get more air, but I am going for a slightly modified sleeper look with the GS.

The oil return mount was drilled (oil pan had the outline cast into it so it was damn easy) and tapped

The oil sending line was mocked up with a stainless steel / teflon unit that sucked *****. It was later replaced with a custom made hydraulic line by my local car parts shop. The battery was relocated to the trunk for room, and the fuse box was placed farther back away from the turbo to keep her from getting too hot.

A very good buddy of mine Aaron came by to help out with the install. Poor bastard is getting ready to be famous in a minute. It looks like Modified Magazine decided to use him in an article coming up on Evo X's.

Downpipe modified with the 4 bolt flange, and dump tube.

Thermal wrapped for her pleasure

final install with the turbo. Time to mock up the intercooler piping.

Due to the unique way toyota likes to place the intake manifold, we needed to fabricate the cold side piping by segmenting it JDM style. I am starting to get better at this welding thing.

 

Intercooler piping done, painted and starting to look decent

Pressure checking the system to verify my welds are good and we have no leaks.

Wiring up the fuel controller. It started with just an SAFC, but due to a bad unit and a good friend, I ended up with a NEO.

Bumper on and everything finished up (or so I thought)

I had to go back later and change the Maf over to blow through

You have to be low to see the intercooler


Why yes I am stock, why do you ask?


To celebrate the new power, I decided to step up the size of the tires on the back

This sadly, was a tad bit bigger than the factory had considered reasonable, so a little trimming was in order.

 

due to my new metal shears not working on folded and massively rubberized I had to resort to old trusty.



Thanks to this great product I wont be seeing any rust on my little girl

Sitting pretty


So I found my Chi again, now comes the next project for me.
I plan on building a new block to handle the power I really want to see out of this car, plus swapping over to a 5 spd tranny.
But all of that will come in time.

 

how much power you looking to throw down and how much?

 

with this motor and tranny looking to sit at 300.
With the new motor and tranny, maybe 5. Haven't driven a gs300 with 500 before. Might be nice.

 

Nice build, keep us updated with the build with the new motor..

 

good work homie
bone stock turbo is the way 2 go
how much psi u runnin how is the neo workin for u
i recently also install my neo and it gave me a great uptairs
great sleeper

 

you might want to relocate all the electronics wiring and connectors on the exhaust side towards the coilpack area.

 

Looks like a fun DIY afternoon project, I am sure I can knock this one out in a couple of hours....WOW man, you are the man

 

Just wondering what you started off with, how many miles on motor and tranny and do you plan to upgrade the tranny sometime in the future. If so what mods are you planning?

 

started with a 163K engine bone stock.
tranny will remain stock until the new engine is built. Then I am swapping over to a 5 speed.
only running 7psi. Plan to stay right there until the new engine is ready to roll. Then we get to see how much power these engines can really handle stock bottom, stock head, stock tranny.

 

Very nice start! I can't wait to see what this will progress into. I'm curious to how far you'll push the stock drivetrain!

 

What turbo is that?

 

very nice work. How much time did it take you tart to finishs? a few weekends?