Aside of a pile of other issues this project has given me, I'm in the process of reinstalling my freshly rebuilt 6.9. I am also adding a Banks Sidewinder system, I'm having a few issues getting everything to fit correctly. Once I get the turbo feed/inlet manifold installed, go to bolt the turbo assembly to that it hits the firewall long before it gets anywhere near where it should be. It makes me wonder if I have the inlet manifold not installed correctly. Is it supposed to lay tight against the back of the engine? I do have the support leg sitting on top of the transmission adapter bracket. Also the downpipe won't even begin to fit down behind the engine. I did trim and fold the pinch weld in the tunnel area. Any ideas what I could be doing wrong? At this point I'm so frustrated with it, I'm tempted to sell the turbo kit and run it NA.

 

Which Banks do you have? The early non-gated ones had different pipes for auto vs manual. The wastegated one should fit either... but there were van kits as well. If it's that far off I wonder if you have the wrong kit for your truck.

 

Sorry I should have been more specific. It is the wastegated version, it came out of an 88-91 truck with the 7.3 engine. It's been a long time ago now, but I seem to recall the truck having a ZF transmission in it.

 

That's odd. It should be lining up better than that. I know the install can be a real pain, but it should fit your truck Hopefully someone with some install experience will chime in. I had one and read the manual but never installed it.

 

I did download the instructions, I printed and put them in a small 3 ring binder. I've gone over them multiple times looking for errors. I'm going to try a couple other things to see if that helps. At this point the only way this thing is going to work as I see it, is a small body lift. I agree it doesn't make any sense.

 

When I did my no. Waste gated the instructions stated you had to modify the firewall. I used hammers, pipes 4×4,. I also took the factory heat shield off. The mounting pedestal bolts to the back of the engine not the transmission. Rip off the plastic shield on the fire wall .

 

I removed the heat shield as well. The firewall lip is folded flat, but that is not the issue. The lower part of the cowl where it's spot-welded to the actual firewall is where the turbo is hitting. The turbo inlet manifold is so close to the firewall, the down pipe won't fit in there. No shield on the firewall.

 

What shape are the body mounts in? If they are tired, new ones might give you enough clearance (perhaps)?

 

I installed new poly body mounts about 7 years ago. They're still in good shape. I was thinking about getting some 1" body lift spacers if I can't figure out what's going on with it.

 

Pictures, please.

 

Unfortunately I don't have the means to post up pictures at the moment. Hturner12 PMed me with some pictures of his truck, and what he had to do to his firewall to make things fit. Did anyone else have to do any massaging of the firewall to make it work? I've had some time to think about it, I have a couple ideas to try.

 

i am wondering if you are mounting the turbo bracket properly. my non wastgated unit bolts to the back of passenger side head, no where near the trans adapter plate.

 

I'm sure that is entirely possible. Unfortunately I don't have all the support brackets for the turbo inlet pipe. It uses two according to the instructions, one bolts to the very top bellhousing bolt on the drivers side. The other actually is two brackets, the first one is held in place by two of the intake manifold bolts on the passenger side; second to the last cylinder. Then it looks like a flat plate bracket from there to the inlet pipe. I'm pretty confident that I could make all the brackets needed. Now I'm beginning to think I should probably just order them from Banks. That should put everything into correct alignment. Any takers on that thought? I sure would hate to go through the trouble of building a nice new engine and not top it off with a turbo, that would be very disappointing.

 

Banks had great customer service.

 

I have heard that they do. I bought my turbo used so I have yet to do business with them. I'll have to contact them and see what I can come up with.