Hello ladies and gents, with a few hundred dollars, some scrap yard finds and a little trading labor I built a vgt turbo kit for cheaper than you could get a used banks or similar kit for.

I've tried that route before and just wasn't pleased with it, so off it came and onto the brain storming.

These are the main criterias that made me choose the vgt route
1: I wanted acceptable turbo spool
2: I wanted to be able to hear the turbo
3: I wanted something that was built with ease of working on it in mind.
4: An exhaust brake would be cool right?

I chose a 6.0 powerstroke turbo for several reasons
1: They are about the cheapest used turbo you will find (main reason)
2: If you get the 03-early 04 variant they scream
3: I wanted V band flanges vs t3/t4

Below is the complete parts list of what I bought, price paid, and what not.

Charge pipe couplers $19 for both with clamps (cheap but surprisingly thick and decent quality although the clamps seem cheap)

2.5" and 3" v band flange/clamp kits 12$ each (weld on all stainless steel)

I used axle over from a 94 dodge 2500 with the v10 that I acquired for free years ago. It's 3" stainless (factory) and has nice mendrel bends. (Hot pipe donor)

One junkyard 6.0 turbo charge pipe $4 (passenger side, charge pipe donor)

One universal turbo feed inlet flange to an $12

One 81" oil feed line (1/8" to 90 at an3) $40

Two 2"x50 feet header wrap $15 (found a good deal on purple)

One Stainless steel 3.5" ultra tight mandrel 90 for downpipe $22

One 3"x6" K&N style air filter $9

One 60 psi air compressor gauge $7 (back pressure gauge)

One 15psi fuel pressure gauge $15 (boost)

Three various 2.5" to 3" exhaust couplers $12

Eight feet of copper line $12 (back pressure cool down coil)

Various compression fittings/npt adapters $30

1/4" vinyl tubing 10$ (boost and back pressure lines)

One four barrel carb gasket for the intake hat $3

One 3/4" nipple $5 (oil drain)

Traded $100 labor for a blown turbo, half of a downpipe, used hot pipe, turbo drain, and Chinese rebuild kit that retails for $20 (will be replaced with genuine garret asap, All the parts above were basically left overs for a Cummins swap roller) I used the hot pipe strictly for the flange (which you can purchase seperate for under $10, the turbo drain to cut and reweld as its a slip in with an oring, I used the down pipe for necessary bends and for the flange as well. Both came with clamps so you can't beat that.

I used some flatstock and angle iron for the turbo mounts, both came from a scrap yard $5

Mounting bolts for the turbo came with the rebuild kit (m8x1.25 iirc)

Now I used some junkyard finds Banks parts too,

Turbo hat from first gen kit

Blow by vent adapter (could be built easily with some plate and a piece of pipe)

Intake 90 with cdr mounting provision (van specific) (could also be easily built)

I had probably 25$ in these parts but they're not cheap separate on ebay. Any intake hat will work and the rest I would build.

Some 3/4" and 1" heater hose for blow by vent and oil drain $10 (will later be replaced with gates oil rated hose (available at the local John Deere) with the sweet price tag of 10$/foot but virtually lasts forever)

Various hose clamps $10 (had these on hand)

6.0 battery tray $8 (can't remember which side it was already pulled)

6.0 stock exhaust 3.5" that was deleted (free take off from my brother when he upgraded)

Battery terminal with stud and 14" 2/0 cable with eyes $20

Cool tape insulation tape that I had left over from a previous job $15

Rc controller that lets me manually adjust the turbo. Aka the "glorified adjustable wastegate" option $10


So now onto the build

First the fender well wiring got cleaned up and 're routed the wiring around the a/c dryer, the glow plug relay (currently not used was moved to the fender)


Turbo mock up teaser pic



Next was to cut out the fender well plastic



The battery got relocated to the drivers side, I removed both the coolant resivore and the washer fluid tank which I plan to add in later. The coolant one really isn't needed, just don't overfill the radiator, I didn't get any pics of the tray mounting but I basically cut off the mount for the resivores and bent the ears to over lap onto the older tray and it got welded to that and tacked to the fender and then used one existing bolt hole. I reclocked the passenger side ground cable at the block and it reached, barely but it did it.



Next I mounted the turbo to one fuel filter housing bolt and the alternator pivot bolt. The alternator bracket was later bossed around the flanges and stacked with a second piece of angle





The turbo is clocked at a 45 degree angle because I didn't feel like making a new exhaust housing alignment pin hole but I will if I have to, so far no trouble. If it was straight the drain would need a 45 anyways. I did reclock the cold side housing which required a bit of work with a file on one mounting ear.

Next was to build the hot pipe, which is three different pieces, mainly because I wanted something easily removable, and v band flanges vs bolted ones with gaskets.


Left angle was later changed to a 90 straight down (I just recut it)


Now the intermediate pipe that sneaks by the fire wall, it's also 3" like the one above but slightly crushed oval in a press, I forgot to take pictures until after I wrapped it


Both of these pipes were built from the dodge axle over, but it took all the bends to make it happen

Next I built a 90 and then some off the factory y pipe, it then meets this pipe with a v band flange. I did this with it on the truck. Here's a later on and installed pic

You can also get a good view of the back pressure cool down coil and 1/4" npt bung I welded into the pipe (done with 110v flux core and I know, it isn't purdy)

Now onto the charge pipe!
Built from the single 6.0 passenger side charge pipe and two 2.5" to 3" exhaust couplers




Notice the banks hat I used

Now the turbo drain, and flange


Factory 6.0 drain cut and rewelded


I put a bunch of silicone around the oring and shoved it into the turbo and used a clamp to hold the drain to one of the braces, it's a bit unorthodox but it's been holding so far.

This is the drain flange, i used a hole saw bit to drill a 7/8" hole in the front side of the oil pan and used jb weld and self tapping screws to mount it. Just use grease on the bit and clean it regularly. I later used a magnet just to see if I could find any shavings in the pan, next to none


I predrilled then ran the self tapping screws in. A short drill such as a Milwaukee 12v is a life saver!

Next was to basically install everything



You can see the hose for the blowby adapter that sandwhiches between the oil fill and the timing cover



Isn't that a snazzy 9$ air filter

Cheap but functional boost and back pressure gauges

I used some cool tape (good for 1500 degrees apparently) on the ac line and later added it to the dryer even though it was just above warm on the hand test. I used a couple feet of left over header wrap around where the flange is


Now for some exhaust pics, pardon all the mud it's been a bit wet here lately



But hard to tell but that's a 8" cherry bomb


8x15 mbrp tip


I need to build a sheet metal fender well skin as some dirt and mud do slash up.

Well folks, what a read, but there's still just a bit more to go!

Tools I used for anyone curious

Sawzall
Drill/drill bits
Angle grinder with every type of disc
220v mig welder with argon gas
110v for the exhaust bung because I was too lazy to move the big one closer
Portable bandsaw mounted to a table jig (this thing was a life saver for all the different angles) https://youtu.be/9s_H9xgcXuk
Hydraulic press
Plenty of wrenches, screw drivers and hammers ect

Special thanks goes out to;

91dirtydiesel as I used his turbo location and worked off of it
Here's his YouTube link https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCdSgYZmsSggZ34QYJkzxh-A
User profile here https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/member.php?u=488653
He also has a vgt but a he351ve off a 6.7 cummins

My dad who helped a lot with the whole project

My brother for the exhaust

My buddy for the turbo deal and extras

Hairyboxnoogle for the talks about various turbo sizes as I almost started a different project

My personal unofficial sponsors Marlboro and Lone Star for all the late nights brainstorming how I would make this dream a reality. There were a lot of skeptics, but all in all this was my project that I did for me and I couldn't be more satisfied. She'll bury that 15 psi boost gauge if you don't watch it and whistles like a siren. And holy exhaust brake is it handy to be able to choke that turbo down when you need to stop. I haven't hardly touched my brakes since. I think the turbo brake is more of a winner than the added power!

I've got 350$ in this whole project, I think it could be replicated for roughly 750$ (also the value of a used kit that's complete so keep that in mind) I can't complain for what I have in it, most of it involved luck, persistence, and being a thrifty fella

I've got roughly 25 hours in this project. I did it in pieces so the last day in ten hours it was all on and finished. I didn't want any downtime as this is my DD and work rig.

I've got a valley pan leak to fix, as well as valve covers and I'll be over torquing the stock head bolts to get some extra insurance until they blow and I'll do studs (they're only two years old)

I also plan to intercool as I scored a 99-03 7.3 intercooler in next to new shape for $50!

This is my first proper write up, sorry it was so much I just wanted to get it all done in one go as I'm a masochist and I'm not happy until it's done.

If you made it this far hats off, I've been sitting here half the night. Have one on me and keep trucking along

Maybe tomorrow I might get a YouTube video up for yal

Edit: I've had this on for about two weeks, I wanted to give it a bit before I posted incase I met inevitable failure or had to revise something, so far so good!

 

Definitely like to see the videos once you get them uploaded.

 

Nice write up

 

Thanks! I really need to figure out a fender well for around the turbo as it puts quite a bit of mud and such into the engine bay. I'm thinking some kind of sheet metal that I can bolt to the plastic liner in a few places will do the trick.

I thought about maybe a big mudflap as if would be flexible but the turbo would need a blanket and those fetch roughly $150

It doesn't have to be so much water proof, just keep the mud out as I get off pavement almost every day.

 

hot Turbo splashed with cold water would never be a good thing... that Cast Housing could Crack, so ya I think you will be good with a piece of Sheet Metal.

 

Awesome write up. I would love to do something like that on my upcoming 6.9 project.

 

Awesome work and awesome write-up! That thing must sound wicked!

 

So I had my first failure yesterday, luckily it was the cheap Chinese solder on the pot, or lack there of. I was able to resolder it to the board but I had to do both sides to get it to work properly and not have any play.

I'll be ordering a spare controller or two..this thing is just so damn fun now and my DD so I'd prefer to avoid as much down time as possible.

I plan to setup another controller for the turbo/exhaust brake. When I do this I'll cover a bit more of how these boxes work. It's really simple and anyone could do the wiring.

Still haven't had a chance to get a video up for you guys. I need to figure out how to do that from my phone as the computers broken (motherboard failure) so until I get around to it please be patient.

 

Appreciate the shoutout, dunno if i was any help, but i know sometimes you just need to bounce ideas to get the right creative juices flowing.

Want to know more about this.

 

awesome write up. Can't wait to see a video.

 

Managed to get a video today,

 

Wow sounds like instant spool! Do you have anything on how you control the vgt with a remote?
very cool, what exhaust manifolds did you use?
where is the purple pipe running from???

 

In that video I had the housing adjusted pretty tight to get that whistle, stock manifolds, the purple pipe comes from the manifolds.

If you look closely at the pictures I posted you'll see what I'm talking about

 

So you are using turbo manifolds or you just built a crossover for the factory manifolds than runs on top of the engine?? Sorry it was alot of reading in your post.

 

Turbo vs na manifolds are the same, I'm even still using the factory y pipe for now then it's rerouted to the fender to feed the turbo.

Later I plan to build my own y pipe that flows better and from 2.5" to 3" then up. After the y it's all 3"