True costs of a sloppy turbo build?
- Thread starter Bob Kazamakis
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Sloppy Mechanics Wiki - Colorado Dont BS Me Build
2005 Base model 4 cyl Colorado chassis 2002 4.8 totally stock other than a Elgin/Jegs/Summit/trickflow 228/230 "sloppy stage 2" cam and Pac1218 valvesprings intake to oil pan i took the stock harness and shipped it to Andy Bryant at LSX Specialties for a rewire i decapped the stock inejctors from
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I used HP tuners and stock computer/harness since I already used HP for other trucks. My biggest single costs were injectors and the engine/trans. Everything else was under $200ish, even the china turbo. I never really tallied the total cost, but i'd picture it under the $2500 mark not including the vehicle.
Just did a small spreadsheet, I'm in it for $2850, but I offset a ton of cost by selling the old engine/trans, parting out the donor truck. I also didn't include HP tuners cost, though I could probably add $100 for credits.
I think it all really comes down to how sloppy you really want to go. I might not have done it with an LS but that means it should be even easier for you. I bought all of my parts brand new so there's that.
Ying yang spinny thang - $300
Precision wastegate - I think $250
EMUSA Intercooler - $100
Ebay aluminum charge pipe kit - $80
Steel mandrel bends from various suppliers - roughly $100
Two oddball pipe couplers - about $50
V-bands - $60
80# injectors - $270
AEM in-tank Fuel pump - $125
Delphi to Bosch injector adapters from Amazon - $30
Hot wire kit - Free because I made it out of stuff from my hoard
Dyno tuning the stock ECM - $800 including gas and trailer rental
Odds and ends including pipe plugs, paint, welding materials, and gaskets - Let's call it $150
I think that's all the bare bones that it took to get mine turboed. All of the above equals to about $2155, but doesn't include things like my header wrap, AC delete stuff, gauges, radiator, hoses, ect. The less you care the cheaper it is. lol You can save a lot of dough by buying used stuff.
Ying yang spinny thang - $300
Precision wastegate - I think $250
EMUSA Intercooler - $100
Ebay aluminum charge pipe kit - $80
Steel mandrel bends from various suppliers - roughly $100
Two oddball pipe couplers - about $50
V-bands - $60
80# injectors - $270
AEM in-tank Fuel pump - $125
Delphi to Bosch injector adapters from Amazon - $30
Hot wire kit - Free because I made it out of stuff from my hoard
Dyno tuning the stock ECM - $800 including gas and trailer rental
Odds and ends including pipe plugs, paint, welding materials, and gaskets - Let's call it $150
I think that's all the bare bones that it took to get mine turboed. All of the above equals to about $2155, but doesn't include things like my header wrap, AC delete stuff, gauges, radiator, hoses, ect. The less you care the cheaper it is. lol You can save a lot of dough by buying used stuff.
This is your starting point:
If you follow that to the T, there's your price for a don't bs me clone.
If you follow that to the T, there's your price for a don't bs me clone.
Nice, thanks! I already have most of the big ticket stuff (engine, drivetrain and car) so that helps
omg a spread sheet
Whoa guys, I'm not taking credit for this, this is Matt Happel's Don't BS me spreadsheet from sloppymechanics.com
If you guys haven't checked out the wiki, you need to:
sites.google.com
Sloppy Mechanics Wiki
Apparently we are on the new version of the google sites/wiki, so be prepared for a different look. If you have no idea what you are doing here, maybe check out this video below for a kickstart
sites.google.com
hey
it's a spreadsheet. i dont care the content nor the source. i just FUCKING LOVE SPREADSHEETS OKAY
dont bs me build is a poster child for economical hp, exactly what is already posted, my spreadsheet for the build,
depending on skill, costs in your area, and goals for the project,
depending on skill, costs in your area, and goals for the project,
Stuff that will save you in costs too is slow down the build a little bit. A lot of people like to go and purchase everything in one time. There is a difference in being lazy and not building it, and starting at one point and moving up. Good thing is if you buy stuff off ebay put stuff in your cart, or watch it even if you are the fence. Stuff like intercoolers, piping, exhaust tubing, etc will either go on sale or they see you have it in you cart and are watching it. I have saved tons of money taking what I consider crazy deals on stuff that the seller has discounted for me to buy. So far everything I bought has been great and I have saved a few hundreds.
IF you want get really picky and it's a single build you can go a few ways. TermX is the easiest setup by itself for entire tuning setup, period. If you want to do a little work and the information IS already on a platter as well you can grab a stock harness and PCM and get an MPVI2 and 2 credits. Depending on where you are at it can all be had for under $500. But it does take some labor hours to de-pin, cleanup, etc. Winter is a good time to sit down and do that stuff (here in MN it is).
Then the big stuff like turbo, gates, fueling, etc you can determine where to go. All my stuff is super generic so 90% of my entire build is OEM stuff and ebay china crap. To give you an idea, my entire hotside, turbos (twins), wastegates, coldside, intercooler, and entire fuel system back/front ran me just under $1K. This is enough for a 600 whp setup. Basically that is an entire turbo kit and fueling you could go put on a stock LS truck/car and be done.....you just have the tuning yet. My case I already have HPT so $50 for a PCM and entire harness, $40 for braided loom and extra wire/ heat shrink, plug in and go.
So long story short, can be done for much less if you are thrifty and don't speed through the purchase portion of it, but work the build at a normal day by day, hour by hour pace and let random deals fall your way. Use car-part.com on oem stuff to find cheap items in your area that you wont find on marketplace or ebay.
IF you want get really picky and it's a single build you can go a few ways. TermX is the easiest setup by itself for entire tuning setup, period. If you want to do a little work and the information IS already on a platter as well you can grab a stock harness and PCM and get an MPVI2 and 2 credits. Depending on where you are at it can all be had for under $500. But it does take some labor hours to de-pin, cleanup, etc. Winter is a good time to sit down and do that stuff (here in MN it is).
Then the big stuff like turbo, gates, fueling, etc you can determine where to go. All my stuff is super generic so 90% of my entire build is OEM stuff and ebay china crap. To give you an idea, my entire hotside, turbos (twins), wastegates, coldside, intercooler, and entire fuel system back/front ran me just under $1K. This is enough for a 600 whp setup. Basically that is an entire turbo kit and fueling you could go put on a stock LS truck/car and be done.....you just have the tuning yet. My case I already have HPT so $50 for a PCM and entire harness, $40 for braided loom and extra wire/ heat shrink, plug in and go.
So long story short, can be done for much less if you are thrifty and don't speed through the purchase portion of it, but work the build at a normal day by day, hour by hour pace and let random deals fall your way. Use car-part.com on oem stuff to find cheap items in your area that you wont find on marketplace or ebay.
I want to add, if you are trying to find oem LS parts, join every Corvette forum you can find. When I was looking for HP Tuners, LS3 intake manifold, G8 manifold, etc, I was cruising all the Corvette forums multiple times a day. Those guys have money to waste and basically throw good stuff away for pennies.
One man's trash is another's treasure. I scored a used HPTuners pro for $200, brand new ls3 intake Mani for cheap (had like 43 miles before previous owner took it off for a Fast) and a couple other cheap odds and ends.
One man's trash is another's treasure. I scored a used HPTuners pro for $200, brand new ls3 intake Mani for cheap (had like 43 miles before previous owner took it off for a Fast) and a couple other cheap odds and ends.
absolutely comes down to just how sloppy you wanna be lol. also comes down to how much money you want to admit you've spent lol, a lot of guys dont include little shit laying around their garage and odds and ends that not everyone just has laying around. its like watching roadkill doing budget builds, " oh I got this 496 just laying in the shed that makes 750hp and a dominator carb that I just happened to have from another build so we wont include that in our budget lol.
The small shit was kind of where I was hoping people would go. I’ve done plenty of projects that doubled because of the small odds and ends (like my m21 swap on my car)
Thankfully I’ve got the entire donor car (was my dd till it was smashed by a drunk).
the money some of us have in an fittings laying in totes in our garage is worth thousands, but then get half a dozen or more of them thrown on builds and the price isn't really taken into considerations. not everyone uses them but many do so its just an example of what I mean. electrical stuff and all that jazz adds up when you actually sit down and count EVERYTHING
It's this reason exactly that I buy things in bulk. If I need 3 feet of fuel line, I'll order the whole spool off ebay. Same with fittings, hose clamps, filters, all that jazz. Anything I see as expendable I'll pick up in bulk.
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