Is it difficult to take apart a turbo?

[kimokalihi]

I called performance coatings today and asked them if there was anything I needed to do with my turbo or downpipe before I drove up there an hour and a half to have them ceramic coat it and they said no. Drove up there and the guy immediately told me it has to be disassembled first. Awesome. Wasn't very happy about that but shit happens.

Anyways, now I need to take it apart to get it coated. No experience with turbos. Is it hard? Is it something I should be doing?

Is there somewhere I can send it to have it coated because I don't want to make 2 more trips up there.

Thanks

[93forestpearl]

What are you trying to coat on your turbo? Just the exhaust housing? Or the center housing too?


The exhaust housing shouldn't be difficult to remove. If you wan to coat the center housing too, you'll have to completely disassemble the turbo, which isn't that hard. I've had mine together and part about a dozen times, lol.

[gijonas]

I think my personal opinion is that even though it isnt total rocket science- you can fuck it up.In reality its just not really going to be worth it anyway,but what do i know.

[93forestpearl]

I think my personal opinion is that even though it isnt total rocket science- you can fuck it up.In reality its just not really going to be worth it anyway,but what do i know.

^ This.


Coating turbo parts looks nice, but doesn't do a whole lot for you in the end. Coating the turbine housing can be good for underhood temps, but few companies have a good enough system for it to last. Jet-Hot rings a bell.


Nothing works as well as the good-ol wrap when it comes to piping.

[kimokalihi]

I see. Well as far as the turbo goes, I was mainly wanting to keep it from rusting. It's brand new and it'll have much better resale if it still looks new if I sell it down the road. Plus cooler underhood temps right below my intercooler is good.

Is it a good idea to wrap your down pipe after coating it or using a turbo blanket after ceramic coating? I was planning to just do the exhaust housing.

[kimokalihi]

Removed the exhaust housing just now and took some nice pictures. Easiest thing in the world to do only one bolt with 2 nuts.

Do you guys think I should remove the cold side and have it coated as well or just leave that alone? I can see some rust on the mounting surface of the exhaust side of the turbo already starting to form. I also found a small chunk of oil soaked fabric from a rag I'm guessing in the exhausting housing and many small pieces of styrofoam inside the intake housing. Probably nothing to worry about but I'm going to remove them before reassembling.

[gijonas]

Actually those little chunks ARE something to worry about.Imagine how little of a speck of shit it takes to wreak havoc on something when it is spinning 80,000 rpm!

[kimokalihi]

Interesting, even the styrofoam? Crazy. Well good thing I took it apart then.

I was thinking when I took this apart if I do just the exhaust housing the center piece is still going to rust so maybe I should do that too. How long do you think the ceramic coating will protect it before it chips? I have to decide if this is worth my money/time. If I did take it apart would it need to be balanced or anything like that?

Also, should I get a heat blanket for the turbo? With or without the ceramic coating?

[kimokalihi]

I wonder if I removed the compressor housing and both wheels if I could get them to mask off the shaft and the ends and coat the center section without having to fully disassemble it.

[Florin1]

nice pix Kimo!

[kimokalihi]

I don't know what the deal with these damn picture sizes is. I resized them on my pc but somehow only the first one got resized. Then I uploaded them to photobucket and realized after posting them that they needed to be resized and then I individually resized them on photobucket and now sometimes they're resized and sometimes they're huge. I'm going to delete them and resize them on my pc and upload them again.

[Florin1]

they look good to me...

[kimokalihi]

FIXED! Thanks Florin.

[93forestpearl]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about the center housing and the little bit of rust that is starting. Turbos are made out of steel, iron, and aluminum. Steel and iron rust, and its part of life. If you resale is affected that much by normal processes that act upon a turbo, you a trying to sell it to the wrong people. What actually counts is the shape the wheels and bearings are in, not how pretty the housings are.


If those bits in the exhaust housing are foam, its not the end of the world. If they were metal, that could cause an issue if they went through the turbine wheel under load. I've seen what happens when a crappy flex joint gives out and rips up a turbine wheel, and its not the prettiest.



Also, if you are coating the exhaust housing, I would clean up the casting flash with some sort of abrasive to make it smooth.

[kimokalihi]

I sent it out to grimmspeed today already.

[Kilroy]

Any rust on a turbo is simply surface rust. You already know that the turbo is fairly easy to remove, so cleaning it before selling would be a snap.

http://www.cookhaus.co.uk/vinegar/index.htm

Sorry I couldn't reply before you sent it out for coating.

[kimokalihi]

That's pretty amazing. I'll have to try that on some rusted stuff just for fun.

[Legacy777]

That is pretty damn cool!

Does it need to be malt vinegar, or will any type of vinegar work?

[Kilroy]

I'm not sure about the type of vinegar, but I plan on finding out.

I just can't believe how clean that drive shaft came out, it looked like new!

[93forestpearl]

The acid in the vinegar is what does it.


You can do it a lot faster with some muriatic acid from the hardware store. It's commonly known as "pickling."

[gijonas]

Damn! and I thought the molasses trick was good.Electrolysis with a battery charger is hard to beat as well.