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Even though elizium's write up was very informative, the project is still a major fab job. 1) Actuator brackets - The clearance on the passenger side actuator is rediculous, and I think it would have been dificult to use the brackets desribed in the FAQ. I ended up cutting off part of the bracket from one of the new actuators and connecting it to one of the compressor housing bolts to help stabilize the actuator (I am using the stock actuators) on the skinny side of the stock bracket, and drilled another hole closer to the bend in the bracke on the fatter side (I guess I will have to get my pics posted son to explain all this). On the drivers side, I ended up drilling a hold in the middle of the bracket to stabilize it. If I had gone ahead and bought the HKS actuators, it would have been $200. Oh yeah, then there is the hour or so grinding/ cutting the motor mount bracket, but I'm sure that would have to be done no matter what turbos are installed (bigger than stock, at any rate). 2)Oil and water lines - I paid an extra $100 for fittings for the oil and water lines (ordered from Ballistik, the company selling the turbos), and planned on using them to make braided stainless lines like described in the FAQ. However, the pipe threads were not normal -AN fittings, and I still have yet to figure out what would work with them. I ended up re-using stock everything except the oil drain fittings (not worth $100 for everything, much less the 2 usable parts I got). I also spent ~ $130 at Summitt on the recommended braided line and fittings, and mandrel bent piping, none of which is being used. The fittings I guess were for the HKS oil feed fittings and not the ones I got with the turbos. 3)Downpipes - $500 for a pair of split flange DPs from Greg Dupree. I already had some that would have worked if I had gone w/ Sport 600s, so my net cost here was $300. Still, doesn't the HKS 2530 kit also come with a set? 4)Intake piping - I bought the recommended bends, but couldn't find an easy way to mark and cut them to get them to work, plus I couldn't easily find any nipples for the vacuum lines. I ended up getting my stock intake pipes cut and extended slightly, I am connecting them with rubber hose to prevent a mis-measurement from making them useless. Cost -$60. FYI - I was under the impression that the intake pipes were aluminum b/c they are so light and have some strange bends in them, but they apparently are some type of very thin steel-derived sheetmetal, according to the welding shop. So, if I would have gone with the Sport 600s or HKS 2530s, I could have saved ~ $600 in extraneous expenses, plus all the time to fiure out what to do and the time spent dremeling the damn brackets. Not to mention, I got hit with a $230 import tarriff! So, I highly recommend to the next DIYer to go ahead and spend the extra $$ on the HKS kit,a nd save yourself a lot of headaches!
Rule #1 - There's always a bastard!  
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