ricecat

Good to know, but the prices are on the spicy side for what they are. Ended up buying a VF40/VF52 type TMIC for the wife's car and modifying it to work with the VF38 because it was the cheapest option by far, but what a chore

Mind sharing how you do that? I'd imagine it'll be 5cm too short?

Subbed for turbo wisdom. Where the hell did you even find any aftermarket intercoolers for the VF38 (unless you're not in north america)

AVO still makes them but will cost like 1300 AUD after import charges to the UK. ARC also makes them to order but obviously thats gonna cost as much as a long engine lmao

So I have a JDM 2.0GT that came with the VF38 as stock, and I want a uprated TMIC. Now, there are only 2 choices that can fit the VF38, and maybe 20 that fits the VF40.

Given that the 2 turbos share the exact same CHRA and dimensions, would it be possible for me to just find a VF40 housing and swap that over to the VF38?

Thanks in advance!

Did you jackup or raise the front of the tranny? Thats what I normally do, I raise the tranny and put it on a stand to give it more angle. If the tranny is not raised I would imagine you will have a hell of a time trying to slide the engine straight back considering you have the engine mounts to deal with, put more angle on the transmission. If the gap is on the bottom to me it means the engine isn't straight enough and it can never be installed straight with the engine mounts in play, raise the tranny and that gap will go away imo!

tbf i dont think you can even get the engine in without jacking it up about 2" lol. This is a useful tip that i wished someone wouldve told me when I first did a swap aha.

Are you using an engine lever to install the motor?

uh not too sure what an engine lever is but i was using an engine balancer

So this is seriously bothering me. Did an engine install (done it way too many times than id care to admit), engine alined perfectly in 30 seconds. So I went under to do up the bolts and could feel a tiny maybe 2mm gap between the bellhousing and the engine at the bolt hole under the turbo.

No matter, I got back out, pulled the engine again and slid it back in again. Again, aligned perfectly instantly with both dowel pins inserted into the engine. Went under the car again and that gap is somehow still there. This is where it all goes wrong. I thought Id get away with pulling that gap in with a bolt since its literally where the bolt hole is and its only 2mm. One broken bolt and a third reinstall later, the gap is still there.

I figured id drop the engine down to see if the mounts would line up, and surprisingly, it does. Not a hitch, just slid right into the holes. Tried torquing down all the bellhouse bolts to see if that fixes it. Nope. Even with all the bolts at the correct torque settings, its still there. Literally every other bit of the mating surface is completely flush, just that one tiny gap. So I thought maybe the mating surface there is a bit distorted because reasons. And then I find out that the engine as a whole is sitting in a really awkward angle like its tilted backwards, and my HKS SQV would literally hit the hood lining if I tried shutting the hood.

Im out of ideas guys. Anything?