Today was the day to go up to Area 52 to replace the turbo that decided that it didnt want me to go on track on Thursday... but all did not go to plan.
I wont go into that here, but I was greeted by Jase and with them being two men down today the choice was either to come back another day and change the turbo or do it myself with adult supervision :lol: I was feeling brave
So out with some tools and I proceeded to take my existing turbo off slowly and surely. Once off we could see the amount of play in the main shaft and the wear on the tips of the compressor wheel

but that wasnt the end of it.... there was a chunk missing from one blade of the exhaust wheel. No idea at this stage which caused which or whether there was another external influence on the blade that caused this but suffice to say it is better off on the bench than on the car
Anyway, what to put on ?
FP red, GT35R, or ..... decision made, I liked the performance of the FP green but wanted to be able to run a little more higher up the revs. Forced Performance have just released an enhanced version of the Green: The HTA Green.
This has the new HTA compressor wheel. (full details here:
http://store.forcedperformance.net/merc ... =WRX-Turbo)
The official feedback on this aero wheel is that it spools quicker than the green but flows more at the top aswell. Being a 57lb wheel compared to a 49lb wheel in the green. With the same 3 inch inlet and 8cm exhaust wheel but an anti surge housing.
So, to put it on.... what a bitch of a job !!! My forearms are raw, my knuckles are raw but I did it

Without dropping oil everywhere too
Because of a recent oil feed pipe breakage we swapped to a braided hose for this to allow more flexibility in the pipework. All done up, tested and heated up and bolts re-tightened and I managed to do the in 5 hours :lol: I am knackered
Jase had told me that the HTA wheel sounds different to the original green. He was right 8) I cruised back home as the laptop battery died and I couldnt be 100% sure that it was going to be the same map wise but managed to give it some boost on the way back (1bar), which incidentally came in very quick and it felt lush with a completely different note to it. Cant wait to wind it up to 2 bar tomorrow
Thanks Jase and send my regards to Mike for a speedy recovery :thumb: