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I've ran into 2 issues when trial fitting my turbo installation. There are plenty of little spots where things can be coaxed, etc, but these 2 issues I'll need to resolve with Sonex.

First, the turbo provided in my kit appears to have been improperly "clocked". That is, the relationship between the 3 major sections of the turbo (the turbine, the compressor, and the bearing/oil section in the middle.) are not aligned properly. The manual calls for you to check this alignment, which is when I found the issue.

Here is a picture from the manual. Note the orientation of the "oil drain port" and the "mounting flange" should be basically parallel.



Here is a picture of my Turbo. Note the orientation of these 2 same parts.




This puts the oil drain port in the incorrect orientation when the turbo is mounted. Interestingly, the intake and exhaust ports ARE correctly aligned, it's just the center section (containing the oil ports) that is misaligned.

I'll contact Aeroconversions for guidance here.

My second issue is with the turbo support bracket. Looking forward at the engine, it is held in place by the top-right accessory plate mounting bolt, which screws through the accessory plate and into the engine block.



The problem is that the provided bolt is too short. Here is a picture of the end of the bolt when the turbo support bracket is not in place.



And here is a picture with the turbo support bracket in place. There is very little thread engagement into the engine block.



The resolution would seem to be to use a longer bolt. In the kit, there are 4 bolts used to attach the accessory plate, 3 black bolts and 1 slightly longer zinc-coated bolt. It's not actually made clear in the manual which bolts go where, though my assumption until now is the longer bolt goes in the hole that is secured by a nylon lock-nut (rather than threads in the engine block.) If a shorter (black) bolt is used with the lock-nut and a washer is used, the bolt isn't long enough to engage the nylon lock threads. So either the bolt with the lock-nut needs to be longer, or the bolt securing the turbo attach bracket needs to be longer (or both.) I've contacted Aeroconversions for the solution here as well.

Hi Ryan,

The first batch of turbos were shipped prior to when the factory reclocking was completed. I'm sure the factory will give you the quick instructions on how to properly set the turbo, but it's easy. Loosen the 4 bolts on the exhaust side to adjust, then for the intake side use a C Clip pliers to relieve the tension on the big C Clip so you can rotate the housing.

Not sure what the answer is on that bolt...please let us know what you hear!

I have an older 2.1 aerovee and my bolt was plenty long for the turbo bracket.... None were black...

Just to chime in here....my Turbo also had to be reclocked. More of an annoyance than anything.

Tech support gave me good directions but I was disappointed to have to "fix" it

Mine was clocked correctly in the middle and the exhaust side but needed slight adjustment on the intake side, just a small squeeze on the giant C clip and it rotated easily.

I had to reset my 'clock' also; loosen clamp bolts to align oil port with exhaust intake. Eventually I found I didn't have to loosen the huge snap ring at all; just put a broomstick down the compressor exit and align away!
Also found I had to trim the 45° boot from the compressor to manifold tee down to almost nothing to get things to fit.

Bolt: That bolt was short even without the turbo bracket. I just got a longer one at my metric hardware store. 10 mm x 1.5 mm.
Steve Craigle

1X99 wrote:Also found I had to trim the 45° boot from the compressor to manifold tee down to almost nothing to get things to fit.

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Clocking the intake side of the turbo slightly upward from 45 degrees pulls the intake Tee away from the back of the engine to avoid over trimming that boot.

Just a quick note when re-clocking or re-indexing the turbo scrolls…. at least the compressor side. You must at release some tension on the large c-clip. There is an o-ring in there that you could damage if you rotate it without releasing some of the clamping force.