beagle_senior
just be careful doing the wiring yourself and not completing it.
 
Most tuners prefer to start from scratch with a wiring loom rather then sorting out someone elses mess they couldn't finish.

Of course. I will try and steer clear of an ECU that will need a loom created from scratch if possible. But if I were to go with one that did, I would definitely be getting the tuners to do it. To create an entire loom is a bit out of my depth. 
 

robk
 
Yeah this is very true!
If you choose to do some of the wiring yourself, you should write down exactly what you have done and what you haven't done, so whoever finishes it will have no doubts or confusion.
 
BTW, I think the Adaptronic SW20 plug-in ECU is for the gen 2 turbo engine (you may want to confirm by emailing them). If you do end up going with Adaptronic, you could either use the plug-in ECU and re-pin your ECU plug to match the gen 2 turbo pinout, or you could use the e420d or e440d Universal Select ECU and wire it up manually (I would happily help you if you went down that route).

Most definitely. If I don't write it down I confuse myself most often than not. 

I remember you saying that the Adaptronic plug and play was for the gen 2 engine. I looked on their website and it doesnt stipulate for which generation, so I will shoot them an email to find out in the new year. But either way I was thinking it would still be easier to re-pin to gen 2 than it would be to start a loom from scratch. 
Thanks Rob, assistance would be greatly appreciated if I go down the route of manually wiring it up. 

Small Update:
 
The January club run last Sunday finished off my rear tyres to the point where the rear end was starting to fishtail powering out of corners. Despite wanting to; it was paramount to replace them.


 
Being very happy with the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TTs, I decided this time to give the GTs a go for a bit more dry performance. We'll see how they go, however others have said that they are lucky to last 20k.


  

I have been thinking further about my boost controller issues and going down the standalone ECU path this past week. Im in the mind set now that I wont get my bang for buck out of the ECU as Im not planning to upgrade to a larger turbo down the track/make other large modifications etc.. Rather just want to get the most out of the basically stock setup I have. But at the same time I really don't particularly want to spend another $350-450 on a EBC as I wont use the adjustability side of it. 

With my goal of wanting to run 18psi reliably and to achieve at least 250whp. I stumbled across Kinugawa who are a Japanese brand that make a whole lot of good stuff for turbos. They make CT26/20B wastegate actuators with varying spring ratings and the boys over at MR2OC seem to swear by this brand in regards to quality and reliability.
http://shopping.kinugawat...t185ct26sw20ct20b.aspx

So what do you guys think if I were to get one of these actuators with a 1.2bar/17.6psi spring and then if I feel that I need to; use a MBC to tune that little bit more to make it reach 18psi? Is this a good idea or is there something that im missing?

what about buying a used ebc instead of new? I just picked up a turbosmart eboost street for $215 lightly used on eBay. New price $400+
Set my gen3 at 17psi last night and boost is very stable. Spools harder as well.

Hey Deco,
 
I may have missed something in the earlier posts in your thread but what's wrong with using a MBC?  I've got one on my Gen 3 and it holds boost up to 17psi (granted it does spike slightly in the higher gears).
Nick, don't you have Turbosmart mbc for sale?

I do have my old manual turbosmart for sale. Want to try it out for a while Declan to replace what you have now?

Mrskylighter
what about buying a used ebc instead of new? I just picked up a turbosmart eboost street for $215 lightly used on eBay. New price $400+
Set my gen3 at 17psi last night and boost is very stable. Spools harder as well.

I have been keeping my eye out for second hand ones but I havent had any luck in finding any. But at the same time im also a little worried about going second hand as there is a possibility that I will be left with another dodgy unit.
Do you notice a big difference using the EBC over the MBC?

MIDN1T3
Hey Deco,
 
I may have missed something in the earlier posts in your thread but what's wrong with using a MBC?  I've got one on my Gen 3 and it holds boost up to 17psi (granted it does spike slightly in the higher gears).
Nick, don't you have Turbosmart mbc for sale?

My reason for not going straight MBC is that its pain to tune it. My thought was to use an actuator with a 17.6psi spring as it puts me basically on target and will do it reliably. Then if I feel I need to make the extra jump to 18psi or a tad more then I can use a MBC to work off the base 17.6psi. Doing so would ease the tuning side of it and in total would only cost $190

Mrskylighter
I do have my old manual turbosmart for sale. Want to try it out for a while Declan to replace what you have now?

If you're happy to let me try it; I am more than willing to give it a go.

 

I decided on going down the wastegate actuator path. 
So I purchased the Kinugawa CT series actuator and bought a 1.2bar spring with it. 


Removing the stock actuator and installing this one without removing anything else was a PITA but is achievable in a night. I havent taken the car out since having the actuator installed but I will be taking it out for a test drive tonight. 

 


Though whilst having the intake pipe off I noticed that I had oil on the intake side of the turbo similar to that of the original turbo that came with the engine. To combat this I have isolated the catch can from draining oil into the intake pipe and have installed a breather on catch can, installed a new air filter so that I can stop the small amount of unfiltered air that I had coming in and have cleaned up the oil on the turbo and in the first intercooler pipe to see if it was dried oil from the previous turbo. Fingers crossed this solves the issue. 


 

Good job on fitting the actuator with the turbo still attached! Can it be done without a hoist? I have been looking at these as well.
 
How is it driving now under full throttle without the catch can line connected, new air filter and actuator installed? More stable boost?

Your oil pressure switch coming out of the head looks funny. Did the plug snap off it? I might have one here if yours is damaged.