1.5T PRL Motorsports 1.5T Civic Bolt-On Big Turbo Kit Upgrade Results

It turns out, after several hardware store trips, that the oil drain flange bolts shipped with the kit were the wrong size after all at 5/16-18 and 16mm in length. We picked up 3 different types of the correct size bolts and they threaded onto the turbo without any issue at all, all the way in hand tight. At least I now have a tap/die set so that will come in handy in the future.

These are not the final bolts we used but they show that the correct threading works without problems.


So that means we got the turbo on! My buddy assisted with driving me around to various stores looking for bolts and connecting the oil/coolant lines once we mounted the turbo.






Down pipe on, mostly removed the radiator support bracket and pushed it up and to the right to give me clearance to get to the bolts.




Starting to put the intake and hot-side piping on. This was a pretty big pain in the butt, especially reconnecting the hot side intercooler pipe.


Bypass valve and intake/charge piping installed and tightened up.




Didn't take many pictures here but I installed the upstream o2 sensor, wastegate actuator vacuum tube, other vacuum tubing for the boost controller, the intake cross over pipe, and the turbo heatshield.


I actually forgot to install the damn o2 sensor in the downpipe before I put the intake pipe on so I didn't take pictures out of frustration as I pulled it off and put it back on again.


Everything in the engine bay is connected and tightened up at this point. No shots of the manual boost controller, it's small and hidden beneath the cold-side charge pipe, zip tied to a bracket.


All buttoned up for the night. I have one vacuum line that I need to cap off, I need to install the PRL front pipe plus the Magnaflow cat-back I have waiting to go on tomorrow, and I have some fog light housings to install before I can put the front bumper cover back on and start it up for the first time.


Also yes, I'm aware the PRL logo is upside down on the intake pipe, I think it was a mistake in production or they sent me the pipe for the larger "race" MAF and I just flipped it backwards because it fit better. In any case this was the only logical orientation and I don't care because it seems to fit fine.

I'm surprised that huge hot-side intake pipe fits under the hood!
Wonder why Honda made theirs a pancake???
maybe us stock-kids can get some kinda upgrade after the MAF at some point?

Either way, hope you'll be upgrading to the Race MAF soon tho...you'll be choking the new turbo...

Great write up Mike @Coolnezzz !!! Its great to see so many of these kits on the community's cars already!
We do apologize for the bolt issues, the issue has been resolved. Also we just went through our street silicone's and realized when we were screen printing them on we put a few on backwards, a correct one is on its way to you! Our install guide will follow in a few weeks as we are working on the editing phases.

AREA said:

Was looking forward to purchasing this but reading a few posts about having to re-tap things, missing bolts and having to search for parts to complete the install kinda turns me off. Will wait a bit and see how things shake out.

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The re-tap is Garret's fault and PRL spoke with them on this it's not a big deal 5 min fix...also I had all my hardware supplied so I'm not sure where you heard of missing hardware. In the event that was the case PRL has amazing customer service and will remedy the issue instantly! Pictures don't do justice to the kit the craftmanship is simply amazing and I'm in love

AREA said:

Was looking forward to purchasing this but reading a few posts about having to re-tap things, missing bolts and having to search for parts to complete the install kinda turns me off. Will wait a bit and see how things shake out.

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The issue with the bolts being incorrect for the oil drain flange has been resolved on PRL's side. I just counted all of the parts on the packing list for a total of 105, only two bolts out of all of that were incorrect and in my case the tapped holes on the oil outlet of the turbo itself were just fine and not the issue. The correct bolts are not an uncommon size so I was able to find multiple matches at Home Depot and a local hardware store, the correct bolts will be included going forward as well so this will no longer be an issue.

All of us putting our kits on now were pre-orders and were the first batch of people to get them in the wild. There have been no issues at all during the install that I have been unable to overcome and this is just a hobby to me, I am by no means a professional mechanic and work in IT (which is why I'm entering day 3, I like to install things methodically and correctly)! Once PRL has the instructions/install guide written up it will be a lot smoother for everyone ordering and installing the kits going forward. I have been working with several other members here and on the Facebook groups as well as directly with Eric via email and chat, it has been a very positive experience and this was the most fun project I've worked on for any of my cars to date.

Providing feedback like these posts / working directly with the manufacturer is how issues like this get resolved and corrected for the benefit of all in the future, which was my goal.

I will hopefully be finishing up everything in the next few hours and will try to get some videos up of the first start and some driving around town.

Out of curiosity, have any of the early adopters with the GTX2860R done a before and after dyno?

davemarco said:

Out of curiosity, have any of the early adopters with the GTX2860R done a before and after dyno?

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I've been modding cars for years but have never gotten one on a dyno, which is a shame, so I'll be looking for one in the area.

my poor wallet cries looking at these glorious pics. I might be caving sooner then i planed haha

I wonder what are the dealers going to think about it when you guys have to do the recall soon

dc2turbo said:

I wonder what are the dealers going to think about it when you guys have to do the recall soon

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Ktuner will incorporate the update in a later update I'm sure once more details are available and theybget their hands on an updated ecu. As of now if you have the oil dilution fix done and flash a tune back you'll blow out the update. People with the big turbo are gonna change oil for more frequently anyways so I'm not concerned

KramVT0215 said:

Ktuner will incorporate the update in a later update I'm sure once more details are available and theybget their hands on an updated ecu. As of now if you have the oil dilution fix done and flash a tune back you'll blow out the update. People with the big turbo are gonna change oil for more frequently anyways so I'm not concerned

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It's more than just a ECU flash, they'll update the A/C unit too. So you would have to bring it to the dealer to get it done.

Coolnezzz said:

The issue with the bolts being incorrect for the oil drain flange has been resolved on PRL's side. I just counted all of the parts on the packing list for a total of 105, only two bolts out of all of that were incorrect and in my case the tapped holes on the oil outlet of the turbo itself were just fine and not the issue. The correct bolts are not an uncommon size so I was able to find multiple matches at Home Depot and a local hardware store, the correct bolts will be included going forward as well so this will no longer be an issue.

All of us putting our kits on now were pre-orders and were the first batch of people to get them in the wild. There have been no issues at all during the install that I have been unable to overcome and this is just a hobby to me, I am by no means a professional mechanic and work in IT (which is why I'm entering day 3, I like to install things methodically and correctly)! Once PRL has the instructions/install guide written up it will be a lot smoother for everyone ordering and installing the kits going forward. I have been working with several other members here and on the Facebook groups as well as directly with Eric via email and chat, it has been a very positive experience and this was the most fun project I've worked on for any of my cars to date.

Providing feedback like these posts / working directly with the manufacturer is how issues like this get resolved and corrected for the benefit of all in the future, which was my goal.

I will hopefully be finishing up everything in the next few hours and will try to get some videos up of the first start and some driving around town.

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Did it blow up?

thatlilwhiteone said:

Did it blow up?

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Nope! The rest of the install went smoothly and I have been working with DRob on e-tuning, dialing in my manual boost controller now for 18psi and continuing to datalog. First had to work out an issue with low boost; make sure to adjust the wastegate actuator pre-load if you have already confirmed your vacuum lines are all working as intended and are experiencing lower than expected boost out of the box.

So far so good!

Coolnezzz said:

Nope! The rest of the install went smoothly and I have been working with DRob on e-tuning, dialing in my manual boost controller now for 18psi and continuing to datalog. First had to work out an issue with low boost; make sure to adjust the wastegate actuator pre-load if you have already confirmed your vacuum lines are all working as intended and are experiencing lower than expected boost out of the box.

So far so good!

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Good to know about this! Thanks I'm going to finish off my install thisb weekend already got my starting calibration from Drob this week so I'm good to go!

this is probably a no but does the ptp lava turbo blanket fit on this turbo?