Thread: Time to upgrade the TD5.

Mine had sheared three of the outside head studs when I took it off. I found the mod fairly easy to do with an angle grinder - I started with a small wheel, then a bigger one to get the reach and finished off the edges with a sharp file.

ASE do a very good intercooler. They now sell on ebay or you can get through TRS Adelaide. Very happy with mine.

ECU upgrade can be done via Tombie, TRS (mine) or a number of others. Not sure who you would want to go through being in Canberra.

Hoses you can get through any number of suppliers. I bought mine a couple of years ago when they seemed to be a bit thin on the ground here in Australia so I got them from Td5 Alive in the UK.

I know nothing of manifolds and exhausts so will leave that for others to advise you on.

Give me a call if you want/need help in getting your parts ect,,,
Regards Kelvin

Has anyone had any dealings with Bruce Davis in Sydney.
Regards
Robbo

Bruce Davis is a Disco guru.

I had my intercooler and ECU done there and have been very happy since.

Originally Posted by disco_thrasher

Give me a call if you want/need help in getting your parts ect,,,
Regards Kelvin

Originally Posted by eckolsim

Bruce Davis is a Disco guru.

I had my intercooler and ECU done there and have been very happy since.

Thanks for that. What sort of power/torque are you getting now.
Regards
Robbo

My two cents worth:

Intercooler and hoses from td5 alive in the UK. Price will amaze you due to exchange rate. You will get both for well under a locally made intercooler. Quality and fit is outstanding. www.td5alive.com

Exhaust manifold....get the grinder out and slot it. Its an easy job, done in half an hour if you have a grinder and a vice....and a bit longer if you dont have a vice to hold it steady. Then drill out the outer two port mounting holes. Leave the centre port mounting holes stock to locate the manifold correctly.Then send it off to get ceramic coated. Jet Hot did mine www.jet-hot.com.au

Exhaust....several options.

1. Leave it stock, but remove the "cat", and replace the bellows type flex pipe with a stainless braided hose type. Remove the centre muffler. This will give you a higher flow, 2.5" system. (maybe $250)

2. If you want to go all out, go to any decent truck exhaust place, and get them to do a mandrel bend 2.75" system. (maybe $1300)

Dont go to 3". Too big, there have been turbo overspeed problems reported. Whether these are true or not is irrelevant, 2.75" for a 2.5TD is big enough.

If exhaust place gives you grief about removing the CAT, ask them to make a flanged straight pipe insert for your exhaust, and a matching flanged insert using your stock CAT. Dont buy a new hiflo CAT unless you honestly plan to leave it fitted. Tell them the non-CAT part is for when you are doing off road comp stuff on private property.....then go home, remove the cat section, put it on a shelf, insert no CAT section.
(Note: yes, all you greenies can now say "but what about the planet?"...I have my fingers in my ears, stop wasting your breathe).

ECU...I have used TD5 Alive, Mike (Tombie), and Kelvin (Disco Thrasher) on TD5 ECUs. We dont talk to Kelvin anymore ever since he decided a RRC is better than a Disco....(only kidding). All three will give you a good tune. The local guys will provide better more responsive service. I cannot rave highly enough about both Mike and Kelvin in terms of how far they will go to make sure you get what you want. Service is above and beyond. They put any other vendors on this forum to shame. Not that all vendors here are bad, but these guys are that much better.

All of these guys can give you enough torque to leave your transmission wimpering in the corner in a puddle of its own fluids....its not about who can give you the MOST torque. Its about who can give you a usable tune, that meets your towing needs, runs smoothly, efficiently, no smoke screen that is sympathetic to your equipment. With stock transmission, that means a max of about 380nm. Tell these guys your mechanical set up, your towing/driving needs, and they will advise a tune.

So, in summary....order an intercooler and hoses from TD5 Alive and it will be at your front door in a week. Do the manifold when you can afford to have the car off the road for a week while you send it out for coating...or buy a straight spare from a wrecker. Exhaust will be a day at a good place. Once you have everything fitted, and running, contact Mike or Kelvin. Both will have a tune for you in about 48hrs. Then you need a nanocom to do the install.You can run around on the stock tune as long as you like. It will be better than you have got now. But do the tune after everything else that you plan on doing to the induction, engine, exhaust.

The only business you have to physically visit is the exhaust place, assuming you can handle a set of spanners to remove/replace the intercooler, and can get access to a nanocom.

TIP: Buy a 38mm Viscous Fan Hub Spanner before you do this work.....I think TD5 Alive do these as well.

Hamish's D2A Overhaul

I find it quite disapointing when I ask for advise on upgrading my TD5 and I only get a responce from only one of the vendors on this site (thanks Kevin). A BD upgrade is looking all the more appealing.
Regards
Robbo.