I just had my K14 rebuilt. according to the shop it wasn't to far from shelling out, anyway, when I removed the turbo from the exhaust manifold there wasn't a gasket between the two. Is this normal or was it taken apart before and no gasket put in? There was no evidence of exhaust leaks and it looked all sealed up. Just need to know if I need to get a gasket so I can have it on hand for when the turbo returns this coming week.
Thanks
Oh this is off a 91 1.6 ECO Jetta
There is no gasket between the turbo and manifold.
Yep, no gasket there, just two thick, flat machined flanges. I would scrape them clean with a razor blade and wash them with solvent and you should be fine re-assembling them dry. Or if you want to be really sure they are going to seal, carefully flat-file them until the file evenly scrapes the entire surace to flatten it, or alternatively have a machinist kiss off small amounts with a mill until the fresh machined surfaces are totally flat.
Be sure to use a copper-based anti-seize liberally on the turbo mounting bolt threads, if you want them to come off more easily next time. (In my experience this is the one place where the grey moly-type antiseize can't take the heat; it dries up leaving a crusty powder!)