The VNT 17 is not going to be much of an improvement over the 15 if the turbine section is the same size, other than at the same turbo speed it will be producing slightly more boost. I wonder, is the hybrid 17/22 the same? It uses the 17 turbine section and the 22 compressor?
We had some awesome weather this weekend so I had a chance to work on it. I sprayed some of the hylomar onto the head gasket (sticky stuff after it partially sets) set it in place on the block and put the head on and step torqued it up to 100 ft.lbs. Then I quickly connected all the coolant stuff to the head and filled it with coolant so I could use the block heater (still -1°C or about 32°F) to heat the block. After block was warm to the touch I torqued all head bolts to 110 ft.lbs. (these are ARP head bolts). I don't have the turbo yet to continue, but so far so good. This seemed easier - better be as it's second go round. I hope the Hylomar seals any minor difference in surface like a fibre head gasket would. I so much like the steel head gasket. It just seems better than any fibre gasket that originally came on a 1.6.
Oops, I mean to say studs not bolts, my bad!
I finally bought a vnt 17 turbo and it's on its way. I have received a couple AN -10 fittings and hose I want to install this weekend, I can use the turbo I blew up as a mockup and get the drain better than it was with just a hose and clamps. This way it always leaked a bit - the AN fitting and 350+° braided line hose should fix that. I will have to weld a -10 fitting to the tube that connects to the oil pan, but that shouldn't be too hard.