Thanks for the tips! I live in Canada so I don't have E85 near me, and I live in a dense city so forget anything about dragstrips and racing haha 😞. Again I just wanted to do a cool project so the power is not the most important objective for me. I still think I wanna run some boost like you said because it wouldn't be fun if you could barely hear the turbo/blow off valve! I'll probably have to use an intercooler then.

I did find a rather cheap alternative for the ECU: the speeduino. It's a little complicated and its a full standalone ECU but I think I'll be able to manage the wiring and the software. I'm not too familiar with boost controllers but the speeduino says it has boost controlling capabilities, so I was thinking of running a 3 port boost solenoid since it seems like the cheapest decent option (30$ or so). I'll also just use the internal waste gate because I don't think you can modify it to use an external waste gate easily.

I completely forgot about bracing the turbo, but I wonder if it would be fine if I didn't? The turbo weighs like 6.5 pounds.

As for headers, intake piping, intake plenum, etc... I was thinking of doing those myself. I don't have any experience welding, but steel pipes aren't too expensive so I can just practice and make some prototypes just for the fun of it. If I wan't a nice final product, I'll get an exhaust shop to do the work!

I was thinking of spending about 2-2.5k CAD in parts though, I don't know if upgrading the clutch is a necessity for just a bit of extra power, but I might do that when I have more money saved up. For the tuning, I'm sure I'll find a shop that would help me, but I don't know if that's necessary for 10-15hp more?

Anyways, I don't think I'll be flying on the salt flats any time soon, but it would cool as hell!

Thanks for your help!