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Message: [QUOTE="TexasJ, post: 1562037, member: 30660"] Hey guys, so after much procrastination I ended up NOT going with the RTV method. I just didn't want to risk having it still leak afterwards and needing to do the job AGAIN. Plus if it did leak still, I REEEEAAALLY didn't want to have to scrape all that silicone off too. So I did some searching online a few months back to try and find another solution, and I discovered what's called the "Freakify" mod. Essentially it involves replacing the center section of your turbo with a super duty 99-03 center section, then replacing the backing plate on your compressor housing with the EARLY 99 backing plate, and replacing the obs pedestal with an EARLY 99 pedestal. This allows you to keep your obs turbine housing and obs compressor housing, as well as your obs turbine, obs shaft, and obs compressor wheel. The benefit is that the turbo assembly now mounts to the pedestal with 2 top - down bolts, allowing you to pull the turbo out SEPARATELY from the pedestal, and install them separately as well. This makes removing and installing it MUCH easier in the event you need to replace Orings, bearings, or other parts. One of the reasons I decided to do this mod was because of the ease of removal and install I already mentioned, but another is due to the fact I felt it was possible that NEITHER of the obs ebpv deleted pedestals I tried were mounting flush. I still don't know if this was the case for sure. But I do know that when reinstalling the turbo the passenger side rear bolt didn't want to thread in easilly. I had to sort of cant the turbo towards the driver side to get the threads to catch. I don't know if it was a case of the hole in the pedestal not lining up right or what, but because of this I thought the pedestal and turbo might not be seating flush with the engine block once everything was torqued down. I also wondered if the problem was the pedestal itself not sitting up high enough, and the exhaust flange nuts/bolts on the up pipe causing the turbo and pedestal to be pulled up and away from the engine when they were tightened down. I still can't say for sure. But I figured that if either of those things were the case, they might be rectified by being able to install the pedestal first and get it torqued down properly, THEN install the turbo. The Freakify mod allows me to do just that. Since doing the mod I have driven on one 150 mile trip for Christmas and everythings looks great so far!! The only issue is an oil leak coming from the driver side valve cover gasket, but I've had issues with it for years. A local shop has replaced the gasket probably 3 times in the past 5 years, and I suspect that they probably bent the valve cover itself so badly that it won't seal anymore, because they've even added RTV to it as well. That being said I doubt the vc leak has anything to do with the turbo, but if someone knows better than me and thinks otherwise please let me know. Anyway, I'll link the Freakify mod in my next comment in case anyone is interested. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! [/QUOTE]