Hi guys,
I sure as heck don't drive a superturbo - but a 400,000 miles driven non-turbodiesel. Having speculated on the issue and followed the superturbos evolve both in the forum and in real life, I cannot help but to pitch in this conversation.
I don't see how you could waste thousands of your hard-earned greenbacks on just a custom manifold unless you want Jesse James to build it. Once your engine is turbocharged you can use a very basic square "boost gathering box" to wich the stock intake manifolds tubes are welded on. This can be built by anybody who is any good at welding and it will cost you a case of beer (well, beer is expensive here) or perhaps 50-100$ or so. Pressure tubes don't cost much and then all you need is the actual intercooler.
Here's some pics of a square box on a carburettor installation. Remove the carb and you have the diesel model. Easy as a pie...
click for some pics
I'm sure the guys at Mersuforum that manufacture these intercoolers would absolutely love to sell you a few custom-made intercoolers for a very affordable price - we're not talking thousands in either currency. Even though the almighty dollar is currently anything but almighty (1,32 exchange, euro has never been this strong comapared to US$) it will still be a good deal. And shipping a light aluminium (is it?) intercooler doesn't cost much.
The plus of this system is that when eventually you WILL later want to build an actual superturbo, you already have a custom intake system. Not that you wouldn't still custom exhaust headers, custom exhaust pipes, huge turbo from a semi truck and to have your diesel pump rebuilt with larger elements - but at least your cooler is already up to the task and your intake is already custom built...
Tuning your car is a hobby that is as addictive as crack cocaine and it has a tendency to take all your time and money in a very similar manner. Unlike drugs, tuning up a Merc is really worth it, though
Good luck guys and show those "import racing" rice rockets what a diesel Merc can REALLY do
Henkka
a former Nebraskan
ps: Of course you could go to a salvage yard (junkyard, scrapyard, chop shop, whatever) and pick up a stock manifold (to use when having your custom manifold built) AND a spare diesel pump that you can ship over here, for instance to the famous Mynä Diesel, to be rebuilt. And maybe pick up a turbo from a Cummins semi or something...
Then you can still drive your car while the parts are being worked on.