Hardened seats needed for turbo conversion?
Turbo Mini Forums

Do I need hardened / unleaded valve seats for a turbo conversion?

No, but valve seat recession is an issue that's amplified on a Turbo motor due to the levels of heat created.

Phil.

WWW.TURBO-MINI.COM

Even on low boost?

The guy at the engineer shop said he would recommend hardened seats in the exhaust valves if turbo'ing as he said they wouldn't last 5 minutes standard

Plenty of metro turbos ran about for years with no hardened seats, so they will last longer than 5 minutes. However, why would you not do if you are having work done to the head?

If the head's off having work anyway, I'd definitely consider it. Depending what kind of mileage you cover I suppose...
Otherwise run Castrol valvemaster and be prepared to strip and lap the valves on a more regular basis.

Phil.

WWW.TURBO-MINI.COM

Also depends on the size of valves you are using. I have 35mm inlet 31mm exhaust so a seat insert would mean very little meat left between the valves, leading to cracking,so I would rather risk recession. Mine has now done 12000 hard miles without a problem.

'Where does the engine go?'