k03 VW Turbo

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I recently aquired a stock K03 turbo from an early 2000's VW, its got quite a bit of shaft play, not enough to have done any damage to the fins or housing, but enough that I would feel bad about selling it as a useable turbo. Honestly I don't have a use for it, but for the price he wanted for it, I couldn't leave it laying there.. for what I've got in it, and the price of a rebuild kit, I think it would be a great learning experience to try and rebuild it myself.

I'll hopefully be able to order the kit in the next couple days, does anyone know where I could get oem quality parts for cheap, or should I just get eBay parts and make it a churbo?

Any advice or thoughts on rebuilding a turbo? Personal experiences or words of wisdom on how not to rebuild a turbo?

[Christ]

You can't do it alone. At least not properly.

However, you can do a good enough job that it shouldn't come flying apart and send pieces into your intake manifold.

Make sure you mark where the nut is on the shaft before you take it off. If you put it back together and it's off that mark, you'll have to have it balanced again, which means taking material off the nut usually.

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Alright, would I need a specialty turbo shop to do something, or is there something I could have any machine shop do? What part can I not do by myself?

[Christ]

The balancing is it. Like I said, mark the nut before you take it off. When you get to the final torque value, if its over the mark, have it balanced (or use a shim), if its near the mark, you might be able to loosen it and torque it again to line it up.

The rest of it is just seals and bearings. NBD.