So, this is for a friend. He purchased a complete Greddy kit for his 1.6 that came with a Mitsubishi turbo that the previous owner said needed to be rebuilt. The previous owner also included a rebuild kit in the package.

Does this turbo need any special attention from a professional service company such as balancing of the shaft and/or wheels, or should I be able to just take it apart and replace original parts with what comes in the rebuild kit?

 

I rebuilt a Garrett last year and it's holding up fine with no balancing. Your best/only bet is to mark the shaft, nut, and comp wheel with a marker so that you can align them when reassembling everything. You'll find a lot of carbon on the back of the turbine wheel which you need to clean off gently, despite the stuff being hard as concrete. Pretty much any of that carbon crap you see encrusted on the hotside should come off. The shaft needs to be clean as well...I was able to polish mine (teehee). Lube the bearings really well when you put it back together and cross your fingers

 

IIRC, MHI turbos are component balanced, meaning that in theory they shouldn't* need to be balanced upon rebuilding them.

Word of advice: invest in a really nice set of snap ring pliers. The cheap ones you buy at auto parts stores will likely break and put your eye out. I'm totally serious.

*your mileage may vary.