i got an air research turbo off of an old mercedes and its a 48/60 and the dumptube hole is blocked off with a plate why would this be...and is this a good turbo?

 

those old mercedes usually had an external wastegate which looks like the volvo bypass valve!

 

I have a t3 mercedes turbo as well and that plate blocking it off seems blocked but on mine at least it was dumping into the the side of the exhuast opening. If your is similar to mine then if you look to the right of the block of plate inside the turbos exhuast opening you'll see a small opening where the dump of the wastegate goes. I had this welded shut and have had no problems with it.

 

so i could just use the downpipe as a dumptube also or will it hurt performance this way? how did you weld it shut and then did you have an external dump tube? and yours is a t3 what trim do i use regular t3 flanges for dp also?