My Turbo Project

[FlyingSkull]

Hello. I'm new to the site, linked here from HotRod forums.
Here is a link to my twin turbo project that I started late Spring 2006. It's a 383 stroker in a '86 Caprice coupe. The turbos were sourced from jyturbo on Yahoo Groups.

Most of the parts have been built by my brother and myself. Here in Canada we have a long winter, so it is in my shop in the country right now, I have a few things to finish up on it. I hope to have it ready by this spring, so I can start tuning and get it on the street. It has been a great learning experience and just plain fun. Hope it encourages those who are considering a turbo project of their own and any comments are appreciated.
Thanks and best of luck to you all in 2007.

Check out the buildup at www.cardomain.com/id/383sowhat

David

[GreyGoose006]

thats amazing.

was it hard to put a manual trans in?
i've always wanted to do that with mine.
of course i dont have a 383 and twin turbos, so there is no real need to...

why not use fuel injection?
just wondering.

[Schister66]

my only criticism is the use of such small turbos....i would have gone with something with a much larger compressor housing

[FlyingSkull]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

thats amazing.

was it hard to put a manual trans in?
i've always wanted to do that with mine.
of course i dont have a 383 and twin turbos, so there is no real need to...

why not use fuel injection?
just wondering.

The manual trans swap was not very difficult. The most time consuming part was getting the angle correct for the master/slave cylinder where it goes through the firewall. Interestingly there is a premade recess in firewall that is just in the right space for the cylinder.

As well the fuse box is to the left of the pedal assembly so there is not much room under there when you add the third pedal. For the crossmember I just cut a section from the middle of the stock one, and angled each side of the crossmember arms in the right angle with the trans in the car, and tacked a plate in between. After getting it where I wanted it I just rebuilt the center section of the crossmember to strengthen it. There was no need to bang out the trans tunnel as is needed with many swaps. I only needed to cut a hole for the shifter. At the time I was running a pretty healthy N/A 383 and the 6 speed honestly made the car much more fun and responsive. I had spent a few years with modded 700R4's and hi stall converters and I just couldn't find one that would shift and respond the way I wanted.

As far as fuel injection goes I seriously considered it and will eventually end up with it. In the case of this build I wanted to keep cost down and time spent to a certain point, and a Blow thru Mighty Demon was available to me at a very good price so that's why I went with it. I was investigating the custom FI systems such as MegaSquirt etc. I like the whole idea of designing your own FI system. For now I will see how it runs with the blow thru.

The car in your sig is very nice what are some of the specs on that one?

Take care
David

[FlyingSkull]

Originally Posted by Schister66

my only criticism is the use of such small turbos....i would have gone with something with a much larger compressor housing

What size of compressor would you have gone with?
Thanks

David

[Schister66]

If that were my car and i had put the time and MONEY into that nice engine build, i would have gone w/ something NO SMALLER than a T3/60-1, but i would have leaned toward twin T3/67s or possibly something ball bearing. You're going to have amazing spool and a lot of useable power w/ the ones you have, but they're going to limit the amount of power you can make. I"m not sure what your goal for the car was, but i would have at least gone w/ a little more efficient turbo setup...just my .02

The problem that i see with those turbos is that the compressor side isn't the best or newest design on the market. The inlet is a straight 2.5" whereas the turbo i'm running on my turbo Honda is a 4". It would make a pretty large difference if you plan on running more than about 12psi (or wherever their efficiency range is). Having a larger compressor inlet, even on the same size wheel, is going to increase low end spool and make it more efficient for longer.

Here is the difference in the two turbos i've used on my car...this will give you an idea of the physical difference. I'm not saying your setup isn't amazing, becuase it is pretty damn sweet, but i'm just throwing out a few ideas to make it better.

[FlyingSkull]

Originally Posted by Schister66

I

Here is the difference in the two turbos i've used on my car...this will give you an idea of the physical difference. I'm not saying your setup isn't amazing, becuase it is pretty damn sweet, but i'm just throwing out a few ideas to make it better.

Thanks for the info, I see where you are coming from.

Basically the goal of this build was to build something that will be street effective at a lower boost range, around 10 psi, with an engine built with quality parts so it will be reliable. I wanted to fall halfway between junkyard and quality build, thus the "junkyard" sourced turbos, home built manifolds etc.
A bit of the reasoning I was going with was these turbo's were originally used on ~231 CI engines. As a rough estimate I concluded that 2 of these should feed up to a ~460 ci engine. I realize this method does not take into account many other factors that come into play, especially as you mentioned getting max power/boost efficiency. Price was a factor in the selection of the turbo's and I was able to pick them and some other parts up for a reasonable price. I am pretty lucky as I have some great contacts in aftermarket parts sales as well as a brother with 20+ years of Hd mechanic experience to assist me with fabbing up parts.

Thanks again for the info, it is appreciated and I will consider it.

David

[Schister66]

After seeing your project, i really want to make a TT FoxBody Mustang or something similar. I love my Acura, but i would really like to make a stupid amount of power easily...but realistically, i'm going to stick w/ my Acura. I can't pass up the handling and gas mileage. Also, i have a buddy who loves Foxes so hopefully we will be building a TT Fox soon enough.

Good luck on the project. I just checked out your Car Domain. I didn't realize you were using 80's Buick turbos....i guess for the money, that is a great way to get boosted. I should be a fun car once it's done!!

[Blazin_Jason]

I don't know much about turbocharging, but I know a sexy car when I see one

[GreyGoose006]

The car in your sig is very nice what are some of the specs on that one?

he-he

its bone stock with a 229 V6.
not exactly what you call powerful.

however, one day i will put a 383 in it.
that is (in my opinion) the ultimate engine...
turbos are a little complex for me, but they would make the ultimate engine a hundred times better, so when i know more about them, i would consider adding a twin turbo setup.

of course i'd put a fuel injection setup on it because i'm tired of my carb bogging down and not responding how it should.

[Schister66]

If you're going to build a fuel injected 383 for your car, make sure you get a good system to run it like MegaSquirt. That way you could easily turbo it and then just bring it to a tuner who will be able to make your car run perfectly. The nice thing about those big V8s is you have a really strong block to work with. If you built a simple piston/rod combo for boost, you could make a lot of power easily on either a single or twin turbo setup. Another thing, turbos aren't as complex as people tend to think they are. If you, or anyone else, needs help piecing together a turbo "kit", just let me know and i'll give you a hand.

[2.2 Straight six]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

turbos are a little complex for me, but they would make the ultimate engine a hundred times better, so when i know more about them, i would consider adding a twin turbo setup.

I'd reccomend "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell, it's an excellent book on turbocharging, and will teach you literally everything about them.

[GreyGoose006]

i've got it and read it 3 times.
it is an amazing book, but didnt do much to make turbos seem less daunting.

i mean, they arent all that complex at all, and i understand the basic mechanisms that they need to work properly, but its the whole thing of fabbing up an exhaust/ intake that makes me nervous.

although i know that supercharging is far inferior, it seems a lot easier to just stick a blower on top of the engine and be (mostly) done.

although there isnt much that looks better on an engine than a huge collecter sitting on top of the engine for the turbos to blow into.
hehe.

[2.2 Straight six]

the building of an intake/exhaust system is skill over knowledge, you can know everything there is to know about turbos, but without practical skill you can't do much at all.

my advice, go find a class in welding or something, taking the first step is the hardest, but once you know how to do it, there's nothing to it. get a book on metal fabrication or welding, go take a class and you're all set.

nothing matches the satisfaction of making something yourself.*



*Statement does not apply to accidental children.

[GreyGoose006]

i'd love to be able to weld.
ive always wanted to be able to do that kind of stuff.
maybe this summer i'll check it out.
i'm a little busy with real college right now...