Turbocharged Straight 6

[mi69camaro]

hey well i just bought a 61' ford falcon with a 170ci straight 6 in it. And i was wondering if u know if it's possible to add a turbo or not? yeah well i know of a guy who put a turbo on a mopar slant six so i was just wondering if anybody knows anything about doing it...electronics or not etc. if you could give me any input, answers, comments...that'd be great thanX! thanks for reading gotta bounce-------> Jon D.

[mi69camaro]

anybody know anything???

[-Josh-]

Carbureted cars are hard to turbocharge, it can be done but it's a pain to get it tuned right unless you've got big bucks. I'm at work now so i can't really go in depth, but i'll try later. I've never heard of someone doing it on a Straight six though.

[beef_bourito]

you can turbocharge any car you want, the only thing is availability of parts and money. with the ford falcon i doubt there is a turbo kit available so you'll probably have to do it yourself. tunability is another issue, carbed cars are hard to tune for turbos, you might want to look into a fuel injection system for your car (might be hard to find and might be another custom setup you'll have to have made). that'll cost money, i assume the whole thing will cost around 10-15k. 5 for the fuel injection (probably have to be custom) another 5 for turbocharger and related systems (exhaust, intercooler, turbo, piping, etc) and some more for misc modifications (new pistons, rods, valves, springs, etc) and im not sure the payoff will be worth it, i would suggest putting in a bigger engine (302, 428, something big) that will cost 3500+ from jeg's (www.jegs.com) and then get a turbo system designed for that, it will be easier, about the same price, and faster (expect about double the power). i doubt people will exect that from a ford falcon. anyways, i've rambled on enough, you can do the turbo 170 that i doubt few have done (if anyone) or you can do the 302/turbo 302 and be faster and be driving something faster that few people have done, it's your choice.

[mi69camaro]

ok well do you know if a 302 will fit?? yeah well i know a guy who told me a 289 is a perfect bolt-up...but i'm just not shure if my 3-speed will be able to handle a 289??! i'm only 15 at the time and can't get a job till after my b-day the 22nd of this month--> so i guess i'll just go with the 289...but do u know if there are any suspension/chassis mods i would have to do??! yeah thats a bummer but oh well the 289 i think is a perfect bolt up to my tranny so i guess i'll go with that!! thanX 4 all the help--> how much do u think i can get a 289 that needs a rebuild?? but yah do u know if the difference between a 289 and a 302?? i thought the block was the same but the heads were taller?! idk but let me know if u could! Jon D.

[beef_bourito]

the difference between the 289 and the 302 is13 cubic inches, if it is the same block the 302 has either a wider bore, longer stroke, or a combination of the two. i dont know about the price of a 289, i know you can get a rebuilt 454 for about 500-600 canadian (but expect to spend a couple of hundred more if you aren't 100% sure of the quality of the rebuild, better safe than sorry) and i'm not sure about it bolting right up to your current tranny, if you're looking for performance, the 302 is better than the 289, search around for prices, crate engines are expensive and concidering your age i would look for a rebuilt 302 and tranny (it's probably too powerfull for your current one). suspension mods, deffinately need stiffer springs, the engine is going to be alot heavier (at leased a couple of hundred pounds) so you need to raise your front so you don't have a rediculous stance, bad traction, and the possibility of bottoming out (deffinately not a good thing). If I were you, i'd wait a few years before doing this, maybe untill after university, because you want to do things right, it's better to spend an extra 500$ for new parts on a newly rebuilt engine than have a piston shoot through the head and have to scrap a whole bunch of stuff. one thing you might want to look into also would be the 302 (5.0L) from the later model mustangs (the pre-1993 or something, the ones that still had the 302) because they have fuel injection (better one gas especially important these days, better potential for power, easier to turbo) and if they bolt right up that's a bonus. but i'd wait untill you have enough money to do a bunch of things at once so you can still use your car even though it's not finished. good luck, hope you find something you like.

[mi69camaro]

oh ok thanx 4 the info!! hey anybody else know the difference between a 289 and a 302?? ok well thanks for the info!!

[Ground Rat]

Originally Posted by -Josh-

Carbureted cars are hard to turbocharge, it can be done but it's a pain to get it tuned right unless you've got big bucks.

That's not true. mi69camaro, here is a site dedicated to carbed turbo and supercharged engines:
http://www.boostedhorsepower.com/Blo...rums/index.php

You should also check out Ford Six Performance; the guys on that site have expert knowledge on Ford inline sixes and a few of them are even turbocharged. Good luck with your project.

[mi69camaro]

Hey Ground Rat!! thanX ( sorry i was outta town ) yeah well tonight i'll research that and if u have anymore info let me know!! Danke!
Jon D.

[Hit_N_Run-player]

i didnt read any of the other posts but do you want to go with a blow through, or draw through setup. With a draw through the piping will be harder and will probably take more room, but with a blow through you will need to pressurize all of the fittings for boostage. Both setups will be a bit tricky to tune compared to fuel injection, good luck with it.

[mi69camaro]

thanX!