Turbo??

[tiger9297]

Just curious if anyone here has put a turbocharger/supercharger on a gas burning K5. These kits are really high and I was wondering if you could use a turbo from another vehicle or different application. Lots of old ones around. Opinions?

 

[sled_dog]

there was a topic about turbo on a K5 a week or two ago. Don't know anyone that has done it and don't care to rehash the reasoning why its not that great an idea. Carb or TBI I'd go Supercharger if I were boosting a K5. Cheap and forced induction CAN go together but usually mean lackluster results compared to what they could be.

 

[undr8ed]

I've been threatening to throw an older carbed turbo engine (out of an early 80's Turbo Buick) into my K5 for some time... SUPER low end torque!!! However, with all the sensors, water is not your friend. I guess I'll stick with my q-jet for the time being.

 

[sled_dog]

low end torque from a turbocharged V6? I know they aren't excessively laggy setups but you really think it would be that great in a full size rig? In a full tube buggy I think the 3.8L with a blower(new pontiac) or the older 3.8 Turbo setup would be decent. By the way, why the older carbed model? They made less power and ran worse than the EFI version also there isn't as much power potential in them as far as I know.

I'll bother to touch this subject now. Turbochargers and Superchargers are great ways to make power. You can slap them on a stock motor and gain a good deal of power. But you could be shooting yourself in the foot. If your motor isn't that healthy to begin with it may have a shorter life with some boost thrown in the mix. Puting a blower or turbo on a stock motor is a waste IMO. Sure it gains power but if you did something as simple as get the heads ported and an aftermarket cam you'd probably see an extra 50+ HP vs just the stock more. Now picking up a junkyard turbo can be a great way of doing things, or it can be a NIGHTMARE. There is a kid who sits next to me in school, his turbo was brand new a few thousand miles ago. It already needs a new impeller shaft(not an oiling issue) and to be rebuilt for the second time in a few weeks. You are likely better off buying new or freshly rebuilt from a reputable shop. Buying a junkyard unit could end you up with a useless core. Superchargers aren't cheap. Unless you really luck out you won't find many sitting in junkyards. Even if you do its the same as finding a used turbo, who knows whats inside there? Now if the motor is carburated you either need to suck through or blow through. Either way a stock carb is NOT ideal for this. So factor in a new carb. Now if its TBI, well as has been noted here before, TBI isn't a big fan of Boost. The MAP doesn't know whats going on with lots of boost and it would require extensive tuning, if not utterly impossible to do. There is a brief overview of some of my thoughts on turbo or superchargers. I'm "go big or go home" in most cases and think turbos and superchargers are best left for bigger build ups. Though there are a few folks around here with blowers who love them and I can certainly understand why. I'd like to put one on my burb but I can't justify $3000 since all I really want to do is try it out. That and a $3k supercharger would be worth about 3 times as much as my Suburban

 

[undr8ed]

I don't think it'd be that bad... I have an 87 TR that's over 300ft/lbs at about 1700 rpm. (I think) it was on turbobuicks.com in the hybrid section, some guy took a carbed turbo engine out of a 78-85 Buick and put it into an old Willy's... I guess it'd sh!t n' git

 

[dyeager535]

Carbed turbo setups suck. First off, in the TR's, they weren't intercooled at that point, and I'm sure boost was WAY down. Just like the turbo'd Pontiac 301, it is VERY hard to get the fueling good enough at all throttle positions so that you don't destroy the motor.

The later fuel injected Buick motors were/are awesome, but they blow the earlier carbed ones out of the water.

 

[sled_dog]

an 87 TR is fuel injected not carb, like we said, the carb 3.8 turbos aren't worth the time.

 

[undr8ed]

The 231ci carbed turbo engines from 78-85 aren't as bad as you may think... I completely agree that they aren't quite the motor the intercooled, sfi version (86-87) are but for swapping purposes, I believe they'd do just fine.
My reasoning for the carbed engine swap thought was that it would be WAY easier! Both engines are VERY upgradeable, but both engines require constant tweaking (or somebody that can tune the sh!t out of them.) The carbed engine has a few less sensors to break and is easily upgraded to an intercooled unit.

If I ever quit threatening and actually do the swap, I'll definately let ya'll know how it goes/went The likelyhood of doing it is slim... But I've been known to do stupider things!

 

[sled_dog]

do it you wimp

 

[moturbopar]

Hi, I have messed with turbos a little. Theres alot of info here that needs to be answered. First are you willing to switch to EFI? Carbs and turbos are HARD to make work properly for racing, and nearly impossible to get tuned right for street use. EFI isnt all that expensive to do, there is alot of JY stuff that you can use, stock tpi manifold are getting cheap. As for the computer I would use a stand alone. If you want this done cheaply (somewhat) you will want to get the megasquirt (www.rs-autosports) Depending on how much hp you want, the injectors can be found at the JY also 85.5-89 turbo 2.3 fords had 35lb-hr injectors 8 of these will support around 500-550hp, if you want more look at some of the ford v-8 TBI cars they have injectors upto 52lb-hr. there is more stuff that is needed but you can email me if you need anymore info.I think with some shopping you could have a good running EFI setup for around $600-750 which is a little less than what a carb built for turbocharging would run.

The next step is also dependant on how much hp you want, but the engine will most likely need some work done to it. How many miles or on the negine? what internal mods have been done? if the engine is not freshly rebuilt you will atleast want to go into it and put new valve stem seals in, and if it smokes or has leakdown problems you will need to freshen it up. If you plan on running more than 10psi I would swap in a good set of forged pistons(drilled oil returns not slotted) maybe good rods, and stainless valves.

As for turbos you have ALOT of choices here. you will need to decide on where you want boost to come in, how much boost you want to run, how much hp/torque you want, and what kind of torque curve you want. turbos can be bought very cheap, I personally like holset turbos, they come in many different sizes and most use bearings instead of bushings for the shaft to ride on. you will need to decide also if you want 2 turbos or 1.

There are alot of things that need to be decided on befor throwing turbos on. If chosen properly turbocharging can be done fairly cheap, and is very much worth it if you dont mind work. If you decide on doing a turbo let me know and I will try to help you out on finding parts and other stuff you will need.

 

[sled_dog]

did read over your post but you mentioned Ford TBIs going up to 52 lb-hr, the stock Chevy 350 injectors are bigger than that and 454 injectors are 85 lb-hr.

 

[blk87K5]

This summer I will be putting a fully polished Vortech T-trim on the 350 vortech motor in my buggy. With ported/polished heads and an aftermarket computer PLUS the supercharger, it should be a lot of fun. I am sure I will be posting pics and resulsts when I am finished.

 

[moturbopar]

Sorry I guess I should have explained a little better, The ford TBI injectors will fit into the TPI manifold, since they are not the weird GM style tbi injectors. The fords you just pop out of the tbi, put a set of injector O-rings on them and slide them in the tpi (or similar intake). I also forgot to mention that the 2.3 and TBI injectors are low-imp injectors so they will need to be run on a computer that can handle them.

 

[dyeager535]

FWIW Ford SVO injectors (probably all ford injectors?) are rated at a lower fuel pressure than GM ones...a Ford 19lb injector when rated at the same PSI as GM ones is about 21lb. That's an EV1 Ford injector if that means anything.

 

[muddysub]

theres a lot that goes into matching a turbo to your engine, you cant really just grab an old turbo off of something and slap it on ur engine and expect a lot of power... mapping turbos takes a lot of math, i have it all written down here somewhere... what i'd like to do is get a pair of turbos built to work on half of what a 350 flows and build a twin turbo setup for my suburban...