Originally posted by turbo buicks
hello all this is my 1st here in the electronic tech section. i have one simple goal in mind, have my car be like bruce's car. 24 psi on pump gas and 30 mpg just sounds too good to pass up. what kinda knowledge am i gonna need? im in college now 1st yr but no tech classes but i got smart friends and of course you guys here on TB.com. how much cash layout am i looking at putting down for parts to be able to do this when its all said and done? im sure its possible to duplicate what bruce has done but how long would it take to do somehting like he did? what are some helpful tips for an aspiring n00b?
Kinda sounds like me, so if I may be so bold.
Without worring about ET, it's not too big of project monitarially.
Alot (most) of it's in the tuning. For the first 3 years I owned it, I was doing at least 2 chips a day, and 2-3x as many on the ecm bench seeing exactly how things worked.
A good understanding of how an engine works, and then how to make a turbo motor works is necessary. Alot of that is from shop time. But, you can catch up real quick by reading the NACA papers in what's trubo related. Reading McInnes, and Corky Bell will get you thinking, but you need to counter some of their ideas. Lots of the new text is just the old text that's had opinions added. The old text is the original research and pretty much dead on. All that's really changed is materials, and some of the technology. And the jump from diesels to gas isn't as large as some folks would have you believe.
I've been honest and forward about what I've gotten to work, so that should trim off alot of running around in circles with some of the stuff.
If you go here, and in the stickies look for Grumpy's Final Answers that should help.
http://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=16
And keep checking back here, as I'm going to try and post alot of what I know here.
http://home.woh.rr.com/brucesgn/
A 60 turbo, 55 PPH injectors, a translator (plus) freeing up the exhaust and intake, good fuel pump (hot wired of course), with good tuning will do miracles.
Having some special tools makes it easier too, ie a WB, and ecm bench in addition to the mechanical stuff.
Of course just asking, works. My ISP seems to be sorta flakey, so if I don't respond it's the mail got lost, so just try again.
Start modest, do the basics, do as much research as you can, and then experiment.