rov'n said:
hi im new to the board and i currently drive a 1979 Chevy Malibu, for the most part it is all stock (350 sbc) i have been thinking about swapping a GN powerplant w/6sp in over winter. Not having researched this very much i thought that this would be a good place to begin my research. so i will pose a few questions.
1. Where is a good place to buy a complete powerplant?
2. Has anyone ever swapped a 3.8 turbo into a chevy malibu?
3. What are the good and bad years (if any) for engines/turbo/electrics ect...
more questions to come
Manual transmissions are a bad idea for turbo cars for most applications due to the fast that the turbo despools at every shift and you can't build booste easily on the line. There are solutions for the spool on the line problem but the shifting problem can only be minimized through a blowoff valve to relieve manifold pressure to keep it from backingup across the turbo compressor wheel.
1. Where is a good place to buy a complete powerplant?
Any 20bolt oilpan (late 85-88) 3.8 V6 will work as a good foundation, the major differences are a longer fatique life crank, turbo pistons, EFI intake, harness, and specialized sensors. All of those are available in inproved form on the aftermarket or used on places like here and sometimes eVilBay.
2. Has anyone ever swapped a 3.8 turbo into a chevy malibu?
Yes, Turboonedoor (sp?) comes to mind, an El Camino is extremely simular and they have been done.
3. What are the good and bad years (if any) for engines/turbo/electrics ect...
86-87 LC2's are intercooled and more common so they are the most common type, the differences between them are piddly. 84-85 is what is known as Hot Air systems with no intercooling but very simular Sequential Electronic Fuel Injection systems and are also a good choice. 78-83 "Before Black" Carbed turbos aren't a very good choice but they are out there and the 79-83 motors can form decent foundations for adding a later SEFI setup ontop of.
Hope this gets you started,
