heads or turbo
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Heads all the way, you will gain the most HP with ported heads and a ported matched intake, that TA49 is good for mid 11's the only downside i see is your injectors you need at least 42.5 injectors if you go with ported heads, a good 3,200 stall lock up or non lock up with wake your car up a lot, do not get the 009's go with the lime green top injectors that come with the lighting trucks and in some ford mustangs very linear on top and bottom.. good luck..
Unless you need new heads for some other reason, I believe you will gain more from the bigger turbo. The stock heads are not that bad, and don't seem to be a big restriction, until maybe you get to the tens. Better heads will make getting there easier, but I would not expect a big HP gain just from switching to new heads with the TA49, and those relatively small injectors. The 231 inch engine is only going to flow 400-500 cfm, so big heads, intake, etc, are really not needed, not like on a bigger engine, running without a blower. Remember- the turbo engines make power from BOOST- not from high rpms and big inches. BOOST means that the air is squeezed into a smaller volume, so it doesn't need gimongous ports, valves, etc.
Just for info, check out the "recipe" cars on Jason Cramer's web site (RJC). The ten second car has a PT70, and stock heads, while the 9 second car has a GT-70 and GN1s.
Just for info, check out the "recipe" cars on Jason Cramer's web site (RJC). The ten second car has a PT70, and stock heads, while the 9 second car has a GT-70 and GN1s.
Ormand said:
I don't know if I agree with post as it's written. Good flowing heads matters on any engine that consumes air. There are far too many small turbocharged engines that make tons of power and all have great flowing heads. Sure you can boost the hell out of it but that causes much more stress on parts and impacts the octane you have to use. I would rather use great flowing heads/intake/cam combo and efficient turbo on low boost than shoving tons of boost through small ports. I'm sure this is contributing to some people being better at changing head gaskets than others. I hope not to become an expert.
As far as the stock head flow numbers, they are some of the worse flowing heads I have ever seen. At the stock cam lift numbers(I believe .380/Int), if they are making anywhere near 150 cfm, I would be shocked. My current heads flow 212 cfm at .450 which my cam lift is .456/.440 so that is probably a 40% increase in flow over stock. I can't think of anything you can change by 40% that wouldn't be noticed. Everyone has their own approaches to achieve their goals and I'm not saying one is better than the other.
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fstrthnu said:
Depends on how far you have pushed the 49 turbo..
What does the car run in the 1/4 now?
Heads would definitely make alot of power, but if your heads have never been removed, then i wouldnt take them off till you popped a head gasket.
I would port the lower intake and spend some money in rear suspension parts, maybe just box your stock control arms and install some new GM bushings.
If you dont have a alky kit, get one
BW
My 1/4 mile times were 13.09 @110mph I had a crappy 60' at 2.34 with street tires. I dynoed at 418hp and 498 torque. That was at 19lbs of boost. All that is with alky. The engine was rebuilt about a year and a half ago and the turbo is only eight months old but I did nothing with heads at that time but freshen them up. I also have the lower control arms from Umi, air bags and new shocks. Sorry should have put this stuff in my first post. Thanks for the info.
fstrthnu said:
Your car dynoed over 400 rwhp with only 19 psi from a TA49? I was worried that I would barely make 400 rwhp with my setup. I have seen guys struggle to make that much with bigger turbos and usually more boost. That is a very efficient setup. I wonder if the compression was bumped up on your rebuild.
Sure, good flowing heads help. But they cost big $$, and for that investment you don't get much return, not until you get MUCH faster than fstrthnu is going. The stock heads flow about 180- 190, depending on the valve job. For an engine as small as the 231, at low rpm, that's enough for pretty significant power. The difference between the stock heads and ported heads will be MAYBE 1 psi. It's pretty easy to calculate, for anybody that know how to do head flows. (hint- 28" of water= 1 psi) So, in order to get the same flow to the cylinder, you need 1 psi more boost with stock heads as compared to ported heads. I don't think that 1 psi is "tons of boost", or that it will make a huge difference in octane requirement, or in wear and tear on the parts. I mentioned Tom Cramer's car, which runs in the 10s, with stock heads. Marc87gn, do your ported heads get you into the 10s? I'm not saying there is only one way to do things, but there are wise ways to spend money, and not so wise ways.
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fstrthnu said:
If it was my car, i would not put a bigger turbo on it becuase then you "might" need a higher stall convertor. Rjc bleeder may fix this, but who knows.
If you went with a larger turbo, it may drop your et by .4 and gain 3mph.
Might be laggier on the street too...
But, better sticky tires will drop almost 1.3 seconds off your et alone!
I would up the boost to 23psi, get some sticky tires and tweak the car to see if it will break into the 11s.
BW
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Well, te45a and a 3500 lockup stall convertor with a .85 pte Q trim housing
That right there will be 1050.00 for the turbo and 800.00 for the precision multi-disc convertor.
Now to benefit, you will need ported heads, thats an additional 600.00 - 1500.00..
Is your trans built for that power level?
If not 2000.00 -3500.00
Do you have big enough injectors? 340.00
Thats only 6290.00 +/- 1000.00
I know of a guy running low 11s with a 51 turbo, and heard of very few running low 11s with a 49 or 44.
I would tweak the combo you already have, it will save you thousands of dollars.
Your ta49 will wake up at 23-25 psi of boost, add 25° of timing with erics chip and julios meth kit, along with your ps intercooler IT WILL FLY !!!
BW
BW
That right there will be 1050.00 for the turbo and 800.00 for the precision multi-disc convertor.
Now to benefit, you will need ported heads, thats an additional 600.00 - 1500.00..
Is your trans built for that power level?
If not 2000.00 -3500.00
Do you have big enough injectors? 340.00
Thats only 6290.00 +/- 1000.00
I know of a guy running low 11s with a 51 turbo, and heard of very few running low 11s with a 49 or 44.
I would tweak the combo you already have, it will save you thousands of dollars.
Your ta49 will wake up at 23-25 psi of boost, add 25° of timing with erics chip and julios meth kit, along with your ps intercooler IT WILL FLY !!!
BW
BW
turbot2112
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if i were you i would just get the champion heads and a matched manifold.once you swap the heads you will be in a whole diffrent ball game. :smile: i put the heads on my car and it was night and day diffrence. i dropped like 7 or 8 10ths of a second in my quater mile times running the same boost{ 20 pounds} without really pushing it. 
Ormand said:
They did on my Turbocharged 99 GT and on 93 Octane. I found myself beating many cars that were on race gas because of heads that flowed significantly more than stock. I didn't say that a person couldn't run 10s on stock heads, but I can only imagine how long the turbo lives and how many people have blown head gaskets as a result of stuffing boost in the engine. I ran a turbo in the 10s for 3 years and never had a problem with head gaskets or turbo seals. I'm sure my heads will get me in the 10s if I decide to persue running that fast. Smart is a matter of opinion. Putting money into a 17-18 year old car is not smart in the opinion of many, but it remains just that, an opinion.
Huh?????Ormand said:
A 231 with a cam, headers, good intake would flow that in N/A form, but you add a turbo and you're flowing WAYYY more air than that.
Turbo engines make power from boost???? All engines make power from air flow, not boost. Boost is just a measure of restriction. Its meaningless. With high flowing heads with a high flowing intake, you can run far less boost. In turn, you create less heat. You can turn the boost down. You can run more timing, you lower your octane requirement. Your turbo doesnt get worked as hard. You save head gaskets. Squeezing a bunch of air through a stock buick head and calling it a day is far from ideal. The power is in the heads...on ALL engines. The turbo buick engine is not unique from all other engines. It pumps air. It is held to the same laws as any engine. Pass more air through it, make more power. If you dont have the money for good heads, then you are forced to turn the boost up. Sure, you can run 9's with stock heads at a billion psi, but thats extremely hard on everything. You can at least gain some flow by porting the intake, but it should be matched to the flow potential of the stock heads. If you hog it out and dont have heads to match, then you may hurt power. High flowing heads make the most out of every other part you have...cam, intake, turbo, etc, and it makes everything last longer. I made 500hp at the wheels with my cobra on 11psi! Its not cause its a V8. After all, it is only 281 cubes. Not that much bigger than these motors. It can make that much power on such low boost, because the 4 valve heads flow so much.
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