hot air guys, what do you do with your turbos?????
- Thread starter fbodlovr
- Start date
buickpower
polytetrafluoroethylene
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
Not sure if he uses the exact same one, although I doubt they stock many hotair buick turbos, so probably. All I know is, I sent my core in looking like hell and totally shot (something had been sucked throught the turbo), and what came back looked brand spankin new.
You probably won't find any brand new turbo under 700 bucks, but I suppose you could get a decent used one from the parts for sale section for cheaper. The thing is, if you get a turbo slightly larger (non hotair turbo) than a TA33, say a TA49, it is not a direct bolt on, some modification is needed. Apparently you have to fab up some sort of bracket or adapter plate because the non-hotair turbos use a different inlet bell. However, if you run one of the intercooler kits, i'm not sure you have to do this, because the turbo will be reclocked so that it's outlet is facing forward instead of being plugged straight down into the intake, and there may be provisions included in the kit. I am not positive about this last part, as I have no experience adapting a larger turbo, hopefully one of the members who has done this will chime in.
Personally I decided to just go with the 33, as I wanted a turbo that would spool quickly on the street with the stock torque convertor. The 49 will also spool rather quickly with the stock convertor, and it is a bit larger, but at the time I didn't think the slightly larger size would be worth the hassle of having to adapt it, and a chunk of the money I saved on a larger used turbo would have been spent on fabbing it up anyway.
I guess it comes down to how handy you are at fabricating stuff, and what your goals for the car will be. Naturally your goals will be based on budget. Decide whether this is just going to be a quick street car, or something you want to take to the track regularly and run on race gas. Keep in mind that larger turbos don't necessarily make more power until you run higher boost levels, which requires race gas or alcohol injection.
Well, sorry for the book. If I caused more questions than what I answered, just ask more questions, someone here should be able to answer them.
You probably won't find any brand new turbo under 700 bucks, but I suppose you could get a decent used one from the parts for sale section for cheaper. The thing is, if you get a turbo slightly larger (non hotair turbo) than a TA33, say a TA49, it is not a direct bolt on, some modification is needed. Apparently you have to fab up some sort of bracket or adapter plate because the non-hotair turbos use a different inlet bell. However, if you run one of the intercooler kits, i'm not sure you have to do this, because the turbo will be reclocked so that it's outlet is facing forward instead of being plugged straight down into the intake, and there may be provisions included in the kit. I am not positive about this last part, as I have no experience adapting a larger turbo, hopefully one of the members who has done this will chime in.
Personally I decided to just go with the 33, as I wanted a turbo that would spool quickly on the street with the stock torque convertor. The 49 will also spool rather quickly with the stock convertor, and it is a bit larger, but at the time I didn't think the slightly larger size would be worth the hassle of having to adapt it, and a chunk of the money I saved on a larger used turbo would have been spent on fabbing it up anyway.
I guess it comes down to how handy you are at fabricating stuff, and what your goals for the car will be. Naturally your goals will be based on budget. Decide whether this is just going to be a quick street car, or something you want to take to the track regularly and run on race gas. Keep in mind that larger turbos don't necessarily make more power until you run higher boost levels, which requires race gas or alcohol injection.
Well, sorry for the book. If I caused more questions than what I answered, just ask more questions, someone here should be able to answer them.
buickpower
polytetrafluoroethylene
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
FWIW & IMHO:
No, It'll take a big turbo and a matching stall convertor to run low elevens, period. Again, I don't want to discourage you but that's a lofty goal for a hotair. If you really want to go that fast I personally would say go intercooled, hell probably just start out with an intercooled car, it will be easier/cheaper in the long run. With a hotair that will take extensive modding, including internal stuff like radical head porting, intake porting, big cam, etc. Only a handful of people have done it with or without an intercooler on a hotair car, whereas lots of people have done it with the later intercooled cars.
Mike
No, It'll take a big turbo and a matching stall convertor to run low elevens, period. Again, I don't want to discourage you but that's a lofty goal for a hotair. If you really want to go that fast I personally would say go intercooled, hell probably just start out with an intercooled car, it will be easier/cheaper in the long run. With a hotair that will take extensive modding, including internal stuff like radical head porting, intake porting, big cam, etc. Only a handful of people have done it with or without an intercooler on a hotair car, whereas lots of people have done it with the later intercooled cars.
Mike
the intercooler would definitly help , i was wondering what the options are for a bigger turbo on a hot air if you have the intercooler kit i am looking and running faster than the ta33 will take me next year but havnt heard much about bigger turbos with the intercooler kit .
Just for ther record the reason for the extra goodies was the fact that when I bought the car is was ragged out and needed to have a complete engine rebuild to even run. So, I figure if you're going to do it do it right and if you do a lot of your own work an engine build like mine isn't out of the question. I really love it when someone reads a build up and knows everything there is about it... LOL and just to clarify my car has run 11's since that article and I have tried to have it updated often. Maybe it's not a "typical" build but if you want to do it right this is the way to go.( and it's not unlike what a lot of the intercooled folks do to their cars as well) By the way it may have been listed as a 63 turbo but we found out later it wasn't quite that big. Just to Clarify so the experts know what they're talking about. Also I still have not used alcohol injection or an intercooler to reach my goals. But you can believe the so called experts if you want. One more thing you might want to know not everyone on this board is a "Guy" either, some of us females have really fast cars too and actually know what we're talking about. I know amazing isn't it?
You will get more bang for your buck if you add an alky and or meth kit instead of adding an intercooler. You will save time, money and weight off the front of the car. The best thing you could do right off the bat would be get some kind of scan tool and check the current condition of the car. Eliminate all vac. leaks (..and there will be some..) and check your stock exshaust manifolds for cracks and leaks. Get the car in tip-top shape before you start throwing parts at it or you will just create one helluva headache for yourself.....welcome to the hot-air world and good luck to you....
buickpower
polytetrafluoroethylene
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
huh? (insert puzzled expression)
turbo6x2:
I assume you were referring to me in your post. For the record, I made it abundantly clear that there was "nothing wrong with" your build. Also, where exactly did I call myself an expert? I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be, this is the reason I put "FWIW & IMHO" at the top of many of my posts, and often invite the more experienced to fill in where I cannot, as can be seen twice in this thread alone. I was just trying to give what I feel is practical advice to a newcomer. As to your build up, how are we supposed to know exactly what size turbo you have? We only have the buildup you wrote about to go on. And to me it doesn't matter as to the reason why you put your parts on, that's a moot point, because the mods are there now.
To me, "doing it right" is something that is totally subjective. It will vary based on your goals. Does this mean that for a person that wants a reasonably quick street car (read: AVERAGE CAR, not in the 11's), an electric water pump and oil evac system is required to "do it right"? Those are just examples of course.
I would like to make it abundantly clear that I have no beef with you whatsoever. Hell, I don't even know you. All I have to go on is what you have written about your build. Your car is very fast, one of the single fastest hotairs in existence. By very definition that makes your car above average, and for this you have my respect, and i'm sure the respect of many others. This is why it is confusing to me that whenever your build is mentioned, you seem to go on the defense. That's not necessary, IMO because your car's speed speaks for itself. Also, I am confused as to why you, as in past posts, brought up the fact that you are a woman. That was not even mentioned here, and it is totally irrelevant and had no bearing on this discussion. You have nothing to prove here, people will respect your accomplishments regardless of your sex.
Regards,
Mike
turbo6x2:
I assume you were referring to me in your post. For the record, I made it abundantly clear that there was "nothing wrong with" your build. Also, where exactly did I call myself an expert? I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be, this is the reason I put "FWIW & IMHO" at the top of many of my posts, and often invite the more experienced to fill in where I cannot, as can be seen twice in this thread alone. I was just trying to give what I feel is practical advice to a newcomer. As to your build up, how are we supposed to know exactly what size turbo you have? We only have the buildup you wrote about to go on. And to me it doesn't matter as to the reason why you put your parts on, that's a moot point, because the mods are there now.
To me, "doing it right" is something that is totally subjective. It will vary based on your goals. Does this mean that for a person that wants a reasonably quick street car (read: AVERAGE CAR, not in the 11's), an electric water pump and oil evac system is required to "do it right"? Those are just examples of course.
I would like to make it abundantly clear that I have no beef with you whatsoever. Hell, I don't even know you. All I have to go on is what you have written about your build. Your car is very fast, one of the single fastest hotairs in existence. By very definition that makes your car above average, and for this you have my respect, and i'm sure the respect of many others. This is why it is confusing to me that whenever your build is mentioned, you seem to go on the defense. That's not necessary, IMO because your car's speed speaks for itself. Also, I am confused as to why you, as in past posts, brought up the fact that you are a woman. That was not even mentioned here, and it is totally irrelevant and had no bearing on this discussion. You have nothing to prove here, people will respect your accomplishments regardless of your sex.
Regards,
Mike
buickpower said:
I just recently went through this myself, so I can give you some specifics as far as what is currently available. Right now, the TA33 is the biggest upgrade available from Limit - assuming that you are going to stay with the stock housings. Precision can make it into a TA48, which flows I believe 750 cfm, or they can go bigger if you want them to. Tim at Precision built mine for me. He put in a 60-1 compressor wheel and T31 turbine wheel. He says it should flow about 840 cfm. According to him, that is the best possible flow you can get out of our smaller hot-air housings. If you want to stay with the stock housings for the stealth (which was very important to me for various reasons) those are pretty much your options. And you do need to send them yours for a core. But if you don't mind doing some fabricating, you can put pretty much any turbo on that you would like too, as long as you have the supporting mods. If you decide to intercool it, you are looking at some fabrication anyway, so putting in a turbo as well with a different housing might not be a big deal for you. I don't know you or your situation so I can't comment on that one. I hope that helps you some. Good luck.
buickpower
polytetrafluoroethylene
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
Thats the info we needed, and thanks. Can you give some more details about adapting the larger turbos?
Mike
Mike
Hey Buickpower, when I was researching my to upgrade my turbo, I was told that the ta33 is rated @ 700 cfm of air flow. But you actuallly own one. So do you know which figure is actually the correct one? 660 or 700? A friend of mine recently got a TA33 and he was told 700 as well. He wants to know what it is really supposed to be.
buickpower
polytetrafluoroethylene
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
I had heard it was 700 on this board originally, but I believe it was Jerryl who told me he called john craig directly and that it was actually 660cfm. I really am not sure, I don't believe I asked john when I called him a couple years ago.
