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TurboTer

Zap! Commander
Joined
May 24, 2001
Messages
1,578
OK guys, currently I have a mostly stock 1987 GN, with very small mods (listed in the sig below). By the next week or two, I am getting a 2.75" exhaust with two Dynamax 3" mufflers, 3" down pipe, 3" test pipe, 50 lb. Delphi fuel injectors, PTE 93 street chip, and a Walbro 340 fuel pump with hotwire kit. About how much horsepower will I gain? Will I feel a major difference? If you guys had to guess what I would do in the 1/4 mile (with these and the mods in my sig), what would you estimate?
 
Well, first off, you will most likely slow the car down with the 50# injectors, per your current setup. Too many people think that "bigger is better", and often go buy pieces that are too big for their application. It's like a cam shaft, in that far too often people go buy big cams and install them, and then wonder why their car slowed down and bogs off the line, and won't idle anymore. I am not scolding your decision, but rather offering insight that has been gained from many wrong decisions in the past, and learning about these cars from 12 years of ownership.

You are doing the right thing by ordering the Walbro 340 and hotwire kit. This is a good upgrade and insurance on any TR. However, why would you need 50# injectors? You don't have headwork,,, do you? You're running a stock turbo aren't you? You have a stock torque converter,,, don't you? Your intercooler is stock,,, yes?
In other words, you've done nothing to justify the need for additional injector size of that magnitude, with your current airflow capabilities! I ran 12.60's @ 106 with a stock turbo, stock intercooler, stock heads, stock fuel pump, etc, etc, 10+ years ago. The only thing that would've benefited me then would've been a better fuel pump. I ran 11.90's with a stock turbo and only 36# injectors, a Walbro 340, with good/safe O2 readings, and at only 17-18psi. Again, my point is, you're a long way off from needing that kind of fuel delivery. I think you'll be running the car so "fat", that it will feel like a pig off the line, and you'll be very dissatisfied! I am installing 50# injectors on my new setup, but that also includes Champion CNC'd heads, 60-1 turbo, front mount intercooler, and a fully built engine to drink up all that fuel. Do you see the logic here?

If you want to discuss it further, or get greater input,,, feel free to email me or respond to this thread. However, I don't want to just babble on this thread, if it's unwanted advice.

Hope that helps...
 
Maybe he wanted to buy once and have enough fuel to support growth? Looks like he's early in the modifications.

With the proper chip I don't see a problem putting 50's on now and it will support turbo, intercooler, etc later on (with a chip change). If his injectors are in good shape he could also possibly save them till later on when the bigger mods get put on. It would be easier however to get a stock injector chip tuned in than a backed off MSD-50 chip with the mods you have.

Remember 55's can peg a stock turbo. :D
 
Yes, I agree they would work well for future mod purposes, however, he is nowhere close to needing them now. And yes,,, he would be far better off getting a properly tuned stock injector chip, than to try and accomodate those huge squirters!

I forgot to mention, he's doing a good thing with the exhaust upgrades too. However, with the money he spends on the 50# injectors, he could've bought a TCI Street Fighter 3000 stall or something equivelant, and seen much greater ET gains. Overall Horse Power is a mute point, if it is not in an area under the curve. He may need 50# injectors if he intends on running 160mph bonzai runs, but he'll never see their benefit in the 1/4 mile, (per his current status), which is where most of us try to make our gains.

So, in conclusion, "yes" Chad, you have a valid point. However, I think you and others will agree, he could make far better additions and gain a much greater ease of tuning by taking a more conservative, sensible approach, and grow into these 50#'s way, way, way down the line. Right?

TurboTer, it is my opinion that you should not attempt to use the 50's as of yet, unless you are one of the TR guru's that can make even the most bizarre combinations work. Take Babytsteps man, unless you have a huge budget to do all the proper mods in the right now, and in the correct order. Again,,, IMO.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of mechanics and racing is minimal at best. I try and go by the advise of others as mush as possible. I too thought 50 pounders were too big, and planned on getting 36 or 42.5 pounders, but was told by one guy "Don't let anyone ever tell you 50 pounders are too big, and 42.5 pounders suck!" I was told by another too that they are not too big, as long as I upgrade the fuel pump. Personally, I must change the injectors pretty soon. They are stockers, meaning they are 15 years old with over 90k miles on them. My tranny sucks too, because it was from a Monte SS, which is crap. That must be changed too. Also, do you think the 2.75 exhaust is too big? I initially thought it was. Anyway, with the exhaust, test pipe, and downpipe, I'm guessing 35-40 hp gain. Since I'm getting it before the injectors, I'll assume I'll feel it big. Well anyway, I'll keep your opinions in mind, since I haven't ordered the injectors yet. I'll decide by early next week. Keep them comments coming.
 
I think the question that needs to be asked is, what his ultimate goals are? And why he has injectors high on the list?

If he plans on 11's and the next mod will be a bigger turbo and his stock injectors are getting tired, maybe 50's would be a good idea.

As far as how much power will be gained from just 50lb injectors? Probably NONE! The stock injectors are more than capable of handling your current setup and will take you well into the 12's!

If your injectors are on their way out, then by all means get the 50's to support future growth. If you don't need them right away, your money would be better spent on a scan tool, cold air induction, adj FPR, boost guage, and TUNE TUNE TUNE!!!

You'll be surprised at the gains you'll get just by maxing out what Mother Buick already gave you! 12's are just a few dirty fingers away!

Have fun;)
 
OK! So you do need injectors! Then by all means get the 50's. If you will be doing a trans soon, make a decision on a turbo. Most larger turbos will need a higher stall converter to spool efficiently. This would be a good time to get the right converter. I for one hate spending money twice! Come up with a goal and make a plan to acheive it! Everything is connected in one way or another and the right combination of parts is critical. Sticking to a plan will help you do it right the first time without spending unnecessary money!

Your 2.75" exhaust is great! There is really no such thing as "too big" in exhaust AFTER the turbo! Stock headers and crossover however are fine. Do check your drivers side header for cracks! My car has only 25K miles and it was cracked!
 
Yes,,, yes,,, and maybe yes...
My simple point remains, unless he is planning on running mid to low 11's in the near future, he would be better off doing the other mods, and maybe even buying a nice, cheap used set of 36#ers. Mine took me 11.90's, and were not out of fuel yet, and the car still got good mileage and was never fat. I was able to buy them for $175, as opposed to $300-$400 for the 50's he's looking at.
I agree in planning for the future, but you are talking about introducing an additional 20psi of fuel pressure over stockers, and an additional X volume, over the spread of 6 holes. That's a ton of freakin' fuel that he will never be able to utilize until way down the line. I would bet the farm that he slows the car down, costs himself fuel economy, and creates a general headache from stepping up that big at once. How many people make that big of a jump, unless they are going from a mild street combo to a hugely upgraded (meaning high dollar too) setup, that can honestly use that much juice? Remember, the 50's are rated at a static FP of 43psi, so if he's using an ADJFPR, he'll probably be running them at close to that mark, which will result in running extremely fat. He does not sound like someone who is going to jump right into making duty cycle adjustments, and all the other tuning that will be necessary to utilize these monsters on a virtually stock setup, or even a semi-modded setup. My TR ran far better with the 36#'s, than it did with the red-stripe 40#'s, and it had many more mods than his, including a stretch intercooler, bigger turbo, ported heads, intake, plenum, as well as much more...

Maybe we will just have to agree to disagree, but,,, I'm basing this on my own experiences and observations over the years.
 
Well, JToups386
I couldn't disagree with you more. The 50's will NOT be a waste of money IF he plans on making other additions down the road. It will save him the money of more than one injector upgrade.

With a good chip for the 50's (and there are many to choose from), those injectors will behave perfectly normal on the street, and he'll never even know they're there.

When the next most obvious mod down the road is a turbo upgrade, then the fuel for that turbo will be available.

You may not have realized it, but if you were running 11.90's with Blue Tops, you WERE running out of injector. Especially if you were running in the 112-113 mph range or quicker. My bet was you were cranking the fuel pressure up to keep from leaning out on the big end? Right? The truth now.

A bone stock motor can live perfectly comfortable with 50's, Mine certainly likes them, and the fuel mileage isn't going to suffer one tiny little bit. Remember, when cruising your still in closed loop, running stoiceometric A/F ratio, no matter the injector.

My mistake was starting at Blue tops (actually starte with Red Tops, but we wont go there), then moving to Red Stripes, and then to the 50's. $$$$$$$ Stupid, costly mistake on my part. Especially since I new my goals were to run high/mid 11's


You talk about running extremely fat with the fuel pressure set to 43 or so psi. I would guess you know very little about the inner workings of the ECM, and how the fuel injectors are actually controlled, otherwise you wouldn't have made such a statement.
That's why there's a changeable injector constant in the chip. That way the ECM knows there's a different size injector in there, and will compensate with different pulse width sizing. With the base pulse width properly set, what will then take over fuel delivery at WOT will be the MAF.

One final clerification that I should add. If TurboTer is only wanting bigger injectors to "go faster" "right now", then NO, they will not accomplish that. They (by themselves) wont help go faster/quicker, but they also wont slow him down.
Remember, adding injectors must ALWAYS be accompanied with a chip cut for them.
They will however make room for more performance upgrades down the road.
 
Originally posted by TurboDave
Well, JToups386
I couldn't disagree with you more. The 50's will NOT be a waste of money IF he plans on making other additions down the road. It will save him the money of more than one injector upgrade.
With a good chip for the 50's (and there are many to choose from), those injectors will behave perfectly normal on the street, and he'll never even know they're there.

You talk about running extremely fat with the fuel pressure set to 43 or so psi. I would guess you know very little about the inner workings of the ECM, and how the fuel injectors are actually controlled, otherwise you wouldn't have made such a statement.
That's why there's a changeable injector constant in the chip. That way the ECM knows there's a different size injector in there, and will compensate with different pulse width sizing. With the base pulse width properly set, what will then take over fuel delivery at WOT will be the MAF.

One final clerification that I should add. If TurboTer is only wanting bigger injectors to "go faster" "right now", then NO, they will not accomplish that. They (by themselves) wont help go faster/quicker, but they also wont slow him down.
Remember, adding injectors must ALWAYS be accompanied with a chip cut for them.
They will however make room for more performance upgrades down the road.


Well Turbo Dave, I guess you're also the guy that used to try and run a Holley 950 Double Pumper on a stock small block, because bigger had to mean better, and you intended on adding a B&M 871 blower and NOS later down the line. Hmmmmmm???
Think about what YOU are suggesting. Per your current statement, you're advocating that a 40% injector upgrade is a good first step for this guy, to build in future insurance. Right?

I've been reading your posts on this board for awhile now, and am usually in total agreeance with you. I do not doubt your ability and knowledge by any means. They both seem to be solid. However, I do not agree with you in this particular case. And, You are failing to see the logic behind my original points, and have somehow looked at it with a distorted pair of glasses, (or misinterpretted my statement), and have now chosen to slam me for my conservative choice. My whole point is, that MOST of us do not make such big steps in a single bound, UNLESS we are doing most of the things that will compliment such a change at the same time. In other words, if I'm going to add the ability for a 40% fuel increase, I'm dang sure going to add pieces that can use a good portion of this volume, as opposed to trying to de-tune my setup and hope that it will all back down into an acceptable operating range. Is this what you're suggesting to do? Maybe we just have two different methods for "skinning a cat", and I tend to lean a little on the conservative side. Yes, I'm sure he CAN run the car in it's virtual stock condition with the 50's, but what will he have accomplished? NOTHING! He will have to get a chip that will accomodate these huge freakin' holes, and try to balance it all out. Don't get me wrong, I fully support the ideas for future growth, and insurance for margin of error in the current setup, but I simply don't think the guy needs to nearly double his fuel delivery in order to do this.

Now you mention the next "most obvious" upgrade to be a turbo? Why do you say that? What makes that the "most obvious" choice? I would take my old combination of a STOCK turbo and my self ported heads, 2800+ stall, stretch IC, 36lb. injectors, etc, and run it against virtually anybody with the setup he listed (with your suggested big turbo upgrade added into the equation), and I'd bet the farm that I would beat it hands down! Ya' see, I just believe in doing more with less. I offered him my OPINION, based on my own personal learnings and results, and offered him some insight that differs from your approach. Again, "more than one way to skin a cat". Doesn't mean that you were absolutely right, or that I was absolutely wrong.

And I have to comment about one more thing, and will apologize for dragging this post out. You said "You (me) may not have realized it, but if you were running 11.90's with Blue Tops, you WERE running out of injector. Especially if you were running in the 112-113 mph range or quicker. My bet was you were cranking the fuel pressure up to keep from leaning out on the big end? Right? The truth now."
My reply truthfully is; "NO" I was not out of injector! I did this with 17-18psi, and still had O2 readings ranging from 790-830's. That doesn't sound too lean to me. Oh, and my knock counts were very low too. This was based on my static FP set at 45ish and my WOT FP showing 65 all the way through the runs. Of course, I probably can't understand anything about the ECM and injector functions, so surely I cannot understand the data that I read from my laptop and Direct Scan software either. And I must not understand the ET results thereof either. Right? ;)
By the way, I've had local friends go 11.40's with 36# injectors, which is when they finally DID start running out. Just FYI.

To summarize, my suggestions were my personal fact based opinions. I could not really care one way or the other if he buys the injectors or not. It's his choice, and his learning curve that will have to be formed and developed over time, from making both right and wrong decisions. Lord knows I made enough wrong ones to learn what I've learned.
TurboDave - I mean you no offense. I was a bit torqued by your replies, but it's exactly this sort of dialogue that teaches us all, and helps us to benefit from each others findings and theories. I honestly do appreciate your input, even if you slammed me a little to do it. Alright?
Sorry for the longwindedness!
Peace...
JToups386

BTW, I do 90% agree with your final clarification statement.:)
 
QUOTE
Well Turbo Dave, I guess you're also the guy that used to try and run a Holley 950 Double Pumper on a stock small block, because bigger had to mean better, and you intended on adding a B&M 871 blower and NOS later down the line. Hmmmmmm???
Think about what YOU are suggesting. Per your current statement, you're advocating that a 40% injector upgrade is a good first step for this guy, to build in future insurance. Right?

JToups386, A carburator is a "stupid" device compared to injection. It is not the same at all! A carb introduces fuel by mechanical means and is not in constant adjustment electronically as is EFI ! Talk about comparing apples to oranges. :rolleyes: Installing a set of 50's is NOT the same as overcarburation if the chip is burned for the application! If he installed the 50's with a stock chip, then yes he will have serious problems.

I for one would never buy used injectors. The gamble is not worth the money saved! Would you buy a used fuel pump because you really don't need a Walbro? If you are going to spend the money, buy something you can live with for a while!

Again, the question still hasn't been asked! What are his future plans?? If he plans on keeping the stock turbo, NO he won't need 50LB injectors. His ultimate goal is still the question here!!

TurboTer, with the way this thread is going, you may be better off talking with a chip programmer! I'm sure most will be able to tune the 50's to your application!
 
If your going to buy injectors go ahead with the 50's and be done, buy once! With a good chip the 50's are very streetable. As a matter of fact, I put in 50's with the stock turbo and they were more well mannered than the 36er's ( 868's ) I took out and alot better than the stockers.

Since you're starting to mod the car, I would recommend checking into the Translator Plus set up with the extender chip. It's one of the top 3 best things I've done to my car and is money well spent!! Good Luck!!



Donnie
 
Originally posted by Tow Man
QUOTE
JToups386, A carburator is a "stupid" device compared to injection. It is not the same at all! A carb introduces fuel by mechanical means and is not in constant adjustment electronically as is EFI ! Talk about comparing apples to oranges. :rolleyes: Installing a set of 50's is NOT the same as overcarburation if the chip is burned for the application! If he installed the 50's with a stock chip, then yes he will have serious problems.

I for one would never buy used injectors. The gamble is not worth the money saved! Would you buy a used fuel pump because you really don't need a Walbro? If you are going to spend the money, buy something you can live with for a while!

Again, the question still hasn't been asked! What are his future plans?? If he plans on keeping the stock turbo, NO he won't need 50LB injectors. His ultimate goal is still the question here!!

TurboTer, with the way this thread is going, you may be better off talking with a chip programmer! I'm sure most will be able to tune the 50's to your application!

Arghhhh!!! This is getting silly!
TowMan: I was using my carburetor example as a very extreme analogy, to make a point. The whole reason for this was; its extreme nature. I did not mean for anyone to take it literally, and then try to relate the two separate technologies as being "apples to apples".
Good gosh, I suppose I'll just shut up and let you guys do all the suggesting and advising from now on, and keep my facts and opinions to myself. Ohhhhh, wait a minute,,, I just remembered that this forum is designed to do exactly that, share input. Sorry, I take it back and I will probably continue to submit my opinions, and y'all can kick the crap out of me at will, while over analyzing my statements. I'm not a genius! I learn from and find value in hearing everyone's input, unless they display themselves to be one step above a mental mushroom! (and NO, I'm not suggesting any of you fit this description!) :)

AGAIN, I'm not disputing the general statements you, TurboDave, and others have made. Please hear me, I'm not saying you are wrong! I'm merely suggesting that the kid doesn't need to step up that hugely right now. AGAIN, this is per my approach! Your results may vary!!!

And YES, you are correct that we need to know his end goals, but at the same time, my end goals are to run low 10's, but I darn sure am not going to go out and buy 92# injectors right now, in order to do it 3 years from now. Surely you and the rest can understand that logic?

As for your theory on used injectors, well, you are basically speaking against the credibility and honesty of our tight-knit Buick group, in that, I'm only suggesting buying them from someone within "the family" that is upgrading and therefore can sell their perfectly good "hand-me-downs" to someone that is still growing beneath them. I've bought 2 perfectly good sets of injectors off the Turbo Trader board or other Buick groups over the years, and have no regrets! I thoroughly enjoyed the extra cash left in my pocket! I've bought used turbos, and various other pieces too, with total success. I'm still using the Stage III Cheetah that I bought used off of Turbo Trader in 1997, (for $350), and am only going to sell it to upgrade again. Fuel pumps are a different story, but your talking about a $90 - $100 item there, as opposed to things that range from $300 up. Am I making sense here?

I'll step down and say "fine", buy the 50's at $350+, and do the research to get a chip that you feel will work with them. Just don't imagine what better gains you could've made by spending the same funds in different ways.

Sorry guys, I really did not mean to start a brawl here...:(
 
Originally posted by Mr URL
......With the proper chip I don't see a problem putting 50's on now and it will support turbo, intercooler, etc later on (with a chip change).

Guess I will stick my nose in here and maybe get it bloodied???

Since he, Terrence, only want to know how much his power gain will be with 50's and the rest, the answer seems to be next to none.

Looking at the posts of the guys promoting 50's and more, they are expert enough to burn their own chips or a least understand them.

For the rest of us dummies, we depend on a "mail order" chip burner to make our car perform at it max. Does not normally happen in the real world. We send it back a few times and then are sorta close.

That is why myself, and lots of others prefer the 36# Bosch injector as there are LOTS of chip to choose from and they are cheap. I find the opposite true for the 50's I have dealt with.

Only a couple posts even were close to the problem he is headed for, wrong or improper combination of parts and he does not even state or know what performance level he want to attain, now - not a "future build".
 
Extender with Translator, MaxEffort-16, and PT&E are very good chips for MSD-50's. Granted 2 are expensive but if you want the best you've gotta pay for it.
 
Whoa! Look what I started! :) To all those who posted replies and their two cents worth, I greatly appreciate your opinions. All of you are vastly more knowledgable than I am on this subject, so I've given everyone's opinion careful thought. Just in case anyone doesn't know, my only mods are listed in my sig below. Also, BEFORE I get the injectors, I am getting a 2.75" exhaust with 3" Dynomax mufflers, 3" test pipe, and 3" down pipe. That setup alone (what I'm told at least, correct me if I'm wrong) is good for as much as 40 horsepower. Also BEFORE I get the injectors, I'm getting a Walbro 340 with hotwire kit. I do also plan on getting a TE-44 or TA-49 turbo later in the year. I'd also like a correct GN tranny, as mine is from a Monte SS (not that it doesn't run right, but that kind of 200-R4 is nothing compared to a GN 200-R4). My ultimate goals? I'd like to see 11's, but I realize that is way down the road.

To JToups386: For a while you almost convinced me to axe the idea of the 50 pounders and instead go with a set of 36 pounders, but after reading everyone's opinion, I've decided to go ahead with the 50's. From what I'm told, with the proper chip, they will be very streetable. The PTE 93 chip I'm getting should be more than adaquate for my setup. I'm not saying you are wrong, but it's a chance I will be taking.

To all those who don't know: I'll be getting NEW 50 pounders from a board member, anlong with the following NEW chips: a Red Armstrong 108, a PTE 93, and a PTE 26º race chip. The guy ordered them in March but never put his engine together. He wants $480 shipped (hopefully he can wait until next week, or this topic is basicly for nothing, lol).

Finally, no one answered my original question of how much hp will I gain. This is with the exhaust, injectors, and fuel pump. No gain in power, even with the exhaust?
 
OK, Lets see here......Bunker pants, Jacket, Nomex hood, Helmet, shield down, halligen bar in hand.....It thnk I'm ready to join the fire fight here. Fight nice boys.... Anyway I'll throw my .02$ in here just for fun. I think the 50's are a good idea, but maybe not right away. As someone stated before, Your money is prob. best spent on a scan tool and good gauges so you get a feel for what the car is doing and are ready to turn up the wick and push it. If you MUST buy injectors for any reason than by all means, buy the 50's AND the proper chip to suit your combo. They may not be nessicary at the current time but if your going to do it, do it only once. They will provide no immediate increse in power but when you do upgrade your turbo, heads ect, ect you know the fuel system will be up to the task. With the right chip they should be perfectly streetable. Plan for your final goals and work your plan.
 
OK, I'm gonna jump in on the injector argument. You don't have much buildup yet so IMO, you should hold off and spend elsewhere. My car has 165,000 miles (similar setup as you) on the stockers, O2's are good, and the butt dyno says it runs like a champ. What I am trying to say is you still have a lot of life in those injectors, both in mileage and performance. Your money is prolly better spent on other things. I would not get the injectors until a) you recognize that they cannot supply the performance for your combo, or b) you suspect they have failed (no longer function properly).

My .02
I personally plan to keep the stockers until I get a bigger turbo(and converter), which comes after a new intercooler, which comes after valve springs, etc etc..... it's a long list before the injectors.
 
In response to your HP query....

....its hard to determine how much hp a mod will give you. Each thing you put on your car needs to work together and compliment everything else. The obvious are K&N, exhaust, and fuel. People dont look to these mods for the gain. Get yer scanmaster goin and up the boost. The boost is where the extra power comes from. And to get yer car running good, you hafta tune it using the scan tool. So dont look at how much power yer exhaust will bring. The exhaust just lets the turbo spool easier. Hmm....i lost my train of thought...hope what i said helps some...its about the combination of parts....not any particular one. -later
 
Originally posted by TurboTer
Also, BEFORE I get the injectors, I am getting a 2.75" exhaust with 3" Dynomax mufflers, 3" test pipe, and 3" down pipe. That setup alone (what I'm told at least, correct me if I'm wrong) is good for as much as 40 horsepower. Also BEFORE I get the injectors, I'm getting a Walbro 340 with hotwire kit. I do also plan on getting a TE-44 or TA-49 turbo later in the year. I'd also like a correct GN tranny, as mine is from a Monte SS (not that it doesn't run right, but that kind of 200-R4 is nothing compared to a GN 200-R4). My ultimate goals? I'd like to see 11's, but I realize that is way down the road.

To JToups386: For a while you almost convinced me to axe the idea of the 50 pounders and instead go with a set of 36 pounders, but after reading everyone's opinion, I've decided to go ahead with the 50's. From what I'm told, with the proper chip, they will be very streetable. The PTE 93 chip I'm getting should be more than adaquate for my setup. I'm not saying you are wrong, but it's a chance I will be taking.

To all those who don't know: I'll be getting NEW 50 pounders from a board member, anlong with the following NEW chips: a Red Armstrong 108, a PTE 93, and a PTE 26º race chip. The guy ordered them in March but never put his engine together. He wants $480 shipped (hopefully he can wait until next week, or this topic is basicly for nothing, lol).

Finally, no one answered my original question of how much hp will I gain. This is with the exhaust, injectors, and fuel pump. No gain in power, even with the exhaust?

TurboTer:
Well okay, I appreciate your taking my advice into consideration, even if you chose to do otherwise. We all have to learn in our own ways, and sometimes it does recquire making questionable decisions that may come with regret. Honestly though, I DO hope this works out well for you! I don't think it will hurt.
My original advice was based merely on seeing the my own results, and others like me, with far less injector than 50's. You are smart to plan for growth, but I will continue to debate folks on this board that think one must upgrade so largely to achieve such minimal goals. It's kinda like saying (and I'm being extreme here), that someone should go out and initially buy a 70-1 turbo, because someday they plan to run high 9's or low 10's and they just want to purchase only one turbo ever. There is just no logic to that! Yes, we should build in a "room for growth" factor in our plans, which the 36#'s would readily cover. You however, are planning on buying something that will support 10.70 ET's, which is a HUGE span from the high 12's you are probably currently able to run.
I see used 36#'s for sale all the time on gnttype.org for $200. That's fair to the buyer and seller. What is the benefit you ask? Well, you're about to spend $480, so I see at least a $280 gain right off. That $280 is close to the cost of a good 12" 2800-3000 stall, that would greatly benefit your ET and driving pleasure! There are other options for improvement within that price range too.
I'm simply trying to tell you, that you could easily achieve your goals of 11's, with less injector, cheaper, and with more chip selections, as well as various other improvements. You mentioned getting a turbo upgrade too. Why would you bother with that, when you can't cram much more air through your stock heads and intercooler? The initial key should be to open things up first, (ie ported heads, better IC), and then get the bigger hair dryer to fill them. This is just basic turbo performance logic. I've known many people who went out and bought bigger turbos and applied them to stock headed, stock IC, and stock converter cars, and then wondered why the thing bogged off the line, and runs slower ET's. Hard lesson to learn economically! As mentioned by BlackBuick84 and ScottyB, it's all about the right combination of parts. It's not a Lego set; that you just snap things together until something finally fits and works...
You have stated your general end goals, but I still think your method of achieving them will be hindered (or more costly) by your current game plan, UNLESS money is no issue for you. I've always been a poor man's racer, therefore I've had to try and achieve good results with less $$$. Through some basic, but good decisions, I think I've been able to accomplish this over the years, and after learning sometimes by trial and error.

So, "no", the 50's will probably not slow you down IF the chip is properly tuned for them. This means you will need a chip that was designed with your specific attributes in mind, ie cam size (where it makes its power), head flow ("area under the curve"), stall speed, boost vs. timing, etc, etc...

You will probably see some HP gain through the exhaust, more so if you have an open dump pipe flange, (worth about .2 and 2mph on mine), and also from the added fuel delivery of the Walbro 340. Those were good decisions, and the car will run and sound better too.

However, don't worry so much about overall HP, as it is worth nothing unless it is "area under the curve". Peak HP numbers do not impress me at all! I was only making 327rwhp @ 455rwtq when I ran 11.90's. That ain't a whole lot of peak HP, but when you looked at my dyno curve, it carried that number virtually throughout the entire pull, hence again "area under the curve"!!!

I keep falling back into the injector thoughts...:confused: and have to point out that quite a few people have run mid 11's with far less injector. Hmmmmm, why can't I clear my mind on this?;)
You also mentioned a SuperSlow Monte transmission being in the car? Does it at least have the proper stall converter? I do not believe the SS came with the same 2400 stall that the TR came with. If it does not, then you have huge gains to make with a converter upgrade right off!!!

I wish you could humor us by going and getting an official ET on the car as is, and then one with the 50's installed. I'd be real cursious to see the results.
Oh well, I wish you the best in your project, and look forward to hearing the TRUE results thereof.
Peace...
 
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