Is 78-82ish carburated turbo stuff worthless?

F

Floydsbuick

New Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2004
The reason I ask is that I'd like to experiment with an old blow-through 4 barrel Turbo set-up. Nothing fancy mind you. Just wondering what I could do with it on my 80 LeSabre. I'm a good welder and think I could do it. Problem is that I live paycheck-to-paycheck, so I'm not gonna do nothin' unless this older stuff is dirt cheap. And I don't wanna put in a want add till I know. Opinions????? Thanks guys!


PS. I know I'm a newbie here, but check me out on www.V8buick.com so you know I'm not a troller.
 
You will probably need to post this in the Before Black section as it deals with the early carbed turbo cars.
 
its pretty cheap stuff. you can find it all over e-bay, in junk yards, all over the place really. it might be goof for a little extra power but i think you can put your money in better places. find someone with any old carberated turbo car and take a ride in it. i have a friend with an 81 turbo trans am with the 4.9 v8. talk about a pooch. it runs high 16's on a good day at the track. thats when stuff isn't breaking.

and putting a turbo on a car not ment for a turbo is asking for trouble. head gaskets won't last, you have a good chance of really making a nightmare for yourself. not saying it can't be done, because i'm sure it can be done and probably with great results if the whole motor is ready to handle it.

yes it can be done, and yes it can work. but as with anything going fast takes money, this is a way to potentally go really fast, so it will really cost you.
 
Thanks for the replys. The idea here is to educate me. My 80 LeSabre is my daily driver, but I also use it to test Carbs, Distributor set-ups, and whatever else I can. What works usually gets applied to my 350 Regal. Anyway, the car is no slouch as it is. Its got a 70 350 4V with 9-1 pistons, and a 3.42 posi rear. The idea is not to grenade the engine with obscene amounts of boost. I'm just trying to determine if I can make use of old Turbo stuff and maybe add a little power for $100-$200. If this was successful at all, It would greatly change my future plans for the Regal. So now I'm on the hunt for some old Turbo stuff. Thanks again guys!!!:D
 
i have one sugestion for you. get a knock sensor at napa and find a way to attach it to the block. it might mean machine work, i don't know, i have no idea exactly how the knock sensor is mounted.

hook a gauge up to it so you can see any knock, thats basically pre-detionation. if it wasn't for that very few of our engines would see 50k miles, much less the 150+ they regularally see. best of luck to you and keep the booost down.

i do have one other thought that might become a problem, i'd let someone who has dome more turbos than me answer this one, but eth turbine side is going to be too small. its made for a 231 v6, you have a 350 v8. you will move as much air at idle as a lot of us do at a healthy cruise rpm. spool up will be nonexistant, but at high rpm that small turbine will (i think) become very restrictive, give you lots of back pressure, and MAYBE hurt top end performance compared to what you have now. again, ask someone else, i'm just going off theory here,

good luck!
 
I appreciate any input here. You refer to the "Turbine side". Is this a reference to a part of the turbo, or to an inlet pipe? I was planning on using modified 350 headers and not manifolds if that makes a difference. I've sorta had this idea in my head for about a year. But I read the new Hemmings Muscle Machines. Theres a good story on a twin turbo Stude blowing through AFBs.
 
the turbine is the exhaust side of the turbo, also called the hot side. the compressor would be the intake side, or the cold side.

big headers would help, but i dont' know how much.
 
heh, no way you're gonna do it on 1-2 bills, that'll get you started but I'd be wary about trying anything without an overhaul on your engine. Turbos are rough on bearings, and any blowby you have now will become an issue. Far as these people that tell you boost on cast pistons is bad, they're used to running high boost. If you run 5 and not the 15-22 they like, you should be fine, especially on that CR. Honestly, a turbo setup can be done fairly cheap if you know where to look, and/or you have spare parts on the shelf to play around with.

http://www.toohighpsi.com/BudgetTT/BudgetTT.htm
this site will hopefully get you started towards the right direction, I'd also check out:
http://www.turbofast.com.au/javacalc.html
http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/turbo/turboflow.html

This will cover a lot of the mathematics/design for your project.
 
I bet a draw-through setup would be less bulky than a blow through. [/B]
Click to expand...



Thanks for the link!!! I may bid that. Anyway, whats a draw through compared to a blow through? I'm guessing that means under the carb but I dunno. Remember, Turbo stuff is all new to me. Also, do these old hot-air setup draw from the pass side exhaust only? Thanks for all the help everyone!
 
Draw through means the fuel mixture goes through the compressor side of the turbo (carb before turbo). Blow through means compressor side of turbo blows through the top of the carburetor (carb after turbo). It usually has a bolt-on cap that substitutes for the air cleaner; the air cleaner is in front of the compressor side of the turbo like fuel injected cars are. Either way, you will have to jet the carb to deliver fuel proportional to the boost levels. I imagine it will be a dance requiring a good bit of tweaking. If you are using a Quadrajet there is a good book at the bookstore called Rochester Carburetors by Petersen Publishing that lists all kinds of jet sizes and secondary hangers as well as DIY mods. I fear this is not going to be an easy project to make run well.

Hot-air setups are just like intercooled setups; they both use a crossover from the driverside to the passenger side so both manifolds feed the turbine. Then you only need one downpipe to your exhaust.
 
A 231 NA can handle a factory carb/turbo set up with no problem, so I don't see why a 350 would have a problem.

A 231 NA in a Regal is good for 19 second in the quater mile. The factory turbo package brought this down to 17-16's. Tweaking has gotten my car into the 14's. This dirt cheap stuff can perform. :)


The 231 turbo is for a motor requiring 390 CFM. A Pontiac 301 turbocharger might be a better choice. (I'd never judge a Pontiac 301T based off one car ride. I'd bet 90% of the owners don't know thing one about tuning.)

Look over my Website. Another great book to get is "Turbochargers" by Hugh MacInnes.
 
Originally posted by b4black

The 231 turbo is for a motor requiring 390 CFM. A Pontiac 301 turbocharger might be a better choice. (I'd never judge a Pontiac 301T based off one car ride. I'd bet 90% of the owners don't know thing one about tuning.)
Click to expand...

The 4.9 was just crap, plain and simple. It's like the 350 olds window blocks taken 3 or 4 steps further. Even the NA ones weren't known for their ability to handle power. While I'm a fan of the under dog and everything, the 4.9 is a just plain dog. I almost forgot, if you can find a 350 Buick from the JY that's a smogger motor, pick it up most smoggers were closer to 8:1 CR (check a book) If you pick a motor up 2 bills, blowing it up isn't exactly a big deal.
 
i have to agree on the 4.9, those motors suck. my friend has the old tta, its already on its 3rd rear main and needs another.

BUT as for the design of the turbo, i think it is a better bet for what your doing. bigger turbo, etc.
 
So at this point is it safe to say I need a Turbo bigger than a 79ish stock Buick Unit? Remember, I'm not going to go insane on boost cause I got a 9-to-1 engine here. I was guessing 5 or 6 lbs max. And blowing it up experimenting is no big deal as I have a spare late 70s 350. I'm gonna try to accumalate some parts and knowledge over this winter. I won't put this into action till late spring so I can ride my V45 to work and not have to worry about the LeSabre being down or grenaded. I'm really liking all the info youns are sharing with me. I really really think I'm gonna give this a whirl. Thanks!!!!
 
I'd start looking at either a pair of K-car turbos (the Garret ones, the mitsu ones are crap and expensive to get rebuild kits for, not to mention they'd probably choke your top end) and run twins. Some sorta diesel turbo as a single may be an appealing option, you probably wouldn't need anything more then a 4 banger diesel turbo, or a 6.5L turbo (they were gutless on the 6.5s, but they'll be quite gutsy on that 350) would be excellent. Far as it goes, if you intercool get a cooler from a truck wrecking yard, a diesel cooler is the way to go if you can make space for it. They usually are cheap, and can flow a great deal. Another thought is a simple home made alky injection setup, it'd definitely be the way to go if tight on space. I've got a friend with a slant 6 in a wrecked out Dart, I'm gonna talk to him and see if he wants to play a game of add the turbo, may as well see what happens :D
 
Do turbos have numbers that identify their size? You know. like carbs have 600, 650, 750 etc. So two smaller turbos would work like one big one? Cause I'm more likely to find some old stock Buick or Chryslers ones than one big truck turbo.
 
they sort of do...

a turbo isn't a turbo. like i said earlier there are two sides to them, and each side can be sized differently and will affect how it works as a hole. I'll TRY to give you an idea of whats going on with it.

they are measured in a/r, its like area/radius or something like that. you'll be seeing turbos between .40 and probably 1.00 if your looking in junkyards. just as a refrence most of us here use in the .60 range on both sides.

on the hot side, a smaller a/r will help it spool up faster, but will give you more back pressure and a loss of top end power. a bigger a/r will give you more boost and power, but will take longer to spool up.

on the cold side the same is true. smaller will be faster to spool, bigger will move more air.

the key is finding what will work for you. check back in hot rod magazines, about a year ago. they did a big 3-4 issue thing on custom turbo applications, and what will work for you, and all that stuff.

good luck!
 
That 9-1 compression is going to limit boost anyway. I can see you being able to run 6-8 lbs with good gas. Adding that knock sensor is a good idea. I know the Pontiac used a turbo under the carb not blow through. Maybe it's possible to fab up something similar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

WE2Regal
Carbed Turbo Compressor Housing Mods
Replies
11
Views
2K
WE2Regal
WE2Regal
GNVYUS 1
Garrett G30-770 Turbo vs TA49, 1990s vs 2020s, GN Mustang DYNO Results Inside!!
2 3
Replies
43
Views
9K
GNVYUS 1
GNVYUS 1
Grandpa’s 87
The story of Grandpa’s 87 Turbo Buick (Full)
Replies
12
Views
3K
Marty Fairchild
M
8
Is anyone else excited for Oct23-26th? Bowling Green
2 3
Replies
46
Views
4K
Bobs rare 6
B
M
Blown head gaskets....What next?
2
Replies
29
Views
4K
ttypewhite
ttypewhite
Top