Is it worth it to supercharge or should it get turboed?

[Goat]

I just recently bought a 86 s10 with a 4 banger in it that is locked up. I have NA 3800 that came out of my impala that I can swap into this and I know I got a 700r4 and driveshaft laying around from another project I done.

I just wonder if its worth the trouble to put the superchager on here or if I should turbo one and see how far this thing goes.

Are well just save the 3.8 and swap a 5.3 in there....

Let me know what you think about this. I have everything for the 3.8 swap.

 

[DoubleD]

If you wanna make power, turbo it. The M90 definitely has its limits, and you are going to be cramped for space I'm sure with the throttle body facing the firewall.

you could start out by getting an Fbody upper intake for the 3800 and work from there. its gonna be a project for sure, but these motors handle tons of horsepower with a turbo.

 

[Goat]

Yea the guy I was talking to earlier on another forum worked at intense racing and was telling me these are expensive little motors to build.

 

[DoubleD]

not as expensive as LC2s! lol the series 2 is sooo much stronger from the factory (4 bolt main with BIG steel caps), actually has a good oil pump, good flowing heads that are symmetrical port... the list goes on.

they used to be expensive to go fast before people started turboing them.

my TR will probably get a series 2 before it gets another LC2...

The motor i run in my 12 second FWD car cost me $500. If you are crafty enough you'll have a bad ass motor on the cheap.

Oh and you can get a new block at any junkyard in the country for much less than $1000...

 

[Goat]

yea man 100 bucks here and fully loaded 5.3 for 400

 

[DoubleD]

5.3s obviously make power too. though I'm no expert with them. if you wanted to stay NA I'd say go with more displacement.

depends on your fab skills and money situation in any case

 

[Goat]

it sounds like I might end spending more money on the 3.8 which I dont have, but I dont want to have to beat the firewall back for the 5.3 to go in there like you got to do with the old 350s.

 

[DoubleD]

well I think you'll get over your head in costs if you wanted to supercharge or turbo the 3800 in the truck, just trying to get it to work. 5.3 is a bolt in fun motor n/a, so it sounds like that would be the route to go... especially since they are so cheap lately

 

[Goat]

true Ill save the 3.8 for another day.

 

[murphinator]

all depends on your goals , in a w body which is fwd so harder to hook than rear drive and generally 3500-3700 pounds the m90 cars seem to run into a wall around mid 11's unless sprayed also

of course in a vehicle as light as a v6 s10 and rwd you may be able to get deeper if persistent....

while turbo builds have been into the high 7's ( datsun pickup from australia) and mid 8's fwd w body (zzp)

 

[Goat]

Oh Ive looked into it and its a whole new animal to have to learn. I just trying to weigh the options to see which one is worth it.

 

[murphinator]

Oh Ive looked into it and its a whole new animal to have to learn. I just trying to weigh the options to see which one is worth it.

plenty of people around this board and others to help you which ever way you go.

btw you dont have to cut the firewall to go sc I have seen 90* elbows welded on , 90* elbows bolted on stock sc's , remote mounts of m90's on engines other than 3800's , twin remote m90's its all up to your imagination and fabrication skills

same with turbos store bought kits ,fabricated ones , remote mount ones , intercooled not intercooled , big turbos with spray to spool them... endless possibilities

 

[Goat]

Yea your right that was worried about the most is notching the firewall. I wouldnt mind seeing some of them setups.

 

[murphinator]

poke around in the RWD conversion section of 3800pro.com and set the time back to the beginning so you can see them all and Dave at triple edge has posted some here over the years , recently an m90 firebird that he modified the m90 and made closer to a 180* intake tube and it is in this section..

 

[kshef]

I turbocharged mine...best thing I ever did. Wish I knew 12 years ago what I know now...supercharged = waste of time

 

[Goat]

what did you turbo? and mind sharing some photos or something of your setup?

 

[gn4u2c]

If it were me... just drop the na 3800 you have in with a f-body intake to start. It will already be a big boost in power over the stock s-10 powerplant LOL... Then you can drive it and get the suspension/ trans and so on done and ready to handle additional power. When the money gets right turbo/intercooler/ exhaust and so on. This way you can drive the truck instead of it sitting 4-5 years.. Plus it may save you from getting in to deep and giving up.:biggrin:

 

[kshef]

Simple, cheap non-intercooled, small turbo (50mm compressor)...13.1 112.9mph 2.2 60ft
99 Buick park ave, race weigh was ~4100lbs...these motors have a lot of potential, id like to have one in a rwd platform

 

[murphinator]

here are the top 25 1/4 mile times for 3800's as posted on 3800pro.com

1 Matt Meekhof 97 Grand Prix GT FWD ZZP Stage 4 Al Stattama STR4 T3/T4-61 Twin Turbos 1.356 5.582 @ 128.88 8.658 @ 158.97
2 Bob Cook 99 Grand Prix GT FWD INTENSE Stage 4 CNC INTENSE Stage 4 Turbo GT42-76R-BB Turbo & N2O 1.322 5.745 @ 123.56 8.902 @ 154.90 2430


3 Scott Cook 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 4 CNC INTENSE Stage 4 Turbo PT76GTQ Turbo 1.489 6.149 @ 117.51 9.499 @ 145.13 3035
4 Uzoma Iwuagwu 97 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 4 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 & T72 Turbo 1.611 6.531 @ 112.71 9.986 @ 143.54

5 Jeff Kalo 03 Impala LS FWD Stock Stattama ST4 T67 Turbo 1.632 6.4887 @ 111.70 10.005 @ 138.42
6 Ed Morad 00 Bonneville SSEi FWD INTENSE Stage 4 CNC INTENSE Stage 4 Blower Blowzilla 2200 1.548 6.831 @ 102.14 10.711 @ 125.71 3255
7 John Tsimaras 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 3 CNC Custom Magnuson MP112 & N20 1.689 7.033 @ 105.36 10.785 @ 130.37
8 Eric Schertz 01 Regal GS FWD Unknown Unknown Unknown Turbo 1.679 7.007 @ 101.92 10.855 @ 127.57
9 Tim Beek 00 Grand Prix GT FWD Stock Stattama Stage 1 Turbo T4 60-1 Turbo 1.664 7.038 @ 101.78 10.921 @ 125.54
10 Ken Walsworth 97 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 2 ZZP XP Novi 2000 1.579 7.006 @ 98.82 10.954 @ 125.97 3160

11 Chris Hoenle 00 Grand Prix GTX FWD ZZP Stage 4 Stattama Stage 4 Novi 2000 1.665 7.136 @ 97.62 11.073 @ 123.21
12 Ed Morad 97Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 3 CNC INTENSE Stage 3 Blower Eaton M90 - Gen III & N20 1.71 7.153 @ 100.71 11.084 @ 125.01 3250
13 Chris Mercadante 00 Grand Prix GTP FWD Stock INTENSE Stage 1X Blower T04e67 Turbo 1.616 7.090 @ 98.01 11.094 @ 121.95 3375
14 Darren Smith 99 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 1 ZZP VS Eaton M90 & T70 Turbo 1.774 7.271 @ 100.20 11.166 @ 128.27
15 Tim King 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 4 CNC INTENSE Stage 4 Blower Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.557 7.105 @ 99.38 11.169 @ 120.69 3170
16 Jackie Kleis 97 Grand Prix GT FWD Stock Custom Eaton M90 - Gen III 1.579 7.144 @ 94.54 11.238 @ 122.32
17 Bridgett Meekhof 01 Monte Carlo SS FWD Stock ZZP VS Novi 2000 1.59 7.198 @ 95.31 11.243 @ 119.64
18 Greg Was 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 3 CNC INTENSE Stage 3 Blower Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.658 7.227 @ 98.48 11.245 @ 122.28 3150
19 Shawn Mayes 99 Grand Prix GT FWD Custom ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.688 7.239 @ 98.18 11.253 @ 124.06 3000
20 James Honeychurch 04 Grand Prix GTP CompG FWD ZZP Stage 3 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.714 7.258 @ 97.64 11.306 @ 120.93
21 Matt Jahn 97 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 3 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.682 7.283 @ 95.79 11.378 @ 123.72
22 Chris Yates 00 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 3 CNC INTENSE Stage 3 Blower Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.644 7.271 @ 95.15 11.409 @ 117.56
23 Scott Looman 99 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 4 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.646 7.392 @ 95.11 11.444 @ 121.61
24 John Costello 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD Custom ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen III 1.729 7.338 @ 95.61 11.445 @ 119.67
25 Paul Soltis III 02 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 3 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.608 7.300 @ 94.73 11.454 @ 118.08




all the 8 , 9 , & 10 second cars are turboed so turboed is best if gunning for the record books. you see the eaton sc cars bottom out at 11.0 and one sc car in the 10's which is not a stock based sc (blowzilla) but is on a full size bonneville

12 of the top 25 are running m90's and a few more are running other sc's like blowzilla , novi etc.. your vehicle will be much lighter than most of these fwd w bodies I imagine being an s10 , so the turbos are in the minority in the top 25 yet sit at the top of the food chain when it comes to the most radical builds and the very quickest cars

I am not trying to make the case for either turbo or sc but rather to show that depending on your goals either may be a viable option - if your looking for 10's or quicker it would appear turbo has a lock on that




1 Matt Meekhof 97 Grand Prix GT FWD ZZP Stage 4 Al Stattama STR4 T3/T4-61 Twin Turbos 1.356 5.582 @ 128.88 8.658 @ 158.97
2 Bob Cook 99 Grand Prix GT FWD INTENSE Stage 4 CNC INTENSE Stage 4 Turbo GT42-76R-BB Turbo & N2O 1.322 5.745 @ 123.56 8.902 @ 154.90 2430


3 Scott Cook 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 4 CNC INTENSE Stage 4 Turbo PT76GTQ Turbo 1.489 6.149 @ 117.51 9.499 @ 145.13 3035
4 Uzoma Iwuagwu 97 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 4 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 & T72 Turbo 1.611 6.531 @ 112.71 9.986 @ 143.54

5 Jeff Kalo 03 Impala LS FWD Stock Stattama ST4 T67 Turbo 1.632 6.4887 @ 111.70 10.005 @ 138.42
6 Ed Morad 00 Bonneville SSEi FWD INTENSE Stage 4 CNC INTENSE Stage 4 Blower Blowzilla 2200 1.548 6.831 @ 102.14 10.711 @ 125.71 3255
7 John Tsimaras 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 3 CNC Custom Magnuson MP112 & N20 1.689 7.033 @ 105.36 10.785 @ 130.37
8 Eric Schertz 01 Regal GS FWD Unknown Unknown Unknown Turbo 1.679 7.007 @ 101.92 10.855 @ 127.57
9 Tim Beek 00 Grand Prix GT FWD Stock Stattama Stage 1 Turbo T4 60-1 Turbo 1.664 7.038 @ 101.78 10.921 @ 125.54
10 Ken Walsworth 97 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 2 ZZP XP Novi 2000 1.579 7.006 @ 98.82 10.954 @ 125.97 3160

11 Chris Hoenle 00 Grand Prix GTX FWD ZZP Stage 4 Stattama Stage 4 Novi 2000 1.665 7.136 @ 97.62 11.073 @ 123.21
12 Ed Morad 97Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 3 CNC INTENSE Stage 3 Blower Eaton M90 - Gen III & N20 1.71 7.153 @ 100.71 11.084 @ 125.01 3250
13 Chris Mercadante 00 Grand Prix GTP FWD Stock INTENSE Stage 1X Blower T04e67 Turbo 1.616 7.090 @ 98.01 11.094 @ 121.95 3375
14 Darren Smith 99 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 1 ZZP VS Eaton M90 & T70 Turbo 1.774 7.271 @ 100.20 11.166 @ 128.27
15 Tim King 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 4 CNC INTENSE Stage 4 Blower Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.557 7.105 @ 99.38 11.169 @ 120.69 3170
16 Jackie Kleis 97 Grand Prix GT FWD Stock Custom Eaton M90 - Gen III 1.579 7.144 @ 94.54 11.238 @ 122.32
17 Bridgett Meekhof 01 Monte Carlo SS FWD Stock ZZP VS Novi 2000 1.59 7.198 @ 95.31 11.243 @ 119.64
18 Greg Was 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 3 CNC INTENSE Stage 3 Blower Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.658 7.227 @ 98.48 11.245 @ 122.28 3150
19 Shawn Mayes 99 Grand Prix GT FWD Custom ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.688 7.239 @ 98.18 11.253 @ 124.06 3000
20 James Honeychurch 04 Grand Prix GTP CompG FWD ZZP Stage 3 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.714 7.258 @ 97.64 11.306 @ 120.93
21 Matt Jahn 97 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 3 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.682 7.283 @ 95.79 11.378 @ 123.72
22 Chris Yates 00 Grand Prix GTP FWD INTENSE Stage 3 CNC INTENSE Stage 3 Blower Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.644 7.271 @ 95.15 11.409 @ 117.56
23 Scott Looman 99 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 4 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.646 7.392 @ 95.11 11.444 @ 121.61
24 John Costello 98 Grand Prix GTP FWD Custom ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen III 1.729 7.338 @ 95.61 11.445 @ 119.67
25 Paul Soltis III 02 Grand Prix GTP FWD ZZP Stage 3 ZZP XPZ Eaton M90 - Gen V 1.608 7.300 @ 94.73 11.454 @ 118.08