My big orange big block

[davepl]

This used to be in my Camaro, and I briefly considered dressing it as a stock 396, but kept the original motor in my truck, so now this just sits on a stand.

I'm going to go shopping on eBay for some GT45 turbos and wastegates and so on and see what I can make on a friend's engine dyno just for kicks.

Anyone have much experience with turbo motors? I'll take it to "alternate tinkerings" but wanted to see if there are any turbo gurus amongst us before I do...

It's an all-forged 502 short block, Truck Flow 340cc rect port heads, Hogan sheet metal intake, Scorpion roller valve train, some decent parts.

You can pick up the turbo kit in the second photo for about $1300, or piece them out separately for even less (without the battery box and other weirdness).

Cheers,
Dave

[Willie Makeit]

ebay turbos are chinese tubos. you get what you pay for. $1,300 will barely cover the cost of a single GOOD turbo, much less an entire "kit"

good luck.

[davepl]

Yes, but the GT45 design is so old and well known now that the Chinese crank out some pretty decent product, believe it or not (or at least that seems to be the concensus on TurboForums).

I wouldn't expect them to innovate or buy anything cutting edge, but duplicate they can do pretty well.

If I were building this for an actual race car, I'd use Precision or similar. But I'm not.

[Acorn]

If that were my high dollar engine, I don't think I would test my luck with a turbo that was "made by a child in China who's moonlighting from the iPhone factory." Sorry, I had to quote you from the radiator thread I read yesterday! I thought it was hilarious!!
But seriously, I would try askin over in the Racing and High performance section (or even the Ls section) pretty sure you could find some turbo junkies there.

[davepl]

Will do! Didn't know we had a Race section, and it's not an LS, so didn't know where to go!

[Mrturner1]

This is gonna be awesome, and I think you're right about the T45's being a tried and true design regardless of who makes it. What kind of fuel system are you going to use?

[davepl]

Dyno cell will provide the fuel (Aeromotive A1300 I think) - then on my side 6AN lines to the rails, 85# injectors, BigStuff3 ECM. They generally have race fuel on hand, I should probably pony up the extra money for 100 octane or something so I don't grenade it, as I do not have knock detection in my ECM.

I'll have to switch to a 2-bar MAP and make sure the software is set up for it. Hopefully that doesn't require a reflash or upgrade of the box.

Ordered the turbos on Sunday and they've already shipped, so I'll post a mockup picture when I get the turbos and headers!

[19671972C10]

I have also thought of investing and also trying my luck at a Ebay turbo kit on 468 BBC.

[Mrturner1]

Who's the seller for the kit? I'd like to look up a low psi kit

[davischevy]

Subscribed. I have been toying with the idea of a turbo for my longhorn, so this is of interest to me.

[Mrturner1]

I found a single T45 14 peice kit for a SBC with inter oiler and everything. If I boost referenced my Holley DP would I need anything else to bolt this up and go?

[Mrturner1]

what do you think Dave? Boost reference the Holley, bolt this up and go or what? Can it be done with a mechanical fuel pump?

[67 chevelle]

Id get a decent electric pump and run 1/2 fuel line , you defiantly don't want to lean that engine out

[davepl]

I don't know about the eBay turbo kits for longevity though!

[Grumpy old man]

Well... it's all good and fun but absolutely worthless if you can't get it to hook up and use that HP . Unless your intentions are just to do burnouts for the kids on YouTube or just punching it sideways on the corners . Why not build a short bed truck from scratch in your own garage and take that monster to the track ?

[Mrturner1]

Originally Posted by davepl

I don't know about the eBay turbo kits for longevity though!

I read that as long as it's a Garrett the turbo will hold up, but that the manifolds are usually poor quality on the cheaper kits

[toolboxchev]

Interesting, Farm Truck eh? I would want something American in my rig. There are reasons for my my thinking.

I do not trust the chinese manufacturing all that stuff out of recycled metal. The shipping of recycled metal in the northwest here is tremendous.

I have had Harbor Fright stuff break on the first turn of the wrench. Think about it. You have to go all the way across the Pacific when issues come up, They are in bed with the enemy

If there is one thing I will do in my lifetime is support my country till the end.

[davepl]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Well... it's all good and fun but absolutely worthless if you can't get it to hook up and use that HP . Unless your intentions are just to do burnouts for the kids on YouTube or just punching it sideways on the corners . Why not build a short bed truck from scratch in your own garage and take that monster to the track ?

My intentions are to hook it to a water brake and see how much torque it makes.

I didn't say anything about burnouts or kids, that was you. I'm doing it as an engineering exercise to see what I can build for under $1500 (plus the basic motor).

Frankly I'd rather hook it up to a 230kW genhead and sell power back to the grid, but I just like watching machines work hard.

[Acorn]

Don't you love it when people don't read your original post and make assumptions? ( I'm sure I'm guilty of this too....) You never mentioned what vehicle you are putting it in. You were simply asking about info on turbos. If you have to explaine why or what "just for kicks" means, your wasting your time.
I for one am super interested in your results and don't want to see this thread go on a rabbit trail.
Are you going to get both before and after dyno numbers?
Keep us posted and don't forget, everyone here loves pics!

[Mrturner1]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Well... it's all good and fun but absolutely worthless if you can't get it to hook up and use that HP . Unless your intentions are just to do burnouts for the kids on YouTube or just punching it sideways on the corners . Why not build a short bed truck from scratch in your own garage and take that monster to the track ?

I'll bite lol I love doin burnouts and gettin crossed up in turns with a LONG bed
I think Dave's project is more of a "how much punch can I pack with a budget minded turbo kit" kinda thing.

Huge big block sittin on a stand + budget minded turbo kit = lots of fun for all

[davepl]

Originally Posted by Acorn

Don't you love it when people don't read your original post and make assumptions? ( I'm sure I'm guilty of this too....) You never mentioned what vehicle you are putting it in. You were simply asking about info on turbos. If you have to explaine why or what "just for kicks" means, your wasting your time.
I for one am super interested in your results and don't want to see this thread go on a rabbit trail.
Are you going to get both before and after dyno numbers?
Keep us posted and don't forget, everyone here loves pics!

I thought I had mentioned it, but I guess all I said was "see what I can make on a friend's engine dyno just for kicks.".

So no, I'm not planning to put it into anything, just building it as a project that takes up less room than another car or truck! Since used motors are worth so little I might as well have some fun with it.

If it runs well, then it's a solution looking for a problem to solve :-)

I ordered two GT45 turbos and stainless steel T4 flange turbo headers that should be here this week. Once I get that mocked up I'll figure out what I need to do for intake piping and so on, as well as how to plumb the intercooler.

I'm going to go water-air because (I assume) I should have access to cold water in the dyno cell, but need to verify that.

[Valarius_Starchaser]

I'm in to follow this one a boosted big block in any rig is just a recipe for fun and a budget one at that is very interesting keep us posted

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Acorn

Don't you love it when people don't read your original post and make assumptions? ( I'm sure I'm guilty of this too....) You never mentioned what vehicle you are putting it in. You were simply asking about info on turbos. If you have to explaine why or what "just for kicks" means, your wasting your time.
I for one am super interested in your results and don't want to see this thread go on a rabbit trail.
Are you going to get both before and after dyno numbers?
Keep us posted and don't forget, everyone here loves pics!

Well ... your guilty of it now , IF this engine folly IS SOME DAY POSSIBLY GOING INTO A 67-72 TRUCK it won't get taken down and moved because of NOT BEING 67-72 TRUCK RELATED . You missed the hidden hint ! If it's not going in 67-72 truck you may as well be talking lawn mower engines and it will get moved off the main board .....you know what they say about assuming . Continue on with your generator engine build .

[davepl]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Well ... your guilty of it now , IF this engine folly IS SOME DAY POSSIBLY GOING INTO A 67-72 TRUCK it won't get taken down and moved because of NOT BEING 67-72 TRUCK RELATED . You missed the hidden hint ! If it's not going in 67-72 truck you may as well be talking lawn mower engines and it will get moved off the main board .....you know what they say about assuming . Continue on with your generator engine build .

If people aren't interested, the mods can move it. I'll still know what happens, because it's in my garage. Only others will miss out.

I was going to put it in Alternate Tinkerings, but since I don't know what its going into yet, it still could be a truck.

But it might not be.

[davischevy]

OK I will make it official. The thread should be left here because I am interested in a turbo in my 71 Longhorn.