Turbos and the men who love them

[Roothawg]

I was reading another post on turbos and I had to wonderif you could fit all of the wastegate, intercooler etc in a 30's Ford while using a SBC V-8?

Anyone ever done it or seen it done?

[Slag Kustom]

every thing will fit with a little cutting and welding http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Deyomatic]

I don't know where you'd put the intercooler OR the piping, if you to keep them hidden. There is a side mount intercooler (in front of wheel well) that Supras used (I think the newer more round supras from the mid to late 90s) that is supposed to have great cooling properties despite the small size.
Most turbos are around 14" +/- total length. it could be very easily done, but you'd need to hide the piping somehow.

This is my favorite twin turbo'd SBC, and you could probably do it well if you put a small (chrysler front mount) intercooler on each line going into the intake. This pic came from a book that I think is called "Gassers" and I think this was on an early 40s car with a hood.

[Unkl Ian]

I'm sure we saw it done on Street Rods in the mid '80s.
Usually with the Turbos hanging out in the breeze,like a huge after thought.

A supercharger makes more sense for the street,preferably with an intercooler. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Even Detroit has gotten away from Turbos.

[Bass]

Deyo,

That picture is of the 327 in the Mallicoat Brothers Willys Gasser. That set-up made 720 HP in 1965!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[delaware george]

i know that they are not traditional,but in a light weight car like a hot rod they might be the ticket.when traction is a major concern,the boost lag that everyone hates,might give the car a chance to hook up before the turbo spools up.plus with new technology,you could adjust the amount of boost and timing retard from inside the car from a conroller.you'd have to change the pulley on the supercahrger to do that.i think the intercooler would be better suited for a drag car where there wasn't a radiator up front...maybe an air to water intercooler like on the typhoons would be the hot setup for the street...if you were worried about room,use a six cylinder....grand nationals were sixes and they could be fast...i'd like to see a grand national turbo swap in a full fendered and fully hooded model A.it'd probably be pretty sick,but so am i http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[SnoDawg]

It is kinda off topic but I have a 45 Ford GPW (military flat fender jeep) that is running a turboed 231 out of a 79 Buick Turbo Regal the boost is around 5 PSI It is not intercooled but I have a MSD 6BTM that retards the timing in relation to the boost The bonus of these ol turbo regals that they are a carburated setup running a Qjet. When I got the ol GPW it had a Qjet from a olds 455 and was a bit overcarbed I took the Qjet off and put a 390 Holley 4bbl on it and it is a bit more controllable. This ol beast runs Great!!

[bufordtjustice]

O man Deyomatica, ty so much for posting that pic, that is freakin awesome.

Greg

[47lincsled]

I thought turbos went the way of all that tacky pink plastic shit from the mid 80's.

[speedaddict]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought turbos went the way of all that tacky pink plastic shit from the mid 80's.

[/ QUOTE ] http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif Turbo's are for HP, don't know how it was a "fad" like the pink plastic ish. For drag racing, turbo's are the better setup than a supercharger as far as boost control. For street, I'd stick with a supercharger for instant boost, lower end torque.

mitsubishi eclipse also has a side mount intercooler that you can hide.

[Slag Kustom]

use a dodge truck intercooler mounted where the radiator would go louver the trunk and put the radiator in there with electric fans . turbo's have gotten to be the hottest ticket these days with the new impeller blade angles help spool up much quicker with less lag

[RileyRacing]

If you think turbos are "fad", you need to do some research. The Mallicoat car is just one of the more famous ones, there were guys who were trying it, with various degrees of success, all the way back to the fifties. You don't think them boys came home from The Big One, after seeing all that newfangled technolgy and said "hmmmmm" do ya? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jay
(admitted turbo junkie)

[Roothawg]

I figured I would have a few that wouldn't want to talk turbos....oh well.

I am always looking for something that will create hp but not at the sacrifice of driveablity. A supercharger just doesn't seem all that practical for something that is driven daily. I have to use the GNX guys for an example. I have a neighbor that drives by my house in his T type daily. He gets 25 mpg and drives to the track to turn 10.85's. It's really frustrating.....cause you can't even hear it go by. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[Deyomatic]

Nope, in fact the reason alot of people want Japanese cars (Lancer EVO, WRX) and the reason those Japanese cars are laughing (all the way to the finish line) at most of what Detroit is putting out is because turbos are the way of the future. Detroit just takes a few years to catch on. Except for Dodge, apparently with their SRT-4 Neon. Imagine running low to Mid 13s on a stock engine with little to no modification and getting 25 MPG on the way to the track.

With a turbo, the power is free, it doesn't take power to make power, your engine is already pushing out exhaust, might as well use it, kind of like wind mills and water mills.

[Deyomatic]

[ QUOTE ]
mitsubishi eclipse also has a side mount intercooler that you can hide.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, the Eclipse ones suck, though. I know this because the Supra ones are an upgrade for the Eclipse. I'm currently trying to sell my Eclipse.

[Unkl Ian]

The big reason modern turbo cars are making the incridible numbers is because
of the computer management systems.
Knock sensors,optimizing the timing for each cylinder,timing retard,digital fuel injection.

And all that fancy expensive stuff can work just as well on a blown car.
Like the T-bird Super Coupe and the Pontiac GTP.

And a blower motor can make boost from just off idle.

Mass flow = HP.
The more air and fuel that goes through a motor,the more power it makes.
And the motor doesn't care how the air/fuel gets there,only how much.

[Revhead]

Unkle Ian is right. Turbos may seem like free horsepower but getting one to run right and reliably takes some cash and well thought out design. I had a turbo car for a while. A dodge 4cyl. It was very fast. it blew up. It was running 16lbs PSI and apparently had a aomputer programmed for a 2.2 not a 2.5. Not a big difference, but enough to kill it. It punched holes in the block.

[Unkl Ian]

Check out the drag race 5.0 Mustang crowd with their Paxton blowers.

[OldCarPilot]

My 92 Talon runs 17-18lbs of boost on the street all day long. It really depends on the motor. Turbo Doge stuff wasn't relly known to be all that bullet proof unless you put some money into it. Or did a lot of tricky things to fool the car.
The computers in these cars help people who don't know what they are doing from blowing up their cars. They also help these cars be so much more efficient. The engine hasn't changed all that much. Most of the reason that we see improvments in effeciency is because the computer is constantly moving timing and things (sometimes valve timing) to keep the car at a peak performance.
Long story short you do still have a small loss of power with a turbo, but for the most part they are pretty much free power. To call them a fad is foolish. Been around since the 30s in airplanes.

[Kojack]

Though I walk through the valley of rice, I shall fear no turbo; for torque art with me. Thy eight pistons, they comfort me.

[porknbeaner]

Don't know for sure about a 30s Ford but somewhere I have pictures of a '72 Vega with twin turbos on a SBC and it all fits under the hood. When its not running you'de never know its a twin turbo SBC.
So I guess it would work with the Ford. You could always blister the hood sides and everyone would just think it was hemi powered.

[Smokin Joe]

The Buick Grand National V-6 ALMOST fits. The pipes & stuff on the passenger side keep you from running hood sides. The driver's side fits fine. Here's Egon answering that perrenial question..."What the hell is that thing!"
http://images6.fotki.com/v90/photos/2/213943/964083/IMG_0934-vi.jpg

[Deyomatic]

This must be the one Porknbeaner is describing...

[CL1]

The big reason modern turbo cars are making the incridible numbers is because
of the computer management systems.
Knock sensors,optimizing the timing for each cylinder,timing retard,digital fuel injection.

And all that fancy expensive stuff can work just as well on a blown car.
Like the T-bird Super Coupe and the Pontiac GTP.

And a blower motor can make boost from just off idle.

Mass flow = HP.
The more air and fuel that goes through a motor,the more power it makes.
And the motor doesn't care how the air/fuel gets there,only how much.
But blowers are limited in that they can't (easily) make as much boost pressure as a turbocharger can. My SRT4 runs stock everything except for the turbo and engine management electronics at 36PSI. And it's done it for 5 years now with only oil changes and new spark plugs. Total cost of all my modifications was less than $2000. Not saying it's better or worse. Only different.
It would be nice to have a supercharger's instant torque... My 11.20sec time slips keep me from worrying too much about it, though.

Still, my stupid little Neon doesn't have a fraction of the character found in our old cars.

[Littleman]

Ask the guy that races every Wendsday night @ Thompson DragStrip racing in the Animal Eliminator class w/ his Grand National Turbo......How it felt to lose it all in the final round too six antique two barrels carbies..........and that was just after he had his laptop out and tuned his car to beat me as he told me he would.................50 bucks and a trophy went home w/ me........It was the first time I had ever won any class racing my Model A Pickup.........His car @ the line would twist like mad leaving the line off his foot brake and come on very strong mid track or so and seemed like he could tune to run a wide range of ET's via his laptop.......Littleman

[Hans' Rod & Cycle]

intercooler instead of radiator up front , radiator out back. Turbos in front of motor with long tube headers running to them and single exhaust coming out of each side of hood panel from turbo.

[53sled]

Get creative and you can make it hide.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=345390

[Pure Hell]

My Ol' 63 Corvair with it's stock turbo and a larger Weber sure kicked it in the ass...
Went at it with my friend and his square bird with a 390 on the freeway and walked away from him like he was tied to a pole...

Can't imagine what that car could do if it had a modern design turbo, intercooler and a bit of motor work... Traditional enough for me...

[CL1]

I never had a Corvair Spyder but I grew up hearing the stories. I still drive my first car (68 Corvair) a few days a week. Would love to find a clean turbo Corvair someday, but it's way down there on the list of car projects for me...

[Pooch]

I have a turbo and carb off of a buick gand national if you want to look at one. I have been playing around with the same idea. A little exhaust work and some adapters and I think it can be done.

[BadgeZ28]

Do an ass mount like the STS setups:D

[ffr1222k]

You only have to look at last years Hot Rod Magazine's Drag Week results to see what a turbo can do. Joh Huber's 4 cylinder Mustang was faster that the small blocks with power adders and the big blocks with power adders. Only one car was faster and it was running in the unlimited category.

[brett4christ]

What BadgeZ28 said. I think it was last year, but Hot Rod ran an article on a little Pontiac tempest with 2 turbos back around the rearend and plumbed the boosted air back to the front through the firewall. Pretty well hidden! He was launching the wheels every run!

[Gasser 57]

It may be difficult (impossible?) to package all the needed electronic gizmos and and intercooler well enough to keep a car looking traditional especially in a 1930's car. But anybody who doesn't beleive that a turbo system properly setup can produce absolutely massive power is fooling themselves.