School me on turbos.

My friends talk about turbos all the time on late model stuff, but I’m completely in the dart on vintage cars and drivetrains with the super snails. So here are a few questions.

How much maintenance are single/dual set ups?
Liquid/air cooled?
Compression needed for street/strip?
Comparable costs to blower/power adders?
Intercooler? Water/meth injection? Fuel type?
Looking over on eBay, seems they offer single/duel turbos for all mopars except the big block. Are big blocks with turbos good or bad, or just a lack of demand on this set up?
Thanks for any info.

For what it is worth this is my advice. The proper sizing of the turbo is VERY important. especially if you are buying or building a cheaper Ebay style kit. Turbo too small spools to quick hard on turbos, and the parts going through an engine when the impeller lets go is very bad. Turbo too big no power down low lots of lag, and only makes boost at higher rpm's. Lots to read on the internet this page will give the basics. https://www.garrettmotion.com/racing-and-performance/choosing-a-turbocharger/ If you are doing an older style engine some way to control the timing with a computer is a must. Plus a computer controlled boost regulation of some kind as well. Intercooler always makes more power less detonation.

I'm in the process of doing twins on a BB, still has a good way to go tho. I'm doing dual cheap chines 88's.Don't no if you do FB but there's a group over there call RWDBoosted Mopar you probably get more response to your question there.

Someday in the queue for one of my next builds. T.T. Keith Black Hemi

Might be easier to start with, what are you goals/what do you want to build?

I always prefer twins. Turbo combos can be some of the most reliable stuff you can build, IMO.

No real turbo maintenance issues, key being good oil supply to bearings, keeping engine running after a hard pass, to allow oil supply to bearings while cooling. launching/ spooling a turbo can be a lot harder on parts such as Trans Converter

I don’t know anyone using watercooled, that’s not to say they are not good, but not common

Compression ratio is also dependant on fuel choice, engine hardware, 9:1 is a good starting base

Cost really depends on quality of parts chosen, power levels, etc. Have to factor in other items, Exhausts, Waste gates, BOVs, Boost Ref Regulator, Boost Controller, Lambdas, etc, etc

Intercooler choice really depends on your end goals, what fuels you intend to use

I’m guessing there are less Mopar Turbo Kits due to popularity, when compared to say Chevrolet. My advise would be to take a proper look at installs on cars, irrelevant if make, speak to some of the owners, talks to turbo companies, even contact respected shops/ fabricators on turbo installs

Best to provide a vehicle weight and the goals as there are too many different ways to get there.

For me, I prefer a single turbo, air to air in a street driven vehicle. No turbo/extra maintenance. Only normal "vehicle" maintenance.

The main benefit about a turbo is you can keep gearing/converter/camshaft size down (assuming less than 1,000 hp) making it much more streetable than many other power adders, including N/A builds.

https://youtu.be/BuzaBfzSK1I


Single. 440-1 heads. Indy block. 440source crank. FAST EFI. Bunch of junk. Been 4.80 at 162 MPH 1/8 mile. Chute out been 7.60 on the breaks lmao

The anouncer was excited at the end of this one.

The question becomes do you just want to boost an n/a combo to it's limit, or do you want to build a dedicated turbo engine?

Im thinking a dependable system with with fuel injection. Something that makes good power without being ‘race only’. Not trying to be King of the track or even bragging right in the parking lot. Fun, torqie, application that makes driving to events fun and if I get on the track, not completely embarrassing.

I will ask again.... what vehicle weight, what ET estimates? Right now, your range is 6.5's to 12.0's.

We have several cars to work with, so can't really decide on one til we measure engine bays and see what parts are on the shelves and budget to be calculated. WE have a duster, 2nd gen dart, a challenger, 3rd gen charger and possibly a couple 2nd gen b-bodies by next month if a deal gets made. Appreciate your thoughts on anything. If it gets into 10's with the wind pushing from behind is cool. I know you can build a NAE to that speed, but don't want an all out brawler of an engine. Not the kind of engine that you have to pop a laptop open on after your trip to the local Dairy Queen.

You will accidentally get into the 10's with a headwind at 100 degrees.

For example, my goal (12 years ago) was to have a fully streetable truck, pump gas, ac, ps, pb, full interior, muffler etc., and run in the 10's. First pass out I went 10.3's with a cheap 76 mm turbo, .520 hydraulic roller, 3.55 gear and no boost controller. I have since gone mid 9's with that combo and a boost controller. Granted, you need to have a well sorted combo but it is not hard to do.

That there is the most hated question in all of engine talk for me. Anyone with common sense knows you don’t put on a turbo bigger than the engine. NO ONE has the correct answer so Whatever comes out, work it from there. My advice, look at what the generic ‘kits’ fits no matter the brand, find out what YOUR engine likes then buy the $$$ parts.

No one has the correct answer? LOL

The easiest and cheapest plan is to duplicate somebody's successful project.
The odds of getting it right on your own the first, or 5th time, are not good. It's much more complicated than a N/A engine, minor tuning changes are worth 100 hp, or a big explosion.
Otherwise, I can suggest 10 or 15 books you can go through...

That is VERY wise advice. Doing my turbo deal over 10 years I wiped out many bearings, 2 sets of pistons, cracked a set of heads, warped valves, etc... Either learn from those of us on the board who did it with similar goals, or suffer the steep learning curve!

Exactly, starting on the weaker side saves parts, someone will always buy the used parts as you get stronger.

I poured the coals to mine. Was told don't be a b!tch. But I was trying to go fast ,still not happy with it. Got the MPH for .40s. but only a 1.12 sixty. Putting Holley on it now. The Fast stuff is coming off and going on a procharged gen 3 hemi in my Road Runner . I guess I do more boosted stuff then most.

I wimped out.
I wanted a turbo project, so I got a factory-turbo Toyota engine for my Lexus. The upgrade instructions and parts lists are everywhere to add up to about 700 hp to the stock 320 hp (the engines is 30 years old), including which stock parts are more than good enough (head, block, crank, oil), which $$$ mods return little value for cost, etc.

First: what's the goal? Hot street? Bracket? DD?
What's the budget?

That is kind of what I want to do but with a Gen III Hemi. I got a 6.4 core motor to start with last week so its time to start gathering parts. Would love to be able to run mid 9s on E85 without beating its brains in.

I am thinking a 76MM will let me reach those goals with a little room to grow. Thoughts on which or what kind of 76MM? Lots to learn there!

Assuming less than 3500 lbs, yes, that will get you there. I run a cheapo 76mm on my junk.

Last summer I did turbo set-up on my daily driver & I now have around 15k miles on it with virtually no issues. I’m only doing low boost for longevity, keeping it under 10psi. I’ve got a 75 mile round trip daily commute & the turbo makes it a lot of fun & still get around 20mpg, the Holley terminator X is getting 4 more mpg than my N/A carb. Being my everyday driver I didn’t go the Chinese route for parts but after hanging around a shop that’s does a lot of turbo builds I would say to stay away from the cheap waste gates. I see lots of the Chinese ones stick & over boost & issues arise.

That's some good info there, thanks.

Melt it then back off 1PSI

you think like i do...........