...that sounds good to me, but I want to hear some feedback first from other turbo guys. You know how it's hard to put turbos on a car with LT headers because of the exhaust...well since I dont have any rear seats, I was thinking of cutting out the floor, flipping it out and welding it again to kind of make a space under the car behind my y-pipe for a turbo, run a 45* bend off the y-pipe to it, continue the exhaust out normally, and run the air filter up where the battery is. The battery would be relocated to a custom box opposite the turbo inside the car behind the driver seat. The pressure line would run up to an intercooler in front of the radiator, then back out, then up to the bottom of the CAI where it would be clamped with some hose. i figured that would be a nifty way to add boost by turbo with LT's and keep it mostly hidden. The filter would be hidden by one of those hollowed out A/C delco display batteries, and the real battery and hump for the turbo would be hidden by a custom 'storage box' that would be done up nice and everything. The turbo would be protected by a skid plate underneath the car while making sure ait could get around it to cool.

What do you guys think? It would be going on my street 382ci LT1 that is already built for boost, just need a quick cam change. I was considering 18 degree heads, or both but I'm just looking for lots of power in the 2250-6250 range. Comments/suggestions? I can do alot of the fab work myself since I have a welder and can get plenty of stainless pipe, just need to get the right parts...

 

The intake tubing (from filter to turbo) I think may cause restriction, but If you shield the turbo good enough the head may not melt your carpet. But cool idea, you may also have to build a skid plate or something to keep from it getting hit.

 

That's what I was going to do. I wanted to make a skidplate from underneath to keep the turbo from getting any damage, and make sure there was enough clearance and heat shielding to keep the floor cool. I might even use some type of thermal coating depending on how tight it is with the size of the turbo. I figured the length of pipe from the filter to the turbo might be a restriction but I can't really think of anywhere else to put it down there that makes sense. It'll be a rather large turbo anyway so I dont think the loss will be too big, especially with 3" pipe.

I'm still undecided on the size of pipe to use, but I figured a good baseline would be 3" throughout. It would mate up with just about everything then as well as fit to the bottom of the CAI with a rubber boot to keep everything nicely hidden.

 

No offense, but you might be a redneck if..... you cut your floorboard to fit a turbo. Why not just mount it on the roof or inside the passenger compartment?!

If you're really a welder and can do it well, why not sell the LTs and make your own turbo headers and make a convetional setup? Or just make something similar to what STS has. Seems to me like you'd spend as much time cutting and fabbing as you would to make a conventional setup.

 

Good thing I'm not a redneck. I'm not gonna do a hackjob, I figured I could use it to hide a nice turbo, minimize the distance from the engine with LT's, and use it as an excuse to relocate the battery.

I like doing different things by using my skills to save money. Like building a 12 bolt, things like that. If I had the money for a kit I would buy one, but I dont.

 

There's one thing I would change: the air filter location. Losses on the inlet of the compressor are twice as damaging than losses downstream of the compressor. Basically, -1 psi upstream of the compressor translates into -2 psi downstream.

On my turbo kit, I was sure to minimize this by using a 5" inlet pipe and filter. No losses there. I'd use the shortest, largest pipe possible on the inlet of the compressor. A 3" pipe running all the way to the battery isn't going to cut it. Even a stock Vortech S-trim uses a 3.5" pipe.

 

Well I originally wanted to run a filter into the wheelwell which would be alot closer and everything, but I haven't figured out how I'm going to keep the filter dry and serviceable for any decent period of time, since this car has to double as a daily driver car, and that size tubing on a lowered car would be difficult to tuck up under the chassis to head up towards the engine compartment.

 

Put the air filteer in the interior, wouldnt even have to run a filter. But, might want to keep some ear plugs ready. Also dont go too big on the turbo or you will suffer some lag.

 

I was thinking of using a T-76 turbo. I'm looking to get around 650 rwhp without using TOO much boost for reliability...I dont want like 22 psi or anything. I was thinking 15 max at WOT with 42# SVO's. I have to look into it more to make sure it'll work where I want it on my stroker (2250/6250ish, maybe a bit higher) which will keep the boost from kicking in at cruising speed (and maybe save me some mileage), but where I'd use it on the street. I'll be backing my cam down from a 233/239/112 to maybe a 230/236/114. I dont want to put the filter in the cab...too noisy, I want to keep streetability to a certain extent and dont want drivetrain parts IN the car

Haven't chosen a wastegate yet. Want to settle on other factors first. I dont even know if I'm using 18* heads yet...gotta see how they spec out. Right now I'm running LE3 heads on my stroker.

I'll figure something out as far as the air filter goes. Should be no big deal, I dont mind frequent service, I just dont want it getting wet everytime if rains or anything. As far as the pressure line goes, it looks like a 3.5 or 3.75" pipe up to the cooler into the TB would work...I dont want to go too big on the pipe and get turbo lag or have it hang down and get damaged on the road. Looks like the cooler will be a durmax diesel IC, since I can't afford too much and I can't find any coolers with a 3.5" inlet anyway. I'm expecting to loose 3psi.

Correct me if I'm wrong at any of this, I've built plenty of small blocks, but I want to try something with boost now.

 

Let me interject a few comments:

The 42# SVO's will not support that power level.

Boost doesn't "kick in" while "cruising" unless you want it to. The turbo only spools when you give it alot of throttle.

You do realize that 18 deg heads on an LT1 is EXTREMELY involved, requiring lots of machine work and $$$, right?

3.5 or 3.75 will not be required for the pressure side piping. 3" would be fine there up to 1000 rwhp. It's on the filter side where it needs to be big, 4" or bigger.

I haven't seen a Duramax intercooler, but I'm betting it won't fit in an F-body without major rework.

 

I haven't done enough research to settle on this stuff yet so thank for the input...I'm just starting with a rough idea for right now.

I'll take an injector a little bigger. Without doing the actual math it looks like some guys with 383's around 10psi are using 60#ers, though some more, some less. I might use that as a starting point.

I just dont want the turbine turning alot while cruising because of an overly small turbo. I'm not worried about it really spooling up I just want to minimize and potential wear on the turbo but I also want to make sure I dont go too big or small. That's why I'm thinking a T-76 would be fine for a daily driver stroker. Still need to look into that more.

Still haven't investigated wastegates yet. Might be one of the last things I actually decide on.

I do understand converting 18 degree heads is involved and costs lots of money. I have the opportunity to get my hands on some for cheap that would be a great mod, but I might just buy them and save them for something else. I'm not convinced yet that the LE3 heads will be enough of a restriction to warrant those heads. I'm not looking for like 1200 HP or anything. I'm not looking to need an FMU if I can ge around it either...my fireball ignition is already optioned for boost.

Thanks for the point on the 3" tubing. That makes things alot easier.

The duramax diesel has an intercooler that is fairly large (I dont remember the exact size offhand) though I know the inlet/outlet fit around the entire radiator and A/C condenser. The modding required to get it to work is no big deal. Shouldn't take too much to make to work well, but I wont know until I try. I think with the intercooler up there though I will want to look into a fan upgrade of some sort, I'll see when I get to that point.

I'm still looking to run it to the bottom of the CAI and secure it with silicone hose. I'll keep it that way as long as the temp doesn't get too high. I'll be replacing my 1LE intake bellow with a vortech or similar.

Any other suggestions would be great. Right now I'm looking to a junk turbo the same size as a T-76 so I can get started taking measurements and such until I can save to buy a good unit.

 

I suggest a minimum of 60# injecotrs, I have 72's. I am building my T76 383 LTx project right now:

Forged 383 LT1
LT4 AFR210's
Precision T76 Q-trim
SLP single cat shorties modified for front mount setup

 

That's never a reliability issue. Turbo shaft and bearing wear is caused by surge and cold-start/hot-kill, NOT cruise. 18 wheeler's turbo's last hundreds of thousands of miles under heavy loads.