DIY turbo?
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From: St Joseph, MO
DIY turbo? Anyone here built their own turbo kit? My motor just took a crap so I am thinking of going with a budget 355 LT1 and fabbing up my own turbo setup. But Im not sure where to start, I dont have a whole lot of money and I think the kits are overpriced. So any advice on building the motor and the turbo setup would be greatly appreciated!
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From: St Joseph, MO
This will be a street car driven daily and the motor will be out anyway so front mount is what im looking for. I would like to be in the 600-700whp range and keep my a/c etc.
It isnt hard to piece together your own kit and alot cheaper.I personally would stick with manifolds ..sometimes fabbing headers can be a pain. get some injectors off of here for around 300 if not cheaper ,a 255lph pump for around 100, pipe and elbows around 100, intercooler and piping for around 200, and of course some tuning software to get your fueling and timing in check...lets see what else did i miss guys? oh yeah ..a turbo for $?00 ..it adds up quick but is usually half the cost of a kit.
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: St Joseph, MO
Thanks for the help so far, any suggestions on what injectors to go with? And what parts, where to purchase and what exactly needs upgraded on the factory block to hold the boost? I would be interested to know what parts you went with and your setup
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From: Zebulon N.C.
I`m doing a similar diy setup in my 94z but the engine bay will be stripped no ac, no ps and cutting the radiator support upper and lower and moving the stock radiator and fans as far forward as I possibly can to try and make room for my holset ht60/homemade log manifold setup! So far I have about $500 in the turbo, gate, bov (got this for $25 and it`s new but it was something a coworker got off ebay for his mitsubishi 3000vr4, hope it will work) man boost controller, and all the hot and cold piping. If you look around I think you could get out for about $600-800 more if you were to buy a new master power t70 and nicer bov from a sponser and do all your own fab work! This is not including intercooler if you run one, assorted lines, clamps, fuel support, rods/pistons, machine work, couplings, flanges, tuning, etc.
Check out RealQuick's turbo kits. A buddy and I installed one on his LT1 formula, it was the log set up, and a T76. Only thing done to the short block was 4bolt main, forged rods & pistons/pushrods/springs/1.6 rockers/head studs/GM head gaskets. 8lbs in 1st, and 11lbs the rest of the way the car ran an easy 10.80 @ 127.
As far as a fuel system, look for 60lb injectors, and go ahead and install dual 255 pumps, stock lines/rails.
As far as a price to do it all, expect ~$6500-8000 including the motor. It may be hard to itemize a list with everything on it, but it will be the little things that kill the budget. Plus there is still getting the car tuned. At that power level, it becomes a bit harder to get the car dialed in as you are now dealing with more air flow than the MAF can handle, 2 bar is difficult to accomplish on a LT1 PCM and get dialed in.
If you can weld and do exhaust work, building your own simple log manifold front mount set up isnt too bad. Also have to consider where the turbo will go to allow the use of a stock radiator/fan set up and keep P/S & A/C.
As far as a fuel system, look for 60lb injectors, and go ahead and install dual 255 pumps, stock lines/rails.
As far as a price to do it all, expect ~$6500-8000 including the motor. It may be hard to itemize a list with everything on it, but it will be the little things that kill the budget. Plus there is still getting the car tuned. At that power level, it becomes a bit harder to get the car dialed in as you are now dealing with more air flow than the MAF can handle, 2 bar is difficult to accomplish on a LT1 PCM and get dialed in.
If you can weld and do exhaust work, building your own simple log manifold front mount set up isnt too bad. Also have to consider where the turbo will go to allow the use of a stock radiator/fan set up and keep P/S & A/C.
Not a car build I'm into mine for about 7-800. Cheap ebay turbo, WG, BOV, IC, and then around $300 worth of mandrel bends and piping(some stainless for the log). I still need to get a wideband and a boost gauge
