Man... turbo's rule! After poking my nose around the FI section for a few months I have all but forgotten my dreams of building an N/A car. But how the hell do I start? There are so many things to consider and so many different kits to go with! Using deductive reasoning I have come to the following conclusions:

-My stock bottom end 98 block with over 120k miles probably isnt the best pick for boost. So, the next best thing that I can think of is an LQ4, for its decent heads and low compression (keep in mind, I dont think I plan on running 10lbs of boost).
-I want to keep the MAF because of the street friendly manners they allow... and again I am not going to be looking for a 1000hp daily driver.
-I can rule out a few of the kits that require the removal of the A/C system... daily driver in Alabama.
-Fuel upgrades are a must
-clutch upgrades are a must
-rear end upgrades have been a must (and damn it I need to go back to 3.42s)

I have already got the macdaddy of Y pipes on my car (a blend of my pacesetter Y pipe and a 4" flowmaster merge). This would be perfect for a TT kit and still give me the ground clearance to continue my dukes of hazzard style of driving. But maybe a single turbo kit would better suite me. How has everyone negotiated the ground clearance issues of turbo kits? I know the PTK and ebay kit uses 2 2.5" pipes, probably for clearance. The Gen TTR kit uses flat pipes to better aid speed bump attacks, and the HP Performance kit uses oval pipes (a great looking kit, but man have they been bashed in their reviews on customer service... so much infact that they are spoken of here like uttering the name of the company could get you public humiliation or even death!!).

Eh, just some thoughts that I wanted to air here. Feel free to jump in and comment on how you finally picked your turbo kit, or what kind of ground clearance you have...or dont have.

 

Start with the drivetrain and fuel system. Then swap the 6.0 motor and add a procharger kit from EPP. Seems like the best bet for you. Just a hunch.

 

If the car's going to the track... Rear end, clutch, DRs, and onto making power. If it's staying on the street you can address drivetrain problems as they come. Personally, forget the LQ4... Basic rebuild on what you've got with off the shelf dished forged pistons, a set of good rod bolts and head studs... You'll be in similar $ with the LQ4 and much better prepared for the boost...

 

He said it all.

 

All over that man... definately. My rear end is howling like crazy and spittin teeth like a boxer. I've already got the guys over at Midwest Chassis on my plans for the future. Their complete bolt-up nine inch is the way to go... and the price is fantastic! Its going to feel wierd ordering a rear that can hold some serious HP and getting high gears in it, lol.

Pro Charger... Man, I think I just really want a turbo... or turbos. I feel like I would be happy with the turbo kit being about the only mod done. And by that I mean not having a ton of boltons to go along with it. Just give the turbo what it wants to be happy, use a mild or stock "wife might drive it" cam, do a fairly quiet exhaust, and have a street friendly car that is capable of driving every day in Alabama heat.

...What the hell did I just say? We all know that as soon as a snail shell shows up in my shop that the vision of a fire breathing 8 second monster will be too much to take.

 

To be honest with you dude I never ever gave any thought to rebuilding my stock bottom end. Can you just go out and buy new pistons and rods and put them into my block? What kind of block prep is needed? Do you really just put a stock size piston back in? If so thats freakin sweet. My excell sheet is about to be revised!

Heads? Are my 98 heads adequate? Dont roll your eyes if I say that a pair of LS6 heads at this point are out of the question, because a FI kit, Rear end, and all the other nickels and dimes are adding up to about $10k now. Holy freakin crap. I know I've seen cars make 700 hp with a stock manifold and TB.

What other factors have you guys considered when picking a turbo kit?

 

10k is just a blink when sinking money into a FI set up, especially a turbo set up.

Good luck.

 

BTW, I have talked to Bob at EPP. Great dude and more than willing to spend the time to make a potential customer happy, or even to just share the knowledge with a fellow enthusiest. If I was to go with a procharger then he's the man. No doubt. I actually called him about 6 months ago talking about a D1 kit. At this point, however, I am leaning toward the turbo side.

 

I'd go back to being procharged if given the chance.

It was a ton easier to go fast with the procharger, less expensive and was dead nuts reliable.

 

In what way would a supercharger setup be cheaper? I'm not trying to sound like a smart-***, just wondering. With a ProCharger D1SC, the kit still isnt complete. You still have to buy injectors, fuel pump, tuning, crank pin and new balancer (right?), and the cost of the kit is roughly the same as a turbo kit.

If the block was prepped, the fuel issues resolved, drivetrain ready for anything you can dish out, then which would be cheaper? After $10k whats another $1000?

 

If you speak the truth then you may have just swayed my vote. Reliability is something that I am looking for. Cost is something I would like to control. Driveability is something I need. Track time? Nope. Simply for the pleasure of my butt digging into the seat on a onramp at the discretion of my right foot.

 

.........

 

Lets just say I drove the ever livin **** out of my procharger set up, beat it at the track, on the street and DD it everywhere. Didn't miss a beat.


Sold the procharger set up to KP he ran it to bottom 9's with really no issues before stepping up to a bigger head unit.

For the $$ spent I got more out that procharger than my turbo set up. Turbo's are a blast, but the procharger go the job done with lil fuss.

 

Kp, huh? I bought a set of valve springs off him about a year ago that I still havent installed.

Yeah I know that didnt really make sense, but what I meant was I dont want to spend extra on parts not directly related to the actual turbo/sc system. If a complete turbo kit or sc kit was 1000 bucks more than the other one, then thats only about 20% more. That I can deal with. Its extra $ on parts like heads, intake manifolds, TB's, meth kits that I am trying to avoid. And from what I gather Turbo setups are okay with a stock cam, TB, LS6 intake, and a high flowing exhaust system... and still make more power than a SC kit.

What kind of driveability issues can you run into with a turbo?

 

Lets compare an APS system to a D1 kit. The APS system is cheaper to start with, neither come with any fuel upgrades, one requires a K member but allows me to sell off a crap load of useless parts from my N/A setup.

The S/C route, however would allow me to keep my exhaust the way it is, which would be one less headache.

 

I won.

 

Lol, so we're not even going to try to support the DD turbo thing? It seems like everyone's pretty adamant about the SC path. BUT WHY? Man this has gotten far off from my original post.

 

Bro, I am turbo so you know I'm speaking truth. The procharger kit from epp with the 8 rib set-up and FMIC is a pretty god damn nice slap on and drive package. Turbo set-ups are much more complicated, and more expensive. If you have any issue with having your car down for WAYYYYYYYYYY longer than anticipated, and spending wayyyyyyyy more than planned......DO NOT GO TURBO.

If you have a second vehicle and LOTS of discretionary income (and I say INCOME because YOU WILL spend all you might have saved for this build.....so you will need THOUSANDS of extra dollars constant;y coming in on top of your cost of living).

Do you do ALL of your own work and WELDING and fabrication? If not, you will spend ENDLESS money on labor building, maintaining and don't forget CONSTANTLY upgrading your turbo set-up.

 

I've read a couple of posts where the APS kit has boost surge where it got up to 14 psi on 8psi springs... etc. etc.. Also, in terms of reliability, when you go to fabbing up custom kits and what not, you often have to change radiators or set them farther forward or more verticle. Along with this (and turbo kits) comes overheating problems... Thats something to look at sc vs. turbo.. Try searching and seeing how many guys overheat with their sc kit vs. people with their turbo. I mean if you're not going to the track and just want a fun, reliable, decently cheap (or good bargain anyway) car, then I don't see why you aren't dead set on a sc kit. I'm not saying that a turbo car can't be just as reliable as a sc car, but there's more work in keeping it that way.... I'm wanting a D1 so bad I can taste it... I'd definitely consider it if I were you.. Of if you're not worried about top power and want some more torque for the street and a decently mean ride, look at the maggie.. They're pretty unique in that you don't see them on a lot of f-bodies and the torque is instantaneous... probably one hell of a ride even though they're "less efficient" than a centrifugal supercharger..

 

Yikes. Thanks ninetres. Do I do all my own work? Yes. R/P gears, cam, etc. Do I do my own fab work? Not so much. And by not so much I really mean not at all. What the hell are yall having to have re-worked on? Yeah, I don't think I would be liking things if I kept having to fix crap that is constantly breaking.

I guess a freakin sc belt is a pretty easy fix compared to a cracked turbo housing or a wastegate that isnt doing its job accurately.

SC setups are more MAF friendly, aren't they?

turbos looked so cool...