7.3l turbo on ford 390
 

I have a 390 I bored .040 with a 427 crank. I was wondering if a diesel turbo would work on a gas engine. My wonder is about the rpm difference from the diesel to the gas. I will be running 9,000 rpm's. I dont think the diesel turbo is built to spin that fast.

Re: 7.3l turbo on ford 390
 

Thats awefully high rpms for a BB. Why so high? As far as diesel turbos go, I believe you would have to go twins for your 390 if your pulling something out of the junkyard. From my reading most guys will run one diesel turbo on a 302 sized motor and even some of those can be small for those motors. I've never delt with turbos, just done alot of reading for some of my own future plans. Heres a link to a thread that might help you out a little more: Junkyard Single/ Twin Turbo FAQ List

Re: 7.3l turbo on ford 390
 

My plans are to go with twin 7.3l turbos. I was told that the 7.3l turbos put out 20 pounds stock and most import turbos boost at 15 pounds stock. I am new to the whole big block thing. Fill me in on the rpm's. Lower is better?

Re: 7.3l turbo on ford 390
 

There is alot more to turbos than just the boost. Im pretty uneducated on them myself, so its really not best for me to be saying much. From what I know you can have high boost but not much actual airflow. My advice would be to spend at least several days on the turboforums, there is alot of information there. Its alot more complex than it appears.
As far as the rpms go, it depends on how the motor is built. The turbos will also factor into it. 9k is extemely fast for a big block to be spinning, I dont think it would last too long at that speed. Big blocks are great for torque, I would play that up. For instance you could build it with a mild cam that would make alot of power down low, then build the turbo system to build the boost later with more airflow for more power up top. Personally I wouldnt go over 6k rpms. Im sure others will chime in who have built BBF's and let you know a little more about their rpm capabilities.

Re: 7.3l turbo on ford 390
 

I hope more people chime in and fill me in on BBF. I have no knowledge of ford big blocks.

Re: 7.3l turbo on ford 390
 

Engine RPM and turbo RPM have nothing to do with each other.

Carb'd or fuel injected?
Compression ratio?
Goals for the car?
Budget?
Describe your engine specs as accurately as possible cause a 9000 rpm big block is a hell of an accomplishment all on its own.