Money to spend.....
 

Im going to be able to spend about 5 grand on my 90 5.0 this month and i had a few questions..... I have been saving up for a turbo for some time and i wasnt sure if that was a good idea i was wondering what you guys thought? The only motor work is a cam,under pulleys,throttle body and i have full exhaust and shifter.
Should i maybe build the motor up a little bit more or no? I want to be able to run good times on the weekends and still have a decent daily driver....if you could give me your opinion i would appreciate it.
Thanks
Nick

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Nothing wrong with the turbo, but I'd start building my motor for the turbo. If you have enough for the turbo system afterwards, go for it.

Re: Money to spend.....
 

I would buy aftermarket heads. like AFR 185's, build the bottom end to handle the power of a turbo or supercharger, gears, TKO tranny, full length headers. Then you're going to need a fuel system upgrade.....
Once you decide to go with forced induction, you're pretty much commited to buying the supplementry parts to go with it, to handle the extra stress of a turbo or blower.
I know I missed a bunch of stuff you'll need but you're going to have a long laundry list of parts to aquire.

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Yup. I did it backwards and did the blower first. In retrospect, I likely would have been better off building more motor before I went to forced induction. But, since I just blew a head gasket, I now have an excuse to put new heads on. Next month, I plan on starting my engine build. I'm replacing the stock block with a 427 small block :D

At a minimum, you want the motor to be able to breathe before you go forced induction. That means heads, intake, and exhaust. You'll get the most bang for your buck that way. :cool:

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Hey thanks a lot guys for all the replies. I plan on buying a complete new fuel system...(fuel pump,fuel rails,injectors..etc...) I also have long tube headers with full 3 inch exhaust. I also just had the tranny completely rebuilt and threw in a new clutch. I have a aftermarket cam and i also have 3.73's in the rear. I figured i would buy the turbo now becasue this company i can get it from is given me a pretty good deal on it and i was probably going to run low boost for awhile. Thats funny becasue i actually am in the process of ordering those AFR 185's i heard they were great heads.....I also threw in a new computer for the new fuel system....after all these upgrades do u think it would be pretty safe to run around 8 psi for awhile untill i get the heads,manifold,etc put on????

Re: Money to spend.....
 

What are your plans for the bottom end?

Re: Money to spend.....
 

I don't really have any plans..i mean does anyone have any good suggesstions???

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Careful about the 185s . . you will likely have to notch the pistons to make them fit. I opted for the 165s for that reason.

One thing that I have learned over the years is that the primary effect of spending money on your car is spending MORE money on your car . . lol

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Scrap the AFR's, call John at Canfield 330-533-7092 Tell him what you're up to, and he'll point you in the right direction. Trust me.

SCRAP the 3.73's, (here we go again guys...) "Don't Fear The Gear!" 4.10's is where your sweet spot is gonna be.

As far as the turbo goes, and running "low boost" "for now"..... Not gonna happen. I know you have the best intentions, but that boost stuff is like me on nitrous. One hit, and you're hooked. It's like smoking crack (or so I hear...) "Well, if 5 lbs. of boost did THAT, I wonder what 6 lbs. would do...." Same thing with us Nitrous guys. Hmmmm, 150? Or 400? hehehehehe You might be different, but I've learned NOT to trust myself with that kinda stuff.

That being said, I'd do like everyone else on this thread said, and build the MOTOR first. Anything below the head gasket needs to be FORGED, no exceptions. High compression is a BAD thing here. It'll run like a pig on motor, but once you put the whiner on her, GIDDY UP!

Long story short, build the motor first with the Turbo in mind. THEN get the turbo........ :D

Just my $.02!!! ;)

Re: Money to spend.....
 

If your motor is in good shape throw a girdle on it and go for it. I know several guys running turbos on stock short blocks running low 11's and high 10's for years.

The stock block easily handles 500 FWHP. Turbos are easier on parts than nitrous and superchargers especially if you go with an auto tranny.

Leave the stock cam in there it will be very streetable and still make killer power.

Re: Money to spend.....
 

You're telling him to slap a turbo on a stock bottom end with God knows how many miles???????? That's INSANE!
At some point he's going to need to rebuild the engine wheather it's because of too many miles or the turbo destroys it...which ever comes first.
He may as well build it now and be ready for the future.

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Dark, what are you talking about bro? What you say is true, and I guess it all depends on what this dude wants to build.

We've all seen the "horror" pictures of a stock 5.0 block cracked right down the middle along the camshaft. Girdle ain't gonna help that! Sure they can AND HAVE handled 500+ horsepower on a stock block, but that picture is ALWAYS in the back of my mind.

I guess it depends on what our friend is up to. Right now, I'm well over 500 HP on a stock block, and gettin kinda "leary" about it, reason I haven't turned the bottle on yet. YET.

So what's our buddy here doing? Where are we gonna be BEFORE 15 lbs. of boost? I just think that's alot to ask from a stock iron block. I could be wrong, but I got this sneeky suspiscion.....

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Yup. I'm only running 7 pounds of boost on my stock block . . about to kick it up a bit with the addition of the water/methanol injection kit. But, I have no illusions about the block lasting very long. That's why I'm getting the Man o War block and building an "all forged" 427 . . . so I can boost the bujesus out of it and it won't break.

Blowin the head gasket at the track was merely a warning of things to come . . . .

And . . . YES!!!!! Boost is like crack . . . once you start, you can't get enough . . . you just want more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Re: Money to spend.....
 

If the motor has good compression and oil pressure there is not a problem. There are many guys around here in the 11's and tens with turbos with the stock block without any problems.

Most of us will NEVER and I repeat NEVER will make enough HP to crack the stock block down the middle. Anyone that knows anything about boost will tell you it is usually a melted piston that ends up getting you NOT a cracked block. Avoid detonation and the stock block WILL take you a long way. Aftermarket stuff will break just like stock stuff if you detonate Its all in the tune.

It isnt about what you spend its about the end result.

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Damn haha now i really dont know what to do. I have heard both sides with basically the same answers from a bunch of different people. My motor has 82,537 miles, and like i said tranny was rebuilt about 2000 miles ago. I think im probably going to build the motor. I mean no sense in wasting 5 grand on a kit if im gona have to constanly worry about blowing something up....but then again that turbo seems really nniicee

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Like I said earlier going lean or detonation is what kills boosted motors. You will have to worry about that no matter which way you go. You already have forged pistons so I dont see the point.

Re: Money to spend.....
 

Hey . . don't get me wrong . . I'm happy that I did the blower . . . but with 103,000 miles on my motor . . well . . . lol

And, who knows. Maybe it'll hold together. We'll see.

Re: Money to spend.....
 

You and him are not in the same boat. You have hypereutectic pistons which are not very boost friendly. I would not boost any more than you currently are. If you closely monitor your fuel and timing you could get away with more but not much more. Even if you do kill your block big deal just get an 88-93 block dirt cheap and get a cheap rebuild and your back in business.

If you had factory forged pistons you could boost the hell out of it and be more worried about head gaskets than the engine.

Re: Money to spend.....
 

I'm not gonna invest too much in this motor, as I am starting my 427 build-up next month, or in November. But . . . I didn't know it had hypereutetics in it . . . thanks for the info.