Boosting a 350 Vortec

[Biggershaft96]

Ill have to look into that but i stand corrected. I didnt think they existed my appologys.
Edit: holy cow those are expensive.

 

[df2x4]

Ill have to look into that but i stand corrected. I didnt think they existed my appologys.
Edit: holy cow those are expensive.

Still cheaper than a marine intake swap by the time you buy all the injectors and whatnot, though.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

That pricing looks in line with just swapping in a Edelbrock XT intake, and alot cheaper than a marine or Ram Jet.

 

[Hutcheh]

How many lbs injectors should i go for with 8 - 12 lbs of boost?

Edit: I read that the stock is 19lbs

 

[Mrich0908]

http://www.theturboforums.com/threads/381269-A-machinist-a-turbo-and-his-L31-GMC
or
http://www.gmt400.com/threads/a-machinist-a-turbo-and-his-l31-gmc.32569
Here is cool thread boosting a l31 ,gmt400.
You need a way to control the fuel , it can be a stand alone or do a 0411 swap so you can use HP tuners , efi live , LS1 edit or mail order flash. I sugest buy your own because you will be flashing you ecm every other day at first. AFter 2 tunes HP tuners pays for its self.
To be able to use more than small levels of boost you need to drop compression unless you building a drag truck all forged driving 1/4 miles at a time. That can be accomplished by using a thicker head gasket or heads or by the pistons. If you dont go with new pistons , forged or not your living on borrowed time. Turbos do create stress .
New camshaft to complement the boost. Vortec l31 heads can only accept .455 lift. SO you can either redo the vortec heads to accept studs roller rockers and larger springs . Or do like most and by new heads its actually cheaper you have the added benifit or using aluminum and they flow better.
The efi side of this is actually very easy a 400 or so hundreds dollars you can buy the efi intake , sbc fuel rails and EV6 injectors.
If your willing to do the research and work your self the large initial cost boosting any engine is allot cheaper than people say. All the money isnt dropped at once. If your willing to use used parts its even cheaper.
My suggestion to you is buy a tig ac/dc welder even if its a cheap china unit. Youll need it.
Dont get side tracked because your truck wont be worth anything untill its finished . Allot of people get discouraged and sell there project. You wont get even a portion back if that happens. Make sure you have steady place to keep the truck this wont happen oven night.
Good luck

 

[Hutcheh]

http://www.theturboforums.com/threads/381269-A-machinist-a-turbo-and-his-L31-GMC
or
http://www.gmt400.com/threads/a-machinist-a-turbo-and-his-l31-gmc.32569
Here is cool thread boosting a l31 ,gmt400.
You need a way to control the fuel , it can be a stand alone or do a 0411 swap so you can use HP tuners , efi live , LS1 edit or mail order flash. I sugest buy your own because you will be flashing you ecm every other day at first. AFter 2 tunes HP tuners pays for its self.
To be able to use more than small levels of boost you need to drop compression unless you building a drag truck all forged driving 1/4 miles at a time. That can be accomplished by using a thicker head gasket or heads or by the pistons. If you dont go with new pistons , forged or not your living on borrowed time. Turbos do create stress .
New camshaft to complement the boost. Vortec l31 heads can only accept .455 lift. SO you can either redo the vortec heads to accept studs roller rockers and larger springs . Or do like most and by new heads its actually cheaper you have the added benifit or using aluminum and they flow better.
The efi side of this is actually very easy a 400 or so hundreds dollars you can buy the efi intake , sbc fuel rails and EV6 injectors.
If your willing to do the research and work your self the large initial cost boosting any engine is allot cheaper than people say. All the money isnt dropped at once. If your willing to use used parts its even cheaper.
My suggestion to you is buy a tig ac/dc welder even if its a cheap china unit. Youll need it.
Dont get side tracked because your truck wont be worth anything untill its finished . Allot of people get discouraged and sell there project. You wont get even a portion back if that happens. Make sure you have steady place to keep the truck this wont happen oven night.
Good luck

Thanks a ton, definitely a confidence booster. Yeah I'll be throwing this thing together myself and I'm giving myself loads of time. Hopefully I'll have it done by the end of next summer, maybe the summer after. Maybe that's a little optimistic! Are projects really ever done? I want to put this together piece by piece and not get overwhelmed. Lucky for me I have 16hr access to a tig welder for personal projects. One of the perks of working in a factory. I was talking to a guy at my work that put MPFI on his 1965 Chev pickup and he was telling me that it is a lot easier to do than it sounds so i'm looking into that as well. This truck will be my daily, but a fun daily. Stock, the truck has 255hp, so I'm looking for maybe around 400+. I know just this turbo wont be enough to scrounge up that much hp but that's why I'm going to take my time with it and do it right.