Turbocharging a TBI 350

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Mule89

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Why is an LS swap not an option? It's a better foundation for a turbo if that's your ultimate goal. Going the route you are suggesting sounds more expensive and more trouble than going LS.

As for daring to be different, remember that there are usually reasons that lots of people end up doing the same thing. There is a reason that a great many street rods of different makes are running small block Chevys. Yes, dare to be different and run a flathead Ford, and you'll have twice the money and half the horsepower. The LS swap versus the turbo tbi may be the same as the SBC versus the flathead.
The main reason I say LS is not an option its because most the places I read thats the awnser most people give to questions like mine. The other reasons are I really don't like the sound of them at light to half throttle, dont really want to be cutting up the wiring of my truck till I have something els to drive daily for a long time, and my dad isn't stupid when it comes to how much power you can make with a turbo LS. Not to mention I can buy small blocks a dime a dozen in my area.
 

Mule89

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I do have a 5.9 hx40 laying around I was thinking about using it because the truck would almost never be 3200rpm. It would make well enough boost where I want it. I think I may need to mention this truck has sentimental value to it this is all I have left of my best friend. That's why I still have it even after the last two engines decided to blow. If it starts going through many more I guess I'll start putting little engine s on the door like a WWII fighter plane.:Big Laugh: Some people say what I drive is :chicken::dancingpoop: but im just kinda like :devilfinger:
 

TylerZ281500

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itll be past 3200rpm once you play with it. 4 bolt all in all means nothing. it wasnt anything special 10 psi. vortec heads with ls6 springs, single plane wieend intake, k1102 cam, m99hvs pump, ebay turbo stuff, summit pipe kit. ford turbo, holset i think manufactured them, was handed it, told to use it. i just a modified 350tb on it, raised pressure to the moon and 454 injectors. sealed the throttle blades and so forth so i wasnt "leaking boost" in a manner of speaking. theres plenty of people who have done very similar but no threads as youve very well noticed. everyones quick to poopoo tbi. takes a man of resource and understanding of the topic to screw with it.

tuning will be your biggest obstacle

i had enough fuel with just the stock tb modded with injector upgrade. otherwise theres methods of adding an injector to a spacer on a halls switch at wot that just starts adding fuel to the pulse of a primary injector. our built 454 ended up with two TBIs the injector boojiely linked to each others pulse signals so one injector would control two. it worked, well, but probably wasnt an overall great idea.

carb and tbi will function similar when turboed minus the undeniable fact that they are completely different. id hop on turbo forums, theres a few good threads on there of plane jane turbo 350s, id follow a build like that. long runner helps, single plane gave me a good deal of air volume and the map functioned well.

i ran a tpi fuel pump, aeromotive VAFPR with the stock regulator deleted.

bottom end was stock, rebearinged, gapped the rings a bit looser than id normally, timing i just went delco platiunums, i played with heat ranges for awhile, 3 wire oxygen sensor piggy backed to a wideband was also a must.

sorry this post was a mess, my head is everywhere today. there was alot of mathing, alot of hmmmm moments and overall just looking at datalogs seeing how things reacted per the specs were calculated would be efficient. theres no guide, i will not put together a guide, i dont want to be that guy and then have profossor numnuts tarnish everything that worked for me.

oh 3 bar map, i used one out of a gtp 3.8 grand prix. i imainge if you can find one from a scy/ty it would be beneficial. theres a superior resource on the web, guy with a turbo 4.3 tbi s10. i cant seem to find it. it took a good deal of digging.
 

Mule89

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Thank you for the info. I think you are right I will probably be past 3,200 rpm and even further past that if I upgraded the valve springs. I did find the guy with the Supercharged S10 and used his info to decide on what fuel pressure regulator so that i wont have to go with 454 injectors at first. tuning is the biggest reason why Im gonna go with EBL flash. I already picked up the 3 bar MAP, getting ready to start rebuilding the extra throttle body I have for boost. I have been buying all the little stuff that I know I need. Now my concern is about EGTs with 3.5 exhaust but considering how low of boost this is would i even need to worry. sorry about the late response hard to set and read with work and exams.
 

RichLo

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Sounds like your getting serious about it. Sorry I dont have anything to add, but please take lots of pics and post your progress!!! And maybe post part #s and go through some of your trials and tribulations with us. This will be a very interesting build!
 

Mule89

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Sounds like your getting serious about it. Sorry I dont have anything to add, but please take lots of pics and post your progress!!! And maybe post part #s and go through some of your trials and tribulations with us. This will be a very interesting build!

I definitely am serious about it i had the idea of putting a turbo on a small block Chevy when i was 10 years old or maybe i was 8 LOL. I will post every detail i can because I know there is others that would like to do the same but don't know where to start. My goal is to make it seam like gm built it with a turbo originaly but some one upgraded the system if that makes any sense. Thats what growing up around loud turbo diesels did to me. hooked on boost. Most people that i talk to about this say "impossible" and start naming all the mods someone would have done in 1998 and not the good mods. I have leads on a guy that builds 700r4 with trans brakes and rated for 500hp+ for the strip if I am successful i will probably be paying him a visit LOL. The last things on my "figure out what to do list" is O2 sensor type, brand, and location. heated wide-band the rest...:shrug:still researching on that. How hot will it be under the hood and how to combat that because I dont want to use heat wrap. plus the fittings and lines i need for the aromotive boost reference fuel pressure regulator. Also where to mount the intercooler. other than that i pretty much have it figured out. All i can do is plug, plum and pray it works.
 

TylerZ281500

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the s10 fellow was a huge help, i used his website countless times. sloppy mechanics is a good yet crappy source of info as well in terms of turbos. i actually found a few guys with turbo tbi motors putting down swell numbers and they had alot of insight.

i liked mine, i also like the m80 i strapped to the side as a supercharger for one.

in terms of cooling id suggest electric fans for sure. i use ls1/lt1 fans. i have a guy who haze thousands and sells them. used a jegs harness the first time but knowing what i know now id run it to the computer and have the computer control it. did you buy a turbo yet? id suggest joining get boosted on facebook. i just won myself a billet 78/75
 

Mule89

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I will keep that in mind about sloppy mechanics. The ls1/lt1 fans are hands down best bang for buck IMO. I did have a turbo but a little too small and I traded it for a small trailer that is more useful to me at the moment. Im pretty much making a list of everything i need so far i think the whole build is at $1,800 all said and done. However I am not able to buy everything all at once and I love to wheel and Deal so i may have less in it in the end. I will defiantly check in to that Facebook site. I had thoughts of a compound system but that seamed silly for a low boost application like mine. That would be interesting conversation starter LOL compound turbo TBI 350. I also found a low mileage 350 that runs for $200 guy said he was going to scrap the bus and and all, but hey one man's trash is another man's treasure. The future looks bright on this project.
 

Mule89

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Hey everyone it's been a while since I have last posted and have been busy with life. But in the meantime I put this together so... How do you keep it from exploding under pressure? I'm just doing this for fun before I drop in a 454TBI and properly turbo it with what I learn from this small block.

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