[Diy_efi] Turbo on a 292 inline

[Brian Dessent]

> I am thinking of putting Turbos on my inline 292 or a turbo if I can
> find the correct single turbo size for this engine. will I really see
> a great speed increase from the turbo though? this is a 1972 custom 20
> truck with the campers special w/o the camper. I wanted to keep the
> orginal engine since it has just now hit the orginal 97K miles. I am
> looking to pull some power out of it. enough to take on cars from
> light to light. I was just wondering if turboing the 292 is worth it
> or should I just get a 454 with a Vortech supercharger =/. cheaper is
> always better :-D.

This is not really the topic of this list, although we certainly do have
topic drift every now and then.  So don't expect a lot of replies.  If
you really want to do this project, get MacInnes book _Turbochargers_. 
It will show you how to read a compressor map and choose the proper size
turbo/trim for your application.

But as to should you?  I don't think so.  Forgive me if I'm wrong but it
doesn't sound like you understand what's involved in adding a turbo to a
normally aspirated engine.  It's not a bolt-on affair.  You will have to
fabricate custom exhaust parts, custom intake parts.  You have to plumb
an oil supply line from the main oil galley, and a return path back to
the crankcase, and you have to do it properly otherwise the turbo will
fry.  You'll probably need to machine some sort of bracket to hold the
turbo itself, and then you have worry about heat shielding.  Then you
will have deal with detonation.  You want to lower the compression ratio
(change the pistons, rods, head, whatever), otherwise you will almost
certainly need an intercooler and possibly water injection.  These mean
more custom fabrication.  For a FI engine, you'll have to check that
your pump, injectors, and pressure regulator have enough headroom to
supply the extra fuel.  If not, you'll have to upgrade thse parts and/or
reprogram the ECU's maps.  I don't know about carbs and boost but I'm
sure there are a few issues.  Also ignition.  Can the stock system
generate enough voltage to ignite under boost?  Will the added ignition
load slowly destroy the distributor and wires?  How will you do timing
retard under boost?  If you buy an aftermarket controller, you've
already blown your budget.  You could build your own or learn to hack a
stock ECU, but how good are your assembly language skills?  The very
high prices of kits for this kind of stuff reflect the fact that almost
every major engine system will be affected.

I'm not saying that an engine swap is easy, but doing a custom turbo
install is a huge bite to take.  And far from inexpensive too.

Brian

_______________________________________________
Diy_efi mailing list
Diy_efi at diy-efi.org
http://www.diy-efi.org/mailman/listinfo/diy_efi