turbo'd 3800 thoughts.

well today i was with a freind on my way home from work going bout 40 and noticed i had it in the "1" gear on my sellector well i was going and at bout 35 mph i felt it downshifting so i PUNCHED it and all of a sudden CHIRPPPPPP i chirped em' and left...... lol so i owe my car a apology or the tranny





anyways that SAME FREIND just got two free turbos from his uncle....... one is a garrett idk what size or w.e. it has a waste gate and blow off valve and some oil lines or something......... wouldnt it be cool to splice that in like rite before the resonator and route it up to the cone ........... idk what else could i do?

Thats kind of been my favorite idea the whole time. But there is a serious problem with room and clearence. and all the heat that is going to collect righ there with all of the wiring harnesses and electrical ewuipment right above the rear manifold. Might I suggest that you think about a remote mount setup? Where you replace your mufflers with a turbo and run a pipe forward to the supercharger. you can still mount a front mount or you can use a L2A intercooler.

idk ............ it seems like it would be a VERY GHETTO setup....

Not ghetto, but not easy, either. Ever hear of STS rear mount turbos?

A twincharged Riv would be incredible, but I just don't have the time or money.

AA wrote:

Not ghetto, but not easy, either. Ever hear of STS rear mount turbos?

A twincharged Riv would be incredible, but I just don't have the time or money.

I'm going to wait for Alex to do it first and give us a write-up.

I was looking around at turbos and started thinking of instead of spending money having my blower ported, using smaller pulleys, upgrading my blower, why not spring for a turbo project? It's just a thought, maybe a long term goal.. definitely alot of fabrication and welding.. but maybe i'd be able to trim some money off the cartuning turbo kit price tag of 3 grand, while fitting an intercooler in there.. the only problem i've though of so far would be the manifolds. I'd have to either find a turbo with the same flanges as the stock manifolds, or have some made. I could pickup a rebuilt turbo for at the most 300, along with an intercooler for about the same. from there it's just dealing with the manifolds, getting a downpipe, and all the necessary plumbing. any thoughts?

oh and a blow off valve kit along with a boost controller

Headers?

Sorry if that's the wrong answer. I know next to nothing about turbos.

No, you can't use regular headers on a turbo setup. The exhaust pipes get routed to the turbo, then out the back.

I know a couple people who have dabbled with the turbo kits in other 3800s and love them. The CT is a nice kit. The only issue I think will be the location of the rear outlet, if it comes out for a w-body you'd need an exhaust shop to build you a custom downpipe but that should be insignificant next to the rest of the kit.

Depending on the turbo you choose, the car may not be as street friendly as when it had the blower. The power will probably build over a more narrow band, so you'd need to get used to driving it like a different car. Research twin turbo set-ups. I think it would be cool to do a sequential set-up, or two light turbines, for less lag.

I agree on the ct kit, the only problem with it is the price tag.. 3 grand is quite hefty. and yeah AA I agree.. a TT setup would be ideal

would stock ported manifolds be sufficient

I have been contemplating this for quite sometimes now,i have a whole setup built in my head...but no funds to do so..

its not that fact that the stock manifolds arent sufficient...but arent in the correct place or design for just dropping a turbo in....althought a good fab guy could make a custom cross over pipe to feed the turbo..

a BOV wouldnt be necessary on an automatic car.. its only on stick cars because of the constant on an off the gas due to shifting to prevent compressor surge.

I think a nice GT35R would work great as a street turbo with the correct tuning,or you could aquire a stock Grand National turbo. great turbos for a stock engine, alot of guys are using the T-61 but have a decent bottom end.

I plan to do a sequential twin charge setup so everything i can do to improve the eaton will help. My turbo will be accompanied by an inlet/outlet ported m90 with a ~2.8 pulley. The low end will be there, that's my promise.

My idea is to add a secondary BBV control with a simple boost controller going from the compressor to the boost side of the BBV actuator so that when the turbo reaches a certain amount of pressure, it will force the BBV open, pretty much bypassing the blower. The blower will still draw power from the engine but not much since it's not pushing any boost at all.

I do believe a BOV of some fashion would still be necessary even with an auto. You have to let off some time plus intercooler plumbing tends to like to blow apart with extreme pulses of boost.

check it out http://www.spooledmotorsports.com/turbochargerscat.php?carmake=buickhttp://www.spooledmotorsports.com/turbochargerscat.php?carmake=buick

idk why that link says no results, but just click on buick in the top list again and it'll bring em all up

turtleman wrote:

I do believe a BOV of some fashion would still be necessary even with an auto. You have to let off some time plus intercooler plumbing tends to like to blow apart with extreme pulses of boost.

It all depends on the boost your going to run... chances are you wont run any more than 25 PSI unless your going full race with a huge turbo.. any excess pressure an auto has will be consumed by the wastgate...manuals need a BOV because they close the throttle plate with every shift,that constant surge on the compressor will eventually lead to a broken shaft in the turbo... The Grand Nationals never came with any sort of BOV...

I really wish i had the funds to do this...every single aspect is already planned out.....

deekster_caddy wrote:

No, you can't use regular headers on a turbo setup. The exhaust pipes get routed to the turbo, then out the back.

Is the problem with the shape/length of the headers available for the 3800?

TType.. you and me both lol.. it seems so promising, and within reach.. what kind of t pipe would u use coming off the manifold? and do you plan on just going turbo, or twin charged? don't you have to have a plate to block off where the snout would be if you go straight turbo

RhinoFLA wrote:

TType.. you and me both lol.. it seems so promising, and within reach.. what kind of t pipe would u use coming off the manifold? and do you plan on just going turbo, or twin charged? don't you have to have a plate to block off where the snout would be if you go straight turbo

the crossover pipe that runs over your transmision...connects both manifolds....block off the rear manifold, and make a turbo inlet coming out of the crossover,then your exhaust will come out of the turbo...i dont recomend this but its an idea for a budget style build...

thats what most peopl do is gut the sc,and block it off.....me personally i dont like it..i think its ugly..but again budget comes into play...i would ivest in making a sheet metal intake out of aluminum..but thats me..im anal about things looking nice an proportional.

the new GT35R HTA model......from Forced Performance.......

well the idea behind mine would be budget.. trying to shave some decimal points off that 3 grand price tag on the CT kit.. how much does that turbo run for?

Jack the R wrote:

deekster_caddy wrote:

No, you can't use regular headers on a turbo setup. The exhaust pipes get routed to the turbo, then out the back.

Is the problem with the shape/length of the headers available for the 3800?

exactly. You need to direct all the exhaust from both manifolds to the turbo, then back to the lower/rear section of the exhaust system. The turbo has to be located somewhat near the intake path so above the transmission would be an ideal location (except for the heat). So you need something like what was just described - block off the rear manifold exit and make a new crossover pipe that instead feeds the turbo from both manifolds, then a new exit pipe. Somebody has already done all that design work, i.e. the CarTuning kit.

Past the initial expense, tuning a turbo on these cars can be very difficult. I thought this was just a myth that turbo L67 owners would tell to show how cool they are. But then I was at the track with this guy trying to tune his CT turbo setup. He was running 13.9s. I think this is happening more then you ever hear about on the boards.

My thoughts: GenV+Intercooler. Reliable,streetable, maybe cheaper, easier to tune, mid 13s or better.

13.9's with the ct kit? that's ridiculous.. a gen V blower + the zzp IC is probably somewhere around $1,400 or so, definitely cheaper.. I wonder if it's just that guy that has unseen problems, or if that's all you really get out of it