I thought that I saw a single front mount turbo setup here that retained A/C. Am I mistaken? I'm trying to figure out what the did with the passenger side manifold and downpipe...

 

May have to search for it... It's possible but it's not going to be easy... I was thinking about going that route too...

Matt

 

I thought that I had seen it, but I can't seem to find it again. I could've sworn that the downpipe went under the K-member (or through it).

It would be interesting to use a piece of tubing with a larger ID than the OD of the down pipe and creating a "tunnel" for the pipe that runs through the K-member. If you could locate the hole in the neutral axis of the member, then the compromised rigidity could be minimized.

If anyone happens to know which car I'm looking for, I would appreciate a point in the right direction. Until then, I am going to focus on figuring out how to make this work.

 

So, I'm having a heck of time finding what I'm looking for. Someone has done this... I know it.

I’d really like to retain the A/C. I’ve been driving the 2000 around this summer, looking for obvious problems in the driveline that need attention. That car doesn’t have working A/C (it does have all the parts though), and it sucks to not have air when you’ve had it in every other vehicle for the past umpteen years.

Looking at what I can push with an NA motor versus an FI motor, FI wins every time. So, I almost feel like I have to turbocharge this thing. But, I don’t want to sacrifice the creature comforts that I’ve become accustomed to.

The official build should start in October. I suppose I could just see what I can make happen at that time. However, it would be nice to have some kind of idea going into this.

I saw that someone built a manifold set using butt-weld pipe elbows. I think I might give that a shot. It seems like the most compact manifold option. The easiest thing that I can think of is to get the motor situated and then start fabricating the hot side around existing parts.

I’m really excited about this build, as it has taken a very long time to get to this point. So, I want to make sure that I get what I want out of it.

 

I think I found a starting point... maybe.

coolmarocrzy's downpipe routing might facilitate keeping the A/C...

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...turbo-ls1.html

Hear me out on this, and tell me if I'm nuts. If I used his concept for downpipe routing, and built "log" type manifolds, I think that I could bring the downpipe forward just enough to retain the factory heater box (maybe with a thermal barrier on the exterior of the box). I like the idea of keeping the downpipe up high, as I wouldn't run into issues with a pipe trying to be where the compressor is.

The next conundrum is keeping enough space between the box containing the evaporator and the routing of the downpipe. Looking at it again, I might even be able to rotate the mounting flange on the hot side piping 90 degrees clockwise, to allow for a straighter shot out the back and put the compressor inlet toward the battery tray. Maybe?

I know it's difficult to visualize, but this may be a good direction to take. With respect to the A/C lines and routing; I would probably try to run them up along the fender. Although, I can't recall how much clearance I have between the formed edge of the hood and the strut tower.

It seems like I'm missing something else important on the passenger side, but I don't know what that is...