Hey guys, I'm a new member and I was hoping you all could answer some questions I have about doing a custom turbo on my '89 rs. My first question is how long will a stock 2.8 last on 8 - 12 psi? Mine has about 90k miles on it and still runs strong but i'm not sure how long that will last with a turbo. Another concern is the location of a fmic. I live in arizona so there's no way i'm going to give up air conditioning, but i'm worried that havnig a front mount and an a/c condensor in front of my radiator will cause the car to overheat in the summer( I do have a new radiator and 180 degree thermostat) Has anyone had trouble with this? solutions? I was thinking about a doing a v-mount with the fmic and radiator since there's tons of room.
That's all for now, but I'm sure as I look into this further I will have more questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

another question I have for anyone who is running a turbo on their 2.8 is how much power do you make? Anyone ever dyno their setup or have a good estimate? thanks

 

how long it lasts depends on its state of tune,the 2.8/3.1/3.4 bottom ends are all the same. forged rods,and cranks, but all come with cast pistions. but with that said a stock bottom end is good for 400 hp,and moderate boost levels.
i myself currently have a bone stock 3.1 in the car(until my fully built 3.4 is finished) atm running 12-14 psi with almost 100k on the motor.and havent had a problem.if ur serious about doing this i would skip over the 2.8 and go directly to a 3.1. for the main reason is if u want to run more boost and a more aggresive setup/tune u can buy off the shelf forged pistions for the 3.1 wereas the 2.8 is a custom made pistion.as far as power on a stock 3.1 @ 7psi expect over 255rwhp depending on ur turbo selection.on a 2.8 power would be slightly less.
with a semi built 3.1 i made 412hp/467ft#'s @ 16 psi,the car ran consitant 12.6's @112mph and that was with 4:10 gears killing my spool in 1st gear, a lower gear and the car would have gone faster.

but anyways u should be able to pull about 300rwhp out of a 2.8@12 psi witht he right setup and tune

 

Thanks for the info. When you say go to a 3.1 do you mean a 3.1 out of a newer camaro? or a stroked 2.8? I'm still in college so I don't have a lot of money to spend on the project. My plan was to start with the 2.8 and when that blew up either get a 3.1 or stroke the 2.8 and add forged pistons. But if I could find a cheap 3.1 I would be interested in doing a swap. Is it pretty much a bolt in swap? or would I need different motor mounts, wiring harness, ect?

 

A 3.1 is a stroked 2.8. Check out A.R.I. Racing.

 

ok thanks. Anyone have any ideas on cooling? Like I said I have a new radiator and 180 degree thermostat but once in a while the temp still goes up to 210, so with a turbo I'm sure I'll have problems. Would swaping in a v8 radiator take care of that?

 

install a 160* stat and wire in a manual fan override switch.i leave my fan on all the time unless im on the highway going over 50mph,unless ive got the car wide open on the highway my fan is off.if i go wide open with the fan off though my temps will climb mostly due to the fact that my intercooler is mounted directly infront of the radiator blocking airflow threw it