Hello all! Im new to these forums, but not new to 3rd gens, Im currently on my 9th Firebird (8th Thirdgen). Ive always fixed the bodies up and did light engine work to them and then sold/bought a new one to start all over. BUT Ive finally come across a 'Bird that is too good to let go. Its completely rust free and was owned by the PO straight from the Manufacturer. Its in great shape (cept interior, damn mice!) and Im going to end up keeping this car for a long time, I think! LOL. I want to do something fun with this car besides the usual body work and paint.

Ive been torn 30 ways between different engines to drop in but after some very long careful discussions with a couple of my friends I have finally decided on what to do. What Im thinking is to buy a cheap turbo system off of Ebay along with the Megasquirt system and turbo my 305 and then down the road replace the 305 with a 355 or 383 stroker (not sure on that yet), now I know the 305 is pretty much crap but the way I figure it the 305 will give me a great chance to learn and experiment without grenading a perfectly good l98.

My goals: Learn to setup the turbos on the 305 and have some fun with that . No specific HP goals for the 305 but over 300 would be nice. System needs to be able to convert to a l98 and get that to roughly 400hp if not 500 if that can be swung. Also I am a full time college student so I dont have a lot of money to throw at this, hence the Ebay turbo's.

BUT, I have lots of questions:

1.My car is TBI, I have a complete TPI system from manifold to wiring sitting in my garage, would it be better to switch the engine to TPI for the turbo or is TBI better?

2. TBI or TPI heads?

3. Single or dual turbo's?

4. Megasquirt still the best option for tuning the turbo'd cars?

5. What kind of turbos do I need to look for? I am a total beginner with turbo's and not 100% sure what size turbines I need nor if i need a t3/t4 flange (thinking its preference). From reading a lot of threads here im thinking a .68 T4...... Is that right?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Im about to have some funds laying around and I would like to get started soon on this build. Thanks for reading!

 

welcome , there is a ton of knowledge on these pages . best of luck with the build .

 

Is there a particular person/vendor people are buying off of from ebay for these kits?

 

These kits are not "plug and play." You have to do some mods to them to fit (cut/weld) based on what others on the board have said. Do a search, I believe Junk Collector is going to be the one who's posts you want to look into. He did some objective stuff on it.

Do you have a MIG? Personally I'd be looking at a weld up header kit from Summit and some flanges if you can weld well and do it that way. Either that or do weld elbows as the durability will make them a permanent piece. Although it's hard to say what will transfer well from a 305 to a 350 and beyond I would start with a Master Power 70 or the likes and go from there.

I think the TBI is a great system overall but I think depending on what you do it'll fall short for fueling overall when dealing with boost. Whatever you do anticipate a fuel pump, I like the 255LPH Walbros personally but there are other options out there. For the price though it's hard to compete with the Walbros IMO.

Head wise I wouldn't sweat it right now. I would focus on getting the turbo setup up and going. That was one of my biggest holdbacks honestly is that I decided to do extra mods.

Don't forget you're going to need some form of "boost aware" engine management as well. Megasquirt, Code 59, custom PROMs etc. if you don't have something it's a sure fire way to end up with shrapnel for an engine.