... and this time it is getting done the right way, and on a budget to boot. The car I'll be using for this build is my '90 GTA Trans Am, and the engine I will be using is the original 305 that it came with from the factory. Can it be done? Well shall see. First things first, let me introduce the car below. The car originally came with a 5-speed from the factory, but a 700R4 now resides behind the engine. The engine, as mentioned, is the stocker (not bored .030 over), a true 305. Unlike the last build thread that I started, I am not going to go crazy with the port work on the Tuned Port Injection system, as I intend to keep it very simple this time as a lot of the port work that was done in the other build thread was honestly overkill, and really not needed. The headers I am fabricating myself out of an Edelbrock set that I have had in the garage, and will be running a single turbo. The heads are the early 416 heads that I had ported myself for the other project that I was working on that some of you are already familiar with, but I went into them again and opened them up even more. The cam is a Lunati roller grind (cam specs to follow), and the rockers are those comp cam roller 1.52's that I was also going to use for the other build as well. Engine management & boost control will be through the EBL P4, but before we even get there I got some suspension upgrades to deal with first. Stick around guys, this should be fun.

 

These are the headers that I will be converting into a front mount single turbo setup. They have 1 5/8" primaries, and 2 1/4" collector. The log I will be using will be 2 1/2" inches in diameter, w/T4 turbo flange and 38mm wastegate flange. The crossover was fabbed up by Meineke a long time ago because I used the original Edelbrock crossover for something else, but I will be cutting up the Meineke one to be used in this setup because it's there. They are a tad discolored from the high temp header paint, as well as from sitting around for awhile, but they are very thick so the weld should take great...

 

hmmm interesting, i think i'll stick around to see this build

 

Passenger header has been cut. The log will be similar to the BBS turbo header, with just a few differences that I feel will make it much better all around. I ran out of 347 filler rod so I can't do any welding tonight, but once I get my hands on more I will have the turbo header finished in an hour. Will all be ceramic coated when done.

 

While I am waiting on the filler rod, gonna move on to the Tuned Port Injection system. From the factory, these systems are pathetic, and siamesing them is an excellent way of introducing a much quicker entry into the combustion chambers by shortening the distance from the plenum to the intake valve by creating more volume for the intake stroke to grab from. With the other build thread, some of you may remember how I went a little crazy with all of the porting. This time though I will only be porting the lower intake ports leading into the cylinder heads, as well as siamesing the lower runner ports, both on the lower intake manifold, as well as the runners themselves. The top of the runners, the plenum, and the throttle body will not be touched. I may "smooth" them a little to increase velocity, but I will not be opening them up any further than stock...

 

Ignition. The stock engine came with the small cap HEI with external coil, which although some claim to be better, I find to be annoying. I will be swapping to the fat cap HEI with internal coil. In total, it is an '86 distributor off of a Tuned Port Injected engine, which now has an MSD cap & rotor kit, Flamethrower coil, and Flamethrower ignition module. The wiring needs to be adapted to the stock 7730 engine harness, and for that I ordered the Holley kit part number 534-138. I am ordering a set of MSD plug wires on monday, but the spark plugs I am still undecided on...

 

Im watching lethal. Im ready to learn!

 

Camshaft. Some may remember I ordered the 224/230 cam for my other build, and although it worked great for me because I was running it these last few months, I cannot run that cam in this engine because this engine has a factory roller setup, and the other engine did not. Do not want to go too much on the cam though this time because I decided not to spin the engine to the moon, plus what I did to the heads make up for the less duration, so I decided on the...;

Lunati Hydraulic Roller - LUN-501A3LUN

218/218 .492"/.492" @ 112

Lift is a tad higher with the 1.52 roller rockers...

 

Cylinder heads. I opened up the earlier 416's all the way, as much as they will go. The intake ports can fit a quarter and a half all the way through (wiggled), the exhaust ports have been opened substantially as well. The valve guides were taken all the way down. These heads will flow with the best of them. Yes, they are iron, but hey, this is a budget build, remember...

 

Hoping to get this thing done asap...

Your V6 turbo build is coming out terrific Mark...

 

I wanna see this is there anyway to build a turbo and still keep A/C?

 

Yes. I was actually going to do that, but I need to remove as much weight as possible to help the 305 get where I want it to go. I already mocked up a header setup that allows for the a/c system to be maintained, but not the down pipe yet, which is going to be a pain in the butt with the serpentine setup...

 

Head Gaskets. I went with the same cometic head gaskets, same as the other build. Just going to coat them with some copper spray when they get installed. Static compression will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 8:7 once installed. Tempted to convert and run E85 with this setup, but I'm going to wait to see how she does on pump gas first...

 

Oh ok. Cool you are gonna do exactly what i wanna do with my car one day the turbo with tpi and A/C lol. You should make an extra kit and sell it to me ill pay it in payments haha.

 

I might consider making them when this is finished, as I am bothered by the fact that a lot of the 3rd gen members want a turbo, but then decide not to because nobody makes a decent kit. I just might do that, although you don't have to worry about making payments because I wouldn't charge too much for them at all, especially in terms of labor...

 

What size turbo are ya planing on useing when the time comes?

 

That is great! Im definately gonna keep checking on this thread.

 

I was running a T76 (T4 .96 a/r) in another build that I still have from a few years ago, but then I got my hands on the T88 last year. I might sell the T88 and run the T76 again, because the T88 is not really needed for my goal. Know a few Grand National guys that want to buy that turbo from me anyways...

 

Fuel regulator. Going to run the stock dead head regulator that I converted to an adjustable unit from the other build last year, as it works great, and fits under the plenum perfectly...

 

subscribing.....AGAIN!!!

 

Fuel pump. Going to reuse the sending unit that I worked on last year, and reuse the Earls fittings that convert the stock saginaw fittings to an fittings. Planning on running braided line all the way to the front, and replacing the stock fuel pump filter while I am at it. The fuel pump though will be the DW300 (DeatschWerks)...

 

... a closer look at the cylinder heads. Need to re-lap the valve seats, as well as clean them up as they have been sitting for awhile. Some fresh high temp aluminum paint will do the trick. Before I do the paint though, I want to install screw in studs first.

 

Oh how those valve bodies look so familar to mine, since i worked on my heads 40+hours...

Looks great bro, keep it up!

 

Those are definitely the last set of iron heads that I port, way too messy lol...

 

Sorry about that other thread, I wanted to start a fresh new thread for this car lol...

 

no need to be sorry Im here until the bitter end!!!

 

aluminum is actually worse , the carbides like to get clogged up and its alot easier to accidently grind to deep into the casting so its alot harder to get a smooth even surface

 

thats why i use the ferrous carbides with a can of WD40 or PB blaster lol hit it with a wire brush once in a while and its all good

 

Definitely agree with you guys about porting aluminum heads, as the bits get clogged up immediately and you spend more time cleaning them than you do getting any work done. Porting the cast iron is much faster, I can literally get one head done in about two hours. What I meant about being too messy though... the aluminum particles fall right to the table when porting, but the cast iron particles turn into a powder and become airborne and get all over the place.

 

subscribed

Mine will be turboed 2 years from now. Can't wait to see what you get out of that thing

 

If I can net a 1.4x sixty foot I am very confident I will see a 9.99, that's if the transmission and rearend hold it together. Got a lot in store for this one, so this build thread should make for a very fun ride for everyone. Be sure to start up a turbo build thread when you start on yours...

 

you are using the wrong burr. they sell a non-ferrous burr for aluminum. it is very fast cutting, however so you have to be careful with it. but it won't clog.

 

That is what I used during the siamesing of the runner ports, otherwise the siamesing would have taken me forever. I hesitate using it on the intake ports leading to the cylinder heads though, because it cuts way too fast. Do you have your turbo exhaust manifolds bolted up yet Dig? Was considering going that route too (cast), as I didn't want to bother welding stainless. The Edelbrock headers I'm using are 409, but rather than weld 304/321 to the primaries, I'm going to weld two 90 degree bends (409) to it, then get them coated. Will also reinforce the turbo w/some brackets welded between the turbo and headers flanges. Should hold well, and take the abuse...

 

i have one of them bolted up on the engine, i'll see if i can get you a pic sometime this week when i go back by the shop. i'm STILL bouncing back and forth on what i want to do with mine. twins or single.... twins or single.... twins or single....

 

I honestly didn't rule out twins either. The braze that I used for the cast manifold that I flipped over is very strong, much stronger than the average mild steel, and just as strong as some of the stainless steels out there. Add to that a ceramic coating and they would last forever. I already have cast T4 turbo flanges w/wastegate flanges already in them (they are T3 to T4 adapters, I just cut the T3 side off), so it is just a matter of cutting the stock three bolt exhaust flanges off, and brazing in the new ones. I guess it's still an option if I decide not to waste my time with the 409 stuff. I even started to port the cast manifolds, too...

 

Was looking (hoping) to find some last minute 409ss 90 degree bends w/14ga instead of 16ga, but it is what it is, so I'll be welding with 16ga. The ceramic coating should help when all is said and done in terms of strength. I just don't see any reason to go with 321ss at this point, and if I did, I certainly wouldn't weld it to the Edelbrock 409ss...

 

psst rob order the satinles sstuff from here http://www.mcmaster.com/

u can use the 304 stainless as they have it in .065 and .118 wall

much cheaper then the 321 .065 wall stainless i used on my v6 car theres prolly 1,200 bucks in stainless on my v6 car in just the headers

the thick 304 stainless will hold up just fine if welded right, and u dont want to ceramic caot the stainless get it nickle coated instead

 

... you mean nickel plated, right?

We'll see, as I already spoke to the guys over at Jet Hot and they will give me a pretty good deal when all is said and done. The flux welding is doing very good w/the 16ga metal, either that or I'm just that good of a welder lol...

Thanks for that link Dave...

Pics of the work coming up soon...

 

dont use jethot, u shoudl see what they did to a set of 4k$ custom headers we built for a customer. the shop switched to airbourne coatings after that mishap and there coatings are 100x better and there prices are much much better as well

 

Will do. It won't be nearly as interesting as yours tho. I'm only looking to run low 12s

 

I use some wd40 or some basic oil while porting aluminum with the non ferrous burrs. Keeps them clean and goes thru metal like hot knife in butter

 

mhmmm.... what ever happened with the first thread??

 

I've gotten so tired of porting lately, don't even want to look at a manifold anymore...

That car is gone, and I wanted to start a fresh thread for the GTA...

 

Picked up a mini-starter to help offset the weight of the turbo charger a little bit. Need to replace the solenoid though as well as clean it up, but other than that it is essentially still new...

 

updates?

 

Only had a chance to work on some of the minor details this past week because work started to pick up. Really wanted to try and maintain the serpentine belt system but it would require some slight cutting of the passenger side bracket and a much shorter belt, and I honestly didn't want to ruin the system so I figured I would switch back to the older v-belt system. Doing that requires extending the alternator wiring to reach the passenger side, so I have to cut, add and solder in some wire (three of them, two from the engine harness and one from the battery) to reach the passenger side. Doing this also requires an entirely different waterpump...

 

We just started getting hit with snow, and from what I'm reading it isn't letting up until later tonight. Gonna do something easy today, as I am going to coat a set of 91-92 GTA taillights that I had lying around the right way with some nightshade. Just one coat of nightshade, enough to still be able to see right through it, but still see that it is tinted, followed by five coats of clear coat. Will buff once dry. Should look incredible when finished. Also got my hands on a 91-92 hatch, but now I need to get my hands on an 91-92 aero wing to complete it. Not going to touch the bumper/ground effects though, those are staying stock...

 

are we still looking to go 9's?

 

.... do I detect a little sarcasm there, Dig lol?

She'll make nines when all is said and done, there is no doubt in my mind.

 

It wouldn't even be an accomplishment anymore the way I look at it, especially when reading how member Hasty ran 10.37 @ 128 in his V6 TTA w/ported stock heads, untouched cast block, untouched intake/throttle body, small 210/215 cam, 3200 stall and turbo tweak chip running pump gas and methanol and 66mm turbo, w/26-mpg. That is unreal...