Okay i have been bent on turbos lately, I keep finding more good reasons to install one( or two!). I saw this website where a guy had an 80s thunderbird with a twin turbo 351 windsor. The neat part was he custom built it all from junk yard parts. He said the total cost was $2800 including engine, tranny, and many fabricated parts. My question is, would this be possible on my car (83 bird) with my sb 400? Iwas thinking of getting 2 Garett T03's from a couple of junkyard turbo 2.3L thunderbirds. I belive it would all fit under the hood if I removed stuff like the a/c, vacuum canister, wiper fluid tank, and other crap in the way. But is a 400 a good motor to turbo? It has 8.5:1 compression, so I think thats in favor of it. But is the block strong enough? how much boost could it handle? Im fairly certain I would need a new tranny and rear, but I can do that eventually. What all would it take?

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1983 Pontiac Firebird SE
LG4-Based Chevy 400
700R4 Tansmission
Modified 4 Barrel Q-Jet Carb
Accel Super Stock 8mm Wires
Edelbrock Pro-Flo Air Cleaner
3.23 Posi Rear
14X7" Cragar SS/T Wheels
Clarion 45X4 CD/AM/FM Head Unit
100WX2 Amp
2 Pioneer 12" Subs in Custom Box
Third Gen Performance
"A four cylinder is only half an engine"

 

you would probably want all the goodies on the bottom end. (forged crank, rods, 4-bolt mains, etc etc..) to hold up under that high horsepower..

 

2.3x2= 4.6

400=6.6

You need 2 more liters of Huff



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60 Ranchero - Project ( Money Hole )
85 Sport Coupe LG4 - Daily Driver

Just another Hot Rod kid, or thats what they all tell me.
Livin' the Stereotype

 

Bort, I don't understand... 2 more liters? I figures 2 T03's would be plenty for about 10-12 PSI of boost, which would be about all I would want to run. They guy who's site i saw had a stock 351 windsor block, stock pistons, crank, rods, etc. He broke a chunk off one of the pistons at 13.5 PSI boost, 8.3:1 compression ratio. I have a feeling that the 400 would break around the same area. The only things im worried about are the thin cylinder walls and weak conencting rods.

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1983 Pontiac Firebird SE
LG4-Based Chevy 400
700R4 Tansmission
Modified 4 Barrel Q-Jet Carb
Accel Super Stock 8mm Wires
Edelbrock Pro-Flo Air Cleaner
3.23 Posi Rear
14X7" Cragar SS/T Wheels
Clarion 45X4 CD/AM/FM Head Unit
100WX2 Amp
2 Pioneer 12" Subs in Custom Box
Third Gen Performance
"A four cylinder is only half an engine"

 

u

[This message has been edited by zenish (edited March 02, 2001).]

 

Hey Ward your motor will probably take it up to 12'ish PSI - at least I wouldn't run it any higher without the good stuff inside. The two small turbos will probably (a)spool up REAL quick and (b)run out of oomph fairly fast - basically they aren't optimal for your needs. This means more heat than your engine needs, which can lead to destruction. HOWEVER, if you build your system for those two turbos (I mean, why not? You have them already) to learn on, you can always swap them out for bigger ones down the road.

If you haven't already check out Corky Bells' book "Maximum Boost", it's got lots of good stuff in it... Also go to www.egroups.com and do a search on "jyturbo" and "turbo." "JYTurbo" is where those guys hang out...

BTW, don't let GMIFAST see this post...

Steve

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Steve's Trans Am Temple

 

though i personally am gonna have a TT400...grrrr....a 383 would probably work better with turbos. you could use the thunderbird turbos but a lot of customization would be necessary....be real fun...well....if you turbo your car at all...customization is necessary...noone makes a kit. the bottom end will hold up for now....is it a 2 or 4 bolt?? if its a 2 bolt your in luck. theyre stronger.

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Rick
90 Camaro RS 305 TBI
400 small block, Hooker 1 3/4 LTs, Random Tech Cat, Hooker aero chamber cat back on the way!!
TH700-R4 with Trans-Go shift kit (corvette servo here...but not installed yet)
MacEwen Motorsports White Gauge Overlays
14" K&N X-Stream Open Element
GTS Headlight and Taillight covers
5% Limo Tint all around
Classic White Chevy Bowtie sticker on rear window
http://www.geocities.com/esvalenz

Man if my camaro were a rice-rocket all those mods would give me what...easily 50-60 hp!!!

"Just because I've done it, doesn't mean I knew what I was doing!" - Me

 

go ahead and do it. Nobody really knows until they try it. Your bottom end may never break. If it breaks, you fix it like the rest of us do.