Daily driver turbo

[Hunter79764]

Sounds awesome! It ought to be fun, but x2 on the low compression. That's plenty "safe" but probably overkill low if you haven't bought parts yet. Plenty of guys are running double digit boost on stock CR, dropping to 8.5 might feel like a dog down low in Daily Driver mode, and probably not help your MPG's much vs the BBC...

 

[Craig Nedrow]

Thanks Shawn. Like I said, I am a newby when it comes to turbos. Only one I have at the moment is on my trusty John Deere tractor. Never had one, just studied books, and now forum's to learn. I am real good at building engines, maybe someday even the VW wont kick my a___, and I like tuning and carbs, so the FI will be new. I bought an HP tuner a couple years ago, and have taught myself enough to really screw things up. Most important lesson I learned, save the original program, copy it, and modify the copy.

 

[Craig Nedrow]

Concurrent with the engine swap, the body work and paint hopefully will be getting close to done. Since I like mechanical stuff, I will do that first, then the frame/body etc. I am buying a new American Autowire harness, I have used them before, and that will upgrade everything electrical. I like my stock radiator, but will probably go with dual Spial fans, more HP, and need the space for the hotside plumbing. I will run an intercooler, also around 60 lbs/hr injectors. Like CalSgt, this will probably take a year, but I want it done as fast as possible as I am an ol' codgie. Besides I have other projects that I want to work on, and I take time to shoot every week and...

 

[TotalyHucked]

Hell yeah dude, that's gonna be awesome! I've got a warmed over 5.3 in my '85 and it's tons of fun, I can only imagine how much fun yours will be. I agree with above on the boost though, I'd probably shoot for roughly 9.8-10:1 unless you're gonna crank the boost way up. These motors are nothing like old ones, you can get away with alot more compression.

 

[Hunter79764]

Check out some of Richard Holdener and/or Sloppy Mechanics stuff on Youtube. Even if you aren't doing a Stock Bottom End (SBE) budget build, you can get a good idea of what they can take in stock form, and understand which upgrades you want to do and which aren't really necessary etc.

 

[Scott91370]

How did I miss this when you started it?!!!

I can't wait to see all the progress. My long term idea is similar. LS + turbo = FUN TIMES!!

 

[ReefkoiC10]

I’d go supercharged, i wish I had since I daily mine and that low down torque from the supercharger would be nice for 90% of my drive in, I get to enjoy the turbo feel a handful of times a day sometimes in 20 minutes I never feel it because traffic sucks and you can’t go 100 all the time and lag sucks. I think the turbos are really better for the tracks and the supercharger for the street which is likely why the big 3 use them over turbos for the muscle cars/trucks, the turbos are more for the eco boost high mileage “with a bonus” crowd.

 

[Craig Nedrow]

I have two buddies that have supercharged ZL1, fast as all get out, but gas hogs. Also hard to work on. Dang, have three videos, but won't load. Boy they sure sound cool!

 

[ReefkoiC10]

YEAH they seem to throw belts and wipe out jack shaft bearings, throw balancers off etc with aftermarket installs sometimes, but man I guess if gas mileage is your main concern then IDK probably a single turbo as i still get the same 13 mpg from my 5.3 with 600 whp vs when it was stock with 200 whp but if I drive it like a TT should be Im sure it’d be less than 10 mpg

 

[Craig Nedrow]

Thanks Chris, That is good to know

 

[dvdswan]

For a daily driver, it seems like you're building something to tease the rice burners... definitely looks like it will be a fun ride.

 

[Craig Nedrow]

Well of course Dave, When I had my 1998 LS1 Camaro, the rice burner crowd used to park at the local Safeway, Every time I went by, I would light em up, that car was a tire burning son-of-a-gun. However those little cars, haul ass. Just want a big tough rude ride, like it is now, but more economical. Also there are quite a few other advantages, like they leak less, tune with a computer, starting, (though the BB starts good,) less weight.

 

[Bextreme04]

I’d go supercharged, i wish I had since I daily mine and that low down torque from the supercharger would be nice for 90% of my drive in, I get to enjoy the turbo feel a handful of times a day sometimes in 20 minutes I never feel it because traffic sucks and you can’t go 100 all the time and lag sucks. I think the turbos are really better for the tracks and the supercharger for the street which is likely why the big 3 use them over turbos for the muscle cars/trucks, the turbos are more for the eco boost high mileage “with a bonus” crowd.

If this is your driving experience, you sized your turbo WAY too big. A properly built and sized turbo system for a daily driven truck will light almost immediately and provide TONS of low end torque even when not spooled all the way up. If it was sized for Max RPM drag racing, its going to be a dog on the street until you get it spooled up at full throttle.

 

[JBswth]

My 454 in the K20 is awesome, except the gas mileage. That excuse brings me to this subject, LS swap with a single turbo. I am a machinist by trade, 40 years, retired. However a longtime shop where I trade needed a machinist, so now I am the guy that does all the internal work, (bore, hone blocks, and rebuild rods.) I have been enthralled with turbos, but never had one. My goal is (of course) more power, reliability, good winter manners. Since I have the ability to do all my own work, it will save me $, and I can make it like I want. SOOOO,

Stay away from turbos. Added strain on an engine will mean less, not more, reliability. Also, since you do your own work, if you insist on a blower, a supercharger is better on a gasoline engine than a turbo - less heat buildup, less complexity, no turbo lag. Turbos are better for diesels and for aircraft engines. If you want 454-style performance, you are not going to get good fuel economy. That's just simple physics. If you want good fuel economy, you should consider a 305 or 350 with a "fuel-saver" camshaft, and shorter-geared diffs . You won't have anything close to 454-type performance, but you will have better gas mileage with good low-end torque.

 

[Craig Nedrow]

After months of being too busy, and looking at the $ situation, and trying to be a little practical, I have decided to keep the 454 in the 1973 K20. That is such a fun motor, and yes it like gas, But it will not be driven every day. Having said that, Next week the truck goes in for some much needed body work, (insurance claim), when it comes home, I will remove all body parts down to the running gear, then engine and trans will come out. I will modify the 205 to the big input shaft bearing to adapt the 4l80e the the 454. I will pull the sheet metal and modify the pan for the drain back for the turbo, and reseal everything. I want to CC the bore and head to calculate compression ratio, as I have yet to do this. Will check all the lower end, but anticipate that it is good. Will replace stock oil pump with a high volume stock pressure pump.