1980 Camaro Turbo

[malibuSSwagon]

So my gf is getting this 1980 T-top camaro from her sister, if the deal goes thru, her sis is a hardass. Anyways it doesn't have an engine, so I figured I'd give her the 3.8 Chevy V6 and TH350 from my Malibu to her, the V6 is kinda lame so I figured why not turbo it? I got a welder and the skills, figure a $200 ebay turbo kit would do it, or find some used turbo and intercooler; flip one of the exhaust manifolds and weld the turbo flange on the outlet. Only thing is that the carb is the CCC Duojet, would need to switch to a better 2 brl or a 4 brl carb. Then tuning a carb for boost is a b*tch. Might grab a cheap TBI setup from a 4.3 V6 truck or car, 3 bar map, and I have all the tools for tuning it.

So what am I missing? Kinda a noob to turbo setups and all.

 

[chevyman454]

well theres a few things you need to research
need a wastegate preferably around 4-6 psi boost
need a boost retard module
need to find out if the exhaust manifolds will make it harder to get to the plugs
need to find the right turbo for your apllication
need to find out if your head bolts will withstand the head pressure at full boost (call banks turbo if you got questions)
need to find out the compression ratio to determine your max boost

just a few things to figure out off the top of my head so if you wanna do it need to do your research before attempting this hate to see you get it all together and blow the motor up first hard launch you do.

 

[DirtySouthCantina]

So my gf is getting this 1980 T-top camaro from her sister, if the deal goes thru, her sis is a hardass. Anyways it doesn't have an engine, so I figured I'd give her the 3.8 Chevy V6 and TH350 from my Malibu to her, the V6 is kinda lame so I figured why not turbo it? I got a welder and the skills, figure a $200 ebay turbo kit would do it, or find some used turbo and intercooler; flip one of the exhaust manifolds and weld the turbo flange on the outlet. Only thing is that the carb is the CCC Duojet, would need to switch to a better 2 brl or a 4 brl carb. Then tuning a carb for boost is a b*tch. Might grab a cheap TBI setup from a 4.3 V6 truck or car, 3 bar map, and I have all the tools for tuning it.

So what am I missing? Kinda a noob to turbo setups and all.

Well bro I;m kinda in the same boat I wannt tubro a 455. but have no real CLUE as to WHERE TO START.. However I love the video clip of Ol' George. Thats hilarious, I have it on my sig in another site....

 

[malibuSSwagon]

Well all good points, thanks. I think the first thing to do is get the engine and trans in the car and hooked up and running smooth before we do anything else. I dont care if the engine blows up, I was gonna toss it cuz nobody was even remotely interested in buying it, but I'm sure she would be unhappy if it died. haha. Should run ok with a decent set of rear gears and a tuned up 2brl or a small 4 brl.

 

[eocoolj]

i have thought about turbocharging my 267 V-8 but everyone, everywhere says the same thing: its significantly cheaper and easier to build a 350 than it is to turbo anything else, and you will end up with the same horsepower.

as others have pointed out there is alot that goes into turbocharging a car and to make it work well i think you need a fair amount of knowledge and money.

 

[malibuSSwagon]

So I realized that due to the 229's semi-odd fire design that I couldn't slap a 4.3 TBI setup on it, and blowthrough carbs are $$$. Might scrap this idea due to lack of cheap engine management.

Going to look at the car tomorrow and see if its worth fixing. Her sister got the car for free years ago, took it apart and her uncle disassembled the engine and then didn't do anything with the car, its been sitting in her dads garage for 8 yrs and the garage is falling down. But her sister claims to love the car and wants to fix it even tho she hasn't touched it in years.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Different firing order I take it? Doesn't the distributor send the signal to the computer and fires the injectors? I used a CCC Olds distributor with all the stock sbc stuff and my Olds 350 TBI runs great. Only an extra ground on the small cap 8 pin module compared to the large cap 7 pin, otherwise indentical. I get the occasional code but this is on a 300,000 km truck and using an Olds EGR valve.

 

[malibuSSwagon]

So got a look at the car today. Car is super solid! Trunk drip rails, t-top rails, 1/4 panels, doors all that solid. new floor pans were welded in. Its a real Z28, got the full gauge package and the steering wheel, etc. Stupid thing is that the running 350 was disassembled years ago and the 010 block was left sitting outside! the interior is in pieces, there seems to be 2 sets of seats, all not ripped. It suddenly seems lame to put a base V6 in a Z28, but its what we got to work with.

 

[Jg85350Regal]

That would be a sweet ride. For the money and effort it would cost to build the turbo 3.8 id find a cheap 350 and slap it back together, deals are out there. Im all for working with what you have but sometimes its just not worth it in the long run. I replaced the motor in my jeep with another really low mile inline 6 because it was cheap and bolted in... 3 years later and its everything Ive ever wanted in a jeep minus a v8. i shoulda just bit the bullet then and dropped a v8 in, probably wouldn't of costed much more at the time either.

 

[malibuSSwagon]

We'll see what happens, if shes got the cash after painting the car (it needs a paint job bad!) we'll pickup a cheap Vortec 350 and drop it in stock, maybe a cam change. Otherwise rebuilt junkyard turbo Volvos have decent sized T3 and To4's, and Volvo and saab front mount intercoolers are everywhere. Some custom piping and ebay silicone couplers and BOV and we boosted! 3.8 has low compression stock, just hit it with 4-5 psi and it should be fine.