Turbo Chevy II Project - 01/02/09 09:25 PM
First, an introduction:
Some of you out there might actually know me. I've been involved in land speed racing all my life. I've been running vintage four banger Ford stuff out at the lakes for the past 10 years with my dad and brother. We hold a bunch of V4 and V4F records that were set in either our '28 roadster or Roy Creel's belly tank lakester. I guess you could technically say that we run the world's fastest four cylinder flathead Ford.
Now for some background:
I recently acquired a '29 Tudor Sedan. I'd been wanting a Tudor for a long time and now I finally have one. Was going to run a Hemi but the old man talked me out of it because they're just too damned expensive these days. An SBC is a little too "plane jane" for me so I thought about a banger motor. Unfortunately I've blown up way too many bangers to know that I don't really want one in a street car. So how about a four banger Chevy?
After doing some research I discovered the Chevy II 153 cid motor. After doing some more research I discovered the Mercruiser 3.0L motor which is the 181 cid version of the Chevy II. Oh neat I think, now I've got my banger motor. But this banger has to go and it has to go good. For the past few years I've been playing with watercooled VW's (another inliner if you will) and have actually built a few turbo motors and learned to love the endless fun that is forced induction.
So now I have my plan: a turbo Mercruiser 3.0L for my Tudor Sedan. After months of research and thought and planning this is what I have so far:
-Use stock block and crank
-Run some off the shelf forged SBC pistons
-Run some off the shelf 6" I-beam rods
-Use stock 8 port head with mild porting OR...
-Run Joe Fontana's midget motor head
-Run Megasquirt 2 engine management
-Run distributorless waste spark ignition
All of this will be mated to a Richmond 5 speed and a Ford 8" rear end with a 3.00:1 r&p. I plan on fabbing up my own intake and exhaust manifolds and will build all the other essential stuff as well.
Now my biggest question is which turbo should I use? The Mercruiser is unique in that it's such a big four banger (181 cid). My goal is a conservative 300-350 streetable whp. I want something that will build boost fairly quickly and not just be all top end. I'm building a street car here, not another Bonneville racer.
My research has shown that a T3/T4 hybrid turbo should be a good match for this setup. This should start building boost before 3000 rpm, be at full boost by 4000 rpm, and easily make 300+ hp. Here is the turbo I had in mind: T3/T4
My only concern is that the T3 exhaust turbine is too small for a 181 cid motor. Again, I'm building a street car and I want something that will build boost quickly but I don't want the exhaust side to be overly restrictive.
Obviously the next step up would be a full on T4 but now my concern is that the exhaust housing is too big and won't give me the response I'm looking for. Unfortunately I'm on a very tight budget and I don't have the ability to try multiple turbos. This is going to kind of be a one shot deal for me.
On a side note, I did find a really neat new turbo from Precision. They call it the HP6262S (62mm compressor inducer and 62mm turbine exducer) and it has a v-band inlet and outlet on the turbine (I love v-bands). It's probably a $1200 turbo but it's super nice. The only thing I do not like about Precision is that they will not disclose their compressor maps. Instead they want you to tell their techs what it is you want to do and they pick the turbo for you. I don't know if I like that idea.
Anyways, please share with me some insight on turbo selection. I had thought for a long time the T3/T4 was the way to go. Maybe it is... maybe it isn't. Let me know.
Thanks,
Nathan Stewart
Some of you out there might actually know me. I've been involved in land speed racing all my life. I've been running vintage four banger Ford stuff out at the lakes for the past 10 years with my dad and brother. We hold a bunch of V4 and V4F records that were set in either our '28 roadster or Roy Creel's belly tank lakester. I guess you could technically say that we run the world's fastest four cylinder flathead Ford.
Now for some background:
I recently acquired a '29 Tudor Sedan. I'd been wanting a Tudor for a long time and now I finally have one. Was going to run a Hemi but the old man talked me out of it because they're just too damned expensive these days. An SBC is a little too "plane jane" for me so I thought about a banger motor. Unfortunately I've blown up way too many bangers to know that I don't really want one in a street car. So how about a four banger Chevy?
After doing some research I discovered the Chevy II 153 cid motor. After doing some more research I discovered the Mercruiser 3.0L motor which is the 181 cid version of the Chevy II. Oh neat I think, now I've got my banger motor. But this banger has to go and it has to go good. For the past few years I've been playing with watercooled VW's (another inliner if you will) and have actually built a few turbo motors and learned to love the endless fun that is forced induction.
So now I have my plan: a turbo Mercruiser 3.0L for my Tudor Sedan. After months of research and thought and planning this is what I have so far:
-Use stock block and crank
-Run some off the shelf forged SBC pistons
-Run some off the shelf 6" I-beam rods
-Use stock 8 port head with mild porting OR...
-Run Joe Fontana's midget motor head
-Run Megasquirt 2 engine management
-Run distributorless waste spark ignition
All of this will be mated to a Richmond 5 speed and a Ford 8" rear end with a 3.00:1 r&p. I plan on fabbing up my own intake and exhaust manifolds and will build all the other essential stuff as well.
Now my biggest question is which turbo should I use? The Mercruiser is unique in that it's such a big four banger (181 cid). My goal is a conservative 300-350 streetable whp. I want something that will build boost fairly quickly and not just be all top end. I'm building a street car here, not another Bonneville racer.
My research has shown that a T3/T4 hybrid turbo should be a good match for this setup. This should start building boost before 3000 rpm, be at full boost by 4000 rpm, and easily make 300+ hp. Here is the turbo I had in mind: T3/T4
My only concern is that the T3 exhaust turbine is too small for a 181 cid motor. Again, I'm building a street car and I want something that will build boost quickly but I don't want the exhaust side to be overly restrictive.
Obviously the next step up would be a full on T4 but now my concern is that the exhaust housing is too big and won't give me the response I'm looking for. Unfortunately I'm on a very tight budget and I don't have the ability to try multiple turbos. This is going to kind of be a one shot deal for me.
On a side note, I did find a really neat new turbo from Precision. They call it the HP6262S (62mm compressor inducer and 62mm turbine exducer) and it has a v-band inlet and outlet on the turbine (I love v-bands). It's probably a $1200 turbo but it's super nice. The only thing I do not like about Precision is that they will not disclose their compressor maps. Instead they want you to tell their techs what it is you want to do and they pick the turbo for you. I don't know if I like that idea.
Anyways, please share with me some insight on turbo selection. I had thought for a long time the T3/T4 was the way to go. Maybe it is... maybe it isn't. Let me know.
Thanks,
Nathan Stewart