Inliners International Forums General Discussion Blown and Injected Exhaust manifold options for turbo 292.

Looking at moving up to turbo on my toy truck, 82 C10 long box low rider. Currently 292 with clifford intake with Carter 625, 272 cam and shorty headers and single 3 inch exhaust. This is backed by New Process OD trans and 3.73 gear set and 265 70 15 tire. Lots of fun but looking for more. Any suggestion on exhaust manifolds and turbo sizing?

Well, if you got a little time and imagination on hand--The small block Chevy V8 exhaust port spacing is just identical to those of our 194/292 exhaust ports--just too many of them (thats what saws are for) oh yeah--the bolts holes aint quite right either (thats what "adapter" plates and/or welding rods are for) mount them with the exhaust pipe facing the sky, or facing the ground, just saw off the extra "horn" and weld a cap over it, and those "Ram's Horn" types aint a bad exhaust manifold (need two though) and pretty cheap compared to them SPAs. Its all in what you want to spend on it, money or brains. I'm gonna make a pair of exhaust manifolds outta some pipe ells and plate flanges because of the intake manifold I want to run with my pair of turbos. Sure wanted to use those Ram's Horns, but I could not get them to work out right--the turbine outlet (turbo mount) is 4-1/2 inches away from the compressor outlet (intake manifold carb inlet) and dont want to use too many ells on the intake side with my home-made progressive 2-GCs, so I chose the exhaust side to get the fabrication efforts, and let the intake be a reasonably modified stock intake with two "carb mounts" or a unmolested Offy two-one bbl. intake.
I mess with a spare head and the turbos when the weather makes me stay in the garage, and mess with building the cee-cab and frame outside when the weather is nicer. Little of this and a little of that, sooner or later it will roll, then run, I hope. Just want to drive it before the social security runs dry!

Is the stock manifold just way too restictive to adapt? What about Mexican or Brazilian products? There is a 56 Chev in the current Street Rodder, but there is very little info offered up, other than ProCharger intake tract. How about turbo sizing?

Is the stock manifold just way too restictive to adapt? What about Mexican or Brazilian products? There is a 56 Chev in the current Street Rodder, but there is very little info offered up, other than ProCharger intake tract. How about turbo sizing?

Keep it simple, cast iron does not weld easy, not for a shade tree mechanic.
If you have $$$, & you want the simplest turbo install, then get the SPA exhaust manifold.
If you do not, just use a 292 2.5" 3 bolt exhaust manifold.

Examples:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPA-Turbo-T3-T4-...778afa9&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-GMC-23...b8ae76d&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-CHEVY-292-EX...=item4ac9553452

MBHD

Cast iron exhaust manifolds weld fine, anybody who can arc weld can do it, they're Malleable iron, engine blocks and intakes are gray iron and are a problem to weld, preheat, short welds, peening 'til cool, etc.. I've even seen exhaust manifolds welded with regular steel rods and worked fine- the recommended rod for malleable iron stuff is a nickle rod--some people dont appreciate cheap--how do you make a "split manifold" with out welding?

heck I have welded cast iron exhaust manifolds with a MIG welder and CO2 shield gas Preheating was simple, leave the engine running after a drive, weld cracks up and let the engine run for another 15 minutes before turning it off Worked great and lasted for a long time before I sold the car, still zero leaks..... granted, I had a 360V 400A mig.... but still

70Nova,
you got it, you cant just weld cast iron with no prep work. You need to know what you are doing. But then again anyone can get lucky & just stick weld them & last a long time.

If it was so easy to weld then any mechanic shop w/a welder would be fixing/welding hairline cracks in customer exhaust manifolds while on there cars.

Reason they don't is because they will not warranty there work. They would rather sell you a new or used manifold & then you will get a warranty. Two cents

MBHD

Never saw anyone preheat an exhaust manifold when they made them into split manifolds in Texas--I guess its a lot hotter here.
Wonder if them "shop mechanics w/a welder" ever put new exhaust manifolds on their personal cars? The only prep work is plugging in the welder! I've been lucky at least four times myself, two were welded by a certified welder with a stick welder, and two were welded by a carpenter with a stick welder, both used nickle rods and plain old Lincoln "cracker boxes".

This aint rocket science. Aint we here to help folks out and show them how to save money, or, are we like all the magazines out there that can only prove the worth of their modifications by the ridiculous amounts of money they spend on them?

Never saw anyone preheat an exhaust manifold.
You never ran a turbo to see what happens to the manifold either on your super welded split manifolds.

Why use any special nickle rod since any dumb a$$ can weld cast iron.
That is part of your prep work, getting the correct rod( need to do the research) for the job at hand.

No reason to reinvent the wheel, if there is a turbo exhaust manifold available that is made for a turbo & will give you a much easier time to install a turbo y not buy it & you can keep your chopped up manifolds for your N/A engines.
No need to risk some weld slag,/debris to loosen up inside the manifold & take out your turbos turbine wheel, right?

You get what you pay for when it comes to a turbo manifold, looks, long lasting, & better performance, ease of installation, etc, etc, etc...

There are cheaper alternatives, but I have learned a long time ago, if there is a great product out there & I could not afford it, I would just save my $$$ until I could buy it, some things you can skimp on, but some areas you should not skimp on when it come to a turbocharged engine build IMO.

All you need is a 292 2.5" exhaust manifold for $60 or pay someone to cut up some manifolds, pay someone to weld it, think that will cost more than $60 , where is the savings?

Or you could buy a welder, buy some manifolds,, hack saw, sawzall, band saw, chop saw, it is all going to cost you in the end, & in the end, it will most likely look like a hack job, if you have no experience, it aint rocket science, ha! for some people, turning a screwdriver is rocket science.

It's just like telling someone to use there common sense, ha, some people just do not have a clue & have no common sense.

I paid $120 for my SPA manifold, because I know someone that lives in Brazil.

Backyard turbo builds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCSQr3eRQcA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFajr4QgARk

Clean install here w/a SPA manifold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTS0smggZnE

Take your pick.

Pretty basic turbo ,low dollar build, use a 292 exhaust manifold, make a "J" up pipe to the turbo., the rest is up to you, blow through, draw through, not sure which way you want to go.

Simple draw through.
Beater has pics of this type on his 292, Beater?

SPA manifold ready for a turbo, & also ready to bolt on a wastegate.



MBHD

do you feel better now?

I wonder how he got that 1b carb sealed up & the needle and seat to handle the turbo. And it makes one wonder how long that flex
pipe will live lol .

Most likely it leaked like crazy & probably only saw a couple lbs of boost. Then it leaned out. If it had a brass float & boosted higher, probably collapsed the float.

On the 4bbl draw through, carb was icing up.

Those vids look somewhat cool, but if they actually drove those vehicles on the road, they probably were horrific

Not referring to Tlowes vid.

MBHD

Any updates?

MBHD

MBHD, on a side note, what type of power steering pump bracket is shown with the serpentine belt and where available?

Manitoban,

I made the brackets.









MBHD

MBDD, are you taking orders for your sweet set up? Otherwise , where can the pulley,etc be sourced? My factory mount is tweaked and keeps throwing ps belt. Regarding turbos, should I be looking for TO3 or 4s and what ratio? Probably looking at a blow thru set up.

WOW!!!!!

Thanks,
it took me some time to make this set-up.
Sorry, not taking orders.

The pulley for the crank is a SBC. I made the water pump pulley.

Depending on your HP goals. A T3 turbo is OK to use. Seems to have less selection on A/R's for the turbine housings.

T3/T4 hybrid turbos are still compact so it will be easier to fit in tight eng compartments.
A T4 turbo are not too big to fit.

Tell us your size engine & your HP goals.
Is this for a truck, cas or?

Do you want the boost to come in @ 2000 RPM, 2500, 3000 etc?

Street use only, street/strip, or race/track only?

How much are you willing to spend on a turbo combo?

Cheap new, china turbo,cheap wastegate, plumbing, intercooler, intercooler piping, exhaust downpipe, will be roughly $1000-$1500

Cheap as possible yet not break down because of cheap parts used?
EFI?
Carb blow through set-up?
Intercooled?
Best of the best?
Medium range, descent parts, might be used parts, not new.?

A turbo set-up is really one of the best ways to go fast, put the smack down on some V-8's & have a lot of fun just driving a turbo car is one of the best driving experience you can have.

I would never go back to a N/A engine after seeing & driving turbocharged cars. Unless we could build a 600 CI inline 6.

Just a few Q's you could answer to let us know what you are thinking about.

MBHD

Street mostly, some strip, mostly 1/8 mile. 292 in 1982 C10, w/4 speed and 3.73 rear. Looking for power to start building under 3000. Carbed blow thru at this point. Moderate budget, mid range components. Is intercooled necessary for moderate boost? MSD boost retard advisable?

I would use an intercooler, even if you are only boosting 6 psi.
Any time you can reduce the intake air temp (especially compressed air from a turbo, it's hot!) do it!

There is no good reason why anyone would not choose to use a intercooler. IMO.


Do not listen to most turbocharger books stating is you are only running 6-8 psi of boost pressure, you do not need a intercooler.

What if you are running 10:1 compression ratio & only want to run 6 psi of boost pressure,,, do you think there would be more of a tendency for detonation? Intercooler, = less chance & simply makes a good reason to add a intercooler.

They are affordable, easy to install.

MBHD