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Turbo Guys..Need Advice on my 300whp Goal - Please Chime In


slownrusty

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Guys,

I need some help….my 1983 L28ET has 147,500miles on it. It run beautifully and NEVER misses a beat, I am VERY VERY anal with maintenance, absolutely no leaks, oil change every 1000miles blah blah….

 

Right now…I am running in the low 200hp range, the specs are:

• Stock T3 running 10psi (TurboXS MBC)

• 60mm KA24 TB

• Stock electronics and EFI (JSK fuel rail though and Aeromotive FPR)

• Isuzu NPR with 2.25†IC piping + HKS SSQ BOV

• Walbro 255lph fuel pump

• 3†turbo back exhaust

• Twin 10†Flex-A-Lite electric fans

• Lightened stock flywheel with CF Dual Friction clutch

• Emissions removed and AC

 

Existing engine has good even and strong compression – basically very healthy bottom end.

 

Car runs incredible but I am very used to the power and it feels a little boring to be honest right now….So I bit the bullet and decided to go with, I am buying used but excellent condition so therefore trying to do this on a bit of a shoe string budget

 

• TS04 Turbo w ext. HKS Wastegate

• 550cc RC Injectors

• Haltech engine management w MSD

• Fully Ported and Polished P90 head - $$

• Modified stock intake and exhaust manifolds (ported and opened up)

• ARP Head Stud conversion (buying new)

 

My eventual goal is 16-18psi on the street on pump gas which should take me to my 300whp goal with proper tuning….

 

My hair pulling questions to you all:

1) Should I stay with the stock turbo cam, if not any good turbo cam recommendations??? (increased lift for valves to stay open longer but no crazy duration to blow the boost through the exhaust)

 

2) What clutch should I get as my CF DF will no longer be up to the task…any recommendations based on my 300whp goal?

 

3) Am I stupid to get this far into the engine and not pull the block tear into it and rebuild it? I am having trouble with this one, as the cost of 6 new forged pistons scares me, keeping in mind that I am doing this on a budget!

 

I am very excited about this project and looking forward to getting into it and posting pics (as I normally do) as I make progress.

 

All feedback is appreciated!! Many thanks in advance.

Regards - Yasin

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Ah what the hell, I'll chime in since I'm a little familiar with this setup :-)

 

Don't rebuild the block if you're on a budget. If the compression is fine, why mess with it? Spend that (rebuild) money on taking the motor straight to the dyno. Trying to tune it yourself (without a wb 02 or experience) is what will end the life of the block. 300whp is easy with what you got. And the stock turbo cam will be just fine to 400hp from what I've researched on this site (I never had any stock stuff).

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Guest ON3GO

well at 7psi i put down 229rwhp and 289lbs or 291lbs not sure.

thats on stock turbo and MSnS, and pretty much the same mods you have.

only thing i see different is i have 440cc injectors, milled/ported/polish (mild) P90 head, GReddy Profec B, and really thats it.

im running 16psi right now and im sure im at 300+rwhp, car just rockets foward for a stock turbo car.

 

i say do the turbo upgrade with external wastegate, bigger injectors, some type of Standalone ecu, and put studs in it.

dont spend the money on the head if thats ur goal in power, a cam would be nice but its not needed for those HP goals.

 

have fun

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I made 274hp and 326 ft lbs and went 12.5-12.7@111 on your exact setup plus 370cc injectors on 15psi boost. that little bit of extra fuel up top on stock efi really helped! If you need more than that, i wouldnt worry about a cam, I'm still running a completely stock head/cam. Just get a turbo.

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being up here at altitude will hurt ya .. like me .. LoL..

 

but 300hp can be obtained with 440cc's and 16psi (ish) with proper tuning.

 

 

Slownrusty .. when you begin the project.. I'll help ya build it up.. im swappn in my new motor and finally a Holset next week.. and give ya an idea maybe i'll hit 300rwhp.. but I need tuning.. guess thats why I have the wideband huh?

 

 

Oh yeh.. you DONT need ARP studs, you DONT need an external wastegate, you DONT need a port and polish and you DONT need an aftermarket cam!!

 

Look at Thumper or 240hoke.. no head work.. stock cam.. 11 sec cars (well Hoke's if he had drag radials) and they are estimating 320rwhp + !!

 

all you need it boost and fuel

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Upgrade your turbo, injectors, and add aftermarket engine management with direct fire ignition. That's it. You shoulkd be able to achieve 300WHP easily. I tuned a similar setup and we got 326WHP at 13psi with a T04E/T3 with a stage 3 turbine.

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Upgrade your turbo, injectors, and add aftermarket engine management with direct fire ignition. That's it.

...and tune, tune, tune, tune, practice, practice, practice, practice. Many "350hp" cars out there that cannot hold a candle to well-tuned 275hp cars with a good driver behind the wheel. IMO, you do not need that much injector but OTOH, soon 300hp will become boring and......

 

I had no problem with a CFDF behind a 300whp L28et but I am probably the minority (hehe) here.

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Awesome guys! Thanks very much that is exactly the responses I need.

 

PrOxLaMuS - I will PM you soon, the project will begin in a few weeks. Thanks very much for the offer as well...good to have some local camraderie.

 

No one answered my clutch question though...any recommendations?

 

Yasin

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Yes, a fair amount of tuning. I'd say it took a total of 5 hours on the dyno to get to 326HP. Some of that time was tuning for drivability also. We used a Dynapack, which really speeds things up. The dyno will hold the engine at a give load or RPM point. Its just a matter of tuning each map point until you get the correct AFR. Then do a few dyno "pulls", to get max HP and identify any flat spots.

 

Hear are the results:

 

index.php?act=module&module=gallery&cmd=viewimage&img=236044

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Guest ON3GO

clucths gonna have to be your choice.

 

ppl have bad things to say about one and then ppl have great things to say about the same one.

 

mike

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i as well need advice on a turbo setup. i'm also doing this on a budget, being 17 really slows things down. i want to build a setup from the beginning to where if i wanted more power in later stages i could just upgrade the turbo, so my question is how much did you guess with port/polished heads pay? (please specify how much work was done) thank you

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Guest ON3GO

on a budget dont worry about doing work on the head.. guys have ran mid 11's on bone stock head.

start with a stock exhaust manifold.. port it out.

stock good turbo if need be.

intake manifold thats ported by yourself and do a 60mm t-body.

get a nice used if ya can electronic boost controller, make your own 3in exhaust and get or build yaself a downpipe. A good intercooler.

do some type of standalone like MSnS or SDS, Microtech, Haltech.. etc.

you will have a 300whp car for cheap.

and reliable.

 

mike

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Don't even bother trying to tune on a dyno that doesn't have load holding capabilities. ie: say no to Dynojet. Find a Dyno Dynamics, Dynapak, etc. shop to do it. You'll spend less in the end and have a better product. (these machines making tuning very quick)

 

Biggest bang for the buck on 98% of the cars I get in my shop is tuning. I see guys spending $2000 on their honda for 12whp, convince them there is more power available, have them consider it a waste of money, eventually convince them it's worthwhile and then for $225 we get them another 40whp through tuning.

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on a budget dont worry about doing work on the head.. guys have ran mid 11's on bone stock head.

start with a stock exhaust manifold.. port it out.

stock good turbo if need be.

intake manifold thats ported by yourself and do a 60mm t-body.

get a nice used if ya can electronic boost controller' date=' make your own 3in exhaust and get or build yaself a downpipe. A good intercooler.

do some type of standalone like MSnS or SDS, Microtech, Haltech.. etc.

you will have a 300whp car for cheap.

and reliable.

 

mike[/quote']

 

i had plans for MSnS. when i say on a budget i ment i'm doing things right the first time but over a long period of time. so ported head is something i can worry about down the road, but a stock turbo wasn't going to do it for me, i was thinking something like a t3/t04E. while i finish building the car itself and putting the stock L24 in i'll be building the L28, my car is far from even running i just put in the last subframe connector so i've got time.

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but nobody answered my first question, just out of curiousity how much does a fairly aggressive port and polish job usually run people with p-90's? the local auto machine shop told me he would call me back after he pulled the records from previous p-90 jobs but he never got back to me....thanks

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  • 3 weeks later...

Clutch Master makes a good racing clutch/pressure plate set up. I think I have their Stage 4 and it has a srung hub and 6 bronze pucks. It should hold plenty of power. Visit their website for details. I've had quotes on heads be around $800-$1000 for port work, seats, valves, and assembly. Call Robello racing and they can quote you over the phone.

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