New to forced induction... Have some questions

[Rockaholic]

Was looking at doing a turbo setup before I started working on the guts of my motor. I have been reading up on a lot of the success on here and was more curious about cost for a set up. I noticed that a lot of you favor the t70 turbo but I was looking for something that spooled up around 2500 and topped at 3500 to 4000. I generally cruise around 2000 doing about 50 and would like that extra pep in my trucks step when I want to get moving or hit the track for the day.

I'm on a low budget but don't mind splurging a bit or taking my time to find fantastic deals.

With all that said I have a 1995 f150 singe cab short bed dual tank with the 300 on an obd1 system. I currently have no modifications on the motor, just a minor sound system upgrade.

With the addition of the turbo I was going to purchase the clifford long tube headers to give it more flow. Was going to do a dual in super 44 with a single out on a 3" pipe.

I was thinking of removing intake box and relocating my windshield wiper fluid/radiator reservoir. For the turbo I was thinking of putting the mounting brackets in that generall area, unless you think it would be to difficult to mount it over on that side of the motor, I could always weld / bolt brackets to my frame and do a rear mount and run the piping up the side for the intake.

Like I said I am totally new to the forced induction so any suggestions would help, maybe a rough cost for an easy simple functioning build. any links to others posts would also help, I do not mind reading some more if I have not already read it.

 

[StrangeRanger]

Long tube headers and a turbo are not a good mix. You want the distance from the exhaust valve to the turbine inlet to be as short as possible. Long distances cause a greater loss of heat and therefore less energy available to spin the turbine. Rear mounted turbos are similarly a bad idea. Have you looked at the heavy-duty exhaust manifold for carbed trucks? They show up on evilBay from time to time. This is not the common one with the 2" outlet, it has a 2-1/2" outlet. That with a simple J-pipe would mount the turbo high and forwards on the RH side of the engine. You could run the compressor discharge line to an intercooler mounted in front of the radiator, out of the LH side of the intercooler and straight to your throttle body.

 

[Rockaholic]

Would the carborated exhaust manifold bolt right on, I am currently fuel injected and not sure how that would work with all the efi equipment on there. Any links to this being done.

When you say "to the right" do you mean as in where the intake is now? Or you mean from the drivers perspective looking out from the vehicle?

 

[StrangeRanger]

I don't think the HD carby manifold would not be a direct bolt-on. I would expect some cutting and fitting to clear the runners from the EFI intake. Absolutely nothing about mounting a turbo on a 4.9 is going to ber a bolt on there are no kits. That's the least of your worries, have you given any thought to your fuel injection system and the processor you're going to use to run it?

Left and right on a vehicle are always given with reference to the vehicle itself, not the observer. The right hand side of the vehicle which is where the exhaust manifold is located and therefore where the turbo would be in an efficient setup. Since the T/B is on the left, it makes sense to route the compressor discharge through the intercooler and directly to the T/B.

 

[Rockaholic]

I read a lot on megasquirt but never got to much into it. There is a company out in California called redline that I have read up on and seen Clifford performance offer. When I was going to do my motor rebuild I was going to use their system. All the tuning can be done from your laptop in the truck

I understand that the turbo by the exhaust manifold would make more sense but wouldn't it be a VERY tight fit? I still have a/c, my alt, etc. on that side of the motor.

I am adding this system to my daily driver. Not looking for race worthy only. Just want that extra hp and tq with the forced induction.

and it would be something different on the road. I have never seen a turbo charged or s/c 4.9 anywhere in my area of Florida. Nor even at the track up in gainsville!

 

[StrangeRanger]

Relocate the battery?

Redline is Weber. Clifford merely imports their stuff. You may want to be careful about dealing with Clifford. It is not the same as it was when Jack was still alive. Their product base has been slashed to a fraction of what they used to offer, all of their technicians from that era are gone and their service often leaves something to be desired.

 

[Rockaholic]

Ok, relocating the battery never crossed my mind, that is def possible than lol.

So is megasquirt the way to go? If I did buy the redline wouldn't it have nothing to do with Clifford since it is imported thn shipped out? It's just a middleman. Only reason I liked their product more is i get a better quality throttle body that is a little larger, new injectors, fuel pump, ecu, etc.

Also with the turbo, If I am correct peak power is between 3300 and 3500, so I am looking for a turbo that will rev up around 2200 rpm and a bit past 3500. Any ideas?

 

[thesameguy]

With the addition of the turbo I was going to purchase the clifford long tube headers to give it more flow. Was going to do a dual in super 44 with a single out on a 3" pipe.

In addition to what StrangerRanger said about the headers, Flowmasters are pretty much the opposite of what you want on a turbocharged engine. If sound is the priority, then by all means proceed, but if you are going for performance then you do not want a chambered muffler. Turbos do a great job of smoothing out exhaust pulses, so the "trick" that a chambered muffler offers is largely already done. With a turbo, you want as close to an unobstructed path as you can get. I'd personally look to Magnaflow or Dynomax - they both have quality lines of non-chambered mufflers.

 

[thesameguy]

Also with the turbo, If I am correct peak power is between 3300 and 3500, so I am looking for a turbo that will rev up around 2200 rpm and a bit past 3500. Any ideas?

A turbo's performance is dictated by a few factors, but your reference will primarily be the compressor map. Since a turbo will completely alter both the peak hp and torque numbers, it will also affect when those peaks are reached. You need to figure out how much power you want to make and at what rpm you want to make it, then choose a turbo that will deliver those stats. There are a few turbo size calculators out there on the internet - I'd do a Google search and then play around for a while. Turbos come in a few major families, with Garretts probably being the most popular in the aftermarket. The family you choose will dictate the exhaust manifold flange you need and the dimensions of intake and exhaust piping.