No its not much time is it. Easier to work with what is there than changing a bunch of stuff. Although it depends on expeirance with what your working with & what you have. But even just putting the T5 in and maybe doing the bottom end of the I6 could be pushing things the way machine shops are about getting your stuff in and out. I hate seeing a good I6 car getting a V8 gouged in to it. I6's are so much cooler & you get a lot of respect from others for a good running I6, not to meantion good durability & econemy. Much easier to work on & the car handles the engine & handles better. I6 blocks are way stronger than a 302 block to boot.
You dont even need a T5 if it has a good 4 speed already. Even if it is a three speed to swap it to a 4 Speed is a peiece of cake and you can pick them up rebuilt Trans even these days (when the money is right). With a turbo being the goal you dont need a low rear gear so the standard 4 speed will give good econemy with something like a 3.23 or 3.55 rear gear. Dont get me wrong I like a good 5 speed . But like you said with Jan 6 as a dead line and only $1200.00 to work with I would put my efforts to making the I6 as sound as I could and do it in a way that takes you closer to your goals. Like I meantioned building a good stout Bottom end with the right pistons and rods so you have it ready for a turbo later & it would give good power & last a lot of years if done this way. It could take the whole $1200.00 to accomplish this by the time you add things like new hoses,belts, battery,radiator and other things needed for a good dependable car. Then with it being a I6 to make the other upgrades later would be very easy. I mean how hard is it to swap a head and cam & valve train on a I6. Could be done one weekend with the right preperations.
I guess gathering more money after you start school will be kinda hard but 3 or 4 hundred dollars a month put back would have you ready for a complete top end in about 4 months. The Aluminum head will be ready for sale by then and you would have a 250 to 300HP I6 at that piont that was all new even before you get to the turbo part. This is going to out perform & out last any stock 302 & with the right turbo at this piont you would have a 500hp I6 that would scream & last. This would give others time to work out some of the woa's of running the turbo on this setup and make your choices very easy (which turbo,how to mount,which carb). Not to meantion the econemy it will give when it reaches this piont. Anything good is worth waiting on. I know your kinda got to go with what Dad thinks is best but taking this in steps like this will pay off in the long run. It may not be as fun at the very first but a good bottom end will give you more power than you think. Its not like it would be a slug. And I must say working on V8 in these cars is no fun.
Fill us in more with what the car really has right now and what shape it is in. Maybe your Dad has a good 302 setup setting there already. This could mean a lot also. Or your engine is in good shape already. Even if its not built it can stand low boost from a turbo if done right.
One of the really hard & time consuming things about installing a turbo is having a good wideband system on the car to know what needs to be done with the fuel & taking the time to tune it threw all the power band & loads. A lot more reseach towards a turbo would pay off bigtime to so you know what your getting in to. Its not like its that hard but not knowing exactly what you will be running into could cause a lot of problems & short cuts to be taken that would be regreted. But here again it depends on the expierance of your Dad and what you have available. Maybe you have a friend with a dyno, this would make getting it tuned easier. Most people that do a setup like this take a few months getting tuned if they dont have a dyno to do it on. Yes they still drive it in this time but with caustion and restraint. Like I said before. Tuned right it will last just as good & be as drivable as any other setup. And can even get better fuel milage. But tuned wrong & driven in the RPM that it is not tuned right will burn it up very quick. With the right effort & equipment it could be tuned in a matter of days. But most people dont have these things right off to accomplish this.
Well my post has gottin very long I will stop it here. Not meaning to sound negative about it but it does pay to aproach soemthing like this with all the info you can and the time to work threw what you run into . One of the guys has a good post about his expeirance with turboing his bronco that will give you a good idea what you could run into. In the end if you go the turbo I6 route you will be very pleased with your car in many ways. And it will demand the respect of any street car you run into. It just takes time & effort & a well thought out plan. Dont let Dad rush you into a little power now when you can have the real deal in the long run.
Jess
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