Well boys, I broke it.

Well after continual flogging I was able to beat the turbo 200 into submission and it will now require some repair or at least a few stitches.

I bought a brand spanking new, 25 year old turbocoupe to use as my daily driver in the spring and have thus only been using the Fairmont for weekend runs to the store and for a quick cruise or whatever. As it is no longer my daily driver, it is easier for things to get overlooked, you guys probably know how that is. Well long story longer, the boost line to my boost controller came loose while I was "gingerly" merging onto the freeway with my foot through the floor and banging gears like I was trying to break something. The car was pulling incredibly hard and when I looked at the boost gauge it was over 20 psi, so I instantly lifted but kept driving and it actually seemed OK. It was not smoking or making any racket, but when I got off the next exit laughing maniacally and wondering what happened with the overboost I was thinking this engine was indestructible and I thought it was awesome. I was wrong.

As it came down to idle speed it had a noticeable miss and when I popped the hood there was a giid amount of blowby smoke emiting from the breather. The wideband was reading abiut 11.5 at idle due to the dead cylinder. Although it idles rough it still runs surprisingly well, but she is a goner. My guess would be detonation damagw due to running the cheapest liquid that resembles gasoline and the over boost problem due to a 50 cent hose clamp not being tight. I am figuring busted rings or pistons or both and with any luck I did not ruin any cylinder walls.

Oh well, I told you guys I would report if and when I broke it so I did. I will update with carnage reports and photos just so anyone interested can know what to expect from 20 psi of manifold pressure and 87 octane gasoline. Hahaha.

Cheers.

At least you were having fun.

HA ha that's great! i mean, not great that you broke it, well, maybe, but its pretty amazing that you pulled 20 psi without shooting a rod through your hood or whatever crazy pessimistic nonsense everyone is always on about.

can't wait to see the carnage! i'm going to get in on the 'pool' saying that its a collapsed top ring land

... likely broken but start simple , maybe it blew the PCV .. 8) , if the 200's Turbo setup / Head survived intact, it's all ready for your next small block six project ...



have fun

The post mortem examination has been conducted and unfortunately it is not a blow pcv hahaha.. Number one is @ 30 psi cranking and the other 5 are still at 150 psi or so. Definately fragged a piston or busted the top ring anyway. It will be a few weeks before I can perform an autopsy but it appears new pistons will be in order at bare minimum and while the head is off I may have to move onto to stage two and modify this head for more carburetors. I am thinking since only number one detonated and burned up it is probably a good time to address the horrible fuel distribution of this central mounted carb. I know that idea will please xctasy.

Anyone done twin carbs or a homemade tripower setup with a turbocharger yet? 8)

sorry to hear that First Fox, I have been following your build and been thinking of doing the same to a 1977 Maverick with a 250 since it already has such low compression to start with.

I appreciate your condolences bubba. I am actually not too sad about it as I learned a lot from this and to be honest she didn't have an easy life and is in a better place now. Hahaha..

I intend to address a couple issues and concerns while I have it torn down and the induction/cylinder head is one of them. I am not kidding one bit about multiple carburetors, as I think it would allow better fuel distribution and more consistent airflow and at the end of the day will allow me to run more boost, more safely.

I am telling you guys once you are in a car pushing that much boost you want to do it again. And again... And again. In the spirit of the six million dollar man: I can rebuild it better than it was before... Better...faster...stronger. (Cue theme music) 8)

First Fox":qk65211f said:

I intend to address a couple issue and concerns while I have it torn down and the induction/cylinder head is one of them. I am not kidding one bit about multiple carburetors as I think it would allow better fuel distribution and more consistent airflow and at the end of the day will allow me to run more boost, more safely.

Click to expand...

Why not EFI?

EFI is hands down is the better way to go, but I have 4 reasons fot not using efi.

1. Cost. I have the carbs and can tripower this thing for the cost of some linkage and bellcranks an fabbing up a new ugly carb hat.

2. The black magic art of a built from scratch efi system is not for me. I am old school and do not get along well with electronics but I will still dabble with simple things. I have seen some guys talking about installing and tuning a MS or QH system and it seems quite complicated and largely dependant on computer and electronic skills, or getting help from someone with those skills and I have neither. Now, with that being said, if there were a bolt on efi system available for a reasonable price that was self learning and required very little interfacing with yours truly, I would seriously consider it. I am considering upgrading the stock ECU in my turbocoupe with a PIMP system for the very reason that it is literally plug and play and works with what is already in place.

3. I don't think anyone has done a turbo tripower yet and the narcissist in me likes the idea of being "that guy". 8)

4. You got a admit it would look totally sweet when the hood is open. All the guys at the car show would think i were cooler than James Dean, and all the ladies would flock to my side and want to take me home. This reason should have actually been number one.

THe carb hat doesn't have to be ugly - just mean looking ...


Having played with Tri-power for awhile, adding Turbo variables to the fun of multi-carb sympatico' is daunting. Sticking with carburetion and Turbo' is question(able) , but like manual tranny's will always have enthusiasts. As widely discussed, a suitable Plenum adapted to the log head is a good basic element to start with for multi-carbs. With Turbo project, I'm working with steel tubing and Alum extrusions and traditional Offy type tri-power log porting.

Slicing off the whole log is effective if you can do the work from there, I'm working idea of detatchable - fastener attached Carb plenum. Cut half'sliced along the log intake runner and flanged to swappable carb/carbs plenum ...

have fun


. . . . . .

First Fox":24m1fqo4 said:

In the spirit of the six million dollar man: I can rebuild it better than it was before... Better...faster...stronger. (Cue theme music) 8)

Click to expand...

:rolflmao: Hahaha yeah I like that, so old Steve Austin will live again to fight another day!

By the way I really like your :idea: of Muti carbs along with the turbo it dose not seem like it would be very hard for you to weld up a custom hat. Or if you wanted to you could also do a sand casting mold and pour some Aluminum for an even better looking unit. Good luck

Edited

Thanks for your support bubba. Multiple carbs and the turbo WILL be done. The question now is will it be two or three. I believe I will start a new post and hope for some input from Dean.

And Rich, I absolutely love your idea of swapable/removable plenums on the stock log. There is no way in the world I would attempt the log milling and intake fabrication on a log head but what youi are proposing seems quite doable for those of us without access to precision milling equipment and could be done by those if us with simpler tools and a lack if machining experience. I bet it would be a wonderful improvent in airflow as well as i believe the tiny bores use in the traditional tripower adapters are too small to flow any real amount of air. I respect your working with what you have and taking the initiative to do what youre doing. It doesnt look easy. The cavernous size of your plenum may hurt low end torque but I am telling you man, I like your idea a lot.

My only concern about pushing boost through a tri-power for these engines is the manifold itself. Or for a better explanation, the method in which the manifold is attached to the head. The way these intakes attach to the head is really unorthodox compared to other engines, and adding boost just really isn't very wise for that reason. I would opt to cut off the log and make a better mouse trap if you are serious about boosting a tri-power. A guy over on Inliners has a boosted tri-power Cheby race car that runs very well with a fabbed sheetmetal intake. So, you might want to explore that avenue as an outlet for this project. I think you will have much better results.

the AK miller method of chopping off the log at the branches, and spigot-mounting 6 motorcycle carbs would be pretty cool

Keihn CVK carbs from late 90's sportbikes are about the right size and they should have a good flange on the inlet side that can get bolted into a big plenum.

the idea of splitting 3 carbs into 6 holes and adding boost just doesn't sit well with me, but if anyone can make it work, i'd like to see you try!

I would look at simply brazing 2 more carb mounts to the log.
One between 1 & 2 intake ports and another between 5 & 6 intake ports

pmuller9":1m69k6bv said:

I would look at simply brazing 2 more carb mounts to the log.
One between 1 & 2 intake ports and another between 5 & 6 intake ports

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I had planned to do which I why I said I could do the swap for the price of linkage. Not that I see a real functional problem with the tripower adapters but because they look like they will add enough height to the carbs that I will have a problem with hood clearance. With the welded carb flanges I can set them all at the current height and allow for the carbs to sit level. Thanks for the input though guys.