Is there a donor vehicle out there (any brand) with a single turbo that could be adapted to my early ('71) 302 (in my F-100 with C4)?

I'm looking for a bit of boost in the lower/midrange rpm's without too much lag, and I understand that proper size selection of a turbo can acheive this. I can fabricate tubing and such, but would prefer as many parts that will fit already as I can get.

I understand that some of the later T-birds ran turbos. What would be involved in such a swap? Thanks.

 

Don't use a turbo. Use a supercharger. Turbo's are best for diesel engines. Sueprchargers are best for gas engines. I would suggest you get a kenne bell Supercharger. They are one of teh best ones on the market and, they increase power 50%!!! Hope this helps.

 

The turbo T-Birds were 4-bangers, so the turbo would probably be too small for a single one to work on a V8. Some of the Buick Grand Nationals had some good-size V6's with oversize turbo's - one of those might be made to work ok. If you have to run a turbo maybe you can sneak into one of the Buick GN forums and find a sympathetic ear for tips...

LOTS of things would have to be considered for a swap. I helped a friend look into putting a turbo on a V8 one time; working out the fuel system alone is mind boggling. We never did get much past the design stages - we knew when we were whipped. Plan on huges amounts of cash to make it work.

I have to agree with Bronco351 about the superchargers... although I'd go a different direction than he suggests if I had the money to do it... Paxton and Vortec make some nice centrifical (spelling?) toys that are easy to adapt to just about any motor. They'll pump out about 7 or 8 pounds of boost (plenty for street fun! ) and won't totally kill the wallet trying to get them to work. If you are lucky enough to have fuel injection setting one up would be a breeze... They don't quite have the macho appeal of a roots blower sticking out of the hood, but they have the grunt of a supercharger. You can allways put in a gear drive cam setup to get the whine...

 

OK, I admit it, I'm old and naive... I just played around checking prices; Vortech got more expensive, and Kenne Bell wasn't as high as I thought they were... it's been a while since I priced toys like that. I may just have to come around to Bronco351's way of thinking...!

 

Turbos are for diesels? A Ford man that's never heard of an SVO? Or Porsches and Buick Grand Nationals for that matter.
Lots of folks are happily installing a turbo (or turbos) on 302's and 351W's in Mustangs and other cars. No reason why you can't do it to a truck too. A 302 doesn't know what kind of vehicle it's in. And there's a heck of a lot more room under the hood of an F-Series than a Mustang!
Be aware that fooling around with turbos gets pretty involved and is a LOT of work.
Look at what these guys have done http://www.toohighpsi.com/
and there's lots of good advice to be found here http://www.turbomustangs.com/forums/index.php?
It may be more than you want to get into, but fun to check out.

 

I never said I didn't hear of people putting a turbo in Ford or any other gas engine. I said that turbos's work best in diesel engines. That is because diesel' put out WAY more exhaust flow than a gasser ever could. As we all know exhaust flow is what turns a turbo. Also, the exhaust air is very hot. When you put hot air in a gasoline engine that will cuase many problems. Including detonation and power loss, possibly even engine failure if not tuned right.

A supecharger, puts cool air into an engine, which decreses heat , eliminates detonation, and makes a crap load of power. If you ask any experienced mechanic he will tell you exactly what I just did!!

Turbo=Diesel
Supercharger= GASSER

Have a nice day.

 

Superchargers heat up the air too.
To cool it down requires an intercooler on superchargers and turbos.

Gas engines produce more than enough exhaust to run a turbo producing more boost than any street engine could possibly use.

The advantage of a supercharger is in ease of installation.

 

Wrong, the good superchargers (kenne bell) only heat the air to 80*!! Turbos heat it to 190* and more.

 

A lot of the heat depends on how much boost you want to make... more boost=more heat; both are technically superchargers so the same rules apply...

The ability to run an intercooler is one of the advantages of the centrifugal type superchargers, but from what I've read anything below 8 pounds of boost isn't worth it - you loose more by having all the extra plumbing than you gain by the cooler charge. A turbo running 15 pounds or so is a different story...

Really it's a trade off either way - with turbo's you have to deal with lag and complexity, but they are way more efficient, and also more expensive. superchargers are heavier and not as efficient, but they are cheaper and the power is instantanious, plus they are easier to install. Pick your poison; either one draws a crowd with the hood up

Either way I can see why nitrous is getting more popular!

 

BTW... technically the exhaust flow itself doesn't spin a turbo; it's the heat differential between the hot exhaust gases and the turbine vanes...

I'm not sure that diesel exhaust is all that much hotter than gas, I think the popularity of turbos on diesels is more due to the simplicity of the fuel metering, but I wouldn't swear to that.

 

As to popularity, superchargers require more fuel to create the same net results. Greater fuel economy == greater incentive for the manufacturer to make a working system.

Diesels have been using forced induction longer than gasoline engines, and diesel trucks do not traditionally have cramped engine bays. They also tend to have more low end torque than gasoline engines. This helps to negate the effects of 'turbo-lag'.

The aftermarket performance industry, and it's customers, are not looking for fuel economy as much as net results.

On the price front, the simplicity of SC makes it cheaper to initially manufacture. So the new ones are cheaper than turbos.

But if your willing and able to fabricate your own plumbing, there are a lot more turbos in junkyards than superchargers.

 

I couldn't pass this one up.
Both superchargers and turbos can and will work on both applications. Which one is better can be debated forever. It's true that turbos heat the air mixture, but that is why you must use an intercooler with a turbo. Almost all superchargers also heat the air and should use an intercooler for best results, but most installations don't.
If your looking for an easy install...then a supercharger will probably get you the most HP for your money. If however you don't mind getting dirty and can do your own fabrication...you can build a killer turbo system for fairly cheap.

That's only my opinion.......and it's worth everything you paid for it!