I have a few questions about putting a turbo on my 300 6. First, would the turbo off of a ford 4 cylinder(thunderbird turbocoupe) do much? Second, if it will work, would I have to make any changes/modifications to the heads, carb, or the like for it to work? Lastly, if it would not work, what turbo(preferably used for cost reasons) would work with the least modifications to the engine?

 

This subject is taboo on this board, but I will answer some of your questions.
The T-bird turbo would probably be to small. Look at it this way, you have a 4.9 liter which turns around 3500 RPM's, the T-bird turbo is for a 2.3 liter turning around 5000 RPM's, the T-bird turbo wont be able to supply the 4.9 liter enough air over 3000 RPM's.
I used a turbo out of a 300 ZX Nissan, I cant remember the AR rating, but it is larger than the T-birds was, and I am starting to starve for air around 3500 RPM's. Which is plenty for what I use it for, but you may want more.
I port matched the heads, just for better flow, but this is not necessary. Everything fuel related will need to be modified, a turbo under boost requires to run rich, to prevent detonation. Also, the timing requires to be retarded under boost for the same reason.
There are pics of my setup in my profile(I think they are still there).

 

So, basically, to put a turbo on the truck, all I would need to do is 1)Put turbo on exhaust pipe 2)Run air duct to intercooler & carb 3)run all other small lines to turbo and 4) richen the fuel mixture.

I think I know of a place to get an old diesel turbo. Would this work, or am I going to want to find something else, and if so, what would you suggest?

 

it all probably depends on size but i would thing that a turbo off a standard diesel motor (not one of those sled pullin smokers that probably crank more revs than a motorcycle) in the same size range as the 300 would work better than one off of a gasoline motor around the same size.
A diesel makes its power down low, just like a 300, and most of there governors are set at under 2400rpm so the boost needsd to be kicking in earlier, probably around 1200 ??, than on a gas that doesnt start making boost till probably around 3500.
If i were to turbo my 300, which i would love to do but being 17 and in school kind of limits the funds, i would want it to start making boost as low as possible maybe 1300 and probably only 6 to 8lb but an adjustable dump gate would be nice to crank it up to around 15 to smoke tose big 8 liter Chevys

 

Diesel turbos can only be used in a blow thru setup, which from your description, I assume you want to do. I did a draw thru setup, which has worked well, but from what I've been told, is harder to tune correctly.
If you get to big a turbo, then it will take for ever to spool up, and create any boost for your engine. That is why I chose a smaller turbo, so I would have less turbo lag, and more low end torque. I wasn't disappointed.
You need to hook up some type of retard for your ignition, I used a MSD6 BTM, and it works well. If you do a blow thru setup, you need to box in the carb, because you would be pressurising the carb, and have alot of fuel blowing all over your engine compartment.
The hardest part of turboing any engine is tuning, just simply bolting on a turbo will not work correctly. You really need to do your research, and find the correct AR turbo to use, and the best way to route everything.

 

E, I know you felt chastised but, the truth is, the subject has been discussed at great length. I believe Vampiro said "beaten to death".

However, Turbocharging a 300 is a DIY project, and since you've done it & got many miles out of it, I think you should feel free to speak, especially here - this is a "sticky" that will stay put and answer those FAQ's that some folks get annoyed with. Hopefully this sticky will answer a lot of those Q's.

I can't think of many better persons to step up than THOSE WHO HAVE ACTUALLY TURBO'D A 300, LIKE YOU!

Broncr

 

I didn't really feel chastised, I just understand what he meant, this subject has been beaten to death, and alot of varying information.
I look at this board everyday, so if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. I'm no expert by any means, but I did turbo my 300, and it has approx. 20,000 hard miles on it.
I can tell you, with the rebuild of the 300, and all the components I needed to do a reliable turbo upgrade, I have about $2500 into it. And that is just a mild runner, with about 5psi of boost.

 

My apologies, chastised was too strong of a word but that's what came out. I'm glad you are still willing to speak about your turbo'd 300, because there are very few who have done it and so many who would like to, myself included.

AS I said above, this "sticky" is intended to stay put (at the top of the forum) and answer frequently asked questions on the subject. Would you mind going into a fair bit of detail on how you accomplished turbo-ing your 300 ? Perhaps some insight into the commom problems and misconceptions that anyone might encounter when contemplating a turbo setup.

As you can see from some of the above posts, there will always be differences of opinion on what will and won't work, and how much it will cost. That's where the experience of someone like you, who has actually done it, is most helpful to someone like me, who would like to...

Broncr

 

No apology necessary.

First things I wanted with this setup, was dependability and I didn't want to spend a fortune.
I wanted to use the stock, exhaust manifold, and intake manifold, so I did.
Exhaust manifold:
I ended up making a flange which bolted to the stock exhaust manifold, and welded 3" weld-el fittings to this, and ran it up to the turbos exhaust intake, which was a t3 flange. I had to run the exhaust up above the intake manifold, because of the limited space in the vans engine compartment. The stock Nissan exit manifold was still on the turbo, so I just had to run 3" exhaust pipe from it.
Intake Manifold:
I did a draw thru setup, just because I didn't like the idea of pressurising the carb. So I had to make my own intake manifold, in which the carb bolted to. I just used a carb adapter and bolted the Quadrajet to it, and welded up the manifold with 1/8" steel. I later found with a draw thru setup, that iceing is a big problem, and living here in Michigan, I initially had major iceing problems. I was able to solve this, by drilling a 1/2" hole thru the carb adapters base, and running the turbos cooling lines thru. This heats the base up enough to eliminate the iceing. I then just ran a 2" diameter steel tubeing, from the turbo to the stock intake manifold. I knew this may be restrictive, so I "hogged" out as much as I could, and port matched all the ports on the head.
I chose a stock turbo out of a Nissan 300 ZX, because I figured it was large enough to feed the 300, but not to large to cause turbo lag. I start starving for air around 3500 rpm's, and I think this is do to the way I had to mount everything, with the limited space in the vans engine compartment. I bought a turbo out of a 85 Nissan, which come to find out, after mounting it, it didn't have a "positive displacement" seal in it, which is a requirement with a draw thru setup, otherwise you ingest the oil, into the engine(Took about 200 miles). So I just had to get the seal from Turbo city, and it solved the problem. I was told all turbos after 86, have the correct seal, unless it is out of a diesel.
The oil line to the turbo, I just ran from the sending unit port, to the turbo with steel line. The drain I just welded a 1" tube to the side of the oil pan, and ran the turbo drain to it.
I chose a Quadrajet carb, because it is an on demand type secondary, which is never needed. So I am going to replace it with a 2 bbl Holley. You need to route the vacuum signal, from the needle valves, down line from the turbo. I had just epoxied a 1/8" tube to the valves vacuum port, and ran a vacuum line from this.
I also use a MSD6 BTM ignition system. This has the vacuum port, and adjustable retard, for boost.
This is all I can think of right now. I'm sure I missed alot. Please excuse my grammar.

 

With a turbo you don't lose the low end performance by going to huge ports and big valves. 300HP @ 3500-4000 is a whole lot easier and gives a very practical engine. To get there all you'd need is a minor head rework. This whole discussion has been about the lack of reality involved in building a 5-600 HP 300

 

Those two concepts are pretty much mutually exclusive, but I guess a huge compromise could be made.

First of all upgrade all the fasteners. An improved headgasket would be great, but I don't know if anyone makes one. Carefully prep the stock crank and rods. The rods should be magnufluxed, polished, resized, shotpeened and balanced. The polishing is mainly to prevent oil from clinging to the rods, but will be slightly beneficial to durability of the long haul. Have both the crank and rods stress relieved in some manner. Cryogenic treating is the most cost effective way to do this. It wouldn't hurt to do all the hard parts. There are several books out there about how to prep an engine for performance. One of the most comprehensive is Engine Blueprinting by Rick Voegelin, published by Cartech Books/SA Designs. It won't make you an expert, but it will show you the basics you need for a project like this. Well worth the $20.

When you pick your pistons and valvetrain you really have to decide what you want out of the engine. If you're primary concern is power output you will want to drop the compression, run a forged piston, and more boost. You will also want to select a cam that works best under boost. If you are more concerned with daily driveability you will want to run more compression with a hypereutectic piston (or low expansion custom forging, but that's probably overkill), less boost, and a normal cam like a Comp 260 or 268. Usually on an engine like this I would say run a custom forged piston, but only because there aren't suitable off the shelf pistons for the application. 9:1 compression should be fine for the daily driver engine, and an off the shelf piston will get you there.

Get the head ported and have stainless steel valves installed. The valvejob should provide a fairly wide seat due the heat generated by the turbo.

 

When you hook up the turbo, it pressurizes the manifold right? So were would I relocate all my vaccum lines too?

 

With EFI you need a vacuum canister. Carbureted engines with a draw thru turbo can draw vacuum from beneath the carb, blow thrus cannot. If you have an automatic tranny which is operated off vacuum signals, you're not going to have an easy time of putting a turbo on it.

 

So, either a manual valve body or some sort of computerized mechanical actuator?

 

Has anybody thought about cooling this thing? Holding the throttle down for 12-15 seconds might not be a whole lot of trouble, however in a towing application, I doubt this little thing could tolerate much more than 5-7 lbs of boost without overheating even with a big radiator. I wonder whether the block and head would be able to dissipate the heat fast enough. Just a thought, don't hurt me.