Thread: Diesel Turbo + SBC?

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I have the hankerin for boost. Since i've gotten to ride in a turbo lt1 and a supercharged lt1 i just can't get boost off my mind! Here's my question because i don't have a stack of 100 dollar bills:

Can you take a turbo off of a diesel engine (i.e. duramax, cummins, powerstroke) and make it work on a small block chevy? I know there would be some custom fabrication involved for mounting and exhaust ect.

Turbo's are common to find on anything, and only a few company's make them, Garret Air research is the most common. you can probably find turbo exzaust manifolds for a SBC, turbo's were used in some SBC powered boats, I'v seen the manifolds from time to time. Try and find a Air Research T04 B, shouldn't be too hard to find.

There was an article in one of the car magazines a few years ago (I think it was a Mustang magazine) where they did an experiment. They explained how some of the turbo domestic cars were junked, and how the junkyard people thought the turbos were worn out because the turbo had oil pouring out of it, but, in fact, the oil was actually coming from blowby in the engine, and the turbos were actually ok. I think they used something like Chrysler LeBaron turbos.

So they bought 2 turbos, built a plumbing system to use both blowers on a 5.0 Mustang, and tested it. Their theory was that two turbos built for four cylinder engines would provide enough boost for a 302 Ford.

The setup wasn't pretty, but they got it done, and the car turned out to run pretty well. You could see the turbos hanging down by the radiator, so it was not great looking, but they had something like $ 1500.00 in all of it, and they felt the results were really good.

Just thought I would throw this out there.


Don

you would be better off with two small turbos then one way to big turbo the big one will not spool up as fast and there is much to make did a v6 and 540 big block made alot of parts

Every turbo has a compressor performance chart to go with it. Don't worry about whether it came from a gas or diesel, pick the turbo you want based on the compressor chart.

Also, running a twin turbo setup is not necessary. A single turbo is more efficient and will make more power. Twin turbos do spool faster, but modern turbine and compressor geometries have significantly cut back on turbo lag and the added cost of the twin turbo setup rarely offsets the reduction in lag over a single turbo. The main reason to run a twin turbo on a v8 is that it is sometimes easier to plumb, if you have the space for both turbos in the engine compartment. To run a single turbo, you will have to route all of the exhaust to one side of the engine compartment which equals an expensive set of headers. The twin setup also lets you run cast manifolds which work well with turbos because exhaust scavenging is no longer important, they retain heat (heat makes the turbine go around, not flow), and most importantly they have the strength to support the weight of the turbo.