I need your help guys! I want to put a turbo charger on my '72 Maverick but i'm not sure on what to do. I have two possible options: 1) I plan on going to a "junkyard" and taking a turbo out of either a car or truck and install it on my stock 302 engine or 2) I should wait a few more years and get the money to buy a Turbo with the engine I plan on installing in a few years. What should I do? I also know most will say do what I want or something similar but I am honestly fine with both but the only difference is the turbochargers that I would be buying with the engine will be about 5omm or higher and there will be two of them. This isn't something major but it is something that I've always wanted to do, so if someone can help in making a decision it would be highly appreciated! PS: I am going in 4 days to see if the junkyard has any turbos in the first place!
Well, there are literally TONS of low budget turbo builds going on out there and even a few around here too. Did you use the local search here yet? Look up the brown "460 turbo maverick" on youtube and also don;t forget the "300 inline 6 turbo Maverick" to see what low budget can easily be made to do. Not everything these days is LS powered and there are also tons of early Mustang conversions out there too. Compared to other Ford models, the bigger problem that you will encounter in this chassis is lack of room all around. Getting a single turbo well placed and coherently packaged is hard enough as it is and suddenly having twins will only add to the cramped challenges that you will face. Also keep in mind that what makes or breaks(literally) these combo's is the tuning. When things go wrong for a single turbo in the tuning department.. damage happens very quickly(scorch the pistons even a little bit and their days are severely limited before they take out an entire long block in the process/pretty damned dangerous to drive over an oil pan too).. and 10 times quicker with regular old cast pistons. Running an inter-cooler makes for a much more efficient system(allows more boost potential and for longer periods of time too) and also gives more tuning latitude while simultaneously increasing octane tolerance. All very good things but as mentioned earlier, packaging will be tough and everything.. and I do mean everything.. will be custom made or modified to even have a chance at success. Welding costs(even if you do it yourself) can make or break a low budget deal too, so plan accordingly. Will this be an EFI or blow thru setup? PS. I'm surely not trying to dissuade you here.. only injecting some reality for the necessary requirements of building a successful TT setup, is all. If you are not an expert N/A tuner?.. plan on a tow truck to go get some chassis dyno time with someone who is to protect your investment here. Good luck.
Thank you for your concern and more importantly the provided information! It is most likely going to be an EFI setup. I dont think that i'll have the turbo installed until mid-summer due to me needing to attend school and working. Majority of this will be done myself but if I need help from an expert there will be no hesitation to get help! The chassis will be dealt with later because I knew that more HP will cause problems! I will check that video though and I also dont plan on doing an LS swap! Tuning will also be done by professionals. All I need help with is the choice of turbocharging now or later! I can certainly wait but I feel like now would be a good time to get used to installing it and having it in the car.
If you buy a turbo now and spend a lot to get it working, and re-spend your money again for the set-up you want, you bought it twice and still have a whole car to upgrade. These are the words of the man with very limited means......It would pain me to buy turbos twice. As far as I know (which isnt very far) turbo setups require many parts that function as a "team" and upgrading a turbo later may require you to buy a whole new "team" of parts to go with it? Them you have two turbo teams and still have a chassis that doesnt want to play that hard.
Do it right and do it later, your going to be throwing money away by doing it now. Try theturboforums.com tons of info on there. I'd go with an aftermarket block to start. What are your goals? Set a goal and build accordingly.
do it later with the engine combo youll be done with WHAT YOU CAN DO is throw a bottle in it if you just want to play with it while you build what you want. you can buy a junkyard motor for around $500 with the efi system but you can just run carb so its cheaper and no computer needed and get a nos kit for $3-500 and there you go plenty of fun while youre building what you want and if you BLOW IT UP WHO CARES its not a HUGE loss just dont go throwing a bunch of money at the motor. your best option if your going this route is to buy a motor from a car that know runs decent obviously the smartest choice would be to save that $1000 and put it toward the final build so you dont potentially throw away that money just throwing this out there for you to consider
Those are all very good ideas and all have convinced me more to wait on the turbo install! Since I am not completely convinced yet I will still check them out mainly because I need an electric fan for another reason/project. If I stumble across a turbo with what is needed in majority (wastegate, oil line, intercooler, etc.) Do you guys think that it would be worth a shot? I checked the website for the 2 places I am going to and for a car/truck turbo it will be either $70 or $75 maybe a bit over $100 for the extra necessary items needed to make the turbo function properly and that's if I find them. I do want to try and turbocharge the Maverick but I also want to wait until I have a better engine! There is still time left to decide, until then i'll make my decision but I hope that more members can pitch in on this conversation to help. right now I'm at 60%,40% in favor of waiting a bit longer to install the turbo(s) later!
Waste $$ now Spend accordingly later... Check out Franks thread on his Comet "My 72 comet build" Is the title I believe...He is doing an LS swap but...The work involved will give you a good idea of whats involved...
ya, I researched doing a turbo setup on my impala.. upside. more power, can save some gas. downside, you can destroy your drivetrain. at minimum I would change your rear end to a 9 inch. make sure your transmission can take it. should upgrade the cooling. any big gains then you should build a forged engine. I hear that the waist gate and to blow off valve is important. make sure your bov is large enough so you don't get creep. my 66 impala, I built a 383 around 500hp, has a 700r4 that is built for 800 lbft torque, my rear end is for 800 lbft as well. I am still hesitant to install a turbo because I would be getting close to the limits of the drivetrain. I would love to slap on 300 or 400 more hp. first I need to finish restoring the car. see how I like it. my opinion, I would build a stout 302, 331 or 347 and have fun. because these are light cars and very little room.
With the confines of the stock engine compartment, I can see just mounting turbo and plumbing the exhaust being a nightmare... Was popular at one time to get a pair from 4cyl Turbo Coupe(s) and mount one on each side, done right made for a nice setup, at least in a Fox chassis...
There are all kinds of ideas and expectations for turbo builds. The key elements are research, understanding and cash. A turbo build for ultimate performance is going to be very expensive and setting up a drag-launch car is a whole other project. A turbo build for a driveable street car can be done within a reasonable budget. Rather than start from scratch, I used the pushrod / carbureted (V six 231 cid engine) BOP turbo system on the small block six 250 . So far it is completely drivable and adds a whole new experience to "driving a little six". have fun TBO3 based Draw-Thru BOP setup - 74 Maverick 3OTT - Small Block Six 250 WORK ZONE : / .
First of all sorry I didn't respond earlier, the forums wouldn't load at all for about 2 days. My car already has 9 in tires from the previous owner but my car won't be a drag car or anything like that. It will be pro-street later on but for now I t just going to my daily street car. I am aware of the amount of pieces needed to cooperate with the turbo like the boost gauge, air-flow sensor, blow-off valve, and more but I still have until this summer to get all of that and by the time it comes i'll have the money ready. I wont start the build until summer starts because my car isn't my biggest priority. The only thing I am worried of is the transmission, drive-train, and the rear axle (maybe the fan and radiator); Everything else should be able to take the incoming horsepower. Right now the poll I have on this forum is helping but right now I know for a fact it will take years until I can get an appropriate job to support the items I want to add! I have a budget that is $500-$700 and I dont feel like spending more than that. If in the future I decide to get the turbo then not put it in then i'll end up selling it or setting it aside for later to install. There is still a day left and I have changed the rolls of getting the turbo now (for a low-budget upgrade) is more likely to happen then to wait a few more years. No one knows the future and I definitely don't know if i'll have the same amount of free time I have now in the future; therefore leading me to believe that is better to buy some cheap but reasonable parts now for an upgrade and later in the future i'll do my final upgrade where i'll be more satisfied and sure of my decision!
Buy a Chinese ebay turbo for $400.00 and get it installed and sorted out on the stock engine. At least if you hurt the motor figuring everything out its not the expensive rebuilt one.
