Project D-$150

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Houseoffubar

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I started a thread in the restorations thread, then realized I am not actually restoring anything, and being a truck, I should put it here and focus on the motor being a turbocharged 318.
My goal is a random self imposed Parameter of building a 12 second truck for the absolute lowest cost possible.
My original goal was 12 sec. for $1,000, including the cost of the truck.
Well......I am at $1,040 and I still need rear tires and a Posi of some sort, so with the almost guaranteed oversights, and even tossing in a welded rear end, it seems pretty clear this will be a minimum of $1,500, and if I am honest, closer to $2k, but even at that, this is pretty damn cheap.

the truck is an 88 D-150 I grabbed, that is quite clean, rust free and low miles for $150 (hence Project D-$150)
She has a 318 TBI motor that runs like a top, but has little performance potential.
I grabbed a used Edelbrock Performer and a Holley carb (now a 600) and an eBay GT45 turbo.
The carb is vacuum secondary, but I will be putting it inside a box, so it should work quite well.

I am cutting a lot of corners and forgoing trick parts in the name of saving money.
More could be saved and achieve the goal, but this is my daily driver and I want to both go quick and not hurt the truck.

The first penny pincher is: no intercooler! I never thought I would consider this, but running low boost and through a carb drops the inlet temperature as much or even more than an intercooler. $200 saved!

the next big saver, and my favorite so far is:
Running a 5pin HEI module instead of a $450 MSD or Progression distributor.
I grabbed this little sucker for $10 New on eBay, and with an adjustable Hobbs pressure switch ($25) I can retard the ignition 5 degrees whenever boost is from 2-7psi
I will start fabbing parts this week. Just have to finish my silly airbagged camper trailer

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Spend money where it counts... Oil!! I don't how many times vr-1 or equivalent has saved my ***.
 
Did you baseline it?
Sorry, Baseline?
You mean, dyno or 1/4 mile time stock?
I have not done anything, but it is pretty slow. I will try to mark off a 1/4 mile by my house. We live right next to Levee Rd. And it is a perfect dragstrip.
These Are supposedly about 170hp. I am shooting for 4-450hp
 
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You are going to fight that VS carb with boost through this whole process. Even in a box with the spring flipped and the linkage modified, (and all the other modifications you have to do to make a carb work) you will still hang the secondaries open when you get off the throttle. I know some guys claim to have them working and in theory, in a box, they should work but the truth is it’s just not worth the hassle. And when you have to tune it (always) you have to completely disassemble the box (read; hassle). Save yourself the headache and find a used 650dp, do the hangar 18 mods and just blow through it. You’ll thank me later.
 
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Btw I am a fan of VS carburetors. I started building one yesterday for myself.
 
Did this 2 years ago. Get a 650 DP and convert to blo thru. Get a good intank (255-340 lph) fuel pump and a boost referenced regulator. I have a whole build thread on here with parts used and prices. Doubt it will run 12s but it will be fun and do great burnouts as long as the trans is up to it.

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weight transfer is going tobe your biggest problem , and you need to lose weight all over , as well on the nose .
 
Did this 2 years ago. Get a 650 DP and convert to blo thru. Get a good intank (255-340 lph) fuel pump and a boost referenced regulator. I have a whole build thread on here with parts used and prices. Doubt it will run 12s but it will be fun and do great burnouts as long as the trans is up to it.

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HOW DARE YOU SIR!!!

hahaha
 
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weight transfer is going tobe your biggest problem , and you need to lose weight all over , as well on the nose .
weight transfer is going tobe your biggest problem , and you need to lose weight all over , as well on the nose .
I remover the rear bumper, that should help, right? Lol
This is my daily driver, so the interior is nice to have. I am rear mounting the battery, and replacing the front bumper with a light weight option.
The truck sits currently at 3,800lbs I can ditch a little weight, but there is not a lot of extra just waiting to go
 
Did this 2 years ago. Get a 650 DP and convert to blo thru. Get a good intank (255-340 lph) fuel pump and a boost referenced regulator. I have a whole build thread on here with parts used and prices. Doubt it will run 12s but it will be fun and do great burnouts as long as the trans is up to it.

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I read your thread through twice. Sounded like a pain at times, but a whole lot of fun!
I appreciate any advice you have to offer!
 
that rear bumper could have helped the rear hook more , lol . but anything you can do to get the weight to the rear and off the nose will help , soft rear springs , and losing the front end bolts for free travel helps , and you said 12's i think deep gears in that r/e with a locked up center section . maybe weld'd spiders in a short cut of funds . but no good on the street just a track thing . and a good torque converter so it can lunch . mine weights in at 4200 lbs , and with the soft rear springs it would lunch great with 383 auto 3.54 ls 9 1/4 n 30 tall tires . but with stiffer springs . its lost the lunch .
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that rear bumper could have helped the rear hook more , lol . but anything you can do to get the weight to the rear and off the nose will help , soft rear springs , and losing the front end bolts for free travel helps , and you said 12's i think deep gears in that r/e with a locked up center section . maybe weld'd spiders in a short cut of funds . but no good on the street just a track thing . and a good torque converter so it can lunch . mine weights in at 4200 lbs , and with the soft rear springs it would lunch great with 383 auto 3.54 ls 9 1/4 n 30 tall tires . but with stiffer springs . its lost the lunch . View attachment 1715595899 View attachment 1715595900
I do have an 8.8 limited slip with 3.73 hears. I may wind up fitting that to the truck for a little better launch.
 
you on a tight budget here , that could work with short slicks to get that hole shot . unless you think its going into the 12's with street tires , lol . would be very hard to do without deep gears like 4.56's to 4.10 . mine really jumped with the 3.91's in it .
 
You don’t need 4:10s or even 3:91s with the turbo. Nor do you want them. Keep the rear gear reasonable (3:23-3:55) and it will load the turbo better and make the truck more livable on the street.
 
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