interesting mild turbo setup

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Where's the obligatory "ride?" LOL. Finding one of those Blueek setups might be tough...........
 
Meh, draw through systems suck and turbo technology has come a very long way since those things were installed on factory cars. Corvairs had a similar setup. A better setup is a newer CSU blow through carb, or similar, with a modern turbo. Dual ball bearing, ceramic ball bearing, billet cnc compressor and turbine wheels, cnc housings, are just a few of the reasons turbos are making gobs more power than they used to. Some things don’t need to be brought back from the pick a part yard. As always everything IMO.
 
The late 70s early 80s 301 Turbo Trans AM is also another decent setup that can be adapted.
 
^^Yeh and finding one. I bet "most" of them are in somebody's shed waiting "for that day" when the gold mine comes in LOL
 
I did a "Corvair" turbo slant back in 1979. Still have it. Also have a 301 Pontiac complete system on the shelf "waiting for the day".
I will grant the technology, today is soooo much better, but the adds to the cost. When I did my Corvair project, it cost me less then $150 in 1979 dollars.
The 301 Pontiac system was a "freebee". Is it or will it produce the power that are available from the new equipment? Of course not. Will it cost a couple weeks pay? of course not.
 
A couple of weeks pay is a stretch really. Yea the new technology is more expensive but there are alternatives to $2500 turbos. VS racing has a 7875 gen 2 turbo that has all the bells and whistles as the big name stuff and it’s a $700 turbo. Richard holdner just did a head to head with a borg Warner s475 and they were very close output wise. VS made a little more. The cost argument is going away quickly with more stuff on the market.
 
It's not just the cost of the turbo. There is hot side and cold side piping, fuel delivery system (pump, regulator, carb or injection), waste gate if not part of the turbo, blow off valve, etc.
 
Trust me I’m well aware of the associated costs. Everything I own is turbocharged. All I’m saying is the juice is not worth the squeeze on some of the older draw through factory style systems. The headaches they create for tuning, oil consumption problems, lack of ability for intercooling, and negligible power increase potential makes them obsolete in today’s performance world.
 
We can. I sure would like to have a conversation with someone who has successfully used a draw through system and really likes it. I spoke with Gale banks at sema one year and he is one of the few guys to successfully do so in many racing boat applications and his opinion is similar to mine and I don’t want to mis quote him but I remember him saying something along the lines of, its what we had at the time.
 
TT5.9mag said:
I him saying something along the lines of, its what we had at the time.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
When I did mine (1979), there was not much turbo info available. So it was easy and cheap to get a turbo from a salvage yard from a similar sized engine. It took me quite a while to get mine decent. Several different carbs
(Holley 500 2bbl worked the best). Tuning was difficult (no such hing as a wide band EGO, or "electronic boost timing control"). All I had was a EGT from an aeoplane. I did break rings, pistons, and head gaskets, before I got it decent. I am actually rebuilding the engine, with a better cam (turbo grind), and electronic timing control, and a wide band, but the turbo setup will be the same.
Oh, I did have water meth injection, that was just a windshield washer system that turned on at 5psi and sprayed right down the carb. I will be keeping that but using progressive control.
I could drive my 65 V-100 to the track (about 18 mpg) open the exhaust, put on the slicks, and run low to mid 13's at around 104 MPH, at about 11 PSI. That was a 170 with the Corvair (rajay) turbo, 168 CID corvair.
EDIT: At the time I lived in NJ, and had to pass state I&M inspection. It passed emission specs for a 1980 vehicle.
 
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I will add this. At this time there are very few turbos that can be used in a draw thru application. They do not have the proper oil seal, and will suck oil like crazy if there is any intake vacuum (not on boost).
But I think there are some kits available to install the correct type seal for some model turbos
 
There are a few kits available to convert turbos to draw through using a carbon aftermarket seal. I’m not sure how well they work. Any chance you have pics of your engine in the “decent” stage? I’d like to see it. And the numbers you posted are surely impressive for a 170, running 13s and getting 18mpg!
 
I have some "real" , not digital pics. I'll see if I can get someone to post them for me. Like I mentioned, it took me awhile to make it work, OK (read aceptable, not ideal). It was far from plug and play, but was typical 1970's "junk yard hot rodding".
One thing I would like to mention, hot water to the carb to turbo adapter was required for street manners. without the water, I would actually get ice buildup on the adapter, from the fuel vaporizing, and that would lead to inconsistant air to fuel mixture at idle, and low speed cruise.
 
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