[americanmusc1e]

Turbo time!

The first thing I did was swap out my converter for a 3000rpm unit with an anti-balloon plate. It's still a cheap Summit branded converter and I wish I had spent a little more.



Next was a Denmah kit from VS racing. This was back when the base Denmah kit came with a 69mm GT45 and I was too dumb to upgrade it. I also ordered 80lb siemens injectors, a Walbro 450, exhaust tubing, schedule 80 pipe, and a LS header flange.



Since I now had a "nice" harbor freight vulcan Mig, I did all my own hotside fabrication. I decided where I wanted the turbo and then built a log-style manifold on the passenger side with a crossover from the factory driver's side manifold. The Factory truck manifold flange wouldn't clear the frame, but i was able to weld a V-band onto it. Turns out the factory exhaust manifolds are quite weldable. no pre-heating and it's still fine 2 years later.








The down-pipe was just 3.5" exhaus tubing dumped right after the front tire. That stayed for approximately one highway trip before I added a 3.5" cherry bomb glasspack and enough tubing to run it in front of the rear tire.





I finished installing the turbo the same day I went to the track. Which was probably not the best time to go in retrospect. I fought issues with boost control. My wastegate wanted to run at 6psi or more than 20psi. I also found out that my breather/pcv setup wasn't adequate for boost. I also found out later that I didnt' have the fire ring in the wastegate and i had serveral boost leaks. Despite all that, I had a ton of fun and managed mid-13s on only 6psi and the turbo spooling about half track. My cousin's Ford Ranger was still faster. He was now on a cammed 6.0 and ran a best of 12.7.









The next several months were just sorting out problems with the turbo setup. I discovered what a wastegate fire ring was and where it went. I added a boost regulator and got dialed in about 12psi. I fixed boost leaks. For Christmas I bought myself a new cam. An Elgin 1840P "sloppy stage 2"