Upgrade supercharger or go turbo

[retfr8flyr]

Does anyone know about the turbohorsepower kits. They look great but pricey.

I have had a Turbohorspower twin kit on my car for 10 years now and it has been great. I have modified it over the years but the basic kit is the same. Jim Napier at TH is a great guy to deal with and will work with you to give whatever you want. Hard to find a better kit for the 3v. I also think your tuner must not know how to tune a turbo car. Boost it boost, as far as the engine goes, it doesn't make any difference if it comes from a blower or a turbo. Turbo cars are just harder to tune on a street driven car.

 

[hockeygod]

I have had a Turbohorspower twin kit on my car for 10 years now and it has been great. I have modified it over the years but the basic kit is the same. Jim Napier at TH is a great guy to deal with and will work with you to give whatever you want. Hard to find a better kit for the 3v. I also think your tuner must not know how to tune a turbo car. Boost it boost, as far as the engine goes, it doesn't make any difference if it comes from a blower or a turbo. Turbo cars are just harder to tune on a street driven car.

I thought the same thing at first but he is pretty well known and respected and fabricates custom turbos for coyotes and other cars quite often he just isn't a fan of doing it for 3valves. Not sure exactly why. On a separate note he expressed concern with my new motor sitting in sealed packaging at his shop for the last 2 years without being cranked specifically the piston rings freezing up and springs going bad from sitting. Anyone else have a thought on this before I tell him to tear it apart and rebuild it again for more money?

 

[retfr8flyr]

Run a bore scope down the cylinders and see what they look like. New valve springs would be a good idea.

 

[hockeygod]

Run a bore scope down the cylinders and see what they look like. New valve springs would be a good idea.

He felt that the cylinders themselves looked good but was concerned with piston rings expansion along with the springs. I was quoted around $2500 to disassemble and go through it again. Should I have him run a compression test and change out the springs at the minimum?

 

[eighty6gt]

how about a leakdown test so you can actually see how the rings themselves are doing?

Valve springs? How many miles on this build? Again, probably OK.

 

[Sactown]

Spoke with my Tuner today and he advised me against going turbo and to upgrade my supercharger head unit. He felt that the 3 valves were not well matched for turbo compared to supercharger. He recommended also upgrading to a higher rib count pulley system. What are your thoughts on the jt-b trim vortech vs ysi? Also who makes a 10 rib pulley kit for our cars.

Why would your tuner say that? That makes zero sense to me. Not sure how the vortech or ysi compare to a Procharger FR-1 which I had on my car for about a month and absolutely hated it, and remember the bigger the head unit the more hp it will take to spin it, and the higher the rpm range will be before it even makes good power. IMO you should talk to some additional tuners, I don't think you hear that same opinion regarding the use of a turbo on a 3v from any other tuners. That is just weird IMO that he would say that.

 

[hockeygod]

how about a leakdown test so you can actually see how the rings themselves are doing?

Valve springs? How many miles on this build? Again, probably OK.

The engine has seen 0 miles. It was built and then wrapped and sealed in plastic for the last 2 years. I think it would be worth him testing but as it sits now he doesn't want to warranty it due to how long it's been sitting. If I have him rebuild it then he will rewarranty the work.

 

[hockeygod]

Why would your tuner say that? That makes zero sense to me. Not sure how the vortech or ysi compare to a Procharger FR-1 which I had on my car for about a month and absolutely hated it, and remember the bigger the head unit the more hp it will take to spin it, and the higher the rpm range will be before it even makes good power. IMO you should talk to some additional tuners, I don't think you hear that same opinion regarding the use of a turbo on a 3v from any other tuners. That is just weird IMO that he would say that.

I don't disagree with you at all. Really not sure of the reasoning but he does have my car currently so I will be kind of stuck otherwise. I really do like his tunes though. Pulled alot of extra horsepower out after my first build and the driveability was excellent. I may look at having the vortech wastegate to build boost earlier.

 

[eighty6gt]

The engine has seen 0 miles. It was built and then wrapped and sealed in plastic for the last 2 years. I think it would be worth him testing but as it sits now he doesn't want to warranty it due to how long it's been sitting. If I have him rebuild it then he will rewarranty the work.

:| Why is this guy being such a huge boner that he won't warranty an engine? It's not a carton of eggs. There's nothing wrong with it. Maybe he's paranoid and looking for an excuse. My engine sat around doing nothing for a year plus, fired it up and hit the road.

Just put it together and run it, don't you have the blower kit already?

 

[hockeygod]

Yes the blower was taken off at his shop to remove my blown motor and install the 326 stroker. The motor and blower have been sitting for 2 years waiting to be installed. I was thinking about just telling him to install it as is and hope for the best. Really not sure what to do at this point. It's either have him rebuild it for another 2500 and have it warrenteed or hope the piston rings and valve springs are good and take it as is.

 

[ChewyR]

I'm s little skeptical here, sounds like a racket. Is the guy needing work? Unless his shop floods or the engine was in a fire, pull the spark plugs, spray some fogging oil in the cylinders and turn the engine over by hand two turns. If it turns over smoothly it is fine. Ive never heard of valve spring fatigue from sitting, ask another machine shop that builds engines. What kind of warranty are you getting for $2500?

 

[hockeygod]

1 yr warranty on defectects and workmanship. I may give brenspeed a call and ask them as they built my first motor. I've done all of the work on my car myself including engine, tranny, suspension, and supercharged. But my knowledge of engine building itself is lacking so that's why I am asking you guys.

 

[eighty6gt]

bad feelings all around on this one, I certainly would not hand a guy 2500 bucks to probably..

do nothing!

Drove my car to work in the snow this morning, could not really get into boost

 

[retfr8flyr]

I didn't know you had a 326, that engine would love a turbo setup. The larger bore unshrouds the valves and really lets the boost work. Personally I think the guy is just trying to scam you out of another $2500. I once bought a small block chevy race engine that set for 3 years wrapped in the guys living room. I put it in and it fired right up. I ran that engine hard for 15 months and it never gave me a single problem. I would have your guy reinstall everything and then find a new shop for future work.

 

[Sactown]

I generally won't say anything bad about a shop or a person I have not dealt with personally, but this situation sounds pretty sketchy to me. From not putting a turbo on a 3v, (I am making around 1200 to the tires with my 281CID 3v with a single 76mm turbo) to not warranty a motor he built because it has been sitting in his shop for more than a year. I would proceed with extreme caution.

 

[hockeygod]

I think you guys are correct. I am going to have it installed as is and hope for the best. I do have other choices out there once that part is finished. I know most people on here swear by Lito so I may just install a new return fuel system and upgrade the blower myself then turn to him to tune it for me.

 

[Marble]

Definitely an interesting take. I wonder what his reasonning is? I've had some shops be very pro one or the other and it usually boils down to what they are comfortable with, had success with and which companies they have supply/distribution deals with.

I would contact vortech directly and discuss your goals. Could be your best source of tech and info.

 

[eighty6gt]

A big vortech would rip. I don't know if I'd even bother with one of those punk ass wastegates.

 

[tjm73]

I wouldn't want a guy that says the 3V and turbos don't mix as well as a 3V and a blower tuning my lawn mower. That's just ignorant.

 

[hockeygod]

I agree my goal now is to get the car back fully put back together and running and then finish the work I want to do myself from there.