Turbo charging a LT1 C4
 

Before you guys get the wrong idea about me thinking that I just want to put a turbo on my Vette because its sounds cool or whatever, I want to let you guys know that I am very familiar with forced induction applications. I restore Buick Grand Nationals as a hobby. Along with my GNs I have a SBC twin turbo setup in a 3rd gen Trans Am, I also have a GMC Typhoon and few other forced induction cars as well.

I love my Vette but it’s the way too slow compared to all my other toys. I know the factory LT1 is in the 10.5 to 1 compression ratio or there about. So we maybe looking about running 4-6 psi boost and may be spraying methanol until it gives out.

My question is;

How realistic is it to turbo charge a 1993 LT1 and maintain all the accessories like AC and things, well at least I have to have AC( for the wife) I really don’t care about the emission accessories. Has anyone done this with any success. Does anyone make custom headers or any pictures I can take a look at so I can get some ideas. I did do a search but not much there. Any information on this matter is greatly appreciated .

Thanks
Prasad

Try this link.

http://www.turbochargedpower.com/

Does anyone actually have this turbo kit for a C4? All I have seen is negative feedback about this company.

check with sts in orem utah, they have a rear mounted turbo systom i think. they were on the cover of the last vette magazine with a 700hp c6 they call z07. i have heard good and bad about them but they just keep getting better. and with all the pipe to put the turbo in back instead of mufflers you get a built in air cooler for the intake air.
www.STSturbo.com

just checked the site and they dont have one listed but i think they can make one. i saw it in a vette mag that they were building one. id just call them and ask.

You could check the Forced Induction C4 forum on this site, lol.

There are no turbo kits available. Raptor is close to releasing their version of the rear mount turbo, and the under hood one from the guys in NM can't actually be bought.

There are a couple guys in the FI section that have built their own. lcvette just made a 940 RWHP with his 96, and there is another guy who is working on selling his LTX turbo car.

If you can build the hot side, I think it's doable. Building the headers would be the most difficult part of the labor. The engineering aspect of making the kit fit would be challenging, but as long as you are fabbing your own parts it's doable.

Good luck, keep us posted!

i think the sts shop is working with raptor to build the rear mount setup

same here, all bad. :lurk::bigears

dude, Raptor is working with STS, they HAVE NOT come out with their c4 kit yet (it's been some time).

EVery turbo kit currently for the Lt-x based cars are DIY.

the FI forum is a much better source for refined information about this topic.

the AC can be retained. if you take a look at some supercharged c4's (Lt-x's), you'll see that the kits COME with new AC lines to "re-route" the lines out of the way of the head unit. the head unit (for supercharged applications) sits on the passenger side cylinder head.

The LT-x community has much more experience with superchargered setups rather than turbocharged combinations. the Supercharger route has been done several times, and for the most part is a relatively well thought out kit.

I would suggest Greg at blowerworks.net

no-one (to my knowledge) has run the "turbochargedpower.com" kit. There has literally been one car (that was in development for along time) that also required quite a bit of "modification" to the existing kit to get it to fit properly and work correctly in the c4.

the 1993 engine (and older) had the "less capable" engine computer. The newer (94'-96') c4's have a computer that is MUCH more flexable to tune for boost.

the interesting part is that I've "heard" of a few vendor that use to use the syclone/typhoon computer in the corvette (killing some dash functions) in order to run a computer that could recognize boost, and be tuned accordingly.

the other options are standalone, LS-x computer swap (this one is new to the market), piggy-back systems (auxilary injectors, etc).

with the centrifugal (since the power delivery is linear) there isn't a real need to have a computer that recognizes boost (you cannot use a 2-bar/3-bar map sensor on these older computers). Greg @ blowerworks, Alvin @ pcmforless.com both offer mail order tunes, but i would suggest finding a local shop with a dyno that is capable of tuning for your geographic location. They (the tuners) essentially inrich the fuel mixture in relation to rpm and engine load... the computer is actually "blind" to the boost generated. not a very accurate way of tuning, but sufficent.


******edit*****

thick wall tubing in a log style manifold will be more than acceptable in a good, compact, turbo package. Log style manifolds have proven themselves several times! there is a 402ci Ls-x swapped c4 in the FI forum putting down nearly 1000rwhp with log manifolds!

I looked into twin turbo's a year or so ago and got a lot of help from the forum. There are several people who have done this 2 C4's, do a search and you will find tons of info, I remember one or 2 that put the turbo's in the backend of the car.

According to this the kit is out for the LT1 and LT5.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-f...date-pics.html

What's wrong with supercharging? A procharger will give you plenty of boost and the install seems much easier.

Thanks for the link and thanks for all the reply guys. I called and talked to the guys at Turbo charged power. I think their kit is about $4500 with everything. Well all I need is the headers. They want about $1200 for that and about 8 weeks wait on it which is not a big deal. I do like their setup. With their kit, you would relocate the battery to the trunk and mount the turbo where the battery goes. I think this can be done without too many complications. This by far makes the more sense from what I have seen so far. I am looking for other options as well. I am not much fan of rear turbo set up even though it works well. Something about sitting 3" to 4" from the ground scares me and I also think it can get pretty expensive.

Thanks again
Prasad

This not the first time I am making the mistake of posting in the wrong forum. My dumb ass can't get used to all the dedicated sections here.:D

Sorry guys!

There is nothing wrong with super charging, I know people always argue about what's better. Well in my opinion Turbo charging is more efficient than supercharging. A super charger is belt driven and takes power from the motor to turn for example it may take 20 hp from the motor so it can spin and make 100 horse power. Now the turbo charger is driven by the velocity of the exhaust however, it creates back pressure in the system so it also robs horse power. it would be more like giving up 10 horse power to gain a 100 HP. So in my book the turbo charger is more efficient beside when it come to tuning it much easier to turn down or up the boost. I know the turbo chargers and Super chargers have come a long way but back in the days I read an article that someone took two identical motors and bolted a supercharger on one and a turbo charger on the other. The motor with the supercharger took around 570 horse power worth of fuel to make 500HP where the turbo charged one only to 530 HP worth of fuel to make 500HP. This was over 20 years ago so don't quote me on my numbers.
I also have enough turbos and waste gates laying around so I can go this route. I guess it’s all personal preference.

Just my $.02

Prasad

It can be done, there's plenty in the FI section.

A supercharger it a lot easier, which is the route I'm going.

Here's a good example
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4s-...te-12k-mi.html
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...e/P5040300.jpg

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-f...-progress.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-f...installed.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-f...-mm-turbo.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-f...nterested.html

I'd like to know how he changes spark plugs. :crazy: