Cheapest turbo set-up for our trucks?

[White]

Hey everyone! I’ve got one of these trucks, ‘85, 4wd, z24, five speed, and I don’t really have a use for it… but the turbo bug has been itching me a bit. What is the cheapest turbo kits we can get our hands on? Or building a kit? I am not thinking draw through like some kits offer, so is piecing together a kit my best bet? I’ve seen some guys take these trucks and spend an alleged 300 dollars to turbo them(there’s a few on YouTube), but there’s not a lot of information out there.
 

I’ve worked on some cars before, never like this though. Any advice would be appreciated. Is it hard to make the stock carb a blow through? Could I set up a system to make the fuel pressure from the tank rise with boost? 
 

If anyone has or knows someone who has done this, can you point me in the right direction? Pic for attention. 

[White]

Okay, I see there’s no one out here with the experience- has no one who has read this post boosted a z24? Or done so with the eBay parts? I could probably cobble that set-up together pretty easily, but has anyone done anything with the stock carb? 

[datzenmike]

You'll never do it for $300.  A manifold for the turbo would cost that. Also boost will be limited to 6-8 PSI on stock hypereutectec pistons if you want to last longer than an afternoon. Forget 10 PSI.

 

 

Bought turbo exhaust manifolds from a KA-E engine can be fitted to the Z24 head by minor porting to align the ports.

 

You'll need a blow off valve. Is that included for $300?

 

You'll need to plumb an oil feed to and return line from the turbo.

 

You'll need one of those turbo top hats for the carburetor.

 

You can use a boost reference fuel pump to maintain fuel pressure above the boost level.

 

Boost will require some kind of ignition retard to avoid detonation, at all costs.

 

 

This should reliably boost safely to 8 PSI with a quick blip to 10 but engine longevity falls exponentially after 8. I sugest this book by Corky Bell... Maximum Boost.....  https://www.amazon.ca/Maximum-Boost-Designing-Installing-Turbocharger/dp/0837601606

 

 

It's old but physics have not changed. Some new devices have been invented but the problems with boost have not. Give it a read before spending money on anything else. When boosting I don't thing there is an upper end to how much you can spend.

[Wildcat Walker]

A quality turbo in the bidenomic world is going to cost you $2000 just for the turbo itself. Z24's are not know for performance or longevity, even without a turbo. 

Edited February 7 by Wildcat Walker

[Icehouse]

I've turboed many many cars.  The fuel and timing management is what keeps them alive.  I've only messed with a few carb turbo setups and would never choose to do it that way.  EFI will make it live much longer.  Do something like Megasquirt and it will last.  If you don't dial back the timing you will just destroy pistons.  Get a Ebay turbo and KA24E turbo manifold and start building.  I also only use genuine Nissan exhaust gaskets.  Otherwise you will be changing them often.  I think you could turbo it reliably for 2k or so.  No cheap way to turbo anything.  

[datzenmike]

You pay to play.

[Icehouse]

2 hours ago, datzenmike said:

You pay to play.

 

You're god damn right! 

[IZRL]

Their is no such thing as a cheap turbo set up. At least not a half way decent turbo setup done right. And I'm not just talking about the insane cost of converting an NA vehicle to turbo. Just owning and maintaining a boosted car can get expensive. You're adding another layer of really expensive parts that can and will go bad. 

Edited February 8 by IZRL

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

22 hours ago, White said:

Okay, I see there’s no one out here with the experience- has no one who has read this post boosted a z24? Or done so with the eBay parts? I could probably cobble that set-up together pretty easily, but has anyone done anything with the stock carb? 

I think the reason for low response is because one could take up an entire hour listing all the pros, cons, caveats and what to expect from a turbo system. It really boils down to experience. If you don't have a lot of experience with these kinds of mods, then stay away. It will end up costing ten times what you expected.

 

On the other hand, go for it, and learn, then you can advise the others who ask the same question.

[datzenmike]

I replied to save you the $300 you expect to pay and the $3,000 money pit it would become to fix and do right.

 

Read that book. Best $30 you'll spend to prevent getting in over your head.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

You could do one of those small AMR500 superchargers for a few hundred bucks, but not a turbo.

[Madkaw]

1 hour ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

You could do one of those small AMR500 superchargers for a few hundred bucks, but not a turbo.

Supercharger ! 

[Madkaw]

I still have thoughts but as stated it would not be easy or cheap . I actually have a head that I have port matched the KA turbo manifold to a Z24 . 
I have programmable EFI and wouldn’t try this any other way . Even with that I would want to do head studs and surface the block for optimal sealing . Even after all that I wouldn’t do more than 8 psi and feel fortunate if it held together . Even with everything I have going for me I would still have the cost of the turbo . Then there is modifying the rest if the exhaust from the turbo back . 
 

[datzenmike]

2 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

You could do one of those small AMR500 superchargers for a few hundred bucks, but not a turbo.

 

The AMR500 displaces 500cc so it must spin 2X the crankshaft RPM just to break even with an L20B. The output air (2 liters) is equal to the engine displacement (2 liters) for zero gain. 4 X would double that air and make 1 Bar but that's too high. Make it 3 (or 50% more) X the crankshaft and you have about 1/2 Bar or 7.5 PSI. As the max RPM for the AMR500 is 14K or maybe 16K??? Turning it 50% faster 3 x crankshaft RPMs would mean an L20B would be limited to 5,333 RPMs and above that you are over 16K on the compressor.

 

That's do-able.

 

For a 2.4 liter to make about 7.5 PSI you would have to spin it 7 X the crankshaft RPMs and the maximum engine speed drops to 2,285 RPM or you are over the AMR500s rev limit. Two in parallel at 3.5 X crankshaft would allow you to double the engine RPMs to 4,570 which is more than enough on a Z series.

 

Hey math isn't my thing at school so if you disagree say something and we'll work it out because this looks like fun.

[White]

Thanks, guys! Yeah, one of those YouTube guys had pieced together that kit, didn’t have a manifold, but it had all the usual bits (BOV, intercooler, turbo, oil lines, etc) from EBay. He said he used the kit to turbo his Nissan truck, but he hasn’t gotten that far with the videos. Think he’s only posted the video where he got all of it for 300 bucks. There was a shot at the end of the video of the interior of a Nissan, with a boost gauge tickling 10 PSI. 

[IZRL]

27 minutes ago, White said:

Thanks, guys! Yeah, one of those YouTube guys had pieced together that kit, didn’t have a manifold, but it had all the usual bits (BOV, intercooler, turbo, oil lines, etc) from EBay. He said he used the kit to turbo his Nissan truck, but he hasn’t gotten that far with the videos. Think he’s only posted the video where he got all of it for 300 bucks. There was a shot at the end of the video of the interior of a Nissan, with a boost gauge tickling 10 PSI. 

He'll be posting a video of how either he blew up his engine or how those Ebay parts fell apart shortly after he posts his first run with this setup. The only cheap chinese turbo related part I ever purchased on ebay for the SR20DET swapped 240sx I used to own. Was a front mount intercooler. Which I was really skeptical about, but after I did some research I saw that it had really high reviews. It worked out great.

[Icehouse]

Yeah those Ebay parts are hit and miss.  I sold a L20 turbo setup I did.  I used a VG30 FPR and capped one feed line.  At idle if you really listened you could hear a weird girgling sound.  Maybe air trapped in the blocked off FPR line.  To me it was whatever, the car did burnouts and sounded cool driving.  My buddy that bought the setup swapped a "good" brand regulator off Ebay on it.  It was a Chinese knock off and let fuel pass into the vacuum line, which of coarse it found it's way to the MS map sensor!  Somehow it didn't cause more issues.  I would say the best way to do a cheap turbo setup is find good quality used parts, inspect them and also check the availability of the parts.  Also, on another L motor turbo built, I built an exhaust manifold for a 300z turbo.  Which was fine because at the time you ran across them in the junk yard.  If you need to buy one new it's cool when you can, that L always smoked a little and after multiple engines and turbos, all used of coarse it was hard to figure out the issue.  

 

Here are some of the turbo things I've built for fun.  Plus it makes me feel old.  Some of this stuff was a long time ago!!! 

 

 

 

 

turbo in a shoe box.  Using plumbing supplies to make the Pick and Pull intercooler work.  

 

 

 

cut down Z manifold with a cool even at the time old school BOV.  Fun car to rip around.  

 

 

 

KA24DE turbo.  Lots of fun fab work on that rig.  

 

 

 

I just build the turbo manifold for this single cam.  For some reason I really like single cam KA's.  They just look cool to me.  

 

 

 

What I'm saying is after all the builds I've done there are a few lessons learned I'd like to pass on.  Mainly fuel is important and obvious, timing is not.  Timing is also where you make your power.  A few degrees is the difference from smoking your buddy in a race and busting a ring land.  I'd like to try a standalone ecu with good knock detection.  Gotta add that to my bucket list. 🙂

 

 

 

 

[White]

Some good stuff in this thread! I looked, he posted another video of him flipping over the stock manifold, and running pipe from it to the turbo where the evap canister and coils were. I’ll tell you this much, he doesn’t seem to have a pipe bender. 😅 I’m just wondering how he tuned the thing, turbo set-up is kind of whatever works, but the tuning is a curiosity. I know blowthrough carbs are a thing, but has anyone tried on our hitachis? 

[IZRL]

21 minutes ago, Icehouse said:

Yeah those Ebay parts are hit and miss.  I sold a L20 turbo setup I did.  I used a VG30 FPR and capped one feed line.  At idle if you really listened you could hear a weird girgling sound.  Maybe air trapped in the blocked off FPR line.  To me it was whatever, the car did burnouts and sounded cool driving.  My buddy that bought the setup swapped a "good" brand regulator off Ebay on it.  It was a Chinese knock off and let fuel pass into the vacuum line, which of coarse it found it's way to the MS map sensor!  Somehow it didn't cause more issues.  I would say the best way to do a cheap turbo setup is find good quality used parts, inspect them and also check the availability of the parts.  Also, on another L motor turbo built, I built an exhaust manifold for a 300z turbo.  Which was fine because at the time you ran across them in the junk yard.  If you need to buy one new it's cool when you can, that L always smoked a little and after multiple engines and turbos, all used of coarse it was hard to figure out the issue.  

 

Here are some of the turbo things I've built for fun.  Plus it makes me feel old.  Some of this stuff was a long time ago!!! 

Damn how I wish I had this level of ability with cars. I consider myself to be a "Glorified Parts Swapper". I can diagnose basic things here and there. Let's just say I know enough so that I've never had to take any of my cars to a mechanic. If I can't diagnose a problem, I call on a couple local life lines that I have and on the interweb to help diagnose. I bought the 240sx I used to have already swapped with a Blacktop SR20DET. The TT 300zx i have did have the engine re-built at Pitstop Performance in Phx Az. I went through a wall with that car. Thankfully when I hit the wall it was the back end that took the hit. The engine, which had more money invested in it than what was originally paid to purchase the entire car was unharmed. I still have the engine from that car and I purchased a roller 300zx to drop it in but that project got put on hold like 12 years ago.