68 289 turbo or supercharge ?

I am with 10secgoal. White smoking the tires at speed is fun. I use M/T drag radials all the time now. Regular street tires just spin anytime you go wot upto highway speed and sometimes even then they break loose.
 
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Hmm, Well thats awesome, no doubt it was a kick in the pants. But having said that lets see you drive that car to the beach with the kids or to work everyday like I do my blown 347. I understand that the power isnt the same but as previously stated there isnt many things that sound as good as a blower at 5 grand. I was a gearhead back in the early 80's and watched my brother spend a lot of cash and time with his head under the hood with smoke pouring all over the place adjusting valves on his solid lifter cam....Which BTW isnt as aggresive as my roller Hyd. I have now. My brother is amazed at the power my car has and laughs about all that they used to do to get maybe 300HP...And mine will sit and idle all day and never overheat. Power adders are here to stay and for good reason. They make great power numbers cheaper with better drivability.

I did drive it to the ship everyday...lived out Military Highway close to the I-64 overpass...drove to D&S piers 5/6 days a week and to Va. beach every chance I got.....plus the SS weighed about 1000 lbs. more than a Mustang. With roller cam and rockers you don't need to adjust valves all that often, and if you make a sheet metal shield that bolts in place of the rocker cover you won't lose oil onto the headers. And I don't know of a push-rod engine with hydraulic lifters that will rev to 7800.
Now, am I saying that a carbed engine is better than mass-air-flow f.i.? NO WAY. I AM saying that you will not build a reliable STOCK block 289/302 (unless the 302 is a BOSS block) with 450+ hp. Besides, I absolutely LOVE the sound of a 12.5 static c.r, high-lift, long duration, big overlap, chambered exhaust engine. Ever hear a REAL 427 S/C Cobra with the Holeman-Moody single 4 barrel 550 hp NASCAR engine? Music to my ears. A guy I knew in Charleston years back had a stroked 427 tunnel-port with 2-4's in a 56 'Bird.....evil car....you just cannot describe how it sounded. And as someone pointed out...a turbo car kills the sound.
If the man wants to go through all the work of turbos, f.i. and such in an old car I don't care...but part of the reason I have loved old cars and motorcycles is the simplicity of working on them. Believe me, if my 04 BMW R1150-RT breaks I have to take it back to the dealer because I have neither the tools or training to do the job. It's about the same with the new cars...unless it's something that can be done with basic tools I'm just too damned old to want to mess with it. Now, the 1977 Sportster is something I love to work on...everything is easy to get to, you don't have to lay on your back for anything and since it is a kick-start only you don't have all that electric starter junk to deal with. Just as soon as I find a good magneto I'm going to dump the battery. And you can't top the sound of a cast iron Sporty.:)
 
Thank you guys for all your input. Thats what these forums are all about. Sharing information, ideas and experience with others. You have given me much to ponder and like mikethebike, I love the room and simplicity of the old cars. I used to have a 56 Chevy 2 door hardtop in highschool and could sit inside the engine compartment to work on it. Those were the days. Of course that was 30 years and 100 pounds ago. lol. thanks again guys.
 
IMO, you're not likely to get into a realistic turbo setup for less than $1000. The bare minimum fuel system is a good pump, regulator, and prepped blow-through carb. Throw in headers, exhaust bends, welding, carb hat, and a somewhat properly sized non-Chinese turbo and it's easy to see how low a budget of $1000 really is.

IAnd as someone pointed out...a turbo car kills the sound.

So the subdued exhaust note is actually a strike against turbocharging?
 
And as someone pointed out...a turbo car kills the sound.


Some people think the turbo kills the sound. Some people love the sound of the turbo spooling and the blowoff valve popping.

I guess my point is a 500 hp (whether boosted small block or rowdy big block) is still a handful of fun. The fact is there is no "cheap" way to get big power. If there was we all would have it.

As far as how to get to holy grail of horsepower.........It's all personal preference.

I like boosted engines for their docile nature out of boost.

Others love the sound of solid lifters, 14:1 compression, 4500 rpm stall converters and racing gas.


Who's to say which is the right way? Not me that's for sure

:nice:
 
Yeah, kills it a little. And I do miss it at times, but to me gets old if you drive it all the time. I prefer the stealth bit to it and the sound of the spool. But the next motor is going to be solid so..... :shrug:
 
The engine made close to 500 lb.ft. at 5k...and from 1500 on up you could barely pull yourself away from the seat back. If anyone builds that kind of power from a stock block 289 or 302 it won't last long.:)

my 94gt had stock block, stock crank, stock rods, stock pistons, and stock cam that ran 10.78@130 on pump gas. it made 500rwtq at 3700rpms. i drove it every day to work for years. next.
 
From what ive read, this is a very interestin thread and one that comes down to preferences. Yes both routes, whether BB or turbo, it isnt gonna be cheap. Even a 427 or 460 will require the necassary boltons to make huge power and those parts cost money. Turbos requires newer systems and do offer reliabilty to an extent, alot depends on driving habits and driver responsibilty.

The sound of a BB at idle is insane and at WOT is crazy! even scary! haha!

Howeve the sound of a turbo spooling up or popping when changing gears offers that stealthy killer impression.

Now once i drove my grandpas ole BB cheby C10 and i must say that truck was mad!!

However in my tuned PSD just listening to the turbo makes me drool. My buddies have tned AWD Talons with evo turbos and damn those things are some crazy little buggers. I can only imagine how the 302 in my '73 would feel if i had the money to do a proper turbo setup.

Either way both routes have their pros and cons, you just hae to decide ultimately which better suites your situation and abilties.

Peronally if i could drop a 460 in the 73 wich would nt be too hard, id prolly do it if it. but if I had the money and available parts id definatley get the turbo.
 
Big blocks, when 1200rwhp/1100rwtq is not enough! He sold that motor and is working on a 420 +ci small block. He had traction problems so ET sucked, but mph was good.

Screen name...............Brent
Engine........................R302 SBF
Turbo or blower...........Majestic 88mm turbo
Carburetor...................BLP annular booster 850
Power valves................Dual BRPV front/rear
Jetting........................070/.070
Needle/seats...............(.150 downfeed)
Bonnet.......................EV with spacer
Fuel pump...................Aeromotive belt drive
Regulator....................Aeromotive 132-02
Boost.........................32 psi
Intercooler..................Custom Air-to-water
Total timing.................22 degrees
Track #'s best 1/4 .......10.02
MPH best....................170.03
Dyno #'s....................1177 rwhp/1097 rwtq @32 psi
Cam...........................F-303
Car weight..................3420 w/driver
 
because we all know LS1s are the end-all and be-all of performance pushrods right?

Turbos by far have the capability to run more boost, everything else being equal, you will make more power on a turbo car than a S/C car, assuming same boost level. Superchargers are fun, but they just cant match the efficiency of a well designed turbo system, but what it all comes down to in the end is what you want out of the car as far as power and driving characteristics go.
 
because we all know LS1s are the end-all and be-all of performance pushrods right?

Turbos by far have the capability to run more boost, everything else being equal, you will make more power on a turbo car than a S/C car, assuming same boost level. Superchargers are fun, but they just cant match the efficiency of a well designed turbo system, but what it all comes down to in the end is what you want out of the car as far as power and driving characteristics go.


I think the LS-1 is the best performence buy out there at this point. You can buy a 585 hp 427 for about $16,000.00 with computer. Not a bad deal...but you can't get more cid and keep it together....like you'd need more.

I am not a fan of s/c's for other than drag racing due to the heat buildup. I had an AWD-Turbo Talon back in the mid 90's...fun car..ate-up a ton of high dollar Euro-trash.