Build Thread The Hoopty Chronicles - New House, New garage, New Car?
- Thread starter hoopty5.0
- Start date
You are pretty much done with this build. If you scrap it you will be right back here doing it again in a year or so. Finish it, get it out of your system, then decide if you want to go n/a. You can always keep the boost low and enjoy it, don't go looking for 700rwhp.
Joe
Joe
Coming first hand from somebody who had finally achieved a strong reliable turbo tune w/o any of the " demons" so many complain about, then,.....for what ever reason,.....choose to abandon that power adder and sell it off to convert it to a more reliable N/A version instead,.....ill say this about that.
#1. The trigger wheel needs to be bolted on, and then the balancer needs to visit the machine shop to insure concentricity. If you go into something eyes wide open, some of the processes will not seem so time consuming or costly.
IIRC you've done this already , why are you still wrestling with it now? If you haven't, banging your head trying to center a wheel that can't be off by more than .030, then possibly permanently welding it that way is a sure fire guarantee that it'll end up in a machine shop one way or the other. Regardless of whether or not you keep the turbo, you chose CNP as your ignition system, and you gotta get this behind you.
#2. Guys who convert back high power forced induction builds to "stockish" will be spending money at some point down the road again after having had it ( boost) before, unless the stockish engine makes up for the loss of power somewhere else.
The problem isn't the turbo,...the problem is the fact that what you had yesterday can be even more tomorrow, and more, and more until what was a freaking blast to drive at 400 WHP is now a snarling, parts breaking, high octane guzzling 700+ hp version instead. And all for the sake of bragging points at the dyno.
It's common knowledge now, I'm converting back, after converting back. I guess if the engine I have would've been a 351, and capable of 350-400 WHP with nothing else, maybe the ITB's that are now on my engine would be more than enough to keep me smiling when I press down on the go pedal. But I don't. W/o the benefit of that power adder I now have a noisy little child instead.
You on the other hand have that already. You have never really had the chance to become "addicted" to boost yet.
There is a way to have a turbo and not need to worry about reliability, but you have to know when to say when.
The engine in the sig pic was my " come to Jesus" moment...1363hp that wouldn't go down the track w/o killing itself. It took three times for me to scrap that, and buy a Studebaker.
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I'd love to take it somewhere, but going to one income recently really kicked me in the nuts. If I can't make it work for free, then I may have to go back to TFI.
Although.... I do have some heads I can refurb and sell...
Which is also kind of what brought me to the point of going back NA. if something happens again and results in any kind of failure, I'm stuck. I can't fix it. Hence, make it run as problem free as I can manage to keep it on the road. In a few years, I'll have a budget for F.O. money again and I can play with forced induction again.
In your signature is says "........ - Hindsight in Motion"
Lets keep the hindsight 20/20, we all know turbo cars can be ticking time bombs and if you have zero money to throw at it then you should just stop now and revert back to NA. I'm not saying you should sell your turbo stuff but I suggest you shelf it and just get your car back on the road. Single income household, wife, and a new baby comes first. Our 5.0's are only a small part of our life and what good is this hobby if the car never leaves the garage yet sucks up most of your disposable income? You'd be able to beat on your 351w with confidence that it will take it, not so much with the turbo. If you have at least 3.55 gears then the 351w should be entertaining for a little while until you get your life in order. BTW, when is baby getting a sibling? You can't have just ONE bro!! I have #4 coming this week!
The issue with the 351 NA is the cereal bowl pistons and 72cc chambers. I think the CR is around 8.6:1. But it should run alright. It is certainly tempting... I have some shorty headers on the shelf, would only need to find a mid-pipe, but they're cheap.
I'd still have to sort out this ignition stuff one way or another...
Kid #2 is still a ways off. It's going to happen, just not yet. Congrats on #4! Is that the last one you think?
it will cost less than you think to have the trigger wheel turned down. call around and ask for a price.
The car will be very reliable if you keep the boost under #10 and tune it methodically.
The car will be very reliable if you keep the boost under #10 and tune it methodically.
Thanks and it will be the last, I will be getting "fixed" in a couple weeks
Well, after a little behind the scenes dealing, I just bought a new, better balancer. Working on a trigger wheel too. This ***should*** eliminate the issues I was having and get the damn thing running. Then, I'll deal with what comes next.
HotFox
15 Year Member
I would keep your current setup. You can always take it easy or park it if you have too to save up funds. I get the feeling this is also a kind of out for you to tinker and learn from to keep your sanity. I think you may get bored if you stay NA and drive yourself nuts from not having something to tinker with.
Not have something to tinker with? LOOOOOL
have you seen the pink monstrosity in my drive way?
HotFox
15 Year Member
Yes but I also seen you say on FB you may just sell it. So I figured maybe a newer truck or down to two vehicles
Man I thought about it, but after looking at what used trucks cost these days, I can’t afford to do anything other than keep patching the PPD back together. 8-10 year old F-250s still fetching $25k+!!!! I saw a ‘96 for $15,500.... it was cleaaan though.Yes but I also seen you say on FB you may just sell it. So I figured maybe a newer truck or down to two vehicles
I got nowhere, and yet somewhere tonight. The old balancer is off. The new balancer is marked, and I now know I can’t mount it the same way because the counter weight sticks out too far, so the wheel must go on the face of the balancer. I still need a new trigger wheel I think, and a way to mount it.
Have the center of the toothed wheel opened up to center on that shoulder...have the balancer turned down on the front face to offset the thickness of that trigger wheel, and bolt that btch together,
I like door #1. Gonna see where that gets me tomorrow at the local machine shop
Just so you know this ( in case you don't)
Once you figure out the trigger wheel mounting thing, and you rough orient the missing tooth to wherever you want it to go based on the intended location for your crank sensor, you need to find a way to positively lock that thing on the front of the balancer. I used 4 small counter sunk screws, and recessed the heads. If the machine shop you use can cut that center out of that wheel like they did mine, they'll have to bolt the thing to a fixture first to keep it stable so that process won't fuk up the wheel. After they do that, you should be able to use that center hub on the balancer to locate your trigger wheel so you won't have to worry about it being out of round. Then..........glue, screw, or weld that btch in place.
After all that............ And after you get the balancer back on the engine...........you absolutely have to determine TDC.
Once you establish true TDC, and ensure that your timing marks and pointer jive, the location for your pick up sensor can be 100% nailed down based on the information out there for where the thing is supposed to be located for a v8.
The bracket you make needs to be rigid, and adjustable. Recommended pickup gap is supposed to be between .030, and like ..080....( IIRC I used a piece of 16 ga. steel as a go/no go gauge, and stuck it between the sensor, and the trigger wheel tooth while I was tightening everything down) this kept it aligned properly too ( not cocked or twisted)
Once you figure out the trigger wheel mounting thing, and you rough orient the missing tooth to wherever you want it to go based on the intended location for your crank sensor, you need to find a way to positively lock that thing on the front of the balancer. I used 4 small counter sunk screws, and recessed the heads. If the machine shop you use can cut that center out of that wheel like they did mine, they'll have to bolt the thing to a fixture first to keep it stable so that process won't fuk up the wheel. After they do that, you should be able to use that center hub on the balancer to locate your trigger wheel so you won't have to worry about it being out of round. Then..........glue, screw, or weld that btch in place.
After all that............ And after you get the balancer back on the engine...........you absolutely have to determine TDC.
Once you establish true TDC, and ensure that your timing marks and pointer jive, the location for your pick up sensor can be 100% nailed down based on the information out there for where the thing is supposed to be located for a v8.
The bracket you make needs to be rigid, and adjustable. Recommended pickup gap is supposed to be between .030, and like ..080....( IIRC I used a piece of 16 ga. steel as a go/no go gauge, and stuck it between the sensor, and the trigger wheel tooth while I was tightening everything down) this kept it aligned properly too ( not cocked or twisted)
I know I'm within a red cnt hair of TDC now, as I got it as close as I could feel last night, but how can I absolutely guarantee without a gauge of some sort?
Alright, I went to the machine shop. "Why don't you just grind the opening more so it's loose in the middle, bolt it finger tight, tap it with a hammer to get the run out good, then weld it on?"
If it was a poisonous snake hanging in front of me, I'd have been dead months ago.
Thanks, mr. machinist. Also, you could tell he really didnt wanna fuk with it, LOL.
If it was a poisonous snake hanging in front of me, I'd have been dead months ago.
Thanks, mr. machinist. Also, you could tell he really didnt wanna fuk with it, LOL.
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- Apr 4, 2018
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Alright, I went to the machine shop. "Why don't you just grind the opening more so it's loose in the middle, bolt it finger tight, tap it with a hammer to get the run out good, then weld it on?"
If it was a poisonous snake hanging in front of me, I'd have been dead months ago.
Thanks, mr. machinist. Also, you could tell he really didnt wanna fuk with it, LOL.
I guess I've done well to find a machine shop to take on my odd projects so readily(and not just look at me crazily). ball joint cups? Sure! brake caliper adapters? Here's how we can do it cheaper! If you ever feel like driving up to Bryan check out Vilas Motor works.
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