What to do first, H/C/I or single turbo?

This is really what I would do as well, Turbo now, and then save for your new long block.

Once you've got the Beef'd up new block and rotating assembly, THEN choose your HCI (might need 185s at that point, or something different, you never know), then your trans, then your rear end.

Turbo it now, because otherwise you never will, most who "build-up" with bolt-ons and the like, in preparation for the boost, usually never go through with it.

Talk to a turbo builder. He'll tell you exactly what is ideal for their kit. So you're not buying parts twice. Either way you go, you're going to be tearing it down to the head gaskets. I went HCI and now I'm going turbo. Everything depends on what your ideal goals are for the car. I know a stroked dart block is in my future. Talk to Ivan at www.turbotimepsi.com. He's knows his stuff and his kits make big power on stock bottem ends.

even though i was so close to turbocharging my car, i decided againts it due to all the additional costs involved. Plus, i *could* have blown up anything at any moment and at this point in my life i cant have that. down the road after school i will build a ridiculous dart based, t-76 powered, stick car

yellow5.0cobra said:

I guess i'll just sum it all up for you, go turbo and forget about it.

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There ya have it.
I had a H/C/I car with nitrous. It was fun. But if I knew then, what I knew now, I'd never bought the nitrous kit. And if I knew it even farther back, probably never woulda got the H/C/I/. Since you can split the block with stock ford iron.

In my humble opinion,
MY train of thought is as follows,
By the turbo FIRST,it gets a lump sum payment out of the way, and it will give you the gains right off the bat, (instant satisfaction) so to speak.. If tuned PROPERLY and i emphasive on PROPERLY! (detonation kills motors not power adders...) you shouldnt have TOO many problems, but know... that there is an element of risk with ANY power adder.

Then start saving your money to build a REAL motor...
think about it... If you just buy heads/cam/intake... then 6 months later add a turbo, without bolstering your bottom end, your gonna feel PRETTY BAD if you throw a rod/piston up through those high dollar (3000$ plus investment) aluminum heads/intake.

Where as you can pretty much throw on the turbo with a GOOD TUNE!!! and have a good time... if something does let loose... your only out a stock motor..

when you do decide to build a motor, do it right... forged crank/rods/pistons THEN add your $$$ heads/intake/cam that matches YOUR specific application.

what runs great on an N/A car wont necessarily be what you want for a power adder car, especially one as versitile and potent as a turbo.

p.s. one more thing to think about, with more power comes the need for supporting hardware- Tranny that can withstand high torque/upgraded clutch/ beefed up rear/axles/boost controlers/ignition upgrades/fuel upgrades
then you have to be able to "put the power to the ground" which means better tires/suspension upgrades....

It can be a viscious cycle of breakages if you arent careful.. but can be alot of fun too as long as your patient and spend your $$$ wisely.:SNSign:

turbo

thats what im doing. no more money going to mods(i didnt spend any yet since i bought the car this way)for the motor/exhaust.

mo_dingo said:

Running 400HP on the stock block is asking for engine problems. 8PSI will get you 320 rwhp. H/C/I will get you 320rwhp.

With the h/c/i, you will have a completely brand spanking new top end. Which means you don't have to worry about valves/springs/head gaskets blowing. The only major problem is that your bottom end could go.

With a turbo, you have stock everything, so you could blow anything on your engine. The injectors/fuel pump/MAF will be new (usually), but those aren't major components.

So if it's a daily driver, with above 50k on the longblock, I personally would get a h/c/i combo. Money ends up being the same, but dependability is increased 10-fold w/ the h/c/i. But that's JMO.
Scott

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First of all, 8psi should be right at about 370 at the wheels. Much more than HCI.

I say turbo all the way and here is why:

1. A trubo will make way more power, plus it would make enough power at 10-14 psi to harm the block, therefore maybe you would just stick with the stock heads for good.

2. The most important reason is so that you would not have to buy a MAF, injectors etc. twice. For a HCI you would want 24-30 lb injectors and a turbo would be 42-50lb. You would most likely run a different MAF also. So it will cost you more in the long run and why do it all twice??

3. There was a comment about the hassle of taking the turbo stuff off to put h/c/i on if you went turbo first. I completely do NOT agree with that as being a concern. I can take my turbo stuff off in about an hour. Even better, last week, I took all my turbo stuff off, tore the motor down to JUST the shortblock sitting in the engine bay, to having the car running again with the turbo completely back on in about 12 hours. That is no more than a weekend job if you are at all capable.

4. Another major thing to think about if the tune. You would most likely need a tune after each, so keep that in mind.

5. Most importantly, turbos are SWEET!

DISCLAMER:

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THOUGH, THAT IF YOU ARE NOT CAPABLE OF DOING THIS STUFF ON YOUR OWN, NOT ONLY DO I NOT RECOMMEND GOING TURBO FIRST, I WOULD NOT DO IT "EVER". JOE IS RIGHT ABOUT RELIABILITY, BUT THAT IS SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO DETERMINE ON YOUR OWN.


p.s. I would try that clutch before getting a new one. It should hold up to 5-8 psi alright on street tires. The tranny probably won't though (T5).