Oh-Oh, no turbo, what now?

[Fl Ted]

Well, it looks like I've lept before I looked!
Bought an '86 Cab about 2 mo's ago, and have experienced a revival of the "guild the lilly" effect these cars seem to have on an otherwise rational person (not true, automobile "afficionados" are rarely rational ) I've owned a '68 912 since 1977, and just sold it this past fall,and there was always something to repair/change/upgrade, etc,etc,.Wasn't looking for another P car, it found me! Had to change out the steering wheel, and in the search for parts, came across this site. The threads pertaining to adding a turbo to a stock 3.2 got my attention, and I started accumulating turbo parts to do a low boost mod. Don't want to open engine, as it had a top o'haul and rings only 4000 mi ago. When I bought the car, the PO said it was a euro model, which I thought nothing of at the time. I did a PPI with a friend who has a high-end (MB, Jag, Por) shop, and talked at great length with the shop that had done the o'haul and all other maint since 2001. The subject of the euro engine never came up.
After browsing Andersons book I find that the euro spec 930/20 engine has 231hp , but a 10.3:1 comp ratio!!
I certainly don't want to turbo on that, and I don't want to open the engine, at least not now.
So, I'm looking for the best way to get more HP for this model engine via the bolt-on route. I'm now thinking headers, (don't really need heat), no cat, sport muffler, chip.
What do you guys think? Open to all opinions. It runs good now, compression, oil pressure, temps all good, but you can never have "too much" HP!
TIA, TED

[Emission]

Make the car lighter. Easier (and less expensive) that all those mods!

[RickM]

The low boost turbo solution pioneered by Protomotive (Prototech in FLA) has proven to be quite successful. When starting with a healthy engine you should be fine. No other bolt-ons will get you near in HP.

[Jamie79SC]

Rick - Can you safely turbo a 10.3:1 comp engine? I can't imagine how.

[JeremyD]

Originally posted by RickM
The low boost turbo solution pioneered by Protomotive has proven to be quite successful. When starting with a healthy engine you should be fine. No other bolt-ons will get you near in HP.

I wouldn;t do that with a euro 3.2. Even at sea level with decent 93 octane gas.

I think with the euro - GHL or Euro headers, Free flow muffler, extrude hone intake, bore throttle body - but all this will be incremental compared to blowing it.

[Fl Ted]

Emiss:
Yeah, thats what I did to my 912, plus eng mods. But not much I can lighten with out loosing creature comforts (read: A/C, which I'm not about to lose! as a matter of fact I just ordered the Rennaire kit to upgrade the a/c) The whale tail and deck lid weigh a ton, and I just let a f/g ducktail go with the 912! Dang!) But I like the whale tail. I'm thinking about f/g front spoiler & rear valance, and dumping the cat will shed a little weight, but to make a real difference it would take 500 to1000 lbs reduction, as in "track car", and if I wanted to do that I would have bought an early coupe, which I plan to do at some future date. So I need more HP to haul this 3k lb "whale" around !

[RickM]

Originally posted by Jamie79SC
Rick - Can you safely turbo a 10.3:1 comp engine? I can't imagine how.

Hmmm, You all may be right....it may be too risky.

The best place to ask may be here: http://pub12.ezboard.com/fprotomotiveasktheexpert?page=1

It's where many of our turbo and track guys go to ask this type of question.

[Fl Ted]

Rick: With the US engine (9.5:1) you're limited to .5 bar without intercooler. 10.3 is just too risky !!

Jeremy: Is the Tampa bay meet still on for Sat ?

[JeremyD]

yep - still on

[Evans, Marv]

Why don't you just sell it & get something faster or find a decent turbo? Another option would be to get a US model & put a blower on it. Maybe you could sell the engine & get another one more to your liking. All possibilities. Good luck. You sound like you've been bitten by a horsepower bug. The cure could cost you big $.

[sammyg2]

Any engine can be safely turbocharged including yours, you just can't put much boost into it.
boost levels are adjustable for just that reason.

With that engine I bet you could safely go to 4 psi, maybe 5. Hard to say without some careful testing. I know that doesn't sound like much, but you will get three times more torque and horsepower increase from that small amount of boost than you will get from all the other bolt-ons in the world.
4 psi boost on that engine would prolly be good for 50 to 60 hp and increase the top of the useable powerband at least 500 rpm.
You won't get anywhere near that from an expensive, shiny exhaust and a chip, I don't care what the glossy adds say.

My engine is 9.3 to 1 and I'm running 7 psi with no problems and I don't have one of them fancy 'lectronic engine management systems like you have. The only thing that is keeping me from hitting 9 psi is the addition of an intercooler that is somewhere off in the future.

Boost is only risky if you go too far. That's why we don't start with 2 bar and work down, we start at the bottom and carefully work up.

I say put the turbo on with the boost set very low and monitor A/F ratios, exhaust temperatures, and pre-detonation. If all those things are fine, increase the boost 1/2 psi and monitor again. Keep going utill you start approaching the upper end of the safe limit, then STOP!

[Fl Ted]

Marv and Sammy: Both good points, I'll have to consider pros/cons of both.
Thanks,
Ted

[Hugh R]

Get a Steve Wong chip. It did wonders for my 84 930/20 ROW motor.