83 930 turbocharger upgrade--HELP !
 

I have owned this car for a few years and within the last 2 years upgraded the stock turbo and intercooler. I went with a k27/29 and the improvement was dramatic to say the least. I did not invest in headers primarily because I was a bit scared of breaking a stud or 4 and was told rightly or wrongly by another Porsche enthusiast that he thought the euro car exhaust was a little better than the stock system put on the earlier American turbo cars. I upgraded ignition to an msd 6al unit. all in all, the car ran surprisingly strong. as I am sure you can tell, iwas/am on a budget and wanted the most bang for my buck.. recently, the turbo blew a seal and I either have to have it refurbished, or I can purchase a different turbo. really need some advice on this one. was the k27/29 a good choice or is there something else I should consider?? also, I was pulling up to 1 bar with the aforementioned turbo and stock wastegate. motor is stock otherwise. any recommendations ? anything else I should do in addition to upgrading the turbo and intercooler that will yield a real seat of the pants difference without spending a lot of money ? I fully recognize that "Porsche 930", "added performance" and "budget" don't belong in the same sentence(lol), but hell, I thought I would at least ask !!

Assuming you're not opposed to modding (which you shouldn't be), most members here will tell you that the best bang for the buck on the 930 is headers, intercooler, exhaust and turbo. Changing these three pieces with the right combo and 1bar of boost will get you around 350whp with fuel tuning. The key is definitely fuel tuning to make sure the motor doesn't lean out. I would also tell you that if you're on stock clutch it likely won't last long.

The pieces noted will transform the car to be honest.

The K27 isn't a bad turbo at all. You can certainly do better. However - if you're on a budget I would recommend you rebuild the K27 and deploy your fun budget to get headers/exhaust as it will make a pretty dramatic difference.

Good thing is - all the parts are bolt-on and if you keep the stock stuff you can always go back, or sell them with the car.

If you're looking to upgrade that turbo you'd do well to look at a GT3582 conversion. TurboKraft is a good source for the turbo. - Again, just understand that moving to a turbo like this will require fuel tuning to make sure your AFR's are safe in boost.

As to your concerns over the studs; soak them well with rust penetrant like "PB Blaster" for 48 hours in multiple applications. Apply heat at the time of removal and you should have success.


Good luck and have fun modding! The aforementioned items will really wake the car up!

- Chris.

The K27/29 won't reach full potential using the Euro exhaust, and will also suffer from lag for the same reason. A better fit is the K27-7200 if you do not plan to add headers any time soon.
Did you buy this turbo new or used? The K27 series turbos are very robust and should last 100K miles. Have you verified your oil scavenging system is properly balanced? The last thing you want is to blow a new turbo by not fixing the root cause of the current turbo's troubles.

First of all, what's a K27/29? I am far from a turbo expert, but typical applications for our cars would be the stock 3LDZ, and usual upgrades are either the 7200 or 7006 versions of the KKK turbos.

As to pulling 1.0 bar with the stock wastegate....NOT. Stock is set at .8 bar, so you must have a different spring in there.

Get yourself an intercooler that's larger than stock, and it's a good HP gain. Turbos....the 7200 will give you quicker spool time than the stock 3LDZ, and the 7006 will give you more sustained top end boost. Depends on how you plan to drive.

I don't know the change over years, but I think it's correct that the Euro exhaust is less restrictive in general.

You've already upgraded your ignition, which is good. Consider cranking up the advance....it makes a nice difference, but you'll need provisions to bleed off the extra advance once boost starts building.

So, re-reading you post: Stock muffler???? Get rid of it. Catalytic converter.... in the trash. Larger than stock IC, free-flow muffler and/or header setup, programmable ignition curve, and upgraded cams would be all you need to put yourself into a budget friendly ballpark.

K27/29 is a hybrid turbo. IIRC, k27-7200 hotside, k29 coldside. Almost 7200 spool speed with 7006 top end. If I'm buying a new turbo today BW S362 all the way.