Starting my first basic twin turbo build.. This is my first post on the site but I've been reading and learning for a while. I'm 20 and in college so my budget is minimal and consequently am building a very budget friendly build that should handle 6psi for a good amount of time.

The block is a 1995 350 4 bolt 1 piece rear main out of a pickup and the bottom end is going to be stock excluding new rod bearings, main bearings, and piston rings.

I'm hoping to have this build done by next spring so it's ready for summer tuning, but it's hard to say exactly when I'll be done because I can only work on the motor when A. At home and B. Have cash

My plan is to go with twin eBay GT35s .70/.82 and run 6-8 psi. I'm also converting an Edlebrock 650 for blowthru. While it's not ideal it'll be a fun first build and hopefully a good learning experience. And of course any suggestions or help would be appreciated because I'm pretty much teaching myself everything.

Anyways here's a few pictures showing where I'm at right now. Got the block cleaned, painting tomorrow, stock crank got polished but I'm still waiting to get new rings and bearings, should be in the next couple weeks.
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Great project!

The fellow who built my car used an edelbrock on it for years and spent hundreds of hours trying to get it to work right. Then finally he got a Holley for a few $ that needed work and he never looked back and got it dialed right in. Just food for thought...

Great car though I love it, and the 350 will wake RIGHT up with a few PSI.

 

will have more user support if doing the hangar 18 on a holley not saying you cant get an eddy to work though

 

I'm sort of expecting trouble with the Edlebrock, it's more a question of how long I can put up with all the tuning and when I can afford a Holley.

Another little update, finished painting the manifold block and water pump last night, I'm heading back to school for a couple weeks until winter break so won't be any posts till then. The "turbo" part of this build probably won't start until at least January, but hey as long as it's ready for the summer.

I've got new rings and bearings on the way and I want to port my vortec heads... That's about it for now.

I already appreciate the support it seems like I'm going to get throughout this build. Good to feel welcomed as a noob in the turbo community haha. Anyway. Pictures. #ad


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Been posting these on my phone lately, if the formatting is a little screwy or the pics suck let me know ill post from the computer.

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The pics look good, no problem there.... I use photobucket to post my pics as it is a place for me to backup my pics and they show up full sized on forums. Good luck with your school, it is nice having something to look forward to and have a project when you have time off.... Been there, done that, enjoyed my car projects while in school even though $ was tight my ambition level was high!

 

I have an edelbrock on my 350. It ran awesome. The trick is to get a wide band. I bought a PLX. They are around $200 shipped. They are real easy to install and make tuning a breeze. There is an article on how to convert the carb. I had mine done but I did the tuning. Tuning on a dry carb is soooooo easy! Pop the top change the jets needles and springs. It idled at afr of 17 it dropped to high 11's 12 when in full boost. It was fun before I took it apart. The boost was lifting the heads. I would use felpro gaskets and ARP head bolts. the factory bolts sucked and stretched and started to boost my coolant!

 

If you're looking for a set of headers let me know. I have a set of the china forward to t3 flange headers just taking up space in my barn, I'd let them go cheap.

Any side shot of the car?

 

A-Dave has a very clean Model A build using surplus M113 personnel carrier exhaust manifolds. They are still $39ea on ebay. The build thread also has a very clean D.I.Y. retard mechanism for the distributor.

If you don't mind soldering the SLC Free from 14point7 is not a bad unit. Make sure to get it with a sensor. $50 for a wideband is not a bad deal. I've used their products with success in past projects.

 

what is your compression ratio???

 

Thanks for the suggestions! Wideband and tuning kit was on my list, surprised to hear your heads were getting lifted away from the block, how much boost were you running? I know the head bolts are a smart move but if I'm only running 6-8 psi I'd rather skip it because my budget is so low.

Haha getting these suggestions at school makes me realllly want to get building... Soon enough

 

With the gaskets I've chosen, a smidge under 9. I'm running vortec heads so the small combustion chamber doesn't make things easier but I'm hoping that'll be low enough.

 

http://www.summitracing.com/expertadviceandnews/calcsandtools/compression-calculator

summits compression calc.

usually head gaskets are about .040 and the pistons are down the hole .010-.020 I usually split the diff at .015

 

Do you have a picture of the headers? I'm trying to stick with the upside down c10 shorty style headers because I'm not running an inter cooler for now and the shorty headers allow for the shortest path to the carb hat.

Here is a side shot from two years ago before I started doing anything performance related to the car. It had a 305 and a 7.5" rear end that my grandfather and I had originally put in the car ago years before. Also missing a headlight haha.

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Here's a video of the idle before I pulled the motor from about a month ago.

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m-4AUZ6kF4w&feature=youtu.be[/video]

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Another short update, just finished school for the semester so I should more time to make some legitimate progress.

I ended up having to buy new Pistons because one had a crack in one of the ring grooves. I realized this after having installed 6 of the pistons, of course. Anyway I'm pulling the Pistons today after biting the bullet and getting some hypereutectic summit ones on the cheap.

Pistons should be here by Saturday or Monday and I'll be quick to switch the new Pistons onto the rods.

No pictures this time because I haven't really made much progress, I should have an assembled long block before xmas... That's the plan at least.

 

Cool project and nice car! That will be a blast when you get it all together!

 

You would be MUCH better off buying forged pistons...you are spending 3/4 of the money anyway. Don't cheap out here. Hypers are known to be fragile in Nos or boost applications. Lorne

 

you're right, but I just don't have the cash rn. I'd rather get a whole forged bottom end down the road when I want to turn the boost up, for now I'm just in the learning stage and plan to keep it at 6lbs.
Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated!

 

Another quick update- I've been really busy with school managed to finish up the long block. Settled on ~8.75/1 compression and picked up some roller rockers off a friend. I recently had a stock pick shoot up and made some unexpected money so I went with forged Pistons as well. Exhaust manifolds are on the way now and I hope to order the turbos by mid March to start tuning before summer comes around. As the weather gets better I'll probably be updating more often as I get more impatient to get this thing out on the road. I'm also leaning towards adding a water to air barrel inter cooler- anyone have any experience with them? I've heard mixed opinions.

Here's a few more pictures of the Pistons/ long block starting to come together. #ad

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Another small update but I couldn't help but post the motor with the headers... Looks mean without any of the cool stuff! Ordering the turbos and wastegate a soon, and I'm dropping the motor into the car tomorrow. I've got about a week to work on things before I head back to school. I'll order the turbos and wastegate soon and I'm pretty set on an oil cooler as well. #ad


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Nother small update.. Dropped the motor in today and got started wiring up the wideband... Man I love being able to wrench on this thing all day.
Here's a few shots of the hot side fit- the steering column never touched much to my surprise. #ad
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