Hello all I am fairly new to using turbos. I added one to a 4 cylinder Isuzu impulse ten years ago with success but now I would like to add one to a V8 motor in my international scout. My question is this:

-do both exhaust manifolds need to run through the turbo on a V8 motor or is only 1 side needed to run through the turbo while the other exhaust bank can be run out like it normally would be without a turbo?

-The only reason I am asking this is it appears that the 70's "Macho T/A" trans am came with a turbo on the 400 V8 with just one exhaust bank running to the turbo so I was wondering what the positives and negatives are to plumbing the turbo with just one exhaust manifold vs. both?


THanks !!! Sorry if this is a dumb question but I need to formulate a plan before starting!!!!

 

On a single turbo system both banks of a V engine supply the the exhaust to the turbo. On a twin turbo system one bank per turbo .

 

This has been discussed here a few times, and the short answer is that you want it fed by both banks.

 

I don't think the macho ta was turbocharged. It was just a tuned up 400 with headers.

 

There was an option for a turbo system on the macho TA. A single turbo supplied by one bank isn’t a good idea. Saab did it which was a crap design.

 

Cool. I worked on one for a guy several years ago. I had never heard of them prior to that, and did some reading on them and never saw anything about a turbo.

 

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I spotted that after I did a google search on turbo macho ta.

The one I dealt with was gold, but I don't remember if it was 2 tone. It had that same camel toe interior, and goofy 4pt roll bar as the car in the pic. Iirc this car had a butler 455 with edelbrock heads and a hydraulic cam. I know it had a very nice quadrajet and hydraulic cam because I set the carb and timing and adjusted the valves. It was a strong engine. I really didn't care for working on it because it was such a nice car.

 

That sounds quite exotic, did it smell.... fishy?

 

Lmao

 

Nah, had pretty much the same funky smell all the rest of the mid-late 70s American junk did.

(I saw what you did there...just glad you noticed what I did there)

 

I'm rollin here!

 

Can anyone give me the link to any conversations on here or anywhere else where they discuss why the single fed turbo is a bad design? I'd like to learn all I can about this subject.....Thanks!!!

 

Exhibit A.
https://www.theturboforums.com/threads/1995-3-8-v6-custom-turbo-progression-thread.384989/

This guy has tried just about everything people say will not work.

I don't understand why folks try to do things a different way from what is proven to work, and work well. I know it is easier to "just use one bank", but the entire package needs to be balanced. If you only use one bank, you are not taking advantage of all the drive pressure the engine has to offer. It also puts more heat and backpressure on that single bank.

 

Thanks for the link and the logic behind it. That's what I was looking for actual reasons for using both banks and specific negative causes from using only 1 bank.....

P.S. checked out the link you sent me. It was (enlightening) to say the least......

 

It’s one thing if a guy try’s to turbocharge one half of a V engine but to have a car company of “Swedish jet engineers” it’s a complete joke lol! If the other project they were working on was hilarious a variable displacement engine where the head moves up and down lmao! Good thing GM dropped Saab like a prom night dumpster baby ! Yes I was watching some Family Guy.

 

You would trying to drive a compressor large enough to feed 8 cylinders with a small enough turbine to be efficient with half of the exh energy. Its like a geo metro engine powering a 3/4 ton pickup....

It would also have two banks that want/need two separate ign, fuel curves, and valve events. There's really no positive.