Turbo powering a 89 trans am

[CaminoKid]

I have a 1989 Trans Am with the 305 full roller and am looking at putting a turbo on and wanted to know if anybody had great concerns and what would be the most cost affective way to do it.We have a lift and build most of your own motors and trans,but turbos we have not got into yet.Thanks

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: Turbo powering a 89 trans am

Make the system easily removable, that way when the 305 blows up you can get another free one and quickly swap them out. Any SBC kit for plumbing would probably work.

[fahrenschnell]

Re: Turbo powering a 89 trans am

I agree with silverbuick, I have dealt with that motor quite a bit, and would make it easily removable.

The other problem you may find is that the 305 had an extremely low redline (4800-5000 if memory serves me right) which may cause problems because turbos generally come on stronger with RPM.

BUT

The nice thing is that the kit would swap directly to a 350. This way you can test the system on the 305, work out the kinks, then blow up the 305 and drop in a 4 bolt main 350 that can handle more RPM and Boost. Stick with a truck 350 and you will get the added benefit of lower compression.

[dieselgeek]

Re: Turbo powering a 89 trans am

without a doubt I'd head over to Robert1320's site (turboforums.com) and pose the same question. This would be a great candidate for a DIY, junkyard turbo setup. The biggest thing you need to consider IMO is whether or not you want to do a blowthru carb, or EFI.

If you go with EFI, that's where I can help. But I usually suggest doing the EFI conversion well before the turbo install so you can get comfortable with the diagnostics and tuning, THEN add the turbo. No doubt, EFI is a steeper learning curve than the blowthru carb, but EFI has advantages in economy, ease of retuning and running alternative fuels, etc. Check out the turboforums.com site, that place is an incredible resource for DIY and commercial turbo configurations!

-scott

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Turbo powering a 89 trans am

350 vin M gets you low compression , 4 bolts mains and usually a steel crank , a buddy did a turbo small block using tpi , a used grand national turbo ,a typhoon ecm and typhoon map sensor , I believe typhoon/syclone were speed density wasn't much of a drag racer in a 56 plymouth belvedere , but was a monster on the highway