Slant 6 Turbo 68Dart Project
So that's $250 I don't get to spend on the turbo project. You all know how it goes...
I know EXACTLY how that goes... I FINALLY got my race car (kind of) "operational," after waiting FIVE YEARS to see how it runs (if, at all,) and during the very first run, a clamp on the cold side plumbing that wasn't as tight as it needed to be, allowed the plastic/rubber connector that seals the 2 1/2" discharge pipe to the carb hat, to come loose and allowed an undetermined amount of boost (I was only running ten pounds,) to escape, unbeknownst to me. The next run, that leak still existed, so the performance figures for that, my only other run, were pretty much invalid.
So, I still don't know how this thing performs. A 13.71 quarter WITH the leak and a passenger riding (190 pounds) were all the numbers I got. I guess I should be happy with that...:banghead:
To top it off, something happened to my transmisssion on that run; when I went to put the car on the trailer, it wouldn't back up and, in fact, tried to move forward no matter which gear was selected... including Park, Neutral and Reverse...
I am not in physical condition to remove that 904, so Iwill have to pay somebody to do it so I can take it the 60 miles to the guy who built it to find out what is wrong. $$$$$$$$$$$$
Yes, I fully understand financial problems....:glasses7:
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But the point of that whole long-winded tirade was, I don't see how the degree of "tune" of a slant six (turbocharged) will (negatively) affect driveability since all versions of "tune", from mild to wild, use a camshaft with stock, or near-stock, duration. And, the wider lobe separation it is ground with, actually HELPS smooth the idle and assist in the production of low-end torque, Mixture tuning (and, perhaps the spark advance curve,) is/are the only thing(s) that would affect driveability in highly-modified turbo slants, and with an accurate A/F meter to tune with, that is workable.
Yet another advantage of turbos over hopping up an engine using conventional, naturally-aspirated methodology (long-duration cams, big carbs, and deep gears,) is this mild "personality."
IF you have the time and expertise (and patience to deal with tuning it,) a turbo'd slant six seems to make a whole lot more sense than a V8 swap into an A Body.
It's (usually) a "free" motor. (In most cases, comes with the car.)
Has waaay more spectator appeal at shows (it's rare.... unusual.)
It's lighter.
a 400hp slant has impecable road manners and driveability as opposed to a similarly-powerful V8 which will necessarily, have a ragged idle, and require a loose converter.
If you want to run your V8 swap on the highway as well as the drag strip, final drive gearing will require two sets of ratios (or, an expensive OD transmission,) which will, (in the absence of an OD,) require a rear housing with a drop out third member (8.75") while the turbo slant can effectively use a one-size-fits-all, cheaper 8.25" out of a late '70s Aspen/Volare or Duster or Dart Sport. It's been proven that they run quicker/faster with final drive ratios in the two's... go figure!
Every day, more equipment is being marketed for turbocharged cars, as it becomes more popular with the OEM factories, so it's not the difficult parts search it used to ne; the stuff IS out there, including ever-cheaper turbos.
And although it still ain't easy (for example, NOBODY yer builds a readily-available slant six, turbo header; you have to fashion your own,) overall, I think it's less work to bolt a turbo and all the necessary additional parts, on a slant six than it is to round up a 340.360 V8 and go through the time-consuming steps in gathering up the many changes necessary to get the V8 in there, and running.
A 500 hp 360 (unless it's a forced induction motor or on nitrou$,) is a handful, on the street; rough idle, hi stall converter, not much low end torque... a 400 hp turbo slant runs just like a stocker, UNTIL YOU GET ON IT!!! Not much in the way of driveability issues.
That is all just my opinion.... based on what I've been able to learn over the last five year I've been reseaerching this...
Good luck with whatever you decide to build!!!!:blob: It's all good!