71 Valiant SL6 turbo questions

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308ServiceConsultant

308ServiceConsultant

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Hi everyone, I was gifted a cool little car from a good friend who no longer wanted it. It's a 71 valiant with a 3.7 slant six, 99k original miles on it, no major leaks or issues, besides the interior... it's a wreck...
She gets pretty good gas mileage as it is, but I think it's capable of doing a little better with some hard work and ingenuity.. As much as I'd love to throw a low budget 360 v8 in it with some screamin street gears, I'v got my mind focused a little more on a comfortable economy daily driver!
I've been doing some reading on a turbo set up.
I've already taken a look at Mike Hollers articles on an economy turbo set up on a slant six @ http://www.allpar.com/fix/holler/turbosix.html but it's a little hard for me to understand being that I've never gotten my hands dirty with working on a turbo engine... In one of Mike Holler's articles he said that he matched up a turbo for the low revving slant six engine to be out of an 80's model 2.2/2.5L Chrysler.. So that's where I started my search to find a turbo first of all.. well I found one! in the very town I work, sitting on the self of a salvage yard indoors unexposed to the elements, what condition it's in I don't know (I haven't seen it in person) but the guy told me it's out of an 89 Chrysler new Yorker 2.2 and he'd let it go for 75$
I pulled up a picture from Alldata of the turbo set up on that new Yorker and found out that the turbo is a garrett t3 and it's water cooled, any one know if or how this can be confirmed? also the picture on alldata looked rather complicated as far as how it was set up for cooling? this is where I need help/ advise, would I be in over my head to tackle this on my own? I mean.. I'm no "Mike Holler" after all... I'm looking for ANY help/advise that I can get!... Thank in advance!
 
On an OEM T3 there are four lines - two coolant (in and out) , a threaded oil inlet port and a flanged oil drain.

You can use the heater hose circuit to feed water to the coolant hoses. HOwever, you don't need it if you let the engine/turbo cool down after running.

You do need an oil feed from the oil pump and drain line to the oil pan.
 
308ServiceConsultant said:
Hi everyone, I was gifted a cool little car from a good friend who no longer wanted it. It's a 71 valiant with a 3.7 slant six, 99k original miles on it, no major leaks or issues, besides the interior... it's a wreck...
She gets pretty good gas mileage as it is, but I think it's capable of doing a little better with some hard work and ingenuity.. As much as I'd love to throw a low budget 360 v8 in it with some screamin street gears, I'v got my mind focused a little more on a comfortable economy daily driver!
I've been doing some reading on a turbo set up.
I've already taken a look at Mike Hollers articles on an economy turbo set up on a slant six @ http://www.allpar.com/fix/holler/turbosix.html but it's a little hard for me to understand being that I've never gotten my hands dirty with working on a turbo engine... In one of Mike Holler's articles he said that he matched up a turbo for the low revving slant six engine to be out of an 80's model 2.2/2.5L Chrysler.. So that's where I started my search to find a turbo first of all.. well I found one! in the very town I work, sitting on the self of a salvage yard indoors unexposed to the elements, what condition it's in I don't know (I haven't seen it in person) but the guy told me it's out of an 89 Chrysler new Yorker 2.2 and he'd let it go for 75$
I pulled up a picture from Alldata of the turbo set up on that new Yorker and found out that the turbo is a garrett t3 and it's water cooled, any one know if or how this can be confirmed? also the picture on alldata looked rather complicated as far as how it was set up for cooling? this is where I need help/ advise, would I be in over my head to tackle this on my own? I mean.. I'm no "Mike Holler" after all... I'm looking for ANY help/advise that I can get!... Thank in advance!
Click to expand...

I am far from an expert at anything "turbo," having very little real-world, hands-on experience in the meager 4-years I have been trying (like yourself) to learn what I can about them, but a few things stand out.

It seems like it's not a very good idea to swap a mismatched turbocharger, in terms of size, from a small-displacement engine to a larger one, if that difference is dramatic. The most successful "junkyard" swaps i have noticed, have been units like the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) turbos off 3.8-liter, V-6, Buick Grand National motors, which differ only a few cubic inches (six?) from our 225 motors. A turbo from a 2.2-liter engine will be "running out of breath" by the time your 225 gets to 4,000 rpm.

That may not sound too bad in view of your original contention that high-performance is not your goal, but in actual practice, I would bet that within a short time, you'd be trying to figure out a way to remedy this "strangulated" situation.

My advice, would be to try to trade that small turbo for one more compatible with the flow demands of a 225 motor. You'll be a lot happier in the long run, I believe.

Turbocharging is not a simple nor easy path to take, in any case, but because of a lot of contributory factors having to do with engine design, forced inductrion and the slant six seems to be an excellent choice!

I really hope you don't become discouraged with this project, because, even though it comes a considerable cost in terms of time and effort. the payoffs are well worth the expenditure, I believe!

Boost is addictive!! :cheers:

Good luck!!!
 
robertob said:
On an OEM T3 there are four lines - two coolant (in and out) , a threaded oil inlet port and a flanged oil drain.

You can use the heater hose circuit to feed water to the coolant hoses. HOwever, you don't need it if you let the engine/turbo cool down after running.

You do need an oil feed from the oil pump and drain line to the oil pan.
Click to expand...

robertob, thanks for your reply, very helpful information. I went to that salvage yard and the guy at the front desk had me follow around one of his employees throughout damn near the whole place... no turbo in sight... but from what Bill Dedman has said I may want to re-evaluate my wants/needs for a turbo... anyways, thanks!
 
Bill Dedman said:
I am far from an expert at anything "turbo," having very little real-world, hands-on experience in the meager 4-years I have been trying (like yourself) to learn what I can about them, but a few things stand out.

It seems like it's not a very good idea to swap a mismatched turbocharger, in terms of size, from a small-displacement engine to a larger one, if that difference is dramatic. The most successful "junkyard" swaps i have noticed, have been units like the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) turbos off 3.8-liter, V-6, Buick Grand National motors, which differ only a few cubic inches (six?) from our 225 motors. A turbo from a 2.2-liter engine will be "running out of breath" by the time your 225 gets to 4,000 rpm.

That may not sound too bad in view of your original contention that high-performance is not your goal, but in actual practice, I would bet that within a short time, you'd be trying to figure out a way to remedy this "strangulated" situation.

My advice, would be to try to trade that small turbo for one more compatible with the flow demands of a 225 motor. You'll be a lot happier in the long run, I believe.

Turbocharging is not a simple nor easy path to take, in any case, but because of a lot of contributory factors having to do with engine design, forced inductrion and the slant six seems to be an excellent choice!

I really hope you don't become discouraged with this project, because, even though it comes a considerable cost in terms of time and effort. the payoffs are well worth the expenditure, I believe!

Boost is addictive!! :cheers:

Good luck!!!
Click to expand...

Bill, thanks a lot for your reply! I've got some rethinking to do as far as a turbo goes. Do you have any idea what size turbo was on those 3.8 Grand Nationals?... So, different turbo, ok no biggie no money was spent on a turbo yet, but as far as a manifold goes?? there are a couple different custom metalwork shops near where I live. I had a couple different ideas, of course I could have them make me a manifold. But could it be efficient to just make a turbo flange to bolt onto the stock /6 manifold?
 
Thanks for the reply!

From where I sit, you need a plan, a plan based on several parameters; COST, performance, and ease of getting it done.

I started out down this learning curve/road about 4 years ago, knowing virtually nothing of turbos, or sixes, having had a lifetime of experience in hot rodding V8s. My racing partner (Freddie Nielsen,) and I am pretty much the same age (he's 76; I am 75) and both have been drag racing since the 1950's but always with 273/340/360 MOPARS. Realizing that we were not going to live forever... (nobody is...) one day, we looked at each other and said; "Let's build one more car... a six! We've never built a six!"

So, we started gayhering information and materials to put together this "last-gasp" effort, with a LOT of help from guy (FABO member Tom Wolfe,[FABO moniker: shaker233],) up in Michigan.

He had built a '70 Dart with a series of 225 turbo motors, the latest version of which had run 11-secondas flat at 122mph, into a 15mph headwind, in a 3,300-pound car. That takes a little over 500 horsepower...

He took us by the hand and,with more than a little patience with these two old codgers, led us down the primrose path to boost, explaining what he had learned along the way. His advice/info was comprehensive and correct.... and, of inestimable value! We'll owe him, always...

So, if you understand where I am coming from, here, I GET IT, where you're at in this project, having been down the same road, not too long ago, myself.

In building this project, I amassed a lot of information/photos (a picture really IS worth a thousand words!,) which I will be more than happy to share with you via email. Just send me your email address. Mine is

[email protected]

Knowledge is power. And, this is free... :)

Let me hear from you soon. There's lots to know... :)

Bill
 
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