blownZ24 Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Hey everyone. I just joined this site. I have a 1992 z-24 cavalier with a 3.1 and a 5 speed. Later this week or early next month im buying a donor 90 mclaren grand prix to do the turbo swap. Before I even drop the motor in my car its getting a full rebuild. Is there anything I should know before the engine goes under the knife??? How much boost can the turbo motor handle stock??? Heres the rundown on what my plans are -3.1 block honed and bored 0.030 over -Forged pistons -Forged crank -full port and polished heads -Spearco intercooler -FDP 62 mm throttle body -FFP underdrive pulley i have a few questions tho. with the strong enough internals, how big of a turbo can i run??? i know alot of people run t-3's,would a t3/t4 run good?? also what kind of cam would work well for a turbo engine with a fairly good size turbo??? i know crane has the 260H cam,would this work well,also with either 1.52 or 1.6 rocker arms???thats about all i have for right now,if anyone has any questions,tips or comments please put them my way,i need all the help i can get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burning Rom Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Not to sound like a jerk..but why are you going to buy a Mclaren and rip it apart if you're going to do a performance rebuild on a 3.1 motor anyway? There are very few things that you ACTUALLY need from a donor TGP when doing a performance build for a turbo 3.1 motor. Everything that you would need from the donor car can probably be found from somebody on either this board or the TGP boards....and it would spare a rare TGP. And as far as I know...the only things you really NEED are an ECM and maybe a wiring harness. Everything else can be purchased from parts stores/dealers, which most parts would be anyway since you are doing a performance build. I just don't like seeing TGPs destroyed...... EDIT: I just realized this....you have a 5spd. Are you going to run that with the turbo motor? If so...then you're gonna need a 5spd TGP memcal as well. Those are kinda hard to come by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
god910 Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 EDIT: I just realized this....you have a 5spd. Are you going to run that with the turbo motor? If so...then you're gonna need a 5spd TGP memcal as well. Those are kinda hard to come by. Oh, ther're not THAT *wink, wink* hard to come by. 8) I do agree w/ everything else that the Rom said. Especially if you are going w/ an aftermarket intercooler. Hell, that's half the battle anyway. And since it's going into a Cavi you can't use the x-over anyhow (Which is bad anyways and your going to have to get it fixed, might as well have someone make you the correct one) Unless there is something majorly wrong w/ the TGP then I would leave it for someone that is keep it together. Take your 3.1 and have at it. There is a thread just down a bit talking about what all is needed to do a T-V swap. (Mostly anyways.) I have the injectors you need PM me and we can talk about that and the chip you will need for the 5 speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blownZ24 Posted October 31, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 the reason its goin in my cavi and im not rebuilding the grand prix is becuz the grand prizx has 150,xxx miles,and the back half is totaled beyond all recognition.thats why its goin in my cavi,besides being totaled in the rear,the body on the mclaren is really shitty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Your really in uncharted waters with all those mods. There was some discussion of this, but the only way to get a different crank is to have a billet steel crank made. Probably about $2500. The pistons will be about $700. With those mods there is no way of telling how much power the 3.1 will be able to take. You will also want to upgrade the rods if you are going to do the pistons and crank. How big a turbo? Again who knows. How big of one will fit. I don't know that "alot" of guys are running t3's. And here goes the ol t3/t4 turbo. Thats like saying I'm getting a 4 wheeled car, its pretty meaningless. t3/t4 turbos have a wide wide range of power, depending on which t4 compressor you use. Best is to pick a horsepower and build to that. I would say that 400 to 500 hp shouldn't be out of reach. You can probably build the 3.1 to handle more power than your cavi will put to the road. I wouldn't go to large on the cam at all. The 260h might be ok, but I didn't have good results with the 2030. A custom grind might really be the only way to go, I'm not convinced any shelf cam will work on an engine that modified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blownZ24 Posted November 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 well some good news and some bad news,ive found out already the guy isnt goin to sell me his tgp,but ive come up with a more logical,practical way to run a 3.1 turbo in my Z. ive talked to a few people and im not gonna be able to run that much horsepower realiably in my car,so im gonna do a stock rebuild on a 3.1 n/a block,and piece together the rest with the turbo parts.since the 3.1's dont have much power above 5000 grand,im gonna go with a garrett .50 trim T3 turbo,i hear its a nice turbo for the engine,also im gonna try and keep the power mods down,so i still can have decent traction,heres what ive come up with -stock rebuilt engine -port and polished heads -62mm throttle body -FFP underdrive pulley -Saab 900 intercooler -custom x-over pipe and downpipe -check into the 5 speed performance chip -and a 3 inch exhaust - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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