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73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Engine/Drivetrain => Topic started by: montezeric01 on March 31, 2019, 09:49:09 PM

Title: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on March 31, 2019, 09:49:09 PM
I’m still trying to decide what to do with my truck. At first I was thinking LS swap of course and still may go that route. But what would the price difference be if I just had my stock inline 6 in my 1981 c10 rebuilt and add a turbo vs an LS swap? And could a stock inline 6 handle a turbo?


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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Stewart G Griffin on April 01, 2019, 09:17:58 AM
i've got nothing against straight 6's even though the only one i ever had was in a 78 nova. (250)

A stock 6, apparently, can handle a turbo (if the boost is kept conservative) .  i have an older, detailed, Hot Rod article concerning this which i can scan in.   You'll have to be very patient, as i'm busy and may or may not get to it by this weekend, and maybe not at all.

i think you'll get more performance out of  an LS though.
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on April 01, 2019, 09:31:42 AM
i've got nothing against straight 6's even though the only one i ever had was in a 78 nova. (250)

A stock 6, apparently, can handle a turbo (if the boost is kept conservative) .  i have an older, detailed, Hot Rod article concerning this which i can scan in.   You'll have to be very patient, as i'm busy and may or may not get to it by this weekend, and maybe not at all.

i think you'll get more performance out of  an LS though.


I’d love to see it! And no rush as I’m still in the very early stages of deciding what I’d like to do with my truck! I may decide to still go with an LS swap but thinking about being different if I can get some decent HP out of the stock motor. But if it’s going to be the same or close to the same price as the LS swap I will just go that route


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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Smokehouse on April 01, 2019, 09:33:03 AM
I think a turbo 6 would have a one up on the cool factor when you open the hood at a car show.  You would have plenty of room under the hood for that.
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on April 01, 2019, 09:34:43 AM
I think a turbo 6 would have a one up on the cool factor when you open the hood at a car show.  You would have plenty of room under the hood for that.


That’s exactly what I’m thinking! I feel everyone has an LS swap in their truck and I’m not looking to win races with my truck but I’d still like to be able to do a burnout! Haha


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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: JohnnyPopper on April 01, 2019, 01:01:58 PM
Cool factor would be off the charts  ;D

However, to burn out you might consider a supercharger.
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on April 01, 2019, 03:04:56 PM
Cool factor would be off the charts  ;D

However, to burn out you might consider a supercharger.


May consider that option as well! Probably gonna look into switching to 4.10 gears as well!


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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Stewart G Griffin on April 01, 2019, 05:58:50 PM
Ready?

(https://i.imgur.com/sSsJ2uO.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/pTddJfb.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vmvCuif.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/cuR3qVl.jpg)


If you LIKE the engine and want to mess with a turbo, then fine.  But i think the easiest, fastest and cheapest way for more performance is to drop a 350 in there.  Gm performance has a few good ones for not too much $$$.    An LS swap might be easier, cheaper too.
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Irish_Alley on April 01, 2019, 07:22:54 PM
17.5 mpg. man those were some good numbers for a inline 6
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on April 01, 2019, 07:32:51 PM
Ready?

(https://i.imgur.com/sSsJ2uO.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/pTddJfb.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vmvCuif.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/cuR3qVl.jpg)


If you LIKE the engine and want to mess with a turbo, then fine.  But i think the easiest, fastest and cheapest way for more performance is to drop a 350 in there.  Gm performance has a few good ones for not too much $$$.    An LS swap might be easier, cheaper too.


Thanks for the article! I joined an inline 6 group on Facebook and I learned about how expensive it was today but I still feel like it would have the cool factor!


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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Irish_Alley on April 01, 2019, 07:34:10 PM
how much?
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Jason S on April 04, 2019, 09:35:19 PM
Thanks for the article! I joined an inline 6 group on Facebook and I learned about how expensive it was today but I still feel like it would have the cool factor!

That'd definitely be cool and out of the ordinary.  I recall from the 1990's looking over a 50's International truck that someone had turboed the I-6 and found it fascinating.
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: 75gmck25 on April 05, 2019, 05:40:33 AM
If you can find a modern turbo 6 cylinder that works, and pull all the electronic controls I think you would be surprised how responsive it can be.  Most are tuned for very good low end torque, and that is what you feel in daily driving.

I always wondered why my 2015 BMW 4 cylinder (2.0 liter, 240 hp) always felt so responsive in normal driving, and then I found this site with torque/HP curves for various engines.   https://www.automobile-catalog.com/curve/2015/1960550/bmw_328i_xdrive_steptronic.html
If you look at the torque curve for this 2.0 liter engine you can see that they have the turbo boost tuned so that the torque curve is nearly flat from 1250 RPM up to about 5000 RPM.  This means its almost always close to max torque when you hit the throttle, so power for passing or merging into traffic is always there.

Is there any modern turbo 6 that is an easy swap into a squarebody?  Maybe something from one of the GM SUVs?

Bruce
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on April 05, 2019, 07:17:15 AM
If you can find a modern turbo 6 cylinder that works, and pull all the electronic controls I think you would be surprised how responsive it can be.  Most are tuned for very good low end torque, and that is what you feel in daily driving.

I always wondered why my 2015 BMW 4 cylinder (2.0 liter, 240 hp) always felt so responsive in normal driving, and then I found this site with torque/HP curves for various engines.   https://www.automobile-catalog.com/curve/2015/1960550/bmw_328i_xdrive_steptronic.html
If you look at the torque curve for this 2.0 liter engine you can see that they have the turbo boost tuned so that the torque curve is nearly flat from 1250 RPM up to about 5000 RPM.  This means its almost always close to max torque when you hit the throttle, so power for passing or merging into traffic is always there.

Is there any modern turbo 6 that is an easy swap into a squarebody?  Maybe something from one of the GM SUVs?

Bruce


The only one I can think of is the new small duramax  it’s a turbo diesel but it’s a 4 cylinder


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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Stewart G Griffin on April 05, 2019, 08:54:05 AM
how much?

How much, what?
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Burkhalter on April 05, 2019, 09:15:06 AM
I saw a late 60s nomad station wagon at a car show with a I6 and 6 single barrel carbs with a custom built manifold to a supercharger. I would hate to be the to tune it. But it looked awesome. The carbs were even all anodized to match the paint color.
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Irish_Alley on April 05, 2019, 12:49:59 PM
Ready?

(https://i.imgur.com/sSsJ2uO.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/pTddJfb.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vmvCuif.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/cuR3qVl.jpg)


If you LIKE the engine and want to mess with a turbo, then fine.  But i think the easiest, fastest and cheapest way for more performance is to drop a 350 in there.  Gm performance has a few good ones for not too much $$$.    An LS swap might be easier, cheaper too.


Thanks for the article! I joined an inline 6 group on Facebook and I learned about how expensive it was today but I still feel like it would have the cool factor!


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how much?

How much, what?

how expensive it was
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on April 06, 2019, 07:23:12 AM
Ready?

(https://i.imgur.com/sSsJ2uO.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/pTddJfb.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vmvCuif.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/cuR3qVl.jpg)


If you LIKE the engine and want to mess with a turbo, then fine.  But i think the easiest, fastest and cheapest way for more performance is to drop a 350 in there.  Gm performance has a few good ones for not too much $$$.    An LS swap might be easier, cheaper too.


Thanks for the article! I joined an inline 6 group on Facebook and I learned about how expensive it was today but I still feel like it would have the cool factor!


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how much?

How much, what?

how expensive it was


They didn’t give exact numbers but they were telling me it’s more expensive per HP to build an inline 6 compared to swapping a 350 or LS swap


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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: Stewart G Griffin on April 07, 2019, 11:41:22 PM
RE: How much:

i guess if you have a welder and access to a pipe bender, you may be able to rig something up for fairly cheap?   But i look at things in terms of time as well.  And i think the easiest, quickest, cheapest, fastest way to get more power is to drop a 350 (or ANY small block) in there EVEN with all  the extra parts needed.

Another thing to consider is that with the turbo, there will be some/a lot of screwing around with the carb to get it right.  Whereas with a 350 with stock to mild cam, with a good dual-plane manifold, it won't take much if any messing around with the carb to get it running right.  Something off the shelf will likely work ok.  (Just my opinion)

The FAST fuel injection says it works with turbos and if true then this might be a game-changer for you?

The bottom line for me is: IF you LIKE the engine AND you have the time and $$$ to screw around with it, then that is a good enough reason to proceed.   Hopefully you have another car to use as transportation......
Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on April 08, 2019, 12:16:30 AM
RE: How much:

i guess if you have a welder and access to a pipe bender, you may be able to rig something up for fairly cheap?   But i look at things in terms of time as well.  And i think the easiest, quickest, cheapest, fastest way to get more power is to drop a 350 (or ANY small block) in there EVEN with all  the extra parts needed.

Another thing to consider is that with the turbo, there will be some/a lot of screwing around with the carb to get it right.  Whereas with a 350 with stock to mild cam, with a good dual-plane manifold, it won't take much if any messing around with the carb to get it running right.  Something off the shelf will likely work ok.  (Just my opinion)

The FAST fuel injection says it works with turbos and if true then this might be a game-changer for you?

The bottom line for me is: IF you LIKE the engine AND you have the time and $$$ to screw around with it, then that is a good enough reason to proceed.   Hopefully you have another car to use as transportation......


Yeah I’m not messing around with a carb I’m definitely going with a self tuning EFI system. And it’s not about the power for me it’s more of the cool factor I’m going for


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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: 1967KaiserM715 on April 08, 2019, 04:30:13 PM
They make a specific turbo manifold for the 250/230/292 styles. Around $400, then it's just a matter of sizing turbo and figuring intake. A self tuning EFI should match up pretty good.

Keep boost at reasonable levels, and you can likely double power pretty easy. And if you do your shopping, you could probably piece together enough for under $2,000.



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Title: Re: Anyone have a Turbo In-line 6 in their c10?
Post by: montezeric01 on April 08, 2019, 04:37:46 PM
They make a specific turbo manifold for the 250/230/292 styles. Around $400, then it's just a matter of sizing turbo and figuring intake. A self tuning EFI should match up pretty good.

Keep boost at reasonable levels, and you can likely double power pretty easy. And if you do your shopping, you could probably piece together enough for under $2,000.



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I’m looking at either the FAST or Holley sniper EFI and with the fuel system that’s already around $1300 maybe not including the intake I need which is probably another $300-400. That doesn’t leave much room for the turbo manifold, and turbo setup


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