God's Bounty Hunter

Hey guys, would it be possible to install a turbo on an 83 pickup with a rebuilt engine and a Weber carb, 5 in. Lift and 33 in tires maybe even a twin turbo

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

With enough $$$$$$$ money anything can be done.

Cost effective Practical only in the eyes of the person wanting to do it.

If your going to all that trouble just go small block chevy 500 horsepower with not to much work

bootscootboogie

iTrader: (1)

22R super chargers are a more approachable modification I think. I've read about turbos on here and 99% of the people that have them would tell you it's not worth it. A 32/36 carb and a good header along with lce flywheel is about the "fastest" 22R setup I can imagine. Without dropping $5,000 on a truck you will probably not keep for 10 years.

RobotMoose

iTrader: (1)

It's do-able, but it opens up a lot of fabrication concerns. The other consideration is that it completely changes the way the engine behaves and where your power band is at. I would consider a turbo swap for a prerunner or dune-basher, but for the majority of slow-moving offroad and daily-driving use, it's not the most ideal setup.

There is the 22R-TE around, which was a GenII.5 22R-E (low deck, deep crank, wider bore) with a factory turbo. From what I hear, they make decent power but have issues with turbo lag and still aren't ideal for most low-rev work due to their low compression. They've been compared to a 3VZ-E without the head gasket and overheating troubles.

For the kind of money you're talking about, you could easily swap in a built 22R, 4.3 V6 or 4.8 LS motor and end up with a much more useable vehicle.

kawazx636

iTrader: (3)

Without getting into all the details and writing a novel on building turbo/supercharged engines, I'm just going to tell you this... You don't just "slap on turbo" and expect to have an engine with more HP that will last any considerable amount of time. You have to PROPERLY build an engine to properly achieve your forced induction goals. Now granted, the 22R has a mediocre compression ratio at 9.3:1, but you typically would build an engine with a lower compression ratio for a turbo application. Even a stock 22RET has a 7.5:1 compression ratio. Forced induction "artificially" increases your compression ratio by increasing air volume on the intake stroke. If you go jamming extra air into your cylinders with a stock compression ratio you'll be putting more stress on the engine than it can handle. Now, you could still use a stock compression ratio, but it will have to be built in such a manner to handle the extra combustion volume whereas stock components would not. To properly reduce compression you would need to use dished pistons, shorter rods, ported combustion cambers on the head - basically anything that would increase the volume of the combustion chamber at the top of the stroke and/or anything that would shorten the stroke. A lot of people think that simply using a thicker headgasket is adequate, but that isn't going to yield nearly enough reduction.

I built a twin turbo Volkswagen 2.8L V6 GTI years ago and I can tell you right up front, an engine swap is by FAR easier and cheaper.

Bingle

A 22r is a bad base to start with if you're building a performance engine, at least in the HP/$ ratio area. Mild mods (Weber, header, cam, de-smog) give decent returns and I would recommend to anyone with a 22R that lives in an area that doesn't require smog checks. Decent power and excellent reliability.

Beyond that you start getting into needing to throw large amounts of $$ at it for modest gains. I went to the "next level" on mine years ago and am kicking myself for not just doing an engine swap, and a turbo setup would be more expensive than what I did, if done right. Don't get me wrong, DCOE's are pretty fun, and I love the look on other Toyota guys faces when I pop my hood, but I could have had more power for less money with a swap.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I just threw a turbo in no problems works just fine.

I did wrap it up nice in bubble wrap and then a blanket behind the passenger seat.

I am thinking maybe this is not what you meant!!!!

RobotMoose

iTrader: (1)

I agree with everything here. If you're going to turbo an engine, you need to swap in some dished pistons or open up the combustion chambers to bring the power down, or you'd just better have a deep faith in your head bolts and gasket, or bottom-end bearings and rings.

jimbyjimb

iTrader: (1)

Cheaper solution; 3RZ. Not enough? 4.3 GM. 22R/RE's are great engines and can be reasonably improved for 800-1200 dollars. Once you start looking at forced induction you need to convince yourself that an ancient SOHC, eight valve engine is really worth the time and expense.

If you're rebuilding get a .500 lift cam, relief cut the pistons, put on a 38/38 or better yet a Barry Grant 2bbl and you'll be about as far in on a 22R as is financially reasonable.

There are 300hp 22R's... Bored, stroked, custom short skirt pistons, massive turbocharger/twin setup, a lot of boost and machine time and they cost a pretty penny.

God's Bounty Hunter

Thanks for the comments guys, put a lot in perspective. Truth be told, I just want a little extra power, I haul around a small camper from time to time to the lake and what have you, someone I talked to told me to just put on a turbo for the extra weight but I see now it was just bs. So for the extra weight, I'd have to do what? Not really a mechanic myself, I just do the basic stuff: brakes, tune ups etc.

jimbyjimb

iTrader: (1)

It's possible to affordably get a 22R 4x4 pickup, in terms of engine performance, to just under the level of a fifteen-year-old Honda Civic on a flat surface. Anything more than that is going to take moderate modifications.


I wanted to get the best bang for the buck, so I went with an LCE street performer cam (highest lift @ .440, lowest duration 218 @ .050 I could find), a 20R head with some work and a 38/38 up jetted on the main/air jets and down jetted on the idle. Easy, mild mods. This is a night and day performance increase over factory. The 20R head I bought from a machinist for 600 bucks with an intake manifold. The camshaft was 170.00 and the carb was 350.00. I also welded on my own exhaust system I fabricated with 2" pipe for cheap with a dynomax muffler.


I didn't do any pre or post dyno runs but I'd guess on a gain from 25-35 horses which on a gutless 95hp 22R is a lot of power.


Some people will suggest headers; they are one of the absolute least effective performance mods per dollar on the market. If you're trying to build a 200hp 22R a header will be required. If you're trying to make your truck more streetable and gain practical power on the cheap a header is a huge waste of cash. I have modified Ford FE engines, Chevy small blocks, Studebaker V8's as well as 20/22R's. Never have I found a header that justifies it's cost within the realistic goal of practical performance. Even on a Ford FE, which has the absolute worst factory manifold design I have ever seen.


I've been pretty satisfied with the sub-1000 dollar gains I've achieved so far. I bet you would be too. You just have to weigh the gain vs cost. You wouldn't need a 20R head to see a solid gain with a bigger cam and a synchronous carb. If you can keep your foot out of the throttle when cruising the 38/38 does just as well on gas as the 32/36 while delivering far superior throttle response, a far smoother idle and maybe just a bit more peak HP.


The only real limiting factor on a stock 22R is the intake manifold with it's single runner design paired with the tiny (1.5" inner diameter?) exhaust pipe. The exhaust manifolds are fine and durable, the down-pipes are a good setup and the port sizes/valve sizes are more than it can use with a factory cam/carb.


I bet you could spend 500-600 bucks and be pretty happy with the results.

RobotMoose

iTrader: (1)

For a camper, I'd regear in order to get a little more power down to the wheels.
An '83 with stock tires carrying a camper would gain a little more grunt by moving up to 4.56:1 differential gears.

If you know where to look, 4.56s are common enough to find. I believe they can be scrounged out of second-gen pickups with V6 engines and automatic transmissions.

blake.nemitz

http://www.turbogemini.com/Blow%20Th...arby%20Kit.htm

they make a kit for that

blake.nemitz

solved my power problems and the swap cost me les than 3k