Sell or continue L44 turbo?

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:20 pm

I am wondering if I should give up on this or continue the build.

-GM crate short block 88, new
-Heads checked (no milling required) with mild porting
-SI stainless valves
-SI bronze guides
-Crower springs/offset retainers
-Crower turbo grind cam
-Fidanaza aluminum flywheel
-double roller chain, HI-vol pump, SS vacuum lines etc
About 5000 miles on this. Mated to a Getrag.

Best I got at the track was a 14.5, BUT!!! I was getting faster and faster. The last run I had felt great. The tires spun enough to not bog the motor and not enough to lose time. Then the intake pipe blew off and I thought it was done. What a terrible noise, and I almost went through the windshield. I got sent home. I think it had a high 13 in it that night. These were run at 4200 feet elevation. Converted to sea level I might have run a 13.8. This is with a Miller-Woods stage 1 kit.

I can't decide what to do now. The turbo is done and needs to be replaced.

The plan if I continue:
GT30R turbo, install the Spearco liquid IC I have, hog the shit out of the heads (went mild last time). And then buy all the stuff needed to tune on the fly and burn a chip (Will knows all about this).

Or do up an L67.

I would LOVE to blow away a V8 or an L67 with an L44.

I am sure I would have to part out the motor since nobody would buy it whole. That would be a pain.

What would you do?

Post by **eHoward** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:40 pm

Turbos are cheap.

If your motor is solid, I would continue boosting it.

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:45 pm

Its already in and running pretty much right?

All you have to do is upgrade the turbo, reroute the exh and the intake plumbing. not hard at all. Much less expensive then a L67 swap, and when done and tuned will blow the doors off a l67.

While at it maybe upgrade to a truleo upper intake with a 65mm tb or go stocker for ease of installation, and a fully hogged out lower intake.

You will prob push 300-350 hp with 14 psi on a good tune.

You dont' even need a BB unit which are pretty pricey. Get a full-race t3/61. Its a standard bearing unit but has the GT35R wheel in it. On a 2.8 at 6k rpm its dead nuts at 79% eff at 1 bar. No other turbo comes close. Price about $700.

Thats what I would do.

I wouldnt' mind selling my exh setup that I have. Fiero Store headers and a crossover with a T3 flange on it. Will clear the 5 spd getrag. Turbo mounts where the stock crossover pipes of both halves meet under the decklid hinge. all you would need to fab up is a downpipe and intake plumbing. I think you have seen pics of it.

The Dark Side of Will · Tue Aug 09, 2005 8:56 pm

Turbo the 2.8. I'd love to see a turbo 2.8 done RIGHT and making the kind of power it should.

It sounds like you already have a decent top end on it.

If you blow up your 2.8 and manage not to kill the crank, you can build a low compression short block with 3.4 block and 2.8 crank.

Go with the Trueleo intake. The turbo will reduce the effects of the exhaust restriction relative to the intake.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:32 pm

What the fuck is a L44?

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:34 pm

Will, do you happen to have those links you gave me a while back for the ECM hacking/chip burning? Hopefully someone will chime in and know how to use it. I remember it being able to let you fine tune eveything via laptop, then once you get everything right, burn the chip.

And the motor is in the car and runs fine once it's warm. It's just not too fun to drive without the turbo on there.

Anyone remember that Datsun 210 with the twin turbo 2point8 making 500hp? I think it used the intake from the two.eight Camaro too.

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:34 pm

:banghead:

Jesus Christ.

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:35 pm

L44 = 2 point 8 = boat anchor

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:47 pm

I have kept my eyes out on ebay for a turbo like yours. For some reason all the IHI's I come across I am not sure if they will work. Everyone I have pointed out so far wouldnt' bolt up according to you.

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:55 pm

Yeah, it's very hard to come by. The Impulse and Spectrum use the same turbo, but is much smaller versions. They will bolt up, but they are tiny. I have tried several IHI dealers that cannot get that turbo even though I have the part numbers. Design One seems to be the only place to get that turbo, and he only wants $1,000 for a new one. I don't really want another one anyway.

I do need one that is physically small as possible to keep it where it is. The exhaust is only about 3 feet long from turbo to tip. Sounds pretty good too. When I pulled in the hotel at Wheatstock, I drove past FieroX. When I parked he was there asking me what I had in it. And my wife knows when I come home as she can hear it a ways down the street so she can hurry and get her boyfriend out of the house.

The Dark Side of Will · Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:59 pm

For hardware... emulator, burner, EEPROM adapter: www.moates.net

For software, incl realtime stuff to work with emulator and datalogging:
www.tunercat.com
http://tunerpro.markmansur.com/
www.gmpcm.com

For info:
www.diy-efi.org
http://thirdgen.org/techbb2/forumdispla ... forumid=16

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:08 pm

I might have a completely different turbo exh setup for sale in 2 weeks if you mihgt be interested. Go for cheap and will bolt up a t3 exh style turbo. Pretty much just need a new downpipe.

I have posted pics of it here before.

You could prob turn around and sell your IRM exh and intake piping to help offset the cost of this.

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:25 pm

Send me some pics. Don't think I have seen it before.

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:30 pm

Need email I will just do it that way. Too lazy to upload

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:35 pm

fiero_ottoxer at hotmail dot com

When do I get a ratings bar?

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:53 pm

when you suck off the forum administrator.

No different then Old Europe.

Indy · Post by **Indy** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:20 am

Nemesis wrote:...And my wife knows when I come home as she can hear it a ways down the street so she can hurry and get her boyfriend out of the house.

Yeah, it's pretty tell-tale...err...Stick with the L44. Hell, I'll even sell you my Garrett GT for $1500.

Kohburn · Post by **Kohburn** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 9:36 am

Nemesis wrote:I do need one that is physically small as possible to keep it where it is. The exhaust is only about 3 feet long from turbo to tip. Sounds pretty good too. When I pulled in the hotel at Wheatstock, I drove past FieroX. When I parked he was there asking me what I had in it. And my wife knows when I come home as she can hear it a ways down the street so she can hurry and get her boyfriend out of the house.

I fit a t3/t4 in the same place as my bud design one turbo but with a 3.4dohc.. there is room for it - gotta love a short freeflowing exhaust

Doug Chase · Post by **Doug Chase** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:08 pm

Aaron wrote:What the fuck is a L44?

Nemesis wrote:L44 = 2 point 8 = boat anchor

More specifically, L44 is the VIN 9 HO 2.8 that's in the Fiero.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 4:04 pm

I see.

I'd stick with the boat anchor personally, you already have most of what you need, so it wouldn't be too hard or expensive to do those bolt ons.

However, if you are looking for 12s with a real kickin engine, this is not the way to go. I'm not saying you're maxxed out, but any further and you are looking at custom, one off parts, and thousands of dollars. So I hope you'd be happy with the bb turbo and air/water I/C, let's guess low 13s, becuz there isn't much left with bolt ons.

Or, if I were you, you could look into an aluminum block, swap on 3400 aluminum heads, and run DIS with your turbo. That would make for 12s pretty easy, and would be my route if I wanted pushrods and money were no object.