turboed and blown engines longevity = nil?

turtlevette

The Turdle
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
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Marshfield, MA
Who has gotten their turboed or blown setup to last more than 6 months?

Looks like Show just cracked a piston and torquevette lost a head gasket, both after very little road time.

I'm sure there are others i'm not thinking of.

I did beat on my GN for 5 years and it held up but i'm wondering about do it yourself kits.
 
I have never seen any turbo car go 60k miles without engine work....period....

none of them not with my own eyes.....Volvo...rods through the B230f block, Mutso....head gaskets, or just blasted apart....Toy, same deal....

gasoline, turbos and longevity just dont go together....

for that matter even blowers.....show me a blown engine, and withint 50k miles I will show you a blown engine.....

:harhar::devil:
 
I was very happy that I got about 30 hours on my 434. The last race it used about a gallon of distilled water and it was starting to smoke anyway. I should have done a leak down test. I was just a quicky complete head job rings and bearings. You could still see the cross hatch hone in the bores.

Much better than a NASCAR that might run 4 hours between rebuilds
 
Not all turbo/blown engines are created equal. I think you need to be conservative regarding boost to make an engine live. It's easy to get carried away with hp-numbers when looking at boosted engines. Just my .02$
 
Torqvette blew a HG because he started out with a cheap ass HG. I have an MLS now and there shouldn't be any problems. My friend Turbocharged his DOHC I4, he also went with a FelPro MLS. Still runs great, DD.
 
Torqvette blew a HG because he started out with a cheap ass HG. I have an MLS now and there shouldn't be any problems. My friend Turbocharged his DOHC I4, he also went with a FelPro MLS. Still runs great, DD.

Well let me drive it for a day. I'll blow it up for you.
 
Torqvette blew a HG because he started out with a cheap ass HG. I have an MLS now and there shouldn't be any problems. My friend Turbocharged his DOHC I4, he also went with a FelPro MLS. Still runs great, DD.

Ha.... I used the MLS Fel-Pro from day 1, been getting blown for almost 2 years now and no problems. Low compression and high boost with an inter-cooler, combined with a quality rotating assembly, will give a long life to your beast.:thumbs:
 
Torqvette blew a HG because he started out with a cheap ass HG. I have an MLS now and there shouldn't be any problems. My friend Turbocharged his DOHC I4, he also went with a FelPro MLS. Still runs great, DD.

Ha.... I used the MLS Fel-Pro from day 1, been getting blown for almost 2 years now and no problems. Low compression and high boost with an inter-cooler, combined with a quality rotating assembly, will give a long life to your beast.:thumbs:

:smash::smash::smash:

Almost forgot about Big G, he's living proof right there.

And you'd better work on getting your engine up to 200hp and learning how to drive it before you step up to the big guns turtle. I wouldn't want you to kill yourself. :devil::stirpot:
 
I have seen Turbo & Blown engines give many years of faithful service without a problem,do you stand a better chance of breakdown with boost???
Yes,any time you go squezzing more air into the motor or turning up the boost you run that risk,a very low risk.
NASCAR,those motors last longer than 4hrs,they have a lot of time on them before the green flag ever drops, but now we are talking about a motor that was no built to last forever either,thats comparing apples and oranges.
Auto manufactures have been turning out boosted engines for a long time with the same warranties as non boosted motors,and they seem to live a long happy life.
 
Some of the guys on the turbocars.com forums do well.

They had a guy who had an old beat up truck lower end with an XE268 camshaft, and smallest heads known to man, running 21lbs of boost on race gas with a big ol shot of nitrous on top of it, making 600+ wheel hp. All used Junk. He was TRYING to blow up his engine and couldnt do it.

Proper planning should be alright.
 
Auto manufactures have been turning out boosted engines for a long time with the same warranties as non boosted motors,and they seem to live a long happy life.

yes, with sophisticated fuel injection/engine management systems. My GN had sequential fuel injection and computerized timing that would retard timing after sensing detonation before the next cylinder fires.

I just see so many of these carburated systems destruct.
 
It depends. CSU makes the right carb and has a quasi cooling effect. It can work, it can work well. It can be done to last forever.

Hell some guys have been having good luck with a modified el cheapo carter fuel pump and home modified holley carbs.

It all comes back to reasonable expectations, and proper planning. I dont think there are many 1200hp motors that last a long time on GP. but a 500-600hp turbo 350 could probably make it awhile.
 
I cut my boost teeth with a Buick GN and did not have any issues with moderate boost. I drive a GTP Grand Prix everyday that has over 100,000 miles on an engine that has never had the valve covers removed. How about 3 yrs or 36,000 miles for the new 600+ rated h.p. ZR-1? What I am trying to say is this. A well thought out and maintained low compression boost built engine with sane cooled, boost levels can still deliver decent longevity; but the engine builder has to know how to build an engine for boost both from a machining standpoint and component dynamic standpoint. Little things make all of the difference in the world and just because the shop has built thousands of small block race engines they may have a hard time adapting the needs of a boosted engine. I used to work as an engineer for a company where we did O.E.M. contracted remanufacturing as well as engine development and failure analysis. One of the scary things that became readily apparent after I started this job was that a good majority of the private machine shops could not even machine to the accuracy required to produce some of the engines that I was working on. One area in particular was the cylinder head finish needed for MLS gaskets. The aftermarket knows about this issue and has accepted the fact that many shops still use old equipment and can not machine to a level that is required to use a hard core MLS gasket. They have tried to address this issue by coating their gaskets with material that will allow for a rougher surface finish. It goes back to the best sealing surface in the world would be one with two perfectly machined surfaces mated with no gasket at all! I am not saying that this is the reason that there are so many non factory boosted engines that are time bombs, just pointing out some of the facts that are often overlooked by otherwise good engine builders. A good look at a diesel engine can go a long way also. Try going 1,000,000 miles with a huge bore, huge stroke, 18:1 compression, 20+lb boost engine that runs in a constant state of detonation, and puts out over 1,000lb.ft. Where some small blocks idle. There is some technology there that is not to far from what you would find in the old days of boosted F1 cars as well as the new production supercharged and turbocharged engines. When it comes to carbs and boost there are some myths that are being circulated that deserve some further investigation. There are C&S specialties (not CSU) is seldom mentioned in published articles; but they are light years ahead of some of the companies that are getting their carbs on the engines that you read about. Other companies would have you beleve that you don't need or can't run over a 750c.f.m.carb with boost or run high boost period. Or you don't need anything larger even on a 540. Those companies do not have their carburetors on the world's fastest blow through carb vehicles. C&S does.
 
Been running mine for the last dozen years. Lots of track days, mostly with 20-30 minute sessions. I just ramped up the boost and time on the track while I dialed in the timing and fuel calibrations. Currently updating the ECM, but no engine issues so far, other than needing a DeWitts radiator upgrade as the stock radiator wasn't up to the job.
 
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