[turbokinetic]

Hey all, I joined for help identifying a turbo I got used recently. I'll get to that later as I don't have it on-hand to describe at the moment.

My name is Dave, and I work for a marine and offshore power systems service company, servicing Cat diesel and natural gas engines, worldwide.

I've got 2 Buick Centurys that have Turbonetics turbos on them.

My first ever turbo system build was on a 1986 Buick Century with a 2.8 multiport fuel injected Chevy 60 degree V6. I used a Rajay E-flow unit on this build. It was extremely home-made as I was a 17 year old kid at the time. Eventually an accident happened to the Rajay and I found Turbonetics online as a Rajay repair facility. In the end I did not have Turbonetics repair the Rajay and instead installed a ball-bearing T3/T4 unit.

This turbo made a world of difference. It allowed me to push the car from 9 PSI to 13+ and the drivability and torque are very good.

This is the original Rajay setup:


This is the engine with the new Turbonetics turbo:



After getting more experience with engine work, I built another boosted Buick. This one is a 1984 Buick Century Olympia. It was a commemorative edition for the 84 Olympics in California. I bought the car from a junkyard and restored it. The original engine was damaged so I installed a 1987 Buick 3.8SFI engine. It is a model "LG3" engine which has factory roller cam but no balance shaft. One year before the 3800 came out. Onto this engine I installed a GTK450 and Spearco air to air aftercooler; along with supporting modifications.

This engine will run 18 PSI boost. It is a force to fear in the little 3200 Lb Century. Before I had the tune completely done, I had it dyno'd at SpeedSouth in Birmingham, AL. It put down a 326HP 380LbFt pull, in spite of a failing ignition module and overly rich tune. (uncorrected wheel HP. Flywheel HP would be mid 400's)

The engine:


The car:




I have put 50,000 miles on this car since 2008 and it has been very dependable and gets 26 MPG mixed driving. In designing and building my turbo system, I engineered it so that all factory options were retained. Everything works including the Cruise, A/C, power steering and instruments. I regularly go on road trips in it and shame the all-show-no-go boys with the 27 years old 4 door Buick. As you can imagine, the top end acceleration is frightful with 400 HP engine in this light car...

Sincerely,
David

[Robert]

No that's a sleeper if I ever saw one.

[turbokinetic]

Thanks, it has indeed been fun!