new turbo to get - what should i do?

[wornoutshoes]

i gotta get a new turbo but i don't know what to get. now, since this is my first gn i don't know too much so i was wondering, what turbo can i put on a stock engine? and, do i have to get a new torque converter to match it or can i leave it stock. i'm wondering how big to go, what to look for in a GN turbo, if i go big do i have to get a three inch downpipe? will it come with the elbo or is that a separate part to aquire? where is a good place to get a turbo in the orlando area that won't charge me up the keester? (i'm in college and building my car from an hourly wage job so...)

if i get a large turbo, and end up getting a powerful torque converter to match it, will i blow my transmission or my rear end apart? plus, what's a good way to keep traction using the bigger turbos so i don't end up in the wall?

my car has 167000 miles on it. and it still had the stock air filter on it when i got it. so it's still bone stock. i am doing a top end rebuild on it with a cam 204/214 or 206/214, haven't decided just yet. but i definetly don't know what to do about the turbo. so i'm looking for advice from the forum. anything you guys can tell me is appreciated.
new to the buick scene so...

 

[87GNcospg]

i will be the first to say to start doing searches on this messge board for all your questions.
i am a college student working hourly also and my GN has the same amount of miles on it as yours, but mine does not need a rebuild. oil pressure is perfect and no abnormal sounds. it runs perfect and i dont know why. it kind of scares me because it runs so good.

FIRST THINGS FIRST. get these things taken care of
1. spring cleaning on gnttype.org
2. hotwired walbro 307 or 340 fuel pump
3. adjustable fuel regulator
4. scanmaster or a laptop program for tuning
5. making sure your car is running in great condition stock before throwing more air into the motor.
6. i dont know. i think i am forgetting some stuff and im sure others will post them.

i just strated this topic............ this will help you decide on a turbo one step up from stock.

a TE60 may be a little big for the stock D5 but some say otherwise if you can get a garret .63 exhaust housing and a chip that will lean the car out a little on the bottom end.
as you can see, lots of people are doing 11's with "one step up" from stock turbos so i dont see the need for a broke ass college kid to go any bigger.

will you blow up your tranny and rear end? i dont know. depends on their condition.

i say dont worry about getting a downpipe. just get a test pipe with a dump and be done with your exhuast upgrades until you have more money. downpipes usually eliminate the elbow like the terry houston downpipe.

others will say to leave the stock cam because it is a very strong runnning cam and can get you some very nice 1/4 mile times but if youre going to do a cam might as well port the heads............haha

 

[wornoutshoes]

thanks for the info. reason i'm doing a top end rebuild is because i blew a head gasket after the turbo spun the nut right off the end. so i have a lot of work to do. i was doing a cam swap under the suggestion of Zad. a prominent member in this forum and a good friend of mine and fuelslut.
but he hasn't mentioned what to do with the turbo. i was thinking that i might go with a 44. they are relativly cheap and accessable. and i could use the stock torque converter from what i'm told.

and the gnttype site isn't up and hasn't been for a few days. WTF? so if anyone is involved in that site then a fix is necessary.

i have seen the gnttype site before and seen the recipies and the spring cleaning pages before. you're saying just go by that?

 

[87GNcospg]

a te44 will work great on a stock D5. it might not spool as fast as stock with the precisoin housing but you will get better top end power.

 

[1of1035]

I ran a te-60 with a stock D5 and it wasn't that bad. It actually spooled much better than I had thought it would. Now I'm on a T63E with a 9x11 3400 stall.

I personally wouldn't put a converter in a tranny with that many miles on it without a rebuild and a hardened stator, super servo and shift kit.

 

[87GNcospg]

have any 1/4 mile times with the d5 and te60?

 

[2QUIK6]

I ran a TE60 with the stock D5 in my TTA and it did not feel that bad on the street, however, the track proved differently. It was impossible to get street tires to spin in the 60'. 60' times were 2.2 at best, and there was no way in heck the tires would spin in the 60'. Now at about the 100' mark, you had to hang on cause it did burn the tires off a few times there. Just takes a while to get spooled, but when it hits, it hits hard.
This was with a Precision .63 AR exhaust housing and 31E exhaust wheel.
The 1/8 mi times was 8.9x at 89mph.

 

[87GNcospg]

Originally posted by 2QUIK6
I ran a TE60 with the stock D5 in my TTA and it did not feel that bad on the street, however, the track proved differently. It was impossible to get street tires to spin in the 60'. 60' times were 2.2 at best, and there was no way in heck the tires would spin in the 60'. Now at about the 100' mark, you had to hang on cause it did burn the tires off a few times there. Just takes a while to get spooled, but when it hits, it hits hard.
This was with a Precision .63 AR exhaust housing and 31E exhaust wheel.
The 1/8 mi times was 8.9x at 89mph.

hmmmmm. i wonder if i can snag a garret 63 housing somewhere for a te60. . . .
can the stock garret T3s .63 housing be machined to fit a T31E 76 trim wheel? or is this a retarted question?

 

[2QUIK6]

Originally posted by 87GNcospg
hmmmmm. i wonder if i can snag a garret 63 housing somewhere for a te60. . . .
can the stock garret T3s .63 housing be machined to fit a T31E 76 trim wheel? or is this a retarted question?

Don't know about the housing fit or not. PTE made the turbo I had, maybe they could answer that question. I still have the turbo but am sending it back in favor of the GT6131E but with a higher stall convertor in my GN. I just put the 60 on the TTA just for grins.

 

[wornoutshoes]

thnaks. very informative.

 

[1of1035]

Originally posted by 87GNcospg
have any 1/4 mile times with the d5 and te60?

11.58 but i also have champions and a 208/208 cam and was running c16 and 23#'s.