Turbo on a 380 SEL?
 

What would happen if I were to put a turbo on my 1983 380SEL?
What would have to be done to make it effective?
51

You need a lot of money due to exhaust header fabrication, turbo and pipes, intercooler, CPU with knock sensor input etc.

The engine probably has an 8.7:1 compression ratio.

CPU with knock sensor? Can you tell me more about this?

The rest of the things, fabrication of headers, mounting the turbo etc, I have a pretty good handle on. We have played around with some diesels and had pretty good luck. What I don't know is how this engine would respond. How much boost can the head gaskets take, how would the fuel metering system respond, how much increase in performance would be realized, etc...

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!
51

Megasquirt. It'll be the easiest way to manage such a setup - and tuning is a snap.

I'd do some research by googling "DIY EFI" to see what you're getting into, though.

There are also some bosch e-books out there that cover the different bosch injection systems and a few of them cover boosting (though those may have been just for diesels).

How your system responds will depend on the type of injection system you have installed, i.e. K-jetronic, K-jet w/ lambda, KE-jetronic, etc...

I'm somewhat familiar with Megasquirt, never installed but read up a good bit for a bike project I was working on. Do you think the factory system would have any possibilities or is it just a dead end. I don't have a clue. All I know about the stock fuel distributor I'll never take one apart again.

51

From what I understand, the stock CIS system should be able to deliver enough fuel for a mild turbo setup.
Maybe a single rear/mid mounted turbo would be effective? There is fair amount of space where the rear or two central mufflers live.

Probably best to post your question in the Performance Paddock section...

The space around the engine is what made me start thinnking about this. That and the fact that I'm going to modify the exhaust anyway.

I didn't notice there was a performance section,,, I'll put it on there.
Thanks!
51

The injector sizing and ability to deliver fuel is pretty much the unchangeable limiting factor in the whole idea.

A good start would be to see how much fuel can be delivered at what pressure during about an 80% "on" duty cycle.

Wouldn't it be easier to just do it with an M103? There is already a turbo kit out there for that motor, and it produces a LOT of power with it!

You also have to think of the trans....if you send a ton more power through a stock 380 transmission/torque converter, it may not do well...

Personally, I'd put a Turbo Buick Grand National in it and call it a day.

It's only a V-6, but I built one that put out about 550+ BHP on pump gas (w/ a ford truck intercooler). Of course, it had a block girdle, billet mains, etc... but it was a tiny beast.