Turbo charging 454

[newt]

I have a 1972 Chevelle. 454 very mild if any thing done (peanut heads) Edelbrock intake and carb.650 vac.400 turbo tranny, 373 rear gears.
I would like to install a single rear mounted turbo! Any Pro's or Con's .Has anyone done this ,what did you use and how did it work? I like to do things no one else does?
Dan

[seventy468]

that would be cool, with a "rear" mounted turbo I wonder if you could find a factory (diesel) up-pipes that would make it a little easier... or by "rear" did you mean installed in the back of the car, like the kits you can buy for the F bodied cars?

[newt]

Squires have a universal kit. Cheak out the web site. Remove the mufflers ,install turbo and re-pipe back to the carb!
Dan

[10sec.et]

personally, i wouldnt waste a turbo on a rear mount system. IMO, you would be better off with a pair of flipped shorty headers and put a big single in the engine compartment where it belongs. if you want to go cheap (by cheap i mean $500), you could pick up a diesel turbo such as a Holset HT60 or a Garrett TV8101. with a properly built engine, both will put you in the 800+ HP range. of course, you WILL need fabricating skills.

[newt]

Thanks for the flipped header idea.I think it will work, but I use the car daily and three or four times I will go to the track. I will think about it though. I have another question, what about the tranny shifting , under pressure? or do I manually shift ,under a lot of pressure?
Dan

[10sec.et]

im not a trans expert but if youre making boost, you want the trans built accordingly. my TH400 has a manual valve body and MUST be shifted manually. yes, i drive it on the street .

[newt]

Thanks ,I will check into it before doing it. What I want is a little more for the street .I have done a little work with turbos on VW engines , but that was spin (a lot ) and go! I need to know about a good all around size turbo and the air return tubing size ? Stuff like that? Does anyone know where I can turn for some FREE
pro. help?

[clay]

If you keep the 400 automatic, you will run into trouble with shifting. I don't know exactly at what point I had trouble but I'm guessing around the 10 lb. point. What happens (thanks to our converter / transmission guru Cameron) is the modulator builds enough pressure to shift the spool valve to the point it cuts off all fluid flow to the shift circuits. At this point it won't shift at all - manual or automatic. There are several ways to overcome this. One is to find an old diesel school bus with a Allison transmission. It has a mechanical modulator setup that will work on a 400 according to Cameron. B & M used to sell a device called a modulink that converts the vacuum system to a mechanical system similar to a TV cable on later model transmissions. I have a check valve that only allows vacuum to flow and checks when pressure is present. I drilled a small vacuum bleed hole on the transmission side that will let any residual vacuum to bleed off. The only problem with this is the small vacuum leak raises shift points. You might be able to adjust it out with an adjustable modulator or you may have to actully add weight to the govornor weights. Check with Transgo and see what they have available to handle a boost situation. I looked at the remote mount setup and it's more difficult than it sounds to get everything routed and tucked up and out of the way. Clay

[10sec.et]

my TCI TH400 is full manual and doesnt have a modulator valve. just a plug.

[clay]

In that case I'm guessing it runs full line pressure all the time and it shouldn't be a problem. Clay

[10sec.et]