ok, so i have a custom turbo set up for my camaro, it is like the sts setup.
i have a t3 turbo, i dont really plan on running more than 8 pounds of boost.I have a 3.8L, with 150,000k but well maintained, what is the most that could go wrong with my engine if i only run 6-8 lbs of boost?

 

Ok a few more questions. And pics if you have them.

What rear end and what transmission is in your car now?
What are the specs on the turbo AR, trim, ect. Where did you get it? what brand? There are many different T3's
Are you running a cooling system air to air, air to water, chemical?
What are your power goals?
Budget?
Etc, etc etc?

 

well i have a v6 so im not looking for big power, im thinkin maybe no cooling system, and i would like it to cost as little as possible.
the turbo came off a turbo t-bird i believe, but it has been checked out, and everything seems to be in good shape.
i have a 4l60e tranny, i just put in a 2-way diff. with 3.42 gears.

 

the whole point of this is so i can prove tht u can have turbo without spending an assload of money,tuner cars can do it, so y cant we.

 

Even a fresh performance based T3 is going to be very small for what you are trying to do much less a used factory turbo that is running off of 15 year old tech. That is a very small turbo made for mild boost on a small engine. If you try to run it on a rear mount set up on that car you will be maxing out the turbo before you even get into the strong section of the power band. Your also going to be limited to very low boost 5PSI un tuned and maybe 6-7 tuned. And you are going to need injectors and probably a new fuel pump would not be a bad investment.

 

I dont know if you have seen the price of some of the turbo kits out there for tuners. If you go cheap you are going to get cheap. I think a decent kit runs around 3500-4500 bucks for most FWD's so i dont see that as being cheap at all. Heck the RX8 kit is around 4400 or somthing and i have seen single turbo Z kits well above that. For 3000 bucks you could build a very nice rear mount set up for your V6 if you had the time and resources.

 

Start off by getting a real turbo. Running some used POS is not going to get you what you want. You should be running a T3/T4 at the minimal. And make sure you go with a good name and do some home work. This is going to be the heart of your system after all and it is the one area where you should not try to cut corners. Also short tube headers work great on rear mount projects you may want to add a set but this is not a must. Your Y pipe on the other hand is strongly recommended to run a cat less to free up flow and help drop back pressure. You can use a STS set up off a LS1 or even a LT1 car with minimal fab work and you can pick up the used systems cheap some where in the 2500 range give or take. It might be a good way to go if you are working on a tight budget.

 

all i want is 5-7 lbs., if i was going to spend a fewgrand i would sell my six and get an LS. This is my first venture into turbo, so i dont wanna buy anything expensive or anything with a lot of boost, tht will come later as my budget and knowledge changes.
I have a couple frineds with 240sx's thti hang arnd with, and theybuy a decent turbo and set it up themselves for under $1000 and itruns perfectly(which is what i was referring to when i said tuner cars can do it so y cant we)

 

Boost is expensive there is no way around it. If your budget is that tight you may want to look into a good nitrous kit or bolt ons. I dont know any 240 guys running turbo kits that are under 1000 bucks. Most nissan guys like to swap out the SR20 which last time i checked is still an easy 3000 plus swap by the time its all said and done. Even to boost the KA24 your going to spend around 2000 bucks building a home made kit or around 3-4 grand for a good bolt on kit.