hi everyone, thanks for letting me be a part of your board. here's the topic for discussion:
i have the opportunity to buy a garrett M10 turbo out of a GN for $100. i drive a 98 camaro V6 now, with the 3.8 series II. (just a little background info, my first car was an 84 regal, i loved that car) my goal is to be the first person (on www.firebirdv6.com) to put a turbo on a 3800 II (several people have custom setups on their 3.4 engines). i know of one person dropping in the buick 3.8 with turbo (what's up james, good luck man). i'll start off by just asking if this is the right turbo for me. my engine is stock, so i can only handle around 9-10 lbs of boost right now. but, i do plan on doing some internals and driving the boost up til i blow the engine... that's the plan. if you have any suggestions or comments or answers to my question, please don't hesitate. if it's a bad idea, talk me out of it before i spend all the time and money on it. thanks, great board, see ya at the track...
Are you sure its an "M10", or is that just what's stamped on the compressor housing? If its an original GN turbo, its just a T3. More accurately a T3048 or whatever the funky designation for the 86/87 unit actually was.
Regardless, it suited the 3.8 in the TRs well, so I don't see why it wouldn't be well suited to the Series II motor. Note that most TR owners find that upgraded turbos such as the TA49 seem to work even better.
If the unit you've found is well-used, it might be best used as a 'core' for a fresh, upgraded unit.
it could just be the number on the compressor... i haven't actually seen the turbo yet. is there a classified section that may have the rest of the parts i need for the turbo setup? if anyone else has suggetions, please don't hesitate. thanks again
Can the 3.8L V6 that's in the V6 Camaros handle as much power as the 3.8L V6 in the GN? I thought the GN's engine was pretty heavy duty, with thick pistons and rods.
The TR motor really isn't that much stronger than the carbed V6 motors of the same era. The crank is a bit stronger, and the rods are supposed to be. The pistons are of a unique design. But the blocks don't appear to really be different. Check out some of the info at http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/pictureguides/blocks/blockguide.html and the casting composition evaluation in particular.
The modern Series II 3800 actually has a VERY strong bottom end which has 4 bolt mains with an additional two cross bolts for a total of 6 on each cap. I would think this block would be much stronger than the old TR blocks. The Thrasher web site had some good photos of one, but they're currently down.
I did find a few interesting photos while looking for some good block pictures. Here is someone trying to turbo a Series II NA motor in a Fireo: http://clubs.hemmings.com/fieroswest/WCFpage01.htm
Hope that plastic intake is up for the challenge of handling the hot air coming out of that turbo...
Here's a top shot of a SC3800 block. Unfortunately it doesn't show the bottom end.
http://members.home.com/gtp3/38block.jpg
Keep in mind that even though the Series II block is strong, I'm not sure the pistons and other bits are well suited to a turbo application. A supercharged motor short block may be a good starting point.
Sorry I'm a bit late getting in on this post but if you check out GM High Tech Performance September 2001 (vol 7 no. 6) they had an article on the conversion. GMHTP is a great mag.. ALOT better then Fast Fords or Mopar Action.