2.3 Turbo Carbed

84hatch

New Member
Jul 21, 2011
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Binghamton NY
Well right now I have an 84 Hatch with a stout 2.3, it has the large oval port head that i have done some mild porting to, aftermarket cam with roller followers, for now it has stock carb and intake manifold on it. I was wondering how well a stock turbo off a later 2.3T would do with this set up if a switched it to an efi intake and a holley 4412 500cfm carb. I know i will have drill and tap for the turbo oiling. Just wondering.
 
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Welll, uhmmmmmmmmm . . .

It should do just fine with one caveat. The carb will have to be modified for turbo application. I don't personally recommend pull through, more power can be had with blow through, and you don't risk damage to the turbo by making it chew on gasoline. The Europeans did turbo carb, a lot, back in the day.
 
Thank you for the response. I guess my next question would be what the difference is between blow through and pull through. My plan was to buy the adapter that goes on top of the carb for the turbo. I also planned on running an intercooler off from a turbo coupe since im putting on a hood scoop anyways. Also what would I need to do to the carb to set it up for turbo. What psi can i run safely on the stock bottom end.
 
With all the involved complexities, I fail to see why you would ever want to take a step backwards into the fickle world of carberators. Yes what you are trying to do is possible, but you will constantly find yourself fighting the technology. You can run a pull through, but as pointed out, you are drawing fuel through your turbo. That can be hard on the seals, and even if it doesn't ignite, over time you could get a carbonized sludge. You will have atomization problems, the fuel will try to separate from the mixture and condense on the metal parts, particularly the intercooler.

With a blow through, well, keeping a mixture spot on in a N/A application can be tricky, and thats with maintaing a consistent elevation and assuming that air pressure doesn't change. Now lets add a constantly changing boost to the equation.

There are reasons carbs were abandoned for automotive use at large, its a tempermental technology at best. Fuel injection gives you the control you need to make the car practical to drive every day. It automatically compensates and adjusts for just about every condition you might encounter, whereas carbs are vulnerable to just about everything.
 
Too much plumbing on a draw through design...take a look at the Ford Factory effort for 1979.

Another possibility on a blow through system is to place the carb in an enclosure like Paxton. You need a boost-referenced fuel pump to keep up with demand, but I don't think that the carb has to be special. Read up on the blow through kits still available for the 289 and 302 and you'll see what you need.

The factory Turbo EFI system is looking better and better... [:)]
 
Ya the factory efi system would be the best way to go but right now my budget isnt saying so. right now i can get the turbo, exhaust manifold, carb, and intercooler for around 250 bucks. what fuel pump should i run. i already plan on running an electric pump on it. also what factory turbos are the better ones to use. i obviously dont plan on running much boost, around 5-8 psi.
 
Draw thru means the carb is mounted before the turbo an idiotic design. I like when people say how bad carbs are. There was a time when thats all there was and you did what you had to do to make it fast whether it was a big one, more than one or a super or turbo charger. EFI has a few advantages over carb, but there's nothing wrong with them. People still run them and choose them over efi for their reasons. My Mustang is going to keep it's carb. I'm going to build it up. I like efi, I can design an efi system that would be wonderful. But efi goes along with your intentions to build a car. If efi matches your plan, use it, but if carb looks better use it. I'm keeping my car simple, so a carb it keeps. Now if we get this 93, yeah I'm giving it a real trick efi.