minor Highjack for a sec about the TB and MAF then back on topic

boring the TB will run lean if you bore it right through and don't put the proper butterfly in there to match the new bored size (and lil gap = air escaping by that wasn't supposed too)

anyways.. back on topic

you can save ALOT of cost on a turbo kit doing it yourself.. the major cost of most bolt on turbo kits are the brand new turbo .. and the cost of fabricating the mounts/flanges for the turbo or even whole new manifolds for the turbo(*)

with the set up the 3800 and 3.8'* have for exhaust mounting the turbo is stupid easy and doesn't require whole new manifolds. used turbo'* can be found in junkyards or EBay, etc that have lots of life left.. or only require a $200 rebuild ....wow with just those 2 things you've prolly saved 800-1200 off a bolt on turbo kit

depending on how complete the turbo kit is other things maybe be added into the package such as colder plugs, intake piping, intercooler(again something else you can get WAY cheaper from other sourses then brand new) , boost controller (lots of these all over the place used that still work great) .. deverter valves( non atmospheric BOV...there are some GREAT OEM ones on other cars that work slendidly till 12-14psi or more) .. and finally the wonderful little electronics to make everything place nice and not have a piston wanna meet you in the cab. lots of well priced universal type piggy back systems out there.. or even full stand alones if you are so inclined... 2 of my favorite companies are www.sdsefi.com and www.splitsec.com

what'* the disadvantage of doing it yourself? time, aggrivation, tuning... when you buy a proper "BOLT in" turbo kit.. you just bolt the stuff on, run the lines needed, and throw in the pre programmed piggy back or burned ECM/PCM chip... but that'* why such kits are 2/3/4K + more... your paying for brand new parts, fab time and tuning already done for you

me personally .. I have the experience and knowledge to fab up what I need, find those weird lil peices that work so well that ppl pass up for nice bright new shiny ones. do I run the risk of blowing my engine while tuning... ofcourse... anytime you change from OEM you run a risk of something going wrong. If some of the peices match up I'm going to be checking over this winter/spring with a micrometer/etc I should be able to do an entire turbo fwd 3.8 for around 300-320 crank hp for 2800-3200(cnd) complete... machining, fabrication, piggy back stuff... everything.

if I were to go through the same thing for someone else .. it would prolly end up around 6K(cnd) .. just because of the time involved

Gotta remember though, that write up was for an L67 engine, only using the L36 manifold. The L67 is a good engine to turbo because it has stronger internals, and low compression.

A Series 1 would also be a good candidate, because of the lower compression.

yeah .. I was talking about the LG3-3 (3.8 not 3800) 86/87 era for the personally thing... if some parts fit that I'm looking into (or are close enough to MAKE fit), I could possibly have stumbled into an engine with more performance potenial then the L67

but I won't know until I can get my hands on some parts and put em through the measurement ringer (being in class with a whole bunch of tools I don't have right now kicks arse )

take advantage of those tools! YOu have the V8 dont you?

no... I have the LG3-3 HO the 3.8 buick FWD... gotta find a GN block, crank, rod, cam as well as another set of my own stock block, crank, rod, cam to test them side by side see if the spacing is right and if the journals are close enough to have the FWD 3.8 block machined to accept the different bearings

they do share a couple parts... the heads and main cam bearing are swappable (mine are the better of the two) ... I just have to see what else swaps ...gonna take awhile but I'll 'git r dun' they also share the same ECM which doesn't mean much as the chip in it is different as are some of the sensors needed

so yeah.. the tech class I'm in at the moment has all the wonderful precision measuring tools that I don't to see what'* where and if it fits/can be made to fit. but unfortunately i won't be onto the turbo motor till winter/spring... possibly have it ready for the West coast meet next summer (if not I should atleast have the nitrous and the current engine with N/A mods)