Converting from supercharged to turbo and have questions

Turbomaster

Registered User
I have a 98 Ranger and have turbocharged the factory 3.0 v6. Everthing was going well until it was loaned out to a friend and they put 87 octane fuel in it. It soon broke a rod and now I am looking for a new engine. The motor was making good power 300 hp to the tires. Now I am wanting more.

I am trying to find out what kind of power the 3.8 can handle in it's stock form and also what upgrades are out there? Are there upgraded pistons and rods out there? Any info you can provide would be helpful.

I am going to be taking the supercharger off and putting my turbo set up on it and going for 500 hp at the wheels now.
 
Going to be taking the supercharger off and putting on a turbo? I thought you said it was already turbocharged?

Anyhow....

The SC 3.8L has a forged crank and you can use 351W rods if you have the pistons made to work with them. Ross is a popular brand of pistons and many have used them with the 351W rods in an SC block. I'd do a .030" overbore. The stock crank is fine.

We have guys over 400hp at the tires on a stock crank, which with a turbo instead of an SC would be 100-150 hp more w/o the parasitic loss from turning the supercharger. So I believe a turbo 3.8L SC engine could see 500-550 hp at the wheels if done right and turbocharged.

One guy here made 449 rwhp w/ a stock short block. Granted it had a mild cam, ported and welded heads, headers, etc... but thats a testament to the stock short block. The rods aren't forged (some say they are), and the pistons are hypereutectic, but as long as you keep enough fuel to match the boot and keep your air/fuel ratio safe the short block can hold up. I'd say 550 hp is doable on a turbo stock long block w/ modified top end, huge fuel pump and huge injectors. Now I can't say how long it'd hold up if you race it every weekend.
 
Last edited:
.

The SC 3.8L has a forged crank and you can use 351W rods if you have the pistons made to work with them. Ross is a popular brand of pistons and many have used them with the 351W rods in an SC block. I'd do a .030" overbore. The stock crank is fine.

We have guys over 400hp at the tires on a stock crank, which with a turbo instead of an SC would be 100-150 hp more w/o the parasitic loss from turning the supercharger. So I believe a turbo 3.8L SC engine could see 500-550 hp at the wheels if done right and turbocharged.

One guy here made 449 rwhp w/ a stock short block. Granted it had a mild cam, ported and welded heads, headers, etc... but thats a testament to the stock short block. The rods aren't forged (some say they are), and the pistons are hypereutectic, but as long as you keep enough fuel to match the boot and keep your air/fuel ratio safe the short block can hold up. I'd say 550 hp is doable on a turbo stock long block w/ modified top end, huge fuel pump and huge injectors. Now I can't say how long it'd hold up if you race it every weekend.



Can we write this on the home page under the picture of the year/month quarter... as a brief intro to the club?
 
Last edited:
Actually he wanted to put his turbo setup on the 3.8 motor in which he would pull the SC off of...

I dont think that turbo setup will fit a 3.8..So that about answers that
 
Last edited:
build the 3.0, it has better heads, and forged internals are easy to come by. It doesn't matter what you build, if you run it lean, or detonate on it you will destroy it.
 
Actually he wanted to put his turbo setup on the 3.8 motor in which he would pull the SC off of...

I dont think that turbo setup will fit a 3.8..So that about answers that

I own www.Bullseyepower.com and doing the fab work is no problem. I just wanted to make sure the engine is a good power plant that can handle a beating. The little factory 3.0 in the truck sucks and so does the 4.0.


I am glad to hear that the crank is forged steel and that there are rods out there that I can upgrade to later on. I would much rather spend money on custom pistons and buy factory off the shelf rods than both being custom.
 
build the 3.0, it has better heads, and forged internals are easy to come by. It doesn't matter what you build, if you run it lean, or detonate on it you will destroy it.

I looked int o custom pistons and rods for the 3.0 and it was way to much money. The rods were $1100.00 and the pistons are $600.00. Plus I have no clue what damage is done to the inside of the motor when the rod broke. This seems like a much more affordable way to go.

I found an engine on ebay at a good price. Hell I have seen the entire car be sold for less than 1k.

I am not concerned about the tunning cause that is what I do everyday. Check out my site you will see some awsome rides.

We have 4 bangers that make over 1600bhp and 6 bangers that run in the mid 6' in the 1/4 mile.
 
I looked int o custom pistons and rods for the 3.0 and it was way to much money. The rods were $1100.00 and the pistons are $600.00. Plus I have no clue what damage is done to the inside of the motor when the rod broke. This seems like a much more affordable way to go.

I found an engine on ebay at a good price. Hell I have seen the entire car be sold for less than 1k.

I am not concerned about the tunning cause that is what I do everyday. Check out my site you will see some awsome rides.

We have 4 bangers that make over 1600bhp and 6 bangers that run in the mid 6' in the 1/4 mile.

The 3.8 uses 351w rods with custom pistons. $300/set for rods and $600/set for pistons. Early SC rods are forged but somewhat weak, I've seen a lot of them break in the I-beam. Late SC rods are much stronger but also heavier and hard to come by. Stock rods will support 500hp if you don't detonate the motor.
 
The 3.8 uses 351w rods with custom pistons. $300/set for rods and $600/set for pistons. Early SC rods are forged but somewhat weak, I've seen a lot of them break in the I-beam. Late SC rods are much stronger but also heavier and hard to come by. Stock rods will support 500hp if you don't detonate the motor.


Thanks for the info.

I lost the engine on ebay so I am on the hunt once again. Someone snuck in and got it in the last few seconds.
 
Back
Top