School me on turbos

97stanger

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I know, I go from selling it to now wanting a complete different build. I'm worse than a woman. I've been doing research online about options for single 2v setups out there. It seems like there are complete opposite of the spectrum. The cheaper on3 setups, or you can drop some serious coin on a Hellion/custom setup. I think I woke up and realized I should probably keep the car, so I'll most likely be pulling motor soon. Seriously considering the swap from blower to turbo. Quick rundown of what setup would be:

97 Block, .20
Manley H beam rods, all arp hardware
Manley 18cc Platinum series pistons
cobra crank
Trickflow 44cc heads with custom grind turbo cams and high lift springs
Edelbrock manifold, 6061 plenum

So after doing some research online, I'm finding tons of posts from anywhere from '12-14 with people bashing the quality of on3 kits. It seems like the few I'm finding more recently online suggest quality has gotten better. Does anybody have first hand experience with on3 piping? If I went through with this, I would definitely run an upgraded turbo, probably a precision, and upgraded components such as bov, wastegate, etc. But what about just the piping from on3? The next stage of the spectrum I'm reading great things about C&G Fab, which the quality does look awesome. But for a car that gets driven once a month, and is just a street warrior, cruiser...would this drastic price difference be worth the cost? Also, what are the differences and benefits of upgrading the material of the material say from mild steel to stainless? Just for heat/rusting purposes?

When it comes to turbo, because this is such a small cube motor, would say something like a 76mm be a good fit for a street car but capable of being 700+rwhp through an auto?

Are the Hellion kits still as nice of a kit as they used to be?

Any input and advice on the above would be greatly appreciated. I've been a blower guy the entire time I've been in the modular game, so am a bit new to turbos. Thanks in advance
 

96blak54

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First off and for most. ....you didnt specify rings! Use stainless!

Forget the trick flows and use the heads you have!

Hellion has the best customer service. ....period! They call you! They are a bit pricey, but It is their priority for you to succeed and they keep communication with the buyer. This is why you hear nothing bad about them.
 
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97stanger

97stanger

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First off and for most. ....you didnt specify rings! Use stainless!

Forget the trick flows and use the heads you have!

Hellion has the best customer service. ....period! They call you! They are a bit pricey, but It is their priority for you to succeed and they keep communication with the buyer. This is why you hear nothing bad about them.

I'll definitely address the rings once I can get this thing down to the short block.

Just curious, why keep my heads? I have read online and have a few buddies that have swapped to TF heads with custom grind TF cams and picked up anywhere from 70-100rwhp.

Thats good to hear about Hellion, and I remember reading that they were great years ago. Good to see they are still standing behind their work.

Already started the disassembly. Got ignition, catch can, all blower piping and blow off valve off. Should be able to rip the top end apart pretty quick :(

 
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97stanger

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First off and for most. ....you didnt specify rings! Use stainless!

Forget the trick flows and use the heads you have!

Hellion has the best customer service. ....period! They call you! They are a bit pricey, but It is their priority for you to succeed and they keep communication with the buyer. This is why you hear nothing bad about them.

Do you know if the k-member and suspension components that come with the standard Hellion setups...is it UPR? Also, may be a dumb question. I believe all of the piping for the Hellion system is stainless steel. Is it okay to coat stainless steel? The piping that comes with the kit, how far back does this go? Would I be using my regular mid-pipe I have now or would it normally go to catback? Sorry for the newb questions
 

DropTopPony

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[MENTION=8116]Dalamar[/MENTION] has a hellion single kit and can give you info most likely.

I have always been intrigued by going turbo but I think I always come back to a PD blower being more fun around town for what I want.

Built auto is nice with a turbo also.
 
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97stanger

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Dalamar has a hellion single kit and can give you info most likely.

I have always been intrigued by going turbo but I think I always come back to a PD blower being more fun around town for what I want.

Built auto is nice with a turbo also.

I shot Dalamar a PM, I thought I remembered him having a single hellion setup. Yeah, I think with a built auto, a nice 76mm would make for a nasty setup
 

Thomas_W

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First off and for most. ....you didnt specify rings! Use stainless!

Forget the trick flows and use the heads you have!

Hellion has the best customer service. ....period! They call you! They are a bit pricey, but It is their priority for you to succeed and they keep communication with the buyer. This is why you hear nothing bad about them.

I waw specifically told NOT to use stainless when i built my turbo car because something about the temp transition time being extremely small and having to get into boost to help seat the rings Extremely quickly after the first start (i was told within 5 minutes or you'd have blow-by issues)
 

Thomas_W

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I know, I go from selling it to now wanting a complete different build. I'm worse than a woman. I've been doing research online about options for single 2v setups out there. It seems like there are complete opposite of the spectrum. The cheaper on3 setups, or you can drop some serious coin on a Hellion/custom setup. I think I woke up and realized I should probably keep the car, so I'll most likely be pulling motor soon. Seriously considering the swap from blower to turbo. Quick rundown of what setup would be:

97 Block, .20
Manley H beam rods, all arp hardware
Manley 18cc Platinum series pistons
cobra crank
Trickflow 44cc heads with custom grind turbo cams and high lift springs
Edelbrock manifold, 6061 plenum

So after doing some research online, I'm finding tons of posts from anywhere from '12-14 with people bashing the quality of on3 kits. It seems like the few I'm finding more recently online suggest quality has gotten better. Does anybody have first hand experience with on3 piping? If I went through with this, I would definitely run an upgraded turbo, probably a precision, and upgraded components such as bov, wastegate, etc. But what about just the piping from on3? The next stage of the spectrum I'm reading great things about C&G Fab, which the quality does look awesome. But for a car that gets driven once a month, and is just a street warrior, cruiser...would this drastic price difference be worth the cost? Also, what are the differences and benefits of upgrading the material of the material say from mild steel to stainless? Just for heat/rusting purposes?

When it comes to turbo, because this is such a small cube motor, would say something like a 76mm be a good fit for a street car but capable of being 700+rwhp through an auto?

Are the Hellion kits still as nice of a kit as they used to be?

Any input and advice on the above would be greatly appreciated. I've been a blower guy the entire time I've been in the modular game, so am a bit new to turbos. Thanks in advance

It kind of all comes down to how much work do you want to do?

If you can weld and want to fab up a hot side other than the stuff from the heads to the turbo, get a CG fab setup.
If you want a bolton kit that may or may not need some adjustments, get the On3
If you want the Creme bru'le of turbo kits, get the Hellion.


The CG fan gives you the abiity to custom fit the hold and cold section to fit your builds needs.

For the single setup, you'll get a Y pipe to connect to the catback (dont forget to get rid of the chambered mufflers) or you can just so a fender exit downpipe.

The On3 stuff seems to have a better reputation now. Their V band clamps and hardware is apparently junk though. Wastegates are hit or miss as well, so i would get a good Tial or PTE gate.

T76 will be plenty for 750, on race gas. If you dont feel like dealing with race gas, a T70 would be fine for around 600- 650ish.
 

96blak54

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Do you know if the k-member and suspension components that come with the standard Hellion setups...is it UPR? Also, may be a dumb question. I believe all of the piping for the Hellion system is stainless steel. Is it okay to coat stainless steel? The piping that comes with the kit, how far back does this go? Would I be using my regular mid-pipe I have now or would it normally go to catback? Sorry for the newb questions
A friend bought a Hellion for his built Fox body. He kept me informed about the process. We were both surprised how attentive customer service was.

As for thd Kmember brand, i do not know. I can promise it was aftermarket.
 
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97stanger

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It kind of all comes down to how much work do you want to do?

If you can weld and want to fab up a hot side other than the stuff from the heads to the turbo, get a CG fab setup.
If you want a bolton kit that may or may not need some adjustments, get the On3
If you want the Creme bru'le of turbo kits, get the Hellion.


The CG fan gives you the abiity to custom fit the hold and cold section to fit your builds needs.

For the single setup, you'll get a Y pipe to connect to the catback (dont forget to get rid of the chambered mufflers) or you can just so a fender exit downpipe.

The On3 stuff seems to have a better reputation now. Their V band clamps and hardware is apparently junk though. Wastegates are hit or miss as well, so i would get a good Tial or PTE gate.

T76 will be plenty for 750, on race gas. If you dont feel like dealing with race gas, a T70 would be fine for around 600- 650ish.

Thanks again for the info. I have no problem doing the mechanical components to the motor, but I do not have the knowledge or means to do welding or custom fab work. I'm really leaning towards the hellion setup. It seems like a win/win situation, especially with the upgraded precision turbo. I was running a tri-nozzle meth system on my blower, so I'll probably just run 2 of the nozzles pre-throttle body once i get to this point and the turbo is all set to help w/ detonation on 93 pump gas.
 
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97stanger

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A friend bought a Hellion for his built Fox body. He kept me informed about the process. We were both surprised how attentive customer service was.

As for thd Kmember brand, i do not know. I can promise it was aftermarket.

Thanks for the info. After doing a little more research it looks like what comes with their kit is UPR.
 
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97stanger

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Another silly question. I had a GI Joe 8 rib setup on this car with a Thump RRR tensioner and a 8 rib IW 10% overdrive crank pulley. I'm guessing with going turbo it would be best to go back to all stock pulleys and stock damper?
 

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