On Tue, 28 Mar 2000 DICEMAN469@aol.com wrote:
> Who cares how much it is, we have to find someone who would actually do it!!
>
It looks like there is some interest out there for a kit. I
am planning to twin turbocharge and intercool my V8 dakota (though
probably not for a while yet). When I do, I am thinking of offering a
kit similar to the MPI kit to allow others to make it relatively
bolt-on. Don't kid yourself, it is probably not going to be as easy
as buying a supercharger kit and bolting it on, due to the differences
between v8/v6 and GenII/GenIII, but it should make the install a lot
easier than doing a one-off for every truck. The biggest problem I
see is that the GenIII Daks have a lot less room due to the protruding
wheelwells and smaller engine bay. If we get lucky, the headers I
design for my truck might work for the GenIIIs too, but even if not,
GenIII headers could be built too, if there is enough interest. The
kit I would offer would probably include the headers and all of the
extra parts like hoses, clamps, bolts, etc. that will be nescessary to
bolt the turbos in place. I'm sure there will need to be a few different
kits for different trucks, depending on the model year, engine, wether
you want to intercool or not, etc. I'd be looking to do this with as
little overhead for myself as possible both to keep the cost of the
kits down and reduce my own financial risk. So, the process would be
you'd get my kit, and source the turbo from somewhere else (maybe I
could arrange a discount price via Turbonetics or another of the
turbo outlets), as well as the intercooler (unless I have to have
one custom made). Once you've got the turbo and intercooler, you
should have the headers and all the custom bracketry and such you need
from my kit. There may be some other items you'll want to order like
a boost gauge, etc. Anything not included in my kit would be listed
by part number in the install manual, similar to the MPI install guide.
If I were "big" enough, I'd love to offer a complete turbo kit, but
I think this is the next best thing. Plus, this way you will be able
to shop for the best price on the turbo, intercooler, and gauges, and
you will be able to customize your system with different turbos,
wastegates, etc. It doesn't make much sense to me for me to order the
parts, jack up the price, and sell 'em to you, when you can just order
them from the same place I would and save a bundle. (I'm not looking
to take advantage of anyone or get filthy rich here, just have some fun,
help other Daks to haul some serious butt, and hopefully cover my R&D
expenses and help to pay for more mods.) :-)
Anyway, this will happen eventually, but I'm not sure when. I was
originally going to switch to aftermarket EFI first, but a part of me
wants to do the turbo thing first to see how well it will play with the
factory EFI, so I may do that. If there are enough people who are
interested in a kit like this, it might just push me further in that
direction. ;-) I have to build up some cash to finance the R&D first
though. :-(
One nice thing about the turbos is that from my research so far, it
looks like the cost will be somewhere around half what a properly
installed supercharger would run. My research has also indicated that
the turbos should be faster, quieter, and more streetable than a blower.
(Nitrous is still the bang/buck king though.) :-) (Note: I'm not
looking to pick a fight with you blower folks; I'm just sharing my
conclusions... I first started looking at turbos because it was
something different, and the more I look, the better they seem...)
So, anyone know where I can score a few thou to get this project off
the ground? Gov't grant? ;-)
-Jon-
.--- jon@dakota-truck.net -- or -- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ------------.
| Jon Steiger * AOPA, DoD, EAA, MP Race Team, NMA, SPA, USUA * RP-SEL |
| '92 Ram 150 4x4 V8, '96 Dakota V8, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly 447 |
`---------------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'
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