How much power can stock 360 rods, crank, and pistons handle?

[70burntorangeT/A]

I am purchasing a good running 360 out of a 77 dodge van/motorhome. I dont know if it has forged or cast internals. I plan on taking it apart and checking everything out. If everything looks good all i will do is replace all the gaskets and put it back together with some performance stuff. I know a guy who owns a junkyard that has a lot of mid 90's turbo'd stuff, talon TSi's, mitsubishi starions/chrysler conquests. Stuff like that and he never sells turbos off them. He told me i could pretty much have some turbos for the scrap aluminum price so i thought "why not try?" Just wondering how much power that internals of that motor could handle.

[moper]

The crank is cast but fairly strong. Rods are decent but need good bolts. Pistons are useless but forged replacements in lower compression ratios are cheap. If you could get a couple turbos off the 2.5L or the 3.0L V6 then it might be fun. Otherwise the facory 2.0 stuff is just too small.

[70burntorangeT/A]

I would need to find turbo's that were identical right?  would a cummins turbo off of a late 80's dodge truck be too big? Or can you even put a diesel turbo on a gas engine since the RPM's of a diesel compared to a gas burner are so much different? Im looking for extra high end power.

[70burntorangeT/A]

Im pretty much just wanting to try this for the hell of it since i see these guys dropping 2-4K on these turbo systems. And i just wonder to myself if it can be done a lot cheaper? I know that i will need other stuff done too but i will worry about that once i see if i can actually get this rigged up

[72bluNblu]

It can be done cheaper, but it depends a lot on the condition of those turbo's.  It also depends on how much boost you're planning on running. I've seen guys turbo stock engines, the compression ratio works out well for it and the bottom end of the small blocks can handle some pretty high hp even in stock form. But if you get your air/fuel just a little wrong, run lean, and detonate those stock pistons will disappear. 

You'll also need new exhaust manifolds, all kinds of new plumbing, a modified carb for blow through, upgraded fuel pump, blow off valve, etc. Even if you can get good turbo's on the cheap, there's still a lot of expensive work to be done.

Here's a link to guy over on A-bodies that used a Holset T70  (HUGE turbo) to turbo a stock 1974 318 with 185k miles on it  . Hasn't come up with dyno #'s yet, but he's run as much as 12 psi of boost through that otherwise bone stock 318. Pretty innovative use of shorty headers and turbo location too. End results are on page 7, then it gets into body work. Does some pretty cool burnouts with it! Now, in theory anyway, at 14.7 psi you should have doubled your HP, so that stock 318 should be making close to 300 hp (150 hp was a low estimate and its running a 4 barrel now...)

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=49548

The real question is, how long do you think that engine will last like that? Even if you assume that 318 puts out 300hp with the turbo, that's attainable with a good modern rebuild and a naturally aspirated 318. So, if you spend enough money setting up the turbo, you get to a point where you could have had a nice reliable, naturally aspirated engine that will last a long time, vs a turbo'd stocker that won't have that kind of longevity at the same power level.

[HP2]

A 77 360 has a cast crank and pistons with forged rods. My 360 is in the 425  horse range with those parts and good bolts holding it all together. You could go higher than that as, in my opinion,  rpm, not power level seems to be a bigger hurt on cast parts, to a point.

The new issue of Car Craft has this exact scenario with a stock block chebby. According to them, yes, you can cobble together a junkyard turbo engine and yes it will make a lot of power. A pair of 2.2 turbos could easily get you to the 450 hp level without a whole lot of work. The problem you will run into with this type of set up is the turbos are too small to support really big power and your going to need to add electronics to control boost and timing to optimize the power without grenading things or lugging the engine with lazy timing. So then cheap becomes a relative term. Sure, the turbos were virtually free but they are undersized and require a couple grand with of controls.

[70burntorangeT/A]

Sure, the turbos were virtually free but they are undersized and require a couple grand with of controls.

Ok well lets say i want to run turbos off of a 3.0 I5 diesel mercedes, i have access to one of those and a second turbo could be bought on ebay with a wastegate for around 150 bucks. Fabbing up the turbo headers is not a problem, just takes a lot of time. What kind of controls are you talking about? I know i need blow off valves and such but im lost on the whole needing electronics thing. I mean if you wanted to get every last HP available then you would want some sort of electronics but everything can be mechanically tuned with no electronics can it not? Im not looking to build 30psi of boost or anything, just wanting to add a little more power. Plus i think it would be a fun project, just to beable to say "Yea i did this all with junkyard parts"

[Aussie Challenger]

One of the biggest killers of turbo's is if it hasn't had proper oiling and on 2nd hand units you may not know, the oil plays a major part in keeping the bearing cool.   

[Cooter]

One of my very first engines was a late model, 1976 360 Small Block...Spent a ton of money in that little bastid only to have one of the cylinders crack...

[HP2]

Ok well lets say i want to run turbos off of a 3.0 I5 diesel mercedes, i have access to one of those and a second turbo could be bought on ebay with a wastegate for around 150 bucks. Fabbing up the turbo headers is not a problem, just takes a lot of time. What kind of controls are you talking about? I know i need blow off valves and such but im lost on the whole needing electronics thing. I mean if you wanted to get every last HP available then you would want some sort of electronics but everything can be mechanically tuned with no electronics can it not? Im not looking to build 30psi of boost or anything, just wanting to add a little more power. Plus i think it would be a fun project, just to beable to say "Yea i did this all with junkyard parts"

Yes, to get every last bit of power you need to electronically control every aspect of the system from fuel induction, to waste gate control, and ignition timing. You could get away with mechancially controlling induction and waste gates, but timing retard will require some sort of external control. As your boost goes up, your timing needs to retard to avoid detonation, similar to nitrous use. At the least, you would want to drop a couple hundred bucks on a timing retard system.

Seriously, find the September '10 issue of Car Craft. The one with the big EBAY TURBOS headline across it. They address all the issues you asking about from a  low buck perspective.

[70burntorangeT/A]

How did they used to control timing? They started using turbos on ships and airplanes in the early 20's, how did they control the timing back then?  If i can get all of this mocked up then i will start investing some money in some controls

[Aussie Challenger]

The fuel was better quality, mainly the old low octane fuel as the average comp ratio was around 6:1, most engines had manual advance controlled by the operator.   

[70burntorangeT/A]

At the least, you would want to drop a couple hundred bucks on a timing retard system.

Such as this?

http://www.jegs.com/i/MSD+Ignition/121/8975/10002/-1