Diesel full size chevy setup on LT1

[Ghettogmc23]

Okay here's the situation and I'm looking more into facts and options more than practicality because this isn't something that needs to be reliable.

I was browsing the local take a part n noticed there was a full size chevy with a factory turbo setup. Being that the intake tube connected right to the carb flange on the intake I assume it was a diesel but have no actual experience with it. Anyways....

I'm wondering if anyone has ever seen one of these? I'm guessing its mainly just a sbc design as far as bolt patterns, flanges, etc. which makes me want to pull the kit to use or just store til I find use lol.

okay so with that said and assuming the above is all correct, what all is needed for a street driven LTX with boost? I've done some searching and I know the ideal repute is low compression, however my motor is already assembled and there's no amount of power that could make me tear it apart just yet.
ive read that stock they can run about 5psi but are fragile at that limit. I've also found that methanol will help so I'm wondering what all would be required to just keep it safe, not much for the power output so if I sacrifice a bit to keep it street able I'm fine with that, mostly want it just for the fun of it.
motor was built with polished up factory crank, scat forged I beams with ARP bolts, forged flat top pistons, hellfire Nitrous street filed rings, Clevite bearings, impala Fel-Pro head gaskets, aluminum heads, ARP head studs, and an LT4 Hot Cam. Runs around 11-11.5 compression if I remember right.... been a while n didn't write down the specs lol.

what would this setup need to be functional with boost? Looking for 5-6psi without a lot of changes to the internals of the motor. If methanol is something that's required would I be able to just run 110 instead? There's a station that sells it here in town.

Just looking for a good base setup. Most threads about this seem to turn into an argument on whether the crank will break or if the pistons will crack first, although that's from a few different forums n usually asked about factory motors lol.

[Chris]

Iirc I think that setup is actually an Oldsmobile block, different set up for sure

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[MeanTA]

11:1-11.5:1 and boost don't mix. That's a guaranteed way to grenade your motor.

You will end up picking up parts of your rotating assembly at an intersection. The rods won't be up to the task or would the rest of engine. Even on 5-6 pounds.

I would just wait to boost the next engine.

[Ghettogmc23]

Are you saying that just from the cylinder pressure it will create or from the higher risk of detonation?

[94Blackbird]

11:1-11.5:1 and boost don't mix. That's a guaranteed way to grenade your motor.

You will end up picking up parts of your rotating assembly at an intersection. The rods won't be up to the task or would the rest of engine. Even on 5-6 pounds.

I would just wait to boost the next engine.

It could be done, but I wouldn't run more than 4-5 pounds with a heavy does of methonal or run the car off E85 with those rods. It's really all in the tune, but he better make sure than it's a spot on tune. With his list of parts he's more likely to bend a rod than actually scatter anything if he goes overboard.

Ghettogmc23- you're on the right track with the methonal injection, but the thing that has me concerned with running boost on your current set up is the compressive loads you'd be placing on those scat I beams. They aren't much better than stock rods with ARP rod bolts, which are generally acknowledged to be good to around 500 at the crank. Given the fact that you're probably going to be in the 350-400 flywheel hp range already, adding boost would be like playing russian roulette. You might get away with it, but you might not. At a minimum methonal/water injection will be your friend if you do decide to persue this. Like I said my main concern would be your rods.

Just for reference my old set up made an estimated 360-370 at the wheels with 4.5 lbs of boost from a procharger, and it was just a stock engine with headers and an exhaust, and conservatively that put me in the 420-430 flywheel hp range.

[Ghettogmc23]

Thanks for the input, I got the answer although the more I think about it the more I realize its not worth the risk. I saw the opportunity and had the idea I could make it work as long as the tune was perfect, and even tho it sounds like I could I think I'll do like MeanTA said n save it for another build. I figure I spent the time n money to build it how I planned so why spend all the extra time and money just to risk losing it all? Definitely not a gamble I wanna take with less than 500 miles on the motor lol.

as far as the rods go I know they aren't much stronger, in fact the builder I had balance everything said he didn't have much experience with scat parts and thought they may be a limiting factor compared to the rest of the combination. I ran them cuz the forged side of them eased my mind and it was almost same price as it would have been to convert the stock to arp bolts n have them machined.

id still like to know though, even being forged is the breaking point about the same as cast when put under boost? I thought the forged pieces would be stronger under boost, but is the extra point of compression really enough to negate the extra durability? I know the rods I have aren't much stronger but this question would be in regards to any forged rotating assembly.

[shownomercy]

id still like to know though, even being forged is the breaking point about the same as cast when put under boost? I thought the forged pieces would be stronger under boost, but is the extra point of compression really enough to negate the extra durability? I know the rods I have aren't much stronger but this question would be in regards to any forged rotating assembly.

Forged only gives you more of a window for error and can handle heat a little better, sometimes.

One bad knock on hyper/cast stuff and you split things, forged can take it a little better.

In your case, you are going to be fighting the ability of gas to handle such high compression and in that, running a very high chance of predetonation etc, which will put your pistons/rods at a higher risk. Get a tank of a bad gas and nail it? Could not have the octane enough to prevent some bad knocks.

If you switched to E85 and ran another couple injectors in the intact tract, you may get away with it, but honestly it sounds like a great idea to ruin a seemingly strong motor.

[93M6Formula]

I'm guessing you're talking about a 6.5 turbo diesel (Not an oldsmobile). There is nothing that will work off of that motor, the turbos are tiny and will max out at 12 PSI or so. I was going to use one of them for a junkyard turbo 305 build I was doing in my '86 T/A but decided against it.

[Ghettogmc23]

I'm guessing you're talking about a 6.5 turbo diesel (Not an oldsmobile). There is nothing that will work off of that motor, the turbos are tiny and will max out at 12 PSI or so. I was going to use one of them for a junkyard turbo 305 build I was doing in my '86 T/A but decided against it.

That sounds kinda bigger than this one. It was around an early 90s full size, looked like a sbc from what I could see, although like I said I don't know diesels so maybe it was bigger than it looked lol. But even if the turbo was too small would the hot pipes work as a way to save some cash in turbo headers down the road? I know the best way is to just pull em n see but I was hoping someone might know what it was from experience, hope its not a super rare truck lol.

thanks for the info shownomercy, that was kinda how it was explained to me when I was doing research on it, but they made forged seem indestructible lol course I was going for n/a so that might be why. I thought I'd try it tho since I had 7lbs goin on the hyper pistons on my DD 140k 4.3 vortec, thought if I could keep it from blowin up a forged assembly will be cake lol. I even had that maxing out the knock retard when I first started workin on it lol, hence the spare motor just in case.

i know boost is definitely not meant to be an afterthought project, just thought my motor could be a bit more adaptive than it is. Oh well... still would like to know about the piping if anyone knows any info