Medium Budget Turbo 6.0L Build

I'm looking to do a turbo build as my next project, not limited to challenge budget but looking to get good value for money and a dependable motor with enough hp to run low tens in a 3500lb car. Exact car undecided but probably something early '50s so leaf spring rear with either slapper bars or Cal Tracs and slicks.

What I've got:

6.0L LC8 (CNG compatible L96 so basically rectangle port truck motor) complete from intake to pan with coils and injectors but no harness or ecu.

TH400

Rough plan:

Holley Terminator X ECU

cable throttle body - I don't like dbw 

stock exhaust manifolds, modified as necessary 

single turbo - which one?

injectors - decap or get bigger ones?

cam and valve springs - sloppy mechanics stage 2 maybe? Worth switching to LS7 lifters?

headgaskets - some sort of mls gasket - think some OE ones are good value?

gap the rings wider

air to air intercooler or meth injection - undecided which

good converter - seems like a place where spending money gets results. Is it worth putting together with a budget converter and then dynoing to be able to give more accurate info to the converter company building the good one or just start with the good one and get it tweaked as necessary once the car is up and running?

what do I need to do to make the TH400 live? 
 

Rear end will be 9" Ford with spool or locker, probably 3.50 gears to start.

Does this seem like a realistic plan? Suggestions for the parts I should get or anything I've missed?

thanks

Sounds like you already have the recipe down. Th400 you can get away with a good converter and a transgo hd2 kit. Again those are sloppy mechanics favourites. 

Do you have a power or ET goal? That should help with the turbo, fuel system and converter choices.

I built an LQ4 6.0L for my (unfinished '61 Apache), all stock inside but ring gaps opened up to 0.026" and 0.028".  Stock cam for now, but being a daily driver, I really don't want to change the converter.

4L80E I am in the midst of rebuilding.  I've fully rollerized everything, and added another direct clutch. I used most of the TransGo HD2 kit (not the separater plate, I dual-fed internally). With a basic shift kit, a TH400 or 4L80E can hold 700 or 800hp reasonably well.

I bought the VS Racing "Denmah Billet 7875" turbo kit (vsracing.net and turbo4less.com), which comes with the turbo, blow off, wastegate, intercooler, piping, couplers, etc. I think I paid about $900US for the kit, but they've since come out with 2nd Gen 7875, and then a 2.5gen 7875, which will give you 100hp+ more than what I bought (because of course).

I chose a 7875 turbo because I wanted it responsive. They say on a 6.0L it is hilarious fun on the street, with boost much like a blower - it spools like a light switch. I have not even started the motor, much less driven it. If you have higher goals at the drag strip, you'll want a larger turbo, and consider something with a T6 exhaust housing.

I will likely be de-capping my original injectors because there is no E85 in my area, and there's only so much horsepower I need in a '61 pickup before all the poop comes out of my butt. I did install a Walbro 450 pump.

While it initially starts out cheap, there is a lot of wee parts that you need to complete the kit, which end up costing a lot more than you expect in the end. I'm undecided if it was financially worth it, but again - I have not driven it yet.

Are the 6.0L that sturdy? A respected engine builder told me the 5.3L had much stronger internals, but I have zero personal experience.

I have a similar plan for my tow-bitch 2500hd. Only advice is decapped injectors and other cheap options are total garbage. May work OK for a track only car for a few sec at a shot when you dont care about replacing a piston occasionally, but a few $ on Deka 60-80lb, Bosch 1000-1500cc, or some IDs go a long way.

No such thing as a cheap converter that works *really* well, maybe Nelsons have input on a workable one for a budget.

In reply to calteg :

Depends on the year. Gen IV bottom end is stronger than Gen III.

In reply to RacetruckRon :

Looking to run low 10s, anything sub 10.50. Expecting the car to weigh around 3500lbs so somewhere around 750hp seems like it would do the job.

In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks, I've been following your build. Look forward to your driving impressions once it's on the road. What's the estimated hp of your setup? Mine won't be a daily driver so I'm happy to trade a bit of drive ability for a better et.

In reply to 1SlowVW :

Thanks, that's pretty much what I'd read.

In reply to obsolete :

My motor is 2017 so it's a gen IV. Not looking for 4 digit hp so I think it should be ok

In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :

Not expecting a cheap converter to be the final solution, just wondering whether it makes sense to get the car running and driving to get some more data points before ordering up a good converter 

I'm personally a fan of the intercooler over the water/meth.  Something mechanical with no moving parts always makes me happier than something that can fail and cause big booms.  No time like 20psi of boost for a meth pump to decide it wants to E36 M3 the bed.

I agree with Curtis , air to air is simple at cheap. I ran a generic 3" thick eBay core and iat were always in check. (Mind you I was only at 500~hp).

One more question for you do you have E85 locally ? I don't here but it seems like the superior fuel for boost and stock bottom ends. 

Racingsnake said:

What's the estimated hp of your setup?

I ringed it for 22psi boost, and am running LS9 MLS gaskets and ARP head studs. Apparently the studs are unnecessary. I have a bung welded into the intake piping for meth injection.  15psi should theoretically double what the stock engine makes.

I hear that 15 psi is going to be more than ample. A fellow on the 67-72 truck forum says that a 6.0L with 7875 at (I think he said) 12psi will blow the tires loose at 40mph in his '65 C10.

I bought a manual boost controller anyway, so I can start small and slowly work my way up to unreasonable.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Good point, I am leaning towards the intercooler rather than meth.

In reply to 1SlowVW :

There's one E85 pump just round the corner but I don't know of any others so I think I'd rather stick with gas

In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :

Is there a formula to work out how much to gap the rings for a given boost level?

LS6 gaskets we're the ones I was thinking of. Studs are probably good insurance, especially if you need to pull the heads for anything even if not strictly necessary 

LS9 head gaskets are the hot ticket. They're 7-layer MLS, the others are 5-layer.

Obsolete: You are correct, it was LS9 gaskets I used.  I'll edit my post for future visitors.

Racingsnake: This is what I found in my research:

RING GAPS:

     NA ----------- 0.004 x bore

     <15psi -------- 0.0055 x bore

     15-30psi ----- 0.007 x bore

     >30 psi ------- 0.008 x bore

Going to follow along on this thread, as I may be doing the same thing with my 6.0 swap in a few years.

Also, E85 pump doesn't mean that it's E85.  It's "up to" 85%.

Around here we get:

- unleaded: up to 10%
- E15:  up to 15%
- E85/flex fuel:  15-85%

Total crap shoot what's actually in it

Thanks for the clarification on the head gaskets and the gapping info. 
I'd heard E85 was pretty inconsistent so that's another reason to stay with gas.

Any thoughts on cams/valve train?

Yeah, but with an Ethanol sensor and an ECU that can use it, the ECU can adjust spark timing based on the amount of E going through it.  If it's 15%, conservative tune, if it's 85%, full tilt boogie, and everything in-between.

And if you're going boost, you really should have an ECU you can tune.

In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :

If I had an e85 pump around the corner and was building a turbo car it would run nothing else. Especially when , as skinny pointed out, a flex fuel sensor is an easy addition.