Ugliest Car Ever

**petrified.rabbit** · 12-06-2010, 01:53 PM

just to talk about the turbo point..

there are two schools of thought for turbos i have run into..

1. Build the **** out of the engine, spend lots of money on parts, tuning, etc. And get reasonable hp with reliability. This is fun and expensive, and time consuming. It requires a lot of maintenance to keep it right.

2. Build a big turbo kit on a cheaply replaceable stock long block and replace the engine every time you blow it up.. This is still fun, people better at this typically still put in mls head gaskets if not originally equipped. This is cheaper entry level, and can almost be as reliable (on low boost) as the first option. It requires the same amount of maintenance to keep it right.

I like the idea behind both. I guess its how you want to go about it. You can build an ABA vw engine to make 300 hp.. fairly easy. A low mileage ABA out of a junk yard locally is $75. It can be reinstalled is about 4-5 hours (seriously) So if you blow the stock engine every 3 months, its $300 a year to maintain the car and keep it running. I've seen people build $2000-5000 engine that last a year before blowing up..

Building a built engine for turbo is more money, but the work can be worth it.. but reliability is a compromise to power, if you want to push it i will blow up too. A LOT of the time it is head gaskets that blow.. so if the top and bottom end are bullet proof so to speak, you'll just be replacing head gaskets on occasion. but hopefully not.

I went all motor on most of my builds. I will do a big turbo someday.