Malykaii Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 So I turbo swapped my montero. Put in a 1988 starion setup. After all the work and cash, it still is slow. Only feels a bit more powerful than the carb setup I had, yet now gets almost half the mpg. Looking at power options. So are cams worth it? I have my eye on a used schnieder 27x. Any advice? I've read that some cams will detract low end power... yet its always refrencing the 29x cams. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Power ram 50 turbo Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) The 274 cam is a decent cam but not sure you will notice much power are you running stock boost have you done any up grades is it running correct what turbo do you have on it 12a? I ask because I have a turbo swapped d 50 4×4 and it puts down 234 hp at the wheels but iv done a lot up grades and run 93 oct 19c turbo 850 and 1150 injectors and tune with a safc 2 and a maft my truck is way faster then stock and runs great I still get around 25 mpg if I keep my foot out of it.oh forgot running 19 lbs of boost. Edited January 13, 2014 by Power ram 50 turbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 If you put a cam into your mph will be even less, that's for sure. Was the motor from the Starion running right/normally b/f you put it in the Montero? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technology Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 You'll lose torque. Just turn up the boost. Get a wideband and make sure you don't blow it up. Boost makes power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyquest Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Id have to second techboys question. It sounds like it may not be running optimally. You should be getting some decent gas mileage from it and a decent increase in power too even in stock form. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky Phil Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 not in stock trim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbrad511 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 What are you running for exhaust? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoFab Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) From TEP...for what it's worth... In a Turbo car the cam enables the turbo to pack in more air per intake cycle. If the system is not maxed out (like with a stock turbo at stock boost ) the extra lift and duration does not do much. As you make other mods and increase the boost the benefits of the cam profile change become greater. So, the bottom line is...If you have a car running more than stock boost, with exhaust system and intake work, chances are you will be very happy with a cam upgrade. If your car is totally stock and plans to stay that way, it may not be for you. Edited January 13, 2014 by NikoFab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 I say stay away from cams. Ive been down that road on a nearly stock engine and on a fully modded engine and both times came back to the stock cam. Stock cam is def better for torque which i think will be better in a truck. What i do think will be better is to degree your stock cam and get it running where it needs to be. If your engi e has so.e miles on it, you may simply benefit from a fresh timing chain, putting everything back as close as possible to where its supposed to be. I will second the motion on exhaust. If you hooked back up to the monteros exhaust piping, your def getting squeezed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Yeah that's true ^^^^ I didn't even think about that. That whole exhuast is probably press-bent 2" OD (at best) causing tons of backpressure and not allowing the exhuast side of the turbo to spin freely. That'll kill horsepower right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malykaii Posted January 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Motor is all stock. Fresh bearing roll and rings/pistons/hone. New timing and bse. The head is a mystery head. I got it with the truck. Previous owner never installed it. Might be a new casting or rebuilt. Had a shop put it on years ago before I knew how to wrench so now can't tell if it was new or rebuilt. Motor has 600miles and head has 5k. Only problem is I didn't know n/a and turbo motors got different valves at the tine if build. I read most comercial builders use turbo valves on thosr heads regardless... so hoping for the best and will change them in the summer to be safe. Stock 12a. All stock. Rebuild everything from throttle body with mazda tps to new hoses. Regarding exaust... I kind of need to get around to one. Tep 2.5 downpipe with 2 feet of strait pipe. So that's definitely not the problem I have a fresh converted 16g I bought by accident. Seller and I thought it was a 12a. But if I throw that on and all the supporting mods I'll burn over a grand$... if I'm going to dump money I almost want to be different and go dsm. 2.6 and chevy 4.3 monteros are a dime a dozen. I'm just looking for a bandaid to touch this truck up. Sounds like the cam will decrease my mpg. I daily drive this thing so more horsepower won't help since it will kill my torque. I don't rev past 3500 anyways. I'm better checking my cam degree and if need be pick up an adjustable gear. Thats what I'm getting from this, right? Thanks again guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squrlsquash Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) "The head is a mystery head. I got it with the truck. Previous owner never installed it. Might be a new casting or rebuilt. Had a shop put it on years ago before I knew how to wrench so now can't tell if it was new or rebuilt. Motor has 600miles and head has 5k. Only problem is I didn't know n/a and turbo motors got different valves at the tine if build. I read most comercial builders use turbo valves on thosr heads regardless... so hoping for the best and will change them in the summer to be safe." if you have an N/A head on a turbo block- youll have the cam from an N/A truck motor (which i think is what you said) if you have a turbo engine with an N/A cam, then you'll probably be way down on power because the cams have very different profiles (unless im mistaken)N/A cam opens the valves to suck in air while turbo cams open the intake and exhaust at different times to facilitate boost. If its an N/A cam in the mystery head, swap it for a stock turbo cam- seems that could cause your mpg and power probs good luckAaron Edited January 13, 2014 by Squrlsquash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) all i can say is that a stock cam ran a 10 second 1/4 mile. i dont see a need for a swap unless you want a different power range - delivery.most people will never run 10's. stock is more than i will ever need for the street. Edited January 13, 2014 by importwarrior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malykaii Posted January 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Oh. I thought the valves were the real differences with the head. Didnt realize both had different cams either. The previous owner bought a head for this car when it was carbed. He never put it on. I honestly don't know why he bought it. He said he paid like 400 for it. This was like 7 years ago. I swaped it because I bent a valve or something and lost compression. Again, I forget. I'm not looking ti race this car... I work out of it and spend 8 hours driving it and it kills me to have less mpg than carbed yet marginal power gains. So plan is build a used turbo spec head, as I can't have my truck down for more than a few days, and swap on a weekend. Find a used adjustable cam wheel and degree for optimal results. I'm not sure if to pass on the cam, 60 $ is a good deal. I'll see the pics and decide, but it prob isn't for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TainterRacing Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 What Vac are you at Idle? Have you done a compression test? I have done 3 turbo swaps in monteros and all made a huge diff... Don't bother with a diff cam. If you want a bit more I would run like 13-14psi you should be able to do that NP if your fuel pump is not a baby thing. I say something has to be wrong for it to not feel like much diff after the swap. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 I have done several montero and raider turbo swaps , number 1 on your list of things to do is remove the old pluged cat,, and replace every piece of the exh system to the a min of 2.5 " and guting the oem pre cat is a must ,, 98 % of them are partialy or almost completely pluged by the time you get them another thing is the trucks gearing , what is the rear gear if a 4:62 and your only reving to 3500 your not going to see much improment if at all with the turbo swap,, you need to rev to 5500 at least , that also means you need to make sure the head has up graded valve springs as even new oem springs are not strong enough to stay closed at higher revs , standard closed valve spring pressure at 1.6" is only 74 lb with new springs and used springs will be far below that ,, most all reman heads come with mechanical rockers and stock caravan non turbo springs and valves , these springs have only 64 lbs closed pressure and were never made to see a turbo 4:62 rear gears will have a very quick power band run thru so the fuel system and esp cam timeing are very important right now my sugestions to you are redo the exh up to turbo standards and rem ove any cats and install at least one new universal cat if you have eminsions testings in your area if not install NO cats in the system , but the system dia must be upgraded from stock size 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malykaii Posted January 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 I have aprox 18 vacume an an aftermarket autometer. Compression was like 120 across the board cold after rebuild and breakin. I know that's low by factory specs but I "built" the bottom end for $200 and used itm aftermarket pistons (aftermarket pistons tend to be slightly lower compression unless noted by thea manufacturer). I'm happy with those numbers. Exaust... 2.5 strait pipe. So I need to grab a cheap used head... turbo valves and appropriate valve springs. If I can, a used adjustable cam gear to dial in timings using the stock cam. I'll install the intercooler and piping this weekend and get a 3port waste gate to up boost psi from 7 to 10 after the head swap. I do have 4.625 gears, but I have 33s (stock tires are 28). I plan on swaping in 4.90s in the spring. After that, drive it more appropriately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 not much you can do about all that extra weight , almost a 1000 lbs more then the average Conquest ,but adding an IC will certainly help , but don't let the lag get to you it's the price you have to pay for most boost now doing that motor swap into a reg pick up like a D50 or mighty max is a real killer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TainterRacing Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 With the lower comp motor you should be fine running 14-15psi with a IC I bet the cam is a bit off you should be closer to 20-21vac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malykaii Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 My buddy has a turbo mighty max. We're in the process of putting in a built motor with magna head and 29x cam running some rediculously huge turbo. Cant wait to finish it up and test drive it tomorow. We were having some fuel delivery issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malykaii Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Well between aftermarket pistons, mystery head that also got cut down when the head gasket blew last year, and a block that looks to have been already rebuilt before and may have been decked... the cam prob is off. I eye balled the degree when I built and it looked fine... but when I find, make, and swap a turbo head in a month or two I'll do a proper degreeing and try to have an adjustable gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyWadd Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 YES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstieg Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Shelby & Tainter are the absolute 2 best people to be talking to on this! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 My buddy has a turbo mighty max. We're in the process of putting in a built motor with magna head and 29x cam running some rediculously huge turbo. Cant wait to finish it up and test drive it tomorow. We were having some fuel delivery issues. with that big a cam your gona have to lean down the fuel map a LOT across the board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) with that big a cam your gona have to lean down the fuel map a LOT across the board Why? Id like to think I have gown about as big as possible in this motor to the point of having to run longer valve stems? and as far as "are cams worth it" I would say YES but only after you have exausted every other possible place for gains. Edited January 16, 2014 by jszucs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts