Hi guys.
I am new on here and recently bought a mid travel buggie from Chancemows. It has a N/A 2110 VW motor in it with good pieces and has dual 44IDF'sand a built 5 rib bus trans (light car too). I have been going to the dunes for years and have always ridden bikes (I just sold my 540cc Banshee) and decided that I wanted to make the switch to sandrails and this little buggy is going to be a nice cheap starter to see how much the wife and I like it (and learn how to drive it and what I want in a future car) without having a $75,000 buggy sitting in my garage. So I have taken the car out to the desert a few time already and I can already tell that I would like some more power. I don't mind spending a little time and money on this buggy but want to learn from all of your trial and errors so I don't waste any. My question is that I have been looking a doing a turbo on here and want to know what you guys would go with a Blow through on my IDF's or sell the IDF's and go with a draw through setup? What kits you guys have gone with or any info or combinations would really be helpful. I have a great deal of experience in the car world as I have a 1955 2door post I am building with a blown LSX motor and a 1000whp turbocharged mustang I am fininshing right now but the VW and Sandrail mix is something I could use some input on. Also I am up to changing to a subie setup also if I can get it done without spending a fortune. Thank you guys for the help look forward to your responses,
ShawnF.

from the ones i have seen the blow through seems to be a better system . there is a book out called "everything you ever wanted to know about turboing a vw " or something like that. performance express here in phoenix used to swear by that book , hope it helps , i am sure a lot of other guys will be able to give some more direct info , but hope this holds you over till they chime in . and congrats on the new buggy and welcome aboard . tim

Call car craft inc.

^^^^^^ What he said - Car Craft ^^^^^^^

IMO go with a pull through system, only one carb to eff with. Car craft puts together a good package. Also, another book to read is "Turbomania", you can get it at most vw shops.

They have a pretty nice draw through carb kit. They also are offering efi turbo setups with or without an intercooler for vw's, and honda v6's.

A turbo would make a nice addition But do yourself a BIG favor, toss the carb, spend the extra money money and get the fuel inejction. Otherwise you will be fighting carb issues for ever. The FI is so sweet, tune it and run forever. The throttle response is instant.

look into it.

Around $2,500 to convert a carburated 2332 turbo motor to the EFI system?

Thanks for the ideas guys. So you think I should go with the draw through set up? I really don't want to go efi if I do that I would just throw a Subie in it. Does anyone have a blow through set up that works for them? Thanks again for the help.

Perhaps to convert yes, but if you buy the EFI turbo kit from the start, its not a huge difference. After seeing the difference, no way I would do a carb again...Just my opinion...thats why they make both modles...

Blow thru is the way to go. PM me and I'll give you more details. I have built several VW blow thru and a couple of draw thru systems.

The Car Craft kit is a nice simple easy to install and tune setup. My friend has one on his mid engine 2014 car and it screams at 12lbs of boost. The drawthru carb is not as big a problem as everyone says. Just keep in mind you will most likely need to tear the motor down a bit to get the compression down to 8-1 for the turbo. Turbo+ aircooled+ extra compression = Kablooie!

Yeah I know I have got to get the compression down. It runs on 91 right now without much problems so I figure it is somewhere under 10.5 to 1 (probably more like 9.5 to 1) so I can put a thicker gasket in it and drop it down some. TurboLark is your buddies setup a draw through or a blow through?

If it was me, I would just blow through the dual carbs. The kit can be done for under a grand, if you do some of the fabbing yourself. It won't be the prettiest setup but it will look decent and work really well. You wouldn't be disappointed.

Thomas

Blow thru is fine with fuel injection but when you pressuriess carbs, strange things start happening. (never again)

Turbomania is a great book and will discuss both setups in detail.

The bottom line is how much money are you willing to put into this motor, turbo kit, and/or FI setup.

IMO sell the vw motor and upgrade to the subie or a honda. You will never regret it and with your mechanical background you will probably spend less money.

It is a drawthru setup.Here is what we did :
Bought a new, modern design t3/t4 turbo. Bought a old used good 40DCOE weber and had Ed from Car Craft go thru it for the drawthru. Bought the Car Craft turbo header and intake manifold "T", and the fuel pressure regulator setup, plus some misc small stuff. Saved money on the turbo(about $200 from the deal I got), and saved on the carb(2-300.00 if you can find the carb for cheap...we got it for $125.00)
This is on a 2014 with a small cam and really nice heads in a 2 seat mid chassis and it roasts 33x12.50 BFG all terrains down the street. We are figuring around 300hp or so at 15lbs of boost.

Thanks guys. I really don't want to spend more than $1,500 doing a kit but it seems like I could sell my webers for 400-500 and build a draw through kit I wouldn't be that far off. It seems that everyone who likes their turbo VW has a draw through type system.

I have very little skills and was able to change from a VW to a Subaru 2.0 from Outback for about 4K doing most of the mods myself. Best decision I ever made. Nothing but problems from the VW. Do yourself a big favor, sell the VW and call John @ Outback if you want trouble free, fuel injected turbo, Japanese reliability duning fun. You will not regret it.

Mike

I did the same thing on my old rail. I went with a N/A 2.5L SOHC. What a big Diff it was from my old 2276.
If you can hold out i would get the 2.0L turbo. The motor itself is less than 1K

Shawn, stick to your turbo idea. That rail is a kick in the pants out in the dunes. If you were to throw on a turbo it would be that much better. Switching out to a Subi or Honda isn't as cheap as people will make it out to be. Adapter plates, radiators, different paddle tires, different motor mounts, re-fabbing the rear cage, stiffer shock springs, and a 6 rib 091(at a minimum) will turn that $4000 motor swap into a $10,000 upgrade. Wait until your next rail for the Subi or Honda.

didn't get a chance to read the entire thread (it's wabbling a little right now) but I used to have a turbo vw so i think that allows me to answer. step #1, sell said motor. I had a guy drive out from Texas to give me his hard earned cash for my turbo vw. That's right, Texas to Alpine Ca. for a vw. I felt like I should've paid him. step #2, celebrate said victory with a nice cool adult beverage. step #3, decide what kind of water pumping fuel injected motor you now desperately NEED (shouting for wife's benefit) for your buggy.


Good luck

Drive it in the dunes and then make a decision, I would not spend the money if the car is not what you want. If you do then just do a simple blow thru on the setup you already have, if you run good fuel you can leave the compression and just run 5 lbs. If you want more you will have to change compression and possibly change to a turbo cam. Draw thru is much simpler without the potential risks of the blow thru setup but you already have carbs and manifolds so just keep them.

Nice!

Thanks again for all the help guys. I think I am going to stick with the VW motor and do a blow through system on it. I have found out what I need and I think I can get it to work well. Chance you are right I can see where I just need to throw a turbo on this setup and then drive it till I decide to do a different buggy. I love the way the car handles and drives and I know the blow through setup will give me the extra I am looking for without having to change much and it'll be cheap and I won't get caught up in the "well since I am doing this I might as well..." situation. Thanks guys I'll keep you all posted on how it is going. Later,
ShawnF.

what tom said is correct, cb fi system is around 2500 it will be money well spent. farmdog.

Well you asked for opinions and you got them, if you are in so cal. call Anthony at Rancho Imports use to run pro turbo class vw. He helped me build mine way back when with reasonable parts, some used on his race car. Very smart on VW and a nice guy 909-946-1965

That's a great car, you'll enjoy it which ever way you go

Or you can try John at DSS in Temecula. This is what he does daily, he builds big HP motors and nice turbo kits.
951-600-7250