4kq turbo conversion & upgrades

Aaron Sherrick amsk at lehigh.edu
Fri Nov 10 17:31:56 EST 2000


Hi everyone, this is my first post to the list!  I'm admitting upfront that
I'm a newbie in the truest sense of the word.  I have an '86 4kq that I've
had for three years now, and I've decided the car is worth way more to me
than what I'd get if I ever sold it.  Besides, I love it.  It just needs
some performance improvements.  In the end I'd like to do the following:
turbo conversion, suspension, brakes, wheels, tires, headlights, cosmetics.
Except for the turbo conversion, all of those other upgrades seem simple
enough, but I have some questions.

Suspension: I believe this is going to be my first upgrade.  What does
everyone recommend for a sports suspension?  It looks like Bilstein and Boge
are the two popular options for shocks.  What else do I need?  Also, and
very importantly, will anything I upgrade in the front suspension interfere
with a future turbo conversion?

Turbo conversion: What's the best way to go with a donor engine?  I was
looking at the 86-88 5kqt engines.  What is a fair price to pay for one of
those?  I saw a site on the internet selling them, Woodfins used auto parts
(https://www.woodfins.com), for $550-700 plus shipping.  Since I obviously
have no technical expertise, how much would I be getting into in labor
costs?  I've also seen that TAP and Intended Acceleration make chips for the
engine.  How are they?  What about a better turbo (I've seen talk of the K24
and K26, not that I know anything about them).  Also, are they any good web
resources detailing this process?  If I can get 230-270hp out of the engine
like I've seen claimed, I'd be a very happy man!  What kind of 0-60 times do
you guys get?

I realize that I've asked enough questions that one could write a book on
the answers.  Sorry.  I would greatly appreciate any info and advice you
guys can give me.  Thanks in advance!

Aaron




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