How long for a turbo install

How long do you guys think it will take for a turbo install, if I got all the parts I needed before hand? I ask because, I want to do one on my 97 but, its my daily driver, and I can't afford much down time.

Depends how mechanically inclined you are, whether you've done the job before, how sure you are that you have all the parts, etc. Lot of factors to consider. If you've positively got all the parts and have done this before or will have someone along who has done it then probably a full day or a weekend. That'd be my rough guess.

a sts type system...maybe 5-15 hrs install.



bout 700 in dynotuning...

like bobby said it isnt too bad to install its the tuning that is tricky/takes a while.

hmm i meant 700 us dollars in base tuning not 700 hrs in case that was confusing....


and if its a budget diy turbo i would take me a week of looking at shit to get locked down what i wanted to do..

bobbywalter said:

hmm i meant 700 us dollars in base tuning not 700 hrs in case that was confusing....


and if its a budget diy turbo i would take me a week of looking at shit to get locked down what i wanted to do..

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How much tuning is involved, im only looking for a bit more power. Im not building a drag car or anything, just looking to break the 140 mark for horsepower.

And yes, this will be built on a budget.

tuning with properly trained staff and equipment is the absolute best way to use a turbo on a non turbo application.

you will get best performance for intended usage that way. it would cost me more to tune then get the turbo hooked up and spoolin for sure, if i was going for max street tune and track use i would bet it over 1200...after adding suggested aftermarket stuff. thats working within oem wire/pcm stuff.


if i was " po' boyin' " with no rollers available i would possibly incorporate a later model cammer obd2 4.0 system to match the boost as it would likely be pretty easy to do myself and run ok in the end. i would have to do it to know. but past experience seems to indicate this is doable.

on edit here.............
dayum....i thought this was a v6 application


in your case with the four whizzer its a bolt and go afair.

as in get a donor and use all its stuff..

bobbywalter said:

tuning with properly trained staff and equipment is the absolute best way to use a turbo on a non turbo application.

you will get best performance for intended usage that way. it would cost me more to tune then get the turbo hooked up and spoolin for sure, if i was going for max street tune and track use i would bet it over 1200...after adding suggested aftermarket stuff. thats working within oem wire/pcm stuff.


if i was " po' boyin' " with no rollers available i would possibly incorporate a later model cammer obd2 4.0 system to match the boost as it would likely be pretty easy to do myself and run ok in the end. i would have to do it to know. but past experience seems to indicate this is doable.

on edit here.............
dayum....i thought this was a v6 application


in your case with the four whizzer its a bolt and go afair.

as in get a donor and use all its stuff..

Click to expand...

So, not much tuning for a four banger. Just bolt on and go. Is that what your saying.

check everything just in case, dont want to just ass-u-me its right and end up needing a motor instead of an oil change due to lean mix.

should be able to do it in a weekend, as for tunning a few hours on a dyno. as for 140 HOP to the ground. the factory motors are 130 to the ground already. well my 94 auto 2wd was

98blownranger said:

should be able to do it in a weekend, as for tunning a few hours on a dyno. as for 140 HOP to the ground. the factory motors are 130 to the ground already. well my 94 auto 2wd was

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My 97 is only 112HP I think. Somewhere around there, ill double check.

sorry I forgot he has a 4banger

bobbywalter said:

a sts type system...maybe 5-15 hrs install.



bout 700 in dynotuning...

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Um, not quite. Two of us working on my pickup, start to finish in plumbing and setting it up took a solid 60 hours. I would LOVE to see anyone do it in under 30.

Maybe if you had everything pre-bent, pre-fit, and ready to bolt in you could do it in 5-15 hours but not if you fab it from scratch like I did. I spent a week going 7am-7pm (five days in a row) to do it.

A '97 isn't going to be a "weekend turbo-motor swap" affair. There is alot more to it than like swapping a tcoupe setup into a gen 1 or early 90's Ranger. The project will go as smoothly as you plan it. Plan it out really well, it all goes together really well, trust me. Jump into it without alot of research and you'll be in trouble in a hurry.

FYI, you'll destroy a stock '97 2.3L with really any boost behind it. They'll take a couple pounds, but you're not really gonna see alot of performance there. Decent performance from a small displacement like that takes a fair amount of boost, and that motor won't handle it without AT LEAST a set of forged pistons. And if you're going to go that far, there's alot more you should invest in while it's apart. I wouldn't recommend trying to do a project like this in a weekend. Like... period.

V8RangerBoy said:

FYI, you'll destroy a stock '97 2.3L with really any boost behind it. They'll take a couple pounds, but you're not really gonna see alot of performance there. Decent performance from a small displacement like that takes a fair amount of boost, and that motor won't handle it without AT LEAST a set of forged pistons. And if you're going to go that far, there's alot more you should invest in while it's apart. I wouldn't recommend trying to do a project like this in a weekend. Like... period.

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Something like 5 pounds of boost isn't going to hurt it that much, is it? I've seen people run 7 pounds without any problems. Hell, ive seen 10 pounds on a stock 2.3, but the guy had problems at 10 pounds. 5 pounds should'nt hurt it. Right.

5 shouldnt hurt but the thing is if your going to do the work you might as well build it to get a lil more considering its going to take time to do it all anyway.