I been thinking of turboing my 12a in my 83. I have no idea where to start. No idea where to get parts. I dont know much of anything. I basically want 200 or close to 200hp at the wheels reliably. I heard that the tranny wont hold. I heard the motor will blow if you boost it. I also have no idea how much boost to run. I have no clue about anything i just want reliable hp. I also see that atkins rotary has a supercharger has anyone tried it? Any info is good.

I searched the forum and everyone seems to know where to start or has some kind of source to get info and parts from. I'm from upstate NY and I havent seen a turbo'd 12a in person so i'm as clueless as they come.

 

any turbo application for a 12a engine is going to be custom fabricated from a 13b model. Other ways of achieving that level of hp is porting the engine (prob a better and cheaper way then turboing the engine will prob make it more reliable than a turbo.) get the rb full exhaust (wihout cat if possible) you might want toget some weight reduction too (remove rats nest, a/c, p/s, a/p) get lightened flywheel, get a weber 45 or 48 carb, that should get you close to that

 

If you want 200hp at the wheels,your gonna be needing about 230-240 at the flywheel.While possible,thats a hefty number for a N/A 12A engine to make,reliably.Not that you couldnt do it,but youll be increasing the factory HP by almost 150% and doing it with a non turbo engine.
Bottom line,its the wrong platform.If it were a racecar with a set budget,limited expected usage and an accepted lifespan,thatd be another story.Plenty of guys make many,many hundreds of HP out of turbo 12A's.But for a mild/moderate,reliable,street driven turbo car,start with a 13BT platform.Its already built/reinforced from the factory to make 180-200hp at low boost and is easily capable of 225-250 at the crank with the stock computor.With no fabrication,expensive dyno tuning or standalone computors,finniky carbs or expensive aftermarket turbos,its a sure thing.The whole thing comes ready to go,tuned and beefed.All you need for another 50HP is a boost controller,downpipe and some larger secondary injectors.Plus youll have the convenience of fuel injection and more off boost torque from the bigger engine.Jspec 13BTs are all over the place for anywhere from 900 to 2000 bucks.

 

what part of upstate ny are you in?