Build Thread Want To Blow 5 Years And $50k On A Foxbody? Step By Step Instructions Inside!

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Tell me about it. I'm waiting for the guy I bought the IRS from to send me the upper subframe mounting brackets. Can't mock it up until I have them.

I did get the rest of the parts I need to finish up the engine and bolt up all the accessories. Need to get some parts powdercoated first.
 
Well, it didn't take long for me to run into my first snag. I temporarily bolted up my MM k-member and mocked up the engine in the car with my HP Performance hotside installed. I going to have to do some trimming on the passenger side for the turbo to fit, which I knew. I'm going to modify the boxed in frame rails to give a little more clearance to the header. Nothing hits on that side though.

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I hit a speed bump when I mounted my driver side header. It wouldn't fit. It's hitting the motor mount on the k-member. And it's not like it almost fits, because the front header bolt is nearly an inch higher than it should be.

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So, the plan is to re-route the driver side header so it meets the crossover pipe near the power steering pump and not between the oil filter and frame rail like it does now. The MM k-member is very beefy and doesn't leave much room in that area. The collector is also very close to the sway bar and I think there may be some clearance issues with that as well. I never understood why HP Performance decided this was the best way to route the driver side of the kit?

I'm going to give Brian a call at B&G tomorrow and see how much he wants to make a 1-3/4" header with a 3" v band collector. If it's too much, I'll buy some mandrel bends and modify the existing header myself. The modifications to the crossover will be minimal, so I can easily make it bolt up to a B&G header.

I just want to get all my turbo piping fitted so I can get everything re-coated and be able to work on the rest of the car. Oh the joys of building a turbo setup!
 

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That's the truth.

Got off the phone with B&G a little while ago. Having them make a driver side header will be too cost prohibitive, so I bought some pipes from mandrel-bend.com and I'll be modifying the existing header myself. Should be fun...
 
Scott if you need any other supplies I can turn you on to some other companies www.coneeng.com, Im building my own 4v turbo headers and system..lol FUN and Im a welding fool..lol

I did a HP kit on a 93 Cobra and on a stock K-member, stock 93 vert mounts I had NONE of those clearance issues, and I had to run custom 3/8" thick header adapter plates with the big ass port I have on the AFR225's. HP was going to make my headers for a wide bolt pattern but surprise that didnt happen. I finally got my parts when I threatened to fly out there with my NFL customers lawer...parts were on my porch in 3 days with a nice upgrade to a GT42 ball bearing 76mm (I was supposed to get a standard bushing unit)

Only place clearance was really tight was at the steering rack, before I wrapped it I melted a boot!

Otherwise you may want to check these guys out www.cgfabrication.com prices are very reasonable and the quality is top notch.
 
Scott if you need any other supplies I can turn you on to some other companies www.coneeng.com, Im building my own 4v turbo headers and system..lol FUN and Im a welding fool..lol

I did a HP kit on a 93 Cobra and on a stock K-member, stock 93 vert mounts I had NONE of those clearance issues, and I had to run custom 3/8" thick header adapter plates with the big ass port I have on the AFR225's. HP was going to make my headers for a wide bolt pattern but surprise that didnt happen. I finally got my parts when I threatened to fly out there with my NFL customers lawer...parts were on my porch in 3 days with a nice upgrade to a GT42 ball bearing 76mm (I was supposed to get a standard bushing unit)

Only place clearance was really tight was at the steering rack, before I wrapped it I melted a boot!

Otherwise you may want to check these guys out www.cgfabrication.com prices are very reasonable and the quality is top notch.

Good stuff Rick. Thanks for the link. I know my way around a MIG welder, so I think I can handle modifying the headers. If I don't like how some of the welds are turning out, I'll tack them in place and drive them down to the welding shop and have them finish them off for me.

Apparently HP Performance is out of business now. Webiste and phone don't work anymore. I guess too many unkept promises caught up with them. I'm glad I found a used kit locally.

Those fitment issues have put the fear of God in me about installing my PTK kit with 1-7/8" primaries and a T6 flange on a stock K member... :(

You should be fine with the stock k-member. The PTK still has a 3" collector as far as I know, so I think you'll be okay. It was designed around the stock k-member anyways. This damn MM unit is beefier than I thought. I'm lucky my 3.5" dp is going to fit between the passenger header and k-member. Let's just hope it clears my Lakewood bellhousing!
 
yes HP is finally out of business..... Shame is I really always liked their design, I had been tempted to make a commerical kit that fits but there are a lot of those companies out and I am not sure that would be the best decsion for me...Ill stay with custom fit units through my shop.

Dump the Lakewood and get a Quicktime, smaller, lighter and still SFI approved...my downpipe just barely clears the Quicktime, Im not sure it will pass the Lakewood, that bitch was tight.
 
It better fit. I'm not liking the idea of having to spend $500 on another bellhousing. My Lakewood is only about 1k miles old.

I'll tell you what though, the Mustang community could use another reliable turbo kit company that makes a quality product. There were too many that went under because of a lack of business experience. They made quality stuff though. Just polish up your welding skills and you're golden!
 
Made some progress on modifying the driver side header. Below is the original configuration. I decided to cut the primaries and reweld new ones in so the collector would sit between the power steering pump and framerail.

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All the primaries cut:
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I went over in my head a million times the best way to route the tubes into the collector. After finally figuring it out, I cut the back two again and decided to run the front ones into the bottom of the collector.
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With the general collector location determined, I was able to move the header to the bench and tack in the top tubes.
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Put it back in the car to make sure I didn't mess anything up.
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I just need to clean up the tubes where they will enter the collector and then weld everything together. Next will be modifying the crossover to mate up with the new collector location.
 

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Your fitment on the tubes look really good.:nice: Is this the first time you've tried that? I guess you're gonna mig the butt joints together then?

I also can pretty much mig just about anything than can be migged together, and I did mig the tubes together on the tubes of my current headers, ( Junk assed flow tech LT's) but the welds are just too big too look good. I ended up grinding them smooth w/ a flap wheel ( very carefully). Funny thing was, I have a tig. I'm just not good enough w/ it to make those welds look any better on thin metal.:shrug:
 
Thanks. This is the first time I've built a header. I enjoyed doing it. Definitely a challange. I have a new found respect for those guys that build their entire turbo system from the ground up. It's tedious work.

I'm okay at migging, but not good enough to lay down the welds and leave them (at least those that are visible). I too need to clean them up with a flap disc. I welded the pipes together with a series of hot tack welds layed on top of each other. That gave me the penetration I needed to allow me to grind the some of the welds down smooth and just clean up others. The Jet-Hot coating will hide some of the imperfections too.

I finished up the header and crossover modifications today. I welded all the tubes together and cut a piece of 16 gauge sheet metal into a 4 point star to fill the gap in the middle of the pipes. I was able to salvage the original collector, which saved me from having to buy a new one.

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I also decided to install a flex bellow in the crossover tube. They aren't that expensive and if I can help avoid header cracks, why not. Here's the original crossover configuration
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And then after I got done chopping up some pipes:
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Plenty of clearance to the sway bar mount.
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I'm very happy with the way things turned out. I just need to weld the crossover together and then get it ready for coating. Once Comp finally decides to ship my turbo I can get started on my new downpipe. The existing one is beat to hell.
 

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