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

[1991notchbackLX]

I think a turbo blanket is going to be a must. I'm also a little concerned with the downpipe's proximity to the alternator and the belt. That pipe is going to glow red under a load. I'd be a little afriad of burning up that alt. Maybe the camera angle is exaggerating the lack of clearance?

 

[hoopty5.0]

Nothing some header wrap won't fix, right? Looks good though.

My question is can you fit a short enough air filter between the compressor and the fender?

 

[RacEoHolic330]

I probably will be wrapping the downpipe to protect the alternator and starter from heat. The pictures are somewhat misleading, but it is still pretty close. I may also invest in the DEI heat shield for the turbo. It's one of the nicer ones out there. No point in covering a pretty turbine housing with an ugly blanket!

Rick is working on finding me an angled air filer to help with fender clearance. They are out there. Any shorty-style filter should work.

Next on the list is coldside mockup. Gotta figure out how I want to mount the intercooler.

It seems that the more I get done on this project, the more I realize there is still left to do!

 

[RacEoHolic330]

I do have a question for the turbo guys though. Dump the wastegate or recirculate? I have never been in a turbocharged mustang with a dumped wastegate, so I don't know how obnoxious it really gets. Anyone with experience care to comment?

 

[bentley429isBAC]

I suggest not getting to small of a filter, going to hold back a lot of power.

 

[bentley429isBAC]

I do have a question for the turbo guys though. Dump the wastegate or recirculate? I have never been in a turbocharged mustang with a dumped wastegate, so I don't know how obnoxious it really gets. Anyone with experience care to comment?

Its pretty loud, I always ran a open one but had I stayed turboed I would have recirculated it.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

And to me, the noise and fumes are strikes one and two, the proximity of hot gasses to cold air increases chances of metal fatigue at the wastegate mount, I'd think...... Strike 3?

 

[RacEoHolic330]

All good points. I'll go ahead and make provisions to connect the wastegate to the downpipe. I have some 1-3/4" piping and the flanges to do it. Just need to get a flex bellow.

This means more cutting, grinding, and welding. Yay

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Here's a picture of the overpriced restrictor/adapter/filter I received from Comp. The orifice on this thing is SMALL. It's sitting next to a .041" restrictor. I can't believe how tiny that hole is. Comp was not kidding when they told me that these ball-bearing turbos hardly use any oil.

I bought a bunch of AN fittings so I can figure out how I want to route the oil and water lines. Hopefully they show up by the weekend.

 

[Boosted92LX]

Man, your build is fantastic. I hope to do a 76mm turbo on mine, and was considering an attempt at doing the piping myself like you are. I've been looking at brands of headers to start with... Thank you for posting all of the great pictures! Lots of good info here!

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Thanks Allen. It's slow going but I'm getting there! It's a learning process for me too. I didn't expect to have to re-create so much of the turbo kit. Although it's a heck of a lot of work, I wouldn't have a problem building a turbo kit from scratch as long as I could dedicate the time to do it. It's fun to see everything come together, and when you do it custom you can put everything exactly where you want it.

 

[VibrantRedGT]

You have more patience than me. I had a Turbo kit I purchased for my 94. Was ready to install it when I realized all the fabrication and I'd lose the A/C. I live in South Florida, not having A/C was a deal breaker for me. This was many years ago, they might have a kit now that retains it. I sold everything and bought a Vortech S-Trim which bolted right in.

Looks great man, nice project. I'll keep checking your progress. I may want to tackle a turbo project in the future.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Luckily, I'm not in a rush to get things done. so I don't mind taking the time to fab up what I need to . I do get frustrated though when I don't anticipate fabrication work that needs to be done. For instance, I thought I would just need to drill through the center of my framrail for the turbo oil drain. Nope, the drain fitting is sitting right above the outer EDGE of the framerail, which means I will need to notch out and re-weld in a U-shaped reinforcement. All that for a damn oil drain.

I assume it is not preferred to have a 90 degree bend right out of the turbo for the drain?

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Not a whole lot of progress made this week, but I did get some stuff done. I fully welded up all the downpipe sections. I also welded a 3/8" bung for the ACT sensor and two 1/8" bungs for the methanol nozzles. You can't see the one nozzle bung in the picture.

I also made the template to repair the gaping hole in the inner fender.

Mocked up the coldside. Everything fit together great. I'm going to have to get some tabs welded to the intercooler to have it supported from above.

The only conflict that I ran into was between the blow off valve and the wastegate. Because I am recirculating the wastegate back into the downpipe, I need to install a 1-3/4" pipe from the discharge side of the gate to the downpipe. The HP kit was not designed to recirculate the gate, so my discharge pipe sits too close to the blow off valve for my liking.

I do not really have any other good location for the BOV, and I really don't feel like cutting off the flange, moving it, and repairing the pipe. Soooo, being that I'm not even really happy with the condition of the passenger side of the crossover pipe and I plan to replace it anyway, I'm going to relocate the wastegate closer towards the flex bellow.

I'll install a 90 degree bend right off the crossover into the wastegate inlet. This will allow me to run a straight pipe (and flex bellow) directly up into the downpipe. I'm going to install a 90 degree bend off the downpipe facing down. This will ensure that the exhaust gas getting dumped into the downpipe is going the same direction as the exhaust gas coming out of the turbo.

The other option is to keep the wastegate inlet in the same place on the crossover, but instead of it coming straight out, I'll install a 90 degree elbow, which will provide enough clearance to the BOV. I'm just going to have to re-check the clearance to the radiator/fan shroud for that option. It may be close.

My pipes should be here next week, so I can get started on all that then. Should be interesting...

 

[VibrantRedGT]

Those rubber couplings won't collapse under boost?

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Never had any issues with similar ones on my vortech setup with 14 psi. These ones are pretty damn stiff too. Woven inner liner and all.

 

[bentley429isBAC]

Can you just flip around the pipe the bov is on so it sits closer to the intercooler. Not sure if each side is the same length looking at the pictures.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Unfortunately, the pipe isn't symmetrical and its curved to get around the lower radiator mount. It would be nice if I could do that though.

I'm reconstructing the other half of that crossover pipe anyway, so I don't mind moving the wastegate. I'm just trying to make sure I move it to the best location. I'm thinking just installing a 90 degree bend from it's current configuration may be my best bet.

 

[Rick 91GT]

May have finally found a filter, I need to call to confirm and get you some measurements.:trophy:

I personally dump most wastegates and have never found them overly annoying on the street. Sucks about the drain but you want it as straight out as possible to prevent any backup, although with the tiny ass restrictor that may not be an issue..lol When you shortened the flange for the turbo up I giess is pulled it over enough to make the drain location a PIA.

Vibrant- no issues with the RPS silicone connectors, they are top notch.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Awesome Rick . Just let me know when you get the numbers.

I figured I might as well make the provisions to recirculate the wastegate now. If I wind up hating it dumped for whatever reason, I'll be mad at myself if I have to go back and cut up newly coated pipes. It's easy enough to cap the downpipe end and let the gate vent to the atmosphere if I decide to do that down the road.

I wasn't even really paying attention to the oil drain when I was mocking up the turbo. I knew I was going to overlook a few details throughout this build, and that was numero uno I guess! I was looking at it closely and It's barely going to touch the outer edge of the framerail. I should be able to cut a piece of pipe in half longways and weld it in the framerail.