I posted this on another forum, I thought I'd share here. Even though this is a small II community, it's a good one. The Cologne v6 isn't just a boat-anchor any more. It's actually a cool little motor - somewhat light-weight, solid lifters, gear-driven cam, and a pretty nice sound due to its sequential firing order. But it lacks get-up-and-go in the heavier-than-Capri Mustang II, and speed parts are tough to come by.
Hi guys, Joe & kids from Cleveland back with phase 2 of our '78 Cobra II clone project. Last year my kids and I restored the interior, painted the exterior, and got all of the mechanicals running solid. This year I decided to sharpen up my welding skills and fabricate a custom turbo installation for my anemic little 2.8L v6.
We made a few changes from an appearance standpoint, though the exterior remains the same. The $25 tractor paint-job is holding up extremely well and is very durable. It needs some fresh wax, I've been working on the turbo for a few months now so it's a bit neglected.
The interior got some eBay faux-leather racing seats with some custom-made mounting brackets that move the seats back as far as they can go for my 6'5" frame. They recline so I'm no longer bumping my head into the headliner. I picked up some really nice replacement seat-belts for the front from eBay, they're custom-made for the II by a U.S.-based company. They were pretty cheap too, about $45 a side if I recall, and bolted right in. No more crusty seat-belts that don't retract properly with sticky, rusty latches. On the rear seat I removed the ill-fitting cover and dyed it with the gloss Rustoleum vinyl dye. It came out really nice after some buffing with the wool pad.
Finally in the front I decided I didn't like the grey vinyl dash inlays, so I went with black carbon-fiber instead, and added a boost gauge.
For the planned upgrade, and due to a few leaks and corrosion, the radiator was replaced (RockAuto still carries them). I also changed out the thermostat and managed to strip out the rear housing -- and found that Four Seasons still makes a replacement, and bolted it up with some stainless allen-head bolts. I added a big Holley Red electric fuel pump to make sure I could get enough fuel at boost. I removed the carb power-valve protection check-valve, and added the solid float. The carb (a 4-barrel Holley 1850 600cfm) was already pretty richly jetted (for a V8) so those were the only fueling changes, on a newer Holley even the choke linkage has a seal on it. Next year I'll tune with a wideband to see if I need power-valve changes (at boost, it's all about the power valve from what I've read). The vacuum secondaries will never open under boost unless I modify them, for now it's working just fine pushing compressed air through the primaries.
Now for the fun part, the turbo. I started with an eBay turbo kit which came with the turbo (T25 with internal wastegate), BOV, cold-side piping and intercooler, clamps & connectors, a manual boost controller, oil supply line, some header wrap, and v-band blamp design. I added a big air-filter, a carb hat, solid float for the carb, a T3 flange, a set of oil return fittings and hose, an O2 sensor bung and cap, some fire-proof sleeving, and a few dozen U and J-bend exhaust pipes (and one flex joint) from Summit.
The plan was to flip the manifolds (driver to passenger) and put a crossover pipe up front, with a Y-pipe to the turbo exhaust inlet. The downpipe would then run back over the exhaust manifold on the passenger side, connecting into the existing exhaust. For this to work, the radiator overflow was moved, and the battery cooling duct pulled off. I knew I'd also have to do something about the alternator - on the V6 the alternator is slung out about a foot from the engine which would be in the way.
The hot-side piping came together pretty quickly. Lots of marking, cutting, and mig-welding sections of J-bends. The O2 sensor bung lets me plan to use a wideband to get everything properly dialed in. The one major hiccup I'd run into was that the passenger exhaust manifold, when swapped to the driver's side, wanted to exit right on top of the motor mount. eBay to the rescue, a passenger manifold from an '80's Ranger was a perfect work-around. I moved around a bunch of hoses, fuel lines, etc., to make sure nothing melted. Everything that was too close got some fire-proof sleeve. The exhaust was all painted with high-temp header-paint and wrapped where it got close to anything melt-able. The downpipe ran a little too close for comfort to the battery (as well as my removing the cooling duct), so that got a nice fire-proof battery blanket. So far it's stayed nice & cool (if that changes I'll relocate to the trunk).
The crossover runs behind the sway-bar in front of the oil-pan. It was a tight squeeze but nothing rubs at full range of suspension motion.
The cold-side came together in a few hours, I only need to cut a few of the pre-bent pipes. I mounted the intercooler in front of the A/C condenser, and snaked the pipes through the inner fender on both sides (I moved the ignition module over a little to where the voltage regulator used to sit for some room to bring the pipe through).
There was some removal of sheet-metal from the inner fender to run pipes and for clearance, so this isn't a project highly recommended for a more valuable car.
I ran the oil supply and drain lines in a pretty typical fashion for a turbo build -- T at the oil pressure sending unit, and punch and tap a hole in the pan for the return.
The last remaining piece to figure out was the alternator. I decided to go with a one-wire Denso-style racing mini-alternator. It puts out 70A and is tiny. After fabricating a sturdy bracket from 1/4" steel, all was well with the charging system. The only thing I've noticed is that the racing alternator doesn't put out much juice at idle -- it starts charging around 1100 rpm. No big deal for my uses, and the old alternator wasn't a whole lot better truth be told.
(if you look down under the alternator you'll see the crossover with y-pipe)
The end result is a single turbo V6 that retains all of the comforts of '78 (A/C and Power Steering) included. All-in it was something less than $1K. For now I'm going light on the boost (if I had to guess at about 6psi I've got around 150hp which makes my on-ramp experiences much more respectable), though in the Spring I plan to tune the carb and push as much as I can push. Lots of Broncos and Rangers in the scrap-yard if it goes boom, paired with some better pistons, etc. The cold weather's coming so I'll keep from over-doing it this year.
Since I had a few U-bends left over, I decided to fabricate a nice tail-pipe to run the exhaust out the rear where Ford had intended, instead of my old side-exit. I have to say having less fumes in the cabin was well worth the effort.
So why in the heck did I turbo a V6? Well, the other major options were to drop in a 302 or to get a 2.3L turbo. A late-model H.O. with fuel injection would be amazing, but I kind of like the way the car handles with the light-weight v6 up front. And turbo 2.3's are pretty pricey and getting harder to find. So I brought what I had, and made it one-of-a-kind. It didn't hurt that there are some YouTube videos of guys pushing 500hp through a stock Cologne v6 -- in the Spring I'll let you know how that goes. Would I do it again? Maybe, but a V8 would have been a LOT easier. Take care everyone, happy to answer any questions you might have.
Hi guys, Joe & kids from Cleveland back with phase 2 of our '78 Cobra II clone project. Last year my kids and I restored the interior, painted the exterior, and got all of the mechanicals running solid. This year I decided to sharpen up my welding skills and fabricate a custom turbo installation for my anemic little 2.8L v6.
We made a few changes from an appearance standpoint, though the exterior remains the same. The $25 tractor paint-job is holding up extremely well and is very durable. It needs some fresh wax, I've been working on the turbo for a few months now so it's a bit neglected.
The interior got some eBay faux-leather racing seats with some custom-made mounting brackets that move the seats back as far as they can go for my 6'5" frame. They recline so I'm no longer bumping my head into the headliner. I picked up some really nice replacement seat-belts for the front from eBay, they're custom-made for the II by a U.S.-based company. They were pretty cheap too, about $45 a side if I recall, and bolted right in. No more crusty seat-belts that don't retract properly with sticky, rusty latches. On the rear seat I removed the ill-fitting cover and dyed it with the gloss Rustoleum vinyl dye. It came out really nice after some buffing with the wool pad.
Finally in the front I decided I didn't like the grey vinyl dash inlays, so I went with black carbon-fiber instead, and added a boost gauge.
For the planned upgrade, and due to a few leaks and corrosion, the radiator was replaced (RockAuto still carries them). I also changed out the thermostat and managed to strip out the rear housing -- and found that Four Seasons still makes a replacement, and bolted it up with some stainless allen-head bolts. I added a big Holley Red electric fuel pump to make sure I could get enough fuel at boost. I removed the carb power-valve protection check-valve, and added the solid float. The carb (a 4-barrel Holley 1850 600cfm) was already pretty richly jetted (for a V8) so those were the only fueling changes, on a newer Holley even the choke linkage has a seal on it. Next year I'll tune with a wideband to see if I need power-valve changes (at boost, it's all about the power valve from what I've read). The vacuum secondaries will never open under boost unless I modify them, for now it's working just fine pushing compressed air through the primaries.
Now for the fun part, the turbo. I started with an eBay turbo kit which came with the turbo (T25 with internal wastegate), BOV, cold-side piping and intercooler, clamps & connectors, a manual boost controller, oil supply line, some header wrap, and v-band blamp design. I added a big air-filter, a carb hat, solid float for the carb, a T3 flange, a set of oil return fittings and hose, an O2 sensor bung and cap, some fire-proof sleeving, and a few dozen U and J-bend exhaust pipes (and one flex joint) from Summit.
The plan was to flip the manifolds (driver to passenger) and put a crossover pipe up front, with a Y-pipe to the turbo exhaust inlet. The downpipe would then run back over the exhaust manifold on the passenger side, connecting into the existing exhaust. For this to work, the radiator overflow was moved, and the battery cooling duct pulled off. I knew I'd also have to do something about the alternator - on the V6 the alternator is slung out about a foot from the engine which would be in the way.
The hot-side piping came together pretty quickly. Lots of marking, cutting, and mig-welding sections of J-bends. The O2 sensor bung lets me plan to use a wideband to get everything properly dialed in. The one major hiccup I'd run into was that the passenger exhaust manifold, when swapped to the driver's side, wanted to exit right on top of the motor mount. eBay to the rescue, a passenger manifold from an '80's Ranger was a perfect work-around. I moved around a bunch of hoses, fuel lines, etc., to make sure nothing melted. Everything that was too close got some fire-proof sleeve. The exhaust was all painted with high-temp header-paint and wrapped where it got close to anything melt-able. The downpipe ran a little too close for comfort to the battery (as well as my removing the cooling duct), so that got a nice fire-proof battery blanket. So far it's stayed nice & cool (if that changes I'll relocate to the trunk).
The crossover runs behind the sway-bar in front of the oil-pan. It was a tight squeeze but nothing rubs at full range of suspension motion.
The cold-side came together in a few hours, I only need to cut a few of the pre-bent pipes. I mounted the intercooler in front of the A/C condenser, and snaked the pipes through the inner fender on both sides (I moved the ignition module over a little to where the voltage regulator used to sit for some room to bring the pipe through).
There was some removal of sheet-metal from the inner fender to run pipes and for clearance, so this isn't a project highly recommended for a more valuable car.
I ran the oil supply and drain lines in a pretty typical fashion for a turbo build -- T at the oil pressure sending unit, and punch and tap a hole in the pan for the return.
The last remaining piece to figure out was the alternator. I decided to go with a one-wire Denso-style racing mini-alternator. It puts out 70A and is tiny. After fabricating a sturdy bracket from 1/4" steel, all was well with the charging system. The only thing I've noticed is that the racing alternator doesn't put out much juice at idle -- it starts charging around 1100 rpm. No big deal for my uses, and the old alternator wasn't a whole lot better truth be told.
(if you look down under the alternator you'll see the crossover with y-pipe)
The end result is a single turbo V6 that retains all of the comforts of '78 (A/C and Power Steering) included. All-in it was something less than $1K. For now I'm going light on the boost (if I had to guess at about 6psi I've got around 150hp which makes my on-ramp experiences much more respectable), though in the Spring I plan to tune the carb and push as much as I can push. Lots of Broncos and Rangers in the scrap-yard if it goes boom, paired with some better pistons, etc. The cold weather's coming so I'll keep from over-doing it this year.
Since I had a few U-bends left over, I decided to fabricate a nice tail-pipe to run the exhaust out the rear where Ford had intended, instead of my old side-exit. I have to say having less fumes in the cabin was well worth the effort.
So why in the heck did I turbo a V6? Well, the other major options were to drop in a 302 or to get a 2.3L turbo. A late-model H.O. with fuel injection would be amazing, but I kind of like the way the car handles with the light-weight v6 up front. And turbo 2.3's are pretty pricey and getting harder to find. So I brought what I had, and made it one-of-a-kind. It didn't hurt that there are some YouTube videos of guys pushing 500hp through a stock Cologne v6 -- in the Spring I'll let you know how that goes. Would I do it again? Maybe, but a V8 would have been a LOT easier. Take care everyone, happy to answer any questions you might have.
