Idiot's guide to turbocharging the falcon 6

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Bort62

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Introduction:
I have just finished (well, for the moment) turbocharging the 200 in my ranchero. I learned a lot in the process of doing this, and would like to put that down here for others to use. This IS an easy project, and a very rewarding one – but no need to re-invent the wheel. There are a lot of little items that, if you given the information up front are easy – but will bite you in the ass if left to be discovered.

Intent:
The intent of this post is to provide this information as sort of a how-to for those who would like to turbocharge their inline 6. I am not going to try and explain why or how turbochargers work, or give a how to on basic fabrication techniques. The ability to execute is left up to the end user. Instead, I am going to try to highlight the specifics of this project that pertain to our engines and our cars. My intention is that someone with average fabrication abilities will be able to follow this how-to and successfully turbocharge their falcon 6. This document covers blow-through exclusively. Additionally, this is a living document. I reserve the right to come back in here and update/modify things to make it better. Maybe, if I am lucky, this will become a sticky ;)

Disclaimer 1:
Turbocharging a poorly running engine will result in a poorly running turbocharged engine. Before undertaking this project, you need to make sure your engine is in sound mechanical condition and good tune. It doesn't have to be brand new, but should be functioning properly.

Disclaimer 2:
I am not an expert, I just play one on the internet. I don’t know that much about turbos and I don’t have a lot of experience with them. If you do follow this guide and turbocharge your engine, there is a strong possibility you will break things. Forced induction is unforgiving when it comes to mistakes, and things will break. Don’t blame me. I warned you. Turbocharging your car will cause a dramatic increase in horsepower at the turn of a knob. Only your own self control will prevent you from destroying your engine. If, upon your first successful turbocharged test drive, you experience an erection lasting longer than 4 hours, discontinue use and consult a physician.

Tools you need:
If you aren’t a good welder, forget it. Go learn how to weld and come back when you can. With a project like this, you will need to weld something every time you turn around. I prefer TIG because it all comes out a lot nicer and it allows me to do things out of aluminum. MIG will work, but looks like ass and is a lot more cumbersome. Welding isn’t rocket science, but it does take practice. If you are patient, a project like this is a perfect way to get that. (at the expense of having to do things over and over again). You also need to be fairly well versed in basic automotive knowledge. If things like mechanical advance, carb jetting, and the basics of how engines work raise question marks for you, then you are going to struggle with this. I am not going to try to explain these things, merely tell you to do them. Other than that, you do not need a large host of tools. Your basic wrenches and sockets along with a few metal work tools (welder, angle grinder, cut off saw, etc) will suffice. Also, this is not a weekend project. Plan ample time for this as you will end up doing things twice and changing your mind on details half way through. Being in a rush will have a poor result and take away from your enjoyment.

Turbo Selection:
The stock 200 boosted to 15 psi moves about 20 lbs of air/min @ 5000 RPM. That’s not a lot. You don’t need a very big turbo on a stock motor. If you want to run 15 psi (reasonable w/ intercooler and low factory compression ratio) that’s a pressure ratio of 2.02. Use your compressor maps… I am still in the process of trying to figure out what the perfect off the shelf turbo is for the stock 200, but more on that some other time. I would recommend using one with an internal waste gate, as it will make your overall integration task easier. If you aren’t familiar with compressor maps and how I figured out how much air the motor will move and why that matters, then go search on Google and do some reading. I am not going to cover that here. If you don’t care and just want something that works, - then follow my soon to come recommendations. Any T3 with a ~ .6 exhaust AR is a good start. Remember, you don't have to have the PERFECT turbo to make this worth it. Anything that is reasonably close will yield huge gains over natural aspiration, and be well worth it. I would suggest that, when doing this for the first time, get something close and go with it. There is plenty of time to try and refine to the perfect combination later, once you have all the other parts worked out. (And if you go with a used turbo first, it won't cost you much extra to do it this way)

Used Vs. new:
I bought $25 Garret T3 off ebay. It was frozen. I took it apart, sprayed it down with WD-40, and put it back together. I had never even touched a turbocharger before, much less worked on one. It’s not perfectly in balance, makes some noise, and the oil seal ring smokes a little. Other than that, it works fine. It makes boost, and hasn’t come apart yet. I bought a rebuild kit for it for 60 bucks off ebay, but I haven’t put it in yet. I might just buy a new turbo first. If this is a fun, on the cheap project – totally buy used. You learn a lot more. If you want to build a setup as easily as possible that works right as soon as possible, buy a new one and you won’t have to deal with all the garbage associated with used. Alternatively, you could go my route – and buy a cheap used unit, get it all up and running using it, and then go buy the turbo you really want (if you plan ahead – it will bolt right in)

Intercoolers:
Use one. I ran for a month or so without one, but in retrospect that was a poor choice. They are relatively cheap, and drop the temperature of the intake charge dramatically. This will allow you to run more boost and make more power without detonation. They also look really cool. Run the biggest one you can fit/afford. My car is special since I have a huge aftermarket radiator, but I was given a 18â€￾x12â€￾x3â€￾ IC that fits perfect. After a run @ just 5 psi, the turbo side of the IC is too hot to touch, while the carb side is cool. Mount your intercooler in front of the radiator in a place where it will get maximum airflow. Nothing says TURBO more than a bigass intercooler hanging off the front end. A water/air IC is inappropriate for a stock motor, IMO.

Carburetors:
This is one of the biggest PITAs of this process. A few people have had good success with the holley 2bbls. I am sure they are great, but I wasn’t into spending the money or screwing with my manifold. I also didn’t want to dump any money into the stock head when the AL head is looming on the horizon. So, I stuck with a 1bbl that I could bolt to the manifold(with a home-made adapter). The carter YF that I used seems to be a good selection, but it took a little work to get ready for boost. The Autolite 1100 seems like it would follow suit. There is no solid float available for the YF or the 1100, so I went to my local napa and dug through their in-stock floats. (a stock brass float will collapse under boost) I found a solid one that I could cut to resemble the approximate shape of the YF float, and soldiered it to the YF’s brass float lever. This took a few tries to get right, but seems to work well. Keep in mind that the density of the solid float is higher than the brass, and as a result your float level will be different. You can’t use the stock float settings anymore – so what you need to do is iterate on it until you get the fuel in the bowl where you want it. This of course is balanced with fuel pressure, and can be an annoying process. I removed the choke on this carb, and epoxied the holes that the choke shaft went through. Remove all of your vacuum nipples and epoxy the holes shut. You don’t want anywhere in the carb leaking boost into the atmosphere. You also need to make sure that the fuel bowl is vented/referenced to the intake (the pressurized tube coming from the turbo) duct. Both the YF and the 1100 are like this already. This is important to keep your relative pressures correct. I also had to drill my stock YF jet out to .115. I don’t have any wideband feedback on that yet, but it runs well. The general thing to remember is that you are going to have to add a lot more fuel to make it run right under boost. If you aren’t familiar with how to jet a carb, go read about that somewhere else. If you want to use fuel injection, awesome – but I will cover that when I actually get around to doing it myself. Keep in mind that having a small carb is not as big a problem with forced induction. Since you are limiting boost pressure @ the intake manifold, the restriction of the carb will merely cause pressure in the intake ducting to rise (assuming your turbo can deliver it). This doesn’t cost anything, and actually improves the carburetors function as the velocity through the venturi will be higher. Too big of a carb on a turbocharged engine will get you into all sorts problems, so err on the small side. If you are running a stock or lightly modified 200, something like the YF is fine.

Fuel Pressure:
Get an AFPR and an electric pump. It seems expensive, but not nearly as bad as wasting your time screwing with manual pumps and then having to spend the money anyway. I got an Aeromotive bypass AFPR that will allow me to go to EFI later. I ran 3/8â€￾ fuel send & return lines… You don’t want to have a marginal fuel system. On a stock tank, I would weld a nipple for the return line into the filler neck. DO NOT WELD ON A FUEL TANK FULL OF FUEL YOU IDIOT. In fact, don't weld on a fuel tank that is even remotely close to having any fuel or fuel vapor on it. Take it out of the car, empty it out, rinse it out with water 4 or 5 times, and then fill it with water before welding on it. Don't win a darwin award here. Make sure the regulator you get has a boost reference port. You need this so that fuel pressure stays relatively constant to intake pressure - if you don’t you will have all sorts of problems. Reference this to the carb hat, so that it seems the same pressure as the fuel bowl vent.

Ignition:
Upgrade to duraspark. It’s cheap, it’s easy – and there really is no excuse. Points are gay and DUI is too expensive to be taking apart and modifying. That being said, you need to limit your total advance. I welded the advance plate to limit it to 10* total mech. Remember that 5* @ the cam is 10* @ the crank, so I put the distributor in the vice, and using a protractor swept the advance plate through 5 degrees. I welded and filed until that was the maximum it could do.(BTW, this would be a real PITA w/ a MIG, TIG all the way) I then stuck it back in the engine and fired it up to double check. If you take the distributor apart, it should be fairly obvious how this works and what you need to do to limit it. I would advise using 10* mech + 15 initial for a total of 25*. I locked out my vacuum advance, but you could probably set that up too, I won’t get into that here – just BE CAREFUL. Too much advance WILL break things, and is the most likely culprit. I would suggest starting with way less timing than you think you need, and working up from there. I am using a MSD 6AL + Accell coil, so I have plenty of juice. I wouldn’t skimp out on ignition components here. Make sure your cap and rotor and wires are all in good condition. I have my plugs gapped to .030.

Attaching the turbo:
There are three main ways you can do this. The first, and easiest, is to make some sort of J-pipe. This is a pipe that bolts to the exhaust manifold in the stock way, and then abruptly makes a 180* turn and comes up in a place where you can set the turbo. One idea that I think has merit is to run the exhaust down, under the motor, and come up on the driver side near the mechanical fuel pump (which will be blocked off). This will allow plenty of room around the turbo for all the crap you need to attach to it. While a J-pipe in any form isn’t the most elegant solution, it is strait forward and works well. The second approach is to do what I did and modify the stock manifold to accept the turbo. This is a PITA for two reasons. One, you have to weld to the crappy cast iron that the manifold is made of. It doesn’t look pretty and takes a fair amount of skill. Secondly, it’s pretty tight down there and fitment can be an issue. I had to cut into my shock tower and make a new motor mount to get my compressor housing to fit. In retrospect, I wouldn’t recommend this on a round body falcon. It may fit better on a mustang or other car with a larger engine bay. It certainly is compact and, other than the weld, looks nice. The third and most difficult option is to fabricate a new exhaust manifold. The advantage of this is that you can put the turbo where you want it, and if you take the time and know what you are doing can make a manifold that is better flowing that either of the other two options. However, unless you are an experienced fabricator, it’s going to take you a long time and be pretty frustrating. I would recommend just going with the J-pipe approach unless you have a large engine bay and feel like welding cast iron. If you are capable of making your own manifold you probably don’t need to read this guide in the first place.

Downpipe:
Keep in mind that you will need a clear path for your down pipe from the back of the turbine out and down. You want to avoid a whole lot of bends and contortions here as it will negatively affect flow. Put an O2 bung in the down pipe so you can run a wideband. Also tap your waste gate return in if you have an external one. Run the down pipe down as simply and cleanly as you can, and tie it into your exhaust. I would highly advise using a flexible exhaust coupling between your down pipe and exhaust. This will prevent vibration from driving from putting stresses on your turbo, and make everything last longer. I bought one from napa for 25 bucks and welded it in.

Exhaust:
I used a 2.5â€￾ exhaust which matched my turbine outlet diameter. In retrospect, I would have used at least 3â€￾. You can’t go too big here, so don’t hold back. I am running a single summit brand glass pack, into a turndown that dumps right before the rear axle. The turbo is a great muffler – when I bought the glass pack I thought it was going to be loud. It is hardly audible. Just remember what Corky says – the best exhaust for a turbo is no exhaust. Keep it short, strait, and to the point.

Waste gate:
You need a waste gate. If you don’t have one, you will have no control over your boost and will be replacing pistons sooner than you want to. By far the easiest thing to do is to pick a turbo that has an integral one. If you are a glutton for punishment like me however, you can elect to install an external waste gate. It looks cooler, but is more work and more expensive. I bought a cheap 35mm one off ebay that seems to work fine. Reference your waste gate to your intake manifold. I know that a lot of the internal waste gated turbo’s reference strait to the compressor housing, but this is non-ideal. The boost @ the compressor will be higher than the boost your engine is actually seeing, and you want to control the boost your engine see’s directly. Referencing your waste gate to the same place as your boost gauge is a good way to make sure you don’t have any problems with this.

Oil:
Having the turbo + exhaust mounted, you need to think about oil. The most convenient place for pressurized oil is on the driver side of the motor, where the oil pressure sender goes. Put a T in the port, and run an oil line over to your turbo. Since I work(ed) in the aerospace industry, I had AN fittings coming out of my ears. I did all of my lines w/ AN hard line. This not only looks a lot nicer than bunch of rubber line running around, but is less leak prone as well as being more durable. Do what your budget can accommodate. Make sure that the oil drain on your turbo is oriented within +_ 20* of vertical to keep oil from pudding up in the bearing cartridge. You need to run the oil drain down and into your oil pan, above the normal oil level. I mounted mine about xâ€￾ from the bottom of the pan and it works fine. Try to make sure it’s in a place that doesn’t interfere with other things, especially the oil pan bolts. I am using a ½ oil drain line, which seems to be okay – but bigger is better, I would rather have 5/8. I welded half a black pipe ½â€￾ NPT union onto the pan as my attachment.

With oil to your turbo, you are in a position to run the motor and make sure everything is o-k. I would suggest stopping along the way with your install and double checking things by running the engine and/or driving the car around if you can. Much better to find out that you have an oil or exhaust leak now than after you put a bunch of crap in on top of it. Also, at this point you can experience what it’s like to have a turbo attached to (at least the exhaust side of) your engine and how cool it sounds. Make sure it’s blowing (hot) air when you rev the motor and not making any funny noises. Don’t drive it more than around the block, as freewheeling the turbo can cause it to over speed. Keep RPM low.

PCV:
Positive crankcase ventilation is a good thing. A PCV is a check valve inherently. However, a lot of the ones at the parts store suck. Check them before you buy them to make sure you can only blow through it one way. If you have a properly functioning PCV valve, you can just run it strait between your valve cover and manifold vacuum. Under boost, the PCV valve will check, and keep boost from entering your crank case.

Crankcase Breather:
You need some sort of crankcase breather other than the PCV valve. Under boost, the PCV valve is closed, and boost is blowing past your rings. If there isn’t a vent for it, it will pressurize your crankcase and start blowing out oil pan gaskets and VC gaskets and all sorts of other cool stuff (not to mention robbing power). I recommend running a breather that allows you to attach a tube to it that you can run down to the pre-turbo intake. That will provide some small amount of suction via venturi effect under boost on the line, and suck your blow by gases out and into the intake. When you aren’t boosting, this will allow air to be sucked into the crankcase for the PCV valve to work properly (and not pull a vacuum on the crankcase, which can do all sorts of bad things, too.) I T’eed my BOV re-circ line in here too, so it’s all one nice package. You could just blow it off into the atmosphere, but since there is oil vapor in these gases, it will make a mess.

Intake plumbing:
Large is good, however, too big will increase turbo lag. I am running 2.5â€￾ pipe, which is probably bigger than it needs to be. It’s probably a good suggestion to match your pipe to the compressor outlet of your turbo. Remember – while 4â€￾ intake pipe is cool, it also makes all your couplers a lot more expensive. If you aren’t flowing 1000 CFM @ 30 psi, it’s probably a waste of money. If your intake pipe is small enough (2.5â€￾ and smaller) you can use radiator hose to connect it. This will save you a lot of money over using the fancier silicon couplings they sell for turbo usage. Of course, if your boost is too high, you may blow these off. I haven’t had this problem however. I just use radiator hose with worm drive hose clamps.

Carb hat.
You can buy these, but you can also make one for basically free. Get a piece of thin wall tubing that is an inch or so larger in diameter than your carburetor flange. The larger it is, the more force (think about it, pounds per sq inch) will be trying to blow it off, and therefore rip your carb stud out. I used 3â€￾ on mine. Cut it so length <= diameter so it doesn’t look stupid. Use a hole saw that has the same diameter as your tube. Go cut a few disks out of some 1/8â€￾ plate, and weld them into each end of your tube. Now you have a closed cylinder of sorts with two ¼â€￾ holes along the axis. Figure out the diameter of the inside of your carburetor’s air cleaner flange and either use a holesaw of that diameter to open one end of the cylinder or grind it out if you don’t have one (which would suck, but time is free...) Make it tight. You will notice that you have a ¼â€￾ hole that is perfectly in the center of the top of the tube section, which makes it perfect for passing the carb stud through. In order to get air into the carb, you need an inlet. Mount the pipe section you’ve just made securely horizontally in a vice. Make a punch mark in the middle of the horizontal surface. Whatever size intake tubing you are using, get the appropriate holesaw and knock yourself out. This is a lot easier with a drill press, but can be done by hand. When you have the hole cut out, insert a short length of your intake tube sized pipe into this hole and weld it up. Presto – instant carb hat. I used left over tube I had from building the exhaust.

BOV:
You need a blow off valve, if you don’t have one, you will break your turbo shaft. (Or at least make all sorts of horrible noises). The way a BOV works is that, when a vacuum signal is sent to the reference port, it opens. This means that when your throttle plate closes, the BOV opens and vents boost pressure, keeping your compressor from stalling. If you want to make a lot of noise and make sure everyone knows you are turbocharged, you can vent to atmosphere. However, if you – like me, are a little more into subtlety – you can re-circulate the BOV output into your intake ducting before the turbo. This cuts down on the noise a lot. Plumb the upstream side of your BOV into your intake plumbing as close to the compressor as possible.

Pre-turbo intake ducting:
If you have been driving around without an air filter or any other sort of pipe on your turbo inlet, you have noticed that you sound a lot less like a car and more like a jet taking off. While this is cool, crap in your engine is not. Get some pipe and fabricate up a CAI into your turbo inlet. I used a 23$ conical air filter from summit, and it seems to work fine.

Boost Gauge:
You need one. I got a cheap combo boost/vac gauge from summit. Plumb it into your intake manifold below the carb. This way, you can see what boost level your engine is actually seeing. You will loose some boost pressure due to restrictions in the intercooler, intake plumbing, and carburetor venturi – the place where it is important to measure is the intake manifold.

Testing it out:
Set your timing to 15* initial, make sure your carb isn’t overflowing fuel (fuel pressure too high or float too high) and that your fuel pressure regulator is referenced to the carb hat. Make sure your waste gate reference is hooked up, and BOV is in place. Fire it up and let it idle. Ideally, you have already done a few test runs around the block at various stages of this project so you know all the basic stuff is working… and now you just want to make sure you are making BOOST. Ease yourself out into the street and start creeping along in first gear. With your eyes glued to the boost gauge, start to accelerate… as you dig deeper into the funpedal, you should see the gauge transition from vacuum to boost. MAKE SURE YOUR WASTEGATE WORKS. If your boost climbs past where you think it should, immediately let off the pedal (listen for the BOV to vent to make sure it is working) and figure out what is wrong with your waste gate. Mine had the wrong spring in it when I ordered it, and wasn’t opening until 12 PSI (supposed to be 6). If your boost is staying where it is supposed to be, try driving around a little. No full throttle runs.

Now, if you have already drilled your jet out a little, and have all your fuel stuff sorted out – you should be fine… but its possible that once you get under boost the car starts to run like crap. Bucking and farting are both symptoms of not enough fuel. If your regulator reference isn’t working properly (or float level is too low) you will have problems under boost. Also, if your jet is too small, you will have problems at high RPM and full throttle settings. Check your plugs – make sure they are brown… too rich is much better than too lean. Using a wideband O2 is invaluable here.

Once you can get it so it runs okay around the block and continues to run okay making some boost… start expanding the envelope the same as you would with any new modification. LISTEN FOR DETONATION. If you hear pinging, let off the throttle and either pull back timing or run less boost (or increase octane). Pinging WILL kill your head gasket faster than you think. You need to run the highest octane gas you can buy at the pump… it will make your life easier. Here in the USSC we have 91. As you drive further and harder, check for things like blown off tubes, fuel leaking out of the carb, and oil leaks around the turbo. Make sure you aren’t running lean and aren’t detonating before you go out and beat on it.

But, within a short period of re-jetting and adjusting/double-checking, you will have it to a drivable state. At that point, your install is complete. I will leave suggestions on how to tune for the most power to the experts.


Enjoy!
 
Just to help clarify a few things:

Bort62":12in3fmg said:
1) MIG will work, but looks like ass and is a lot more cumbersome.

2) Any T3 with a ~ .6 exhaust AR is a good start. Remember, you don't have to have the PERFECT turbo to make this worth it. Anything that is reasonably close will yield huge gains over natural aspiration, and be well worth it. I would suggest that, when doing this for the first time, get something close and go with it.

3) I also had to drill my stock YF jet out to .115. I don’t have any wideband feedback on that yet, but it runs well. The general thing to remember is that you are going to have to add a lot more fuel to make it run right under boost.

4) make some sort of J-pipe. While a J-pipe in any form isn’t the most elegant solution, it is strait forward and works well.

5) Put an O2 bung in the down pipe so you can run a wideband.

6) Referencing your waste gate to the same place as your boost gauge is a good way to make sure you don’t have any problems with this.

7) You could just blow it off into the atmosphere, but since there is oil vapor in these gases, it will make a mess.

8 ) BOV: You need a blow off valve, if you don’t have one, you will break your turbo shaft.

9) Check your plugs – make sure they are brown… too rich is much better than too lean. Using a wideband O2 is invaluable here.

1) I wouldn't be too quick to knock MIG welders. With .020" wire and Argon gas, I can do welds that are nearly as nice as TIG. A side note on TIG welders: They are expensive. The DC only ones are a little more affordable but can't do aluminum.

2) There are too many T3 turbos out there to use a blanket statement like this. The little ones used on Chrysler 2.2 liter engines are too small for a 2.2, MUCH less a 3.3 liter engine. On the contrary, the 2.3 liter Ford and Volvo turbos have good potential. Just don't be afraid to ask for help in choosing if you aren't sure.

3) Don't add all the supplemental fuel with the main jet, or you will be far too rich under cruising conditions. Most of the additional fuel should come from the power valve circuit.

4) Be very careful with the wall thickness of the pipe you use. Get a caliper and familiarize yourself with what different pipe looks like with different wall thicknesses. Thick is good and durable, and easier to weld. Thin exhaust pipe is prone to premature failure and will cause a lot of headaches later.

5) Read the instructions that come with the wideband kit. Most will say the sensor should be at least 24" downstream from the turbo, even a little farther away is better. A wideband O2 sensor is nowhere near the same kind of creature as a narrow-band sensor. Widebands don't like heat or pressure and will die sooner from each.

6) Boost/Vac gauge comes from the intake manifold, the wastegate gets its signal from the carb hat.

7) A good engine won't have any oil mist coming from the breather, and the breather baffle should separate oil from air. The "vapors" are of little consequence. If you have bad blow-by, you have other issues that need to be addressed.

8 ) You don't really "need" a blow-off valve, but they are nice to have. I have heard the general rule of thumb is 10+ psi needs one, below that it isn't necessary.

9) There are articles-a-plenty on the web how to PROPERLY read spark plugs. "Brown" on unleaded modern-day, re-formulated gas is WAY more rich than it should be. The ONLY real way to properly read a plug is to shut it down at the end of a 1/4 mile run and look deep inside the steel shell with a lighted magnifying glass. Looking at the porcelain center will tell you nothing useful.
 
Thanks Linc,

However, I will disagree with you on a few points.

1.) MIG vs. TIG is just a personal choice. A lot of the stuff that you end up doing (like welding the advance plate) would be very hard w/ MIG just because of the lack of control.

3.) Several carbs, Including the YF, do not have a power valve. (unless I am blind/mistaken)

6.) You can reference the WG anywhere you like, but if you set the WG for 5 psi, and you want the motor to run @ 5 psi, then reference it to the intake manifold. Putting it anywhere else will cause it to be off by whatever boost loss you have between that point and the intake.

5psi wastegate - 1 psi boost drop through carb venturi = wastegate opening @ 4 psi.

7.) My stock 200 VC does not have a baffle on the front vent, and as a result you will get oil vapor. Some blowby is normal, as the PCV valve is held shut by boost (and would be sucking in a NA application).

8.) Compressor stall is very bad for impeller blades. Even @ low boost pressures, running without a BOV will make a horrible noise if nothing else. Been there, done that - they are cheap.

9.) IMO reading spark plugs is only a ballpark way to double check yourself, I had a lean problem and the ash-grey spark plugs only confirmed what I suspected from other symptoms. If I had pulled them out and they were brown, I would have second-guessed myself.
 
My two cents worth:

you shouldn't be running a power valve with turbo application;

stall flutter damage is highly over rated and a mantra of those looking for an excuse to explain a damaged compressor wheel. A bov is environmentally unfriendly and wastes contaminated cooled air that would be better sent back to the compressor, via a recirculating valve.

In stall condition pumping has stopped because of flow separation from the blade contours, the turbine is already slowing down because exhaust flow has dropped. The buffetting of the impellor is minor and the shaft piston is absorbing the torque peturbations. Putting a recirculating valve on will tend to keep the air bound to the blades and thus reduce some lag when the TB snaps open again.

I don't advocate any sought of relief, because it sets up a flutter condition that hammers the blades as it's diaphragm bang bangs.

The PCV valve might be negated because of the inline check, but sure as sheit there will be blow by on the rings that will be making it's way back to the turbo intake via the make up hose.
 
blueroo":3uusfgwx said:
Ian, if you don't mind me asking, roughly what did you spend on the parts to do the turbo?

I don't have an exact number, because I had to replace a lot of other things non-turbo related at the same time.

But if I had to guess, strictly turbo-related parts were less than 500$.
 
Linc's 200 said:
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2) There are too many T3 turbos out there to use a blanket statement like this. The little ones used on Chrysler 2.2 liter engines are too small for a 2.2, MUCH less a 3.3 liter engine. On the contrary, the 2.3 liter Ford and Volvo turbos have good potential. Just don't be afraid to ask for help in choosing if you aren't sure.

Hi guys, seeing how i'm a noob here, i do not mean anything meanspirited or malicious by this post.
as far as the chrysler turbos go, there is very little difference between the T-3 on a turbocoupe and the T-3 on my '86 lebaron. they are both .48AR on the hot side, and the compressor side is the same.
where you want to be careful is the '88 and up "T1" engine (non intercooled 2.2 and all 2.5s)
these have a mitsubishi turbo on them which is tiny compared to the garrett.
the difference between the mopar and ford garrett turbos is that mopar uses a funny mounting flange pattern, where the ford an volvo use the standard pattern.
not a big deal, it's just one bolt spaced closer to the center than the others.
and on the '84-87 turbos, the throttle body is bolted to the compressor inlet, so if you use one of these you'll have to fab an adaptor so you have something to clamp a hose onto.
 
8)


I think what Linc meant was that most early (1983-1985?) 2.3L used a .48 turbine and a .60 compressor. Those are considered on the small side for a 2.3L

The 1985 SVO Mustang and most Turbo Coupes used a .63 turbine and a .60 compressor. Those work fine. A log head 200 flows about the same as a 2.3L anyways, both had sucky head flow.

Either 87 and 88 or just 88 Turbo Coupe used a IHI turbo which is considered too small for a 2.3L

Im just guessing but a Chrysler T3 would probably work on a stock 3.3L and running less than 7.5lbs boost since motor wont be able to run much past 4500rpm anyways.

But then again thats not very much boost to run for all that work and money invested. Horsepower increase wouldnt be much, maybe 40-50hp?

I have a 1983 Turbo Coupe T3 and it is stamped .48 A/R on it.

I have been looking at either a .60/.63 T3 or a .48/.60 TO4B/E to run on mine but I have a ported and polished head to put on it.
 
ok, that makes sense. the t-3 in my lebaron is a .48 turbine and a .60 compressor. but with a 2.2, a .63 housing will generate some lag issues
unless you have a ported head.
the big difference is that the 2.3 head flows better than the 2.2 head.
when chrysler went to the mitsubishi turbo, they did it to decrease lag.
it's got a tiny turbine side compared to the garrett.

I'm really thinking of building a 300 with twin turbos for a street rod down the road, and while 1 t-3 would be way too small, i think 2 would do ok
 
Bort62":1g65e5o7 said:
Carb hat.
You can buy these, but you can also make one for basically free. Get a piece of thin wall tubing that is an inch or so larger in diameter than your carburetor flange. The larger it is, the more force (think about it, pounds per sq inch) will be trying to blow it off, and therefore rip your carb stud out. I used 3â€￾ on mine.


Just thought I should clear up the carb hat size. A larger diameter carb hat will not put more stress on the carb stud. The area of the carburator is the only place where the pressure can act to put stress on the carb stud. The area of the carburetor doesn't change. Sure, there is more area in a bigger carb hat, but the extra area ends up being internal stresses in the hat itself and the force against the stud remains the area of the carburetor times the pressure of the boost.

Sit in a chair (good chance you already are). Now try to move the chair across the floor. You will find that you can push against any part of the chair as hard as you want and it will not move across the floor. It is only when you push against the floor itself (and in turn, the chair) that it scoots. Just pushing on the chair as you sit in it is like the internal forces on the carb hat. But planting your feet against the floor is like the pressure pushing against the carburetor area and putting stress on the stud. Hope the example makes sense.
 
218224turbo":30sq0hct said:
Just thought I should clear up the carb hat size. A larger diameter carb hat will not put more stress on the carb stud. The area of the carburator is the only place where the pressure can act to put stress on the carb stud. The area of the carburetor doesn't change. Sure, there is more area in a bigger carb hat, but the extra area ends up being internal stresses in the hat itself and the force against the stud remains the area of the carburetor times the pressure of the boost.

Eh, you're correct. I miss-spoke when writing that apparently.
 
All in all an excellent guide though. I'm sure this has helped a lot of people out. Keep up the good work!
 
Very nice, I thank you sir for this will be referenced quite a bit as i start to gather my parts/materials for my build.
 
i really need a turbo header and i dont have the stuff to make one is any one interested in makeing me one for some cash :help:
 
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