Budget Turbo Build... From the ground up

[sporadic]

Looks great to me.
I think some people really spoiled by prefabbed stuff and can't appreciate a DIY job.

Since you're working on a motor outside the car, how do you know the turbo will clear everything properly?
Even with my smallish IHI turbo I wouldn't have dared to weld up the manifold outlet and flange outside the car.
I first welded T3 flange to the radial flange, bolted that to the turbo, test fitted it, marked, cut and then welded the radial flange to the manifold.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

measurements and prayer

the only thing im worried about the turbo hitting or coming too close to will be the fans... and thats a simple enough fix... as for the ac and everything else... i should be fine since im only gonna run a 2.5" dp to match my exhaust...

we got the welding finished today... so i'll get a few more pics up here soon.

thanks
-AcId-

[OrangeSVT03]

Everythings looking good.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

here's be the pics...



block to mani. clearance



i'll clean things up later and finish it up...

thanks guys
-AcId-

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

another update... gonna start porting the head this week... finally got all the tools in exept the valve spring compressor... so i'll be renting that from the zone... anyways... i'll take quite a few pics and post up how i do it... plus i'll be bolting this motor in before the turbo gets strapped to it for break-in purposes and i'll let you know how much of a difference its made.

hopefully will be starting on the intercooler setup soon to... gotta pull the front bumper and get some measurments of just how large i can go without modding the bumper... and i have a few ram-air idea's for the turbo... so we'll see what comes of that...

still working on tracking down some oil control rings... i did get my piston set but they were missing one of the steal rings for the oil control rings for each piston... so i'm needing 4... i think i'll go down to the local speed shop and see if they can match them up since i cant buy single rings from ford...

i should also get the manifold cleaned up tommorow or the next day when i get some more time... so everything is coming along nicely.

thanks for the support everyone... im hoping to make quite a bit of progress in the next 2 months.

-AcId-

[OrangeSVT03]

Be careful with the porting... you can find a water jacket really easy.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

A few updates... no port work done yet... havnt had time to get the spring compressor (doing that tonight...) but I do have a few more goodies to add to the parts pile...

Early 2k Ported Intake Manifold (not clean yet....) - $100 pre-ported






Contour Alu. valve cover w/ all hardware (e-bay find) $40 shipped I media blasted it and primed it so far... will paint it soon...






And my fun toy... which I'm already using.... SCT X3 - Used once $300 from local jetter




More updates to come soon... Just ordered all the bearings for the bottom end and the main stud kit... just gotta track down a few oil-control rings and I'll be set to assemble the short-block.

Thanks alls
-AcId-

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Well... my project has expanded yet again....

Lentech no longer offers the lsd for the atx... so... instead of building the atx... its looking like it'll be a 6spd swap... im pretty sure i have all the parts laid out and the info i need to complete the swap... so we'll see how things go with it...

since this is adding quite a bit more cost to my budget... i'll prolly end up waiting until the begining of next year to buy my turbo compressor.... which blows yes... but i might as well do it all right instead of wasting my time and money...

anyways.. progress will continue either way... and if i stumble upon a way to get the turbo sooner... i will...

thanks alls
-AcId-

[bryst06]

why invest all the money into a 6spd, where you can get a 5spd and build that up for much less...?

everything is cheaper, fly and clutch assembly...

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

because I can get EVERYTHING including a pre-installed qauife, fs alu. flywheel, and all the parts... for less then i can purchase a parts car for... or piece all the parts together.

the way i figure... if i played my cards right... i could get a parts car w/ the mtx-75 for around $500 in an unknown condition... pick up an lsd for around 5-600... take the time to install it or have it installed which would prolly cost another 200 or so (not sure on this...) cluch around $400... $300 for a flywheel... and i'd say another 2 or 300 in odds n' ends that i wound replace...

so... on the low end... 1600 without rebuilding the tranny... and having the diff installed...

now the svt lsd is around 1200 just for the lsd... do believe me... im getting a good deal gong this route...

just seemed like the best way to go
-AcId-

[illinipo]

Where the hell would you get a parts car for $500??? We need to talk, I should be getting one this summer for a MTX swap. Especially if its $500.

Sucks we have to wait so long to go fast

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

lol.. i hear ya... that was just a low-ball guestimate if i could pick one up from a local junk yard... basically... i was trying to say that i couldnt do the mtx-75 swap for as cheaply as i can do the 6spd swap...

anyways... from what ive heard... it can be done for cheap... if you get lucky and play your cards right.

-AcId-

[illinipo]

If I use drivesafely.com the car should be around $1200 after I go pick it up. Gonna rent a u-haul trailer for $50 and use my mother in law's truck. After parting out the donor car I should come out at around $1200-1400 including a clutchmasters stage 3 clutch and aluminum flywheel and a Torsen. Plus I will have a bottom end to build on the side, saving me $150 when that time comes. So yeah, pretty cheap.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

FINALLY SOME PROGRESS!!

Things have been hectic around here... im getting married this saturday so havnt had any time to do anything with the car...

Today I took the block into work and pulled the crank... then honed the cylinders... and installed my arp main stud kit... loc-tited them into the block so now i just need to install the new bearings, check clearances, and torque the main caps....

anyways...

Here are my parts that came in a few days ago... ARP Main stud kit, Clevit 77H main & rod bearings...


This is what I found when I pulled the crank... hardly any wear


Cleaned the crank and oiled the journals


light hone... it was the first time ive done this... and the pic doesnt show the crosshatch very well but it is much more distinctive in person


You can eat off the inside of the block (steam tanked the block and crank after I honed the cyl.)


Got it home and installed the main studs...




Plan on dropping the crank in tommorow night... possibly the rods and pistons now that I have all the rings.... we'll see...

Anyways... thanks alls
-AcId-

[SCpimp]

Good luck!!!

[homegrown2nr]

Damn that steam tank owned your block. That is clean. Did you measure the crosshatching? It is supposed to be at specific angles. Good progress so far though, keep up the good work!

Oh and Ive done the 5 speed swap if you have any Q's

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

i had a more experienced builder take a look at it and he said it would do the trick... i know it isnt exact... but he says its close enough to not effect performance...

i'll be droping the crank in tonight and checking all my clearences... then i gotta track down a ring filer and up the gap on the rings a hair to help with the pressure on the upper ring lands in boost....

anyways... more updates soon hopefully...

-AcId-

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

well... the bottom end is together... found out that the step area on the 2nd comp ring goes towards the bottom.... all clearances are in spec as far as i can tell and i opened up the 1st comp ring gap a slight amount (still within factory specs)... but all is together and turns over smoothly...
will get pics up tonight but gotta get ready to leave.

thanks

-AcId-

[polarisman14]

Yeah, at least on the JE pistons the top compression ring is .022-.023 which I thought was pretty large but mine is .024" and they said that was still acceptable.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

I upped mine to .017 roughly... didnt have a ring squaring tool so with them being square as far as i could tell by measurements, thats what its at now... all four were at .011 when i started... to get the .017... i used the .006 x bore (3.339") which is the recommended equation for a boosted app... i think stock is .004 x bore which would be fairly close to what it was...

i do have a question... someone at work said that the rod cap bolts may be a torque to yield bolt and may need to be replaced.... is this true? are the stock svt rod bolts torque to yield? if so... does ARP sell replacements? from ford, they retail at $22 a piece... so i dont wanna do that... or will the stockers be fine? they came from a motor with around 20k on the clock if that makes a difference...

anyways... onto the pics....

Here are the pistons, rods, and rings laying out in order after I gapped the rings.


One down....


One to go...


Now out of the spare bed-room and onto the engine stand in the garage.... and complete.....


Gonna take the cyl. head to work in the next few days and start port work on it now that I think ive located a valve spring compressor... Shouldnt be too much longer now... the list of parts to aquire is getting shorter and shorter...

-AcId-

[boostedzx3]

uh o's, ****s gonna be flying outa there soon in the form of horsepower! Whats your cost so far?

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

hey alls... its been a while... but figured i'd update...

I went on and picked up some ARP rod bolts and the head stud kit... and just got wind that my svt tranny swap, (which included a professionally installed quaife) should be coming soon... but anyways... had a few problems with my house so the motor took a back seat... but progress is back underway.

Thanks
-AcId-

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

more progress.... just made Ford a little richer... purchased the rest of the parts to finish off the motor... and am shooting for July 4th weekend to swap it in and get things broken in.

My parts will be here early next week most likely... so stay tuned for pics and updates...

I have decided to use the head that is on the current motor for the first few thousand miles... that way I can take my time and do my other head correctly... and that way I can feel if there is any difference...

Anyways... sorry for the lack of pictures... but that will change soon.

Thanks!
-AcId-

[gospeedracer]

where do you get your proformance parts from?