Budget Turbo Build... From the ground up

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Hey alls....

This post is gonna expand out over the next 5+ months due to my extremely tight budget and want to do everything right the first go round.... but I'll be adding to this as things progress...

First off... the plans and power goals (Items with * I have now)

* Zetec Block & Crank
* SVT Rods & Pistons
* Stock Cyl. Head (P&P'd by me)
* Comp Stg. 2 Cams w/ Adj. Gears (Already Own)
Std. Zetec HG
Ported Early 2k Intake
* Custom Log Turbo Mani.
2.5" Turbo-Back Exhaust
60lb inj.
3" MAF Housing
Late 02' Pump w/ Boost-A-Pump
Garrett GT28RS Turbo
Tune - Remote tune by Randy at FocusSport

-Transmission Build-... edit... swap
6spd. SVT Swap
Quaife LSD
FS Alu. Flywheel
..not sure on clutch yet...

Power Goals
280-300whp @ 18-20psi

Keep in mind... this will be daily driven...
Anyways... onto some first pics...

My block just arrived today.... w/ less then 1k miles on the odo.

Still has light cross-hatch pattern...


Pistons & Rods (not cleaned up yet....) w/ less then 20k on the odo.


Now... I'll keep a full detail of the costs in a list here to show what this build-up has taken over the next few months if not longer....

-Total Costs-
Block - $250 shipped
Rods/Pistons - $200 shipped
New SVT Piston Rings - Dealer Item - $100
Clevite 77H Series Rod & Main Bearings - $120
ARP Main Stud Kit - $88
ARP Head Stud Kit - $125
ARP Rod Bolt Kit - $80
Oil Pump - $59
Engine Gasket Set - $156
Idle Air Control Motor - $73
MAF Sensor - $122
Other Engine Sensors ~ $90
Cyl. Head - (Used... will be P&P'd by me) - $90 shipped
Turbo Manifold - Fabbed by me - Free
Intake Manifold - Ported Early 2k - $100
Alu. Valve Cover - $40
SCT X3 Tuner - $300 (tax refund gift to myself)
PWR Alum. Radiator - $350 shipped

Comp Stg. 2 Cams & Adj. Gears - Already Own (Aftermarket cams not needed for a decent turbo build)
65mm TB - Already Own

-Transmission-
Complete 6spd. swap, Including professionally installed Quaife LSD & FS Lightweight Flywheel - $2k shipped

TOTAL - $4343.00 - as of 7/11/08

Thanks
-AcId-

[orangeZXT]

save the money on
FRPP Valvesprings & Possibly Tit. Retainers
Comp Stg. 2 Cams w/ Adj. Gears
Billet Oil Pump
u don't need any of it to get to 300 hp use the money u would have spent on this for a gt28RS now u will be alot happier stock cams work great with boost i made over 300 with them and a stock ported head with stock valves

[LornesBored]

^^ +1

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

The cams are in my current motor... and they have less then 5k miles on them... and i know i wont get out of them... what i have in them... so might as well use em'....

as for the oil pump... im planning on turning the motor in the 7.5krpm range and dont wanna chance oil pump failure... same thoughts on the springs and retainers... (which i think the springs come w/ the head... and the retainers arnt a must... so they probably wont end up being used...)

as for making 300 on the stock head... what all did you have done to do it? i wouldnt mind not spending $900+ on a head....

-AcId-

[boostedzx3]

I could be wrong here but if you have aftermarket cams and your going FI I dont think you'll be able to use them. I know they make turbo cams and from what I was told you cant use a aftermarket N/A cam on a FI car.

[orangeZXT]

the cams will work, there just not needed. as for my head its was a stock zetec head with a good port job and 5 angle valve job stock cams stock headgasket arp studs. u dont need to turn that much rpm its not needed i shift at 6-6.5k. by the time u get to 7+K that turbo will be falling on its face

[EuroAyres]

you can its just certain cams will hurt FI. IIRC you want a longer duration than lift in FI by a certain percentage. So if your cams have a huge lift and short duration your going to hurt performance. You in reality can use any cams that fit with FI, but it wont benifit. IIRC comp stage 2s are decent FI cams.
That turbo will not make power past 7000...edit for orange beating me

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

will the 28rs make power past 7k? if not.. then i'll drop a few more parts off my list which would help... or better worded... will it make more power past 7k?

-AcId-

[orangeZXT]

no, trust me when u have 300+ hp at the wheels u will not need to wait that long to shift that turbo will start making power low sowith a 6K shift u will fall right back in the power band(boost)

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

sounds good to me... changing the list a wee bit....

who did your headwork? shops around here charge out the rear-end for work like that... i could be looking at $500+ just in the stock head...

-AcId-

[boostedzx3]

yea 300whp should move a focus along pretty well. I know what mine feels like minus 100 from that.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

A small update... havnt had a whole lot of time to do anything and with planning my upcoming honeymoon, money is fairly tight...

anyways.. cleaned up the pistons & rods for inspection....









I dipped the pistons in seafoam for a few minutes then using a light scuff pad by hand, removed most of the build-up around the ring lands and valve reliefs...

No problems found. Pistons & rods look to be in great shape. I'm currently trying to work out a full set of rings and then I'll be taking the rotating assembly to be balanced...

More to come in the next couple weeks hopefully.

Question though... I've never scene this done this way before... but are the SVT rod caps supposed to look like they were just broken off the end of the rods when they were made? all the rods ive ever used have been flat between the rod cap and rod... but these look like they were just snapped off....

just wanted to know...

-AcId-

[orangeZXT]

yea the stock zetec ones look like thats too i know a guy with a set of rings ill pm u the info

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

sounds good... i havnt found any yet

although... i am in the process of sourcing my parts for my turbo mani and intercooler/ic piping... we'll see what happends there though...

planning on doing the intercooler setup next... go on and get it mounted in place and the piping bent and ready... then the exhaust pieces... then the cyl. head... and so on... etc.. etc...

are those rings new btw?

-AcId-

[orangeZXT]

yes there new

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Thanks for the heads up ZXT...

Piston Rings on their way

-AcId-

[Hugh20023]

Where are you sourcing your replacement piston rings?

[orangeZXT]

Originally Posted by AcIdBuRn02ZTS

Thanks for the heads up ZXT...

Piston Rings on their way

-AcId-

so he still had them i see, glad to help bro

[polarisman14]

Looks like a good project so far man, in terms of the stock head you can always port and polish the intake and exhaust ports yourself and call it a day.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

can i see my power goals with just a p&p? i dont know... really thinkin about using some of my tax return to fund an FRPP head for the build... that way i know its new and i wont have to worry about it.... we'll see.... do keep shooting me ideas though... ive been able to knock a good bit off my build costs so far...

-AcId-

[polarisman14]

Well the FRPP head does help out a great deal, supposed to give you 40hp or something like that on most FI builds. If you were to get one of those and then do a quick port and polish yourself it would be optimal. I have one of them waiting to go on to my engine and it looks really nice and whatnot but you can still see the tooling marks from the CNC machining on the insides of the intake and exhaust ports. I think if it were smoothed out properly it would flow better if peak hp is a consideration. I just don't have the experience to take the head apart to do that, but it appears that you do--I wouldn't want to polish the ports without having it apart because of the chance of the metal shavings going into the valve seats and other hard to clean areas and destroying everything.

[EuroAyres]

I would not port and polish the head yourself unless you are experienced in it already. It is not just grinding and polishing, there are parts you want to do and not want to do, parts you want to leave rougher than others..there is a lot inovolved and i would not do it myself, just because you open it up does not mean you free up power.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

ive done some minor p&p work myself before.. and there will be quite a bit of research going into this before i'd consider doing it myself....

as for this though... if i do a light p&p (clean up the ports... maybe a gasket match....) and a good 3 or 5 angle valve job... would it support my 300whp goal? if not... no point in going that route because costs of modding the stock head will quickly surpass what i can purchase a built head for.... or for what i can have the stocker decked out for... around here anyways...

im planning on picking up a used head w/ 55k on the clock to mess with and see what i can come up with after my research... for a healthy cost of $90 shipped...

let me know

thanks

-AcId-

[polarisman14]

There are a few good deals for the FR P&P heads in the for sale classifieds right now (right after I bought mine, damnit). Those ones already have the 3 angle valve job and stuff done so you would just have to polish up the ports as needed/as research indicates and be done with it.