A good friend of mine says that "Bottles are for babies." He used to spray NOS too, so I'm not quite sure where he gets off saying that! But where do you go after NOS? Certainly you can't go back to having no power-adder...no, definitely not that. Instead you boost!

I had the opportunity to pick up a used turbo kit off of another PGT. This is a custom made, one-off kit and while the welding and plumbing are definitely top notch, the overall design has some things that can be improved upon.

Read below for a synopsis of the kit and changes and additions that I plan to make. Changes will have links to view the before and after photos. Follow the links below the chart to see the installation step-by-step.

This is the kit as received, right out of the box (minus the header wrap). I unpacked it and slapped it together for the photo op. The oil pan is being shipped separately so it is not in this photo.

The cross-member has been modified with a bent piece of metal to make clearance for the collectors and downpipe. The hose with the orange sleeve around it is the oil drain line. The braided line is the oil supply line.

This kit has a Turbonetics Super 60 T3 turbo. This particular unit has a .82 A/R (Area to Radius ratio) turbine housing which is the largest for a T3, and is even rather big for a T4. The A/R is one of two factors which determine how the exhaust gases effect the compressor. The other factor being the turbine wheel "trim" level.

This unit also sports a Turbonetics integral wastegate, 3" OD inlet, and is oil and water-cooled. All-in-all, it is a full-featured unit.

In the above photos, you can see how the piping is run and and how everything fits together.

So if it all fits together so well and is a direct bolt-on for the PGT, what could I possibly want to change about it? Here's the summary (links will be added to show the before and after of each change):

AS-IS	My planned changes
Cracked header primary. An unexpected problem that came to light after I removed the header wrap. The tell-tale carbon build up from the leak is visible in the top photo of the kit where the primaries meet the collector on the front header. The crack was caused by the header wrap overheating the thin-walled header.	Repaired.  The crack has been welded together and I certainly have no plans of using header wrap on my install!
Rusty exhaust pipes. As with any mild steel used for exhaust, the collectors and downpipes are showing signs of rust.	Cleaned and coated.  The collectors and downpipe have already been sanded clean. All exhaust piping, including the headers, have been coated with Tech Line's Black Satin.
RTV sealed oil pan. Ford built them this way.	Oil pan gasket.  Although Ford chose to build the cars using silicone to seal the oil pan to the block, Fel Pro has more appropriately made a gasket for the 2.5s. P/N OS 30909C
Oil supply line tapped at oil pressure sending unit. Common practice in turbo installs.	Oil supply line connected to OEM block tap. This is did NOT happen.  For some reason or another, after several attempts, we were not able to remove the plug from the block.
No additional oil cooling. Not particularly good since this turbo relied solely on oil for cooling on the previous install.	External oil cooler. Addition of either a Permacool or Earl's Temp-a-Cure oil cooler.
No water cooling.	Water-cooled. Plan to run coolant lines to and from the turbo.
Non-intercooled.	Front mount I/C.  I have purchased an '87 Starion/Conquest front-mount I/C. There IS room to plumb it!! It will still be a chore to do, but I have every intention of utilizing it.
PVC intake. A crappy (for lack of a better word) intake tract was fashioned out of two PVC pipe bends to go on the cold side of the turbo. The VAF went on one end and the other attached to the turbo.	Filter attached directly to turbo.   HKS Super Power Flow (for space reasons) is now attached directly to the turbo inlet.
VAF mounted before turbo and hangs vertically. The VAF metering cone is very sensitive and hanging vertically allows gravity to "play" with it's readings. Also, the intake air temperature is read (IAT sensor) which is used to determine fueling and ignition timing. The readings should indicate the air charge that the engine is receiving from the turbo (heated) as opposed to air the turbo is receiving (cool).	Relocated VAF. The nice aluminum intake tube that has been welded together will not be used. The VAF will be relocated after the turbo and mounted horizontally for accurate readings.
Custom aluminum intake. Nice job, a shame not to use it.	New intake of undetermined metal type. Currently the "new" intake is formed of aluminized steel.  See the Relocated VAF page.
Non-adjustable HKS blow-off valve. Functional, but nothing special. Mounted after VAF which means metered air is blown-off to the atmosphere showing the ECU a huge vacuum leak. I am not sure how this worked.	GReddy Type-S adjustable Blow-off Valve.   Will be mounted in front of the VAF so the blow-off occurs before metering.
No fuel management. The kit previously used a Kenne Bell Boost-a-Pump which I declined to buy.	Vortech 12:1 FMU. Used in conjunction with the stock FPR and adds 12psi of fuel pressure for every pound of boost. I am using the Walbro 190lph in-tank fuel pump to keep up with the demand.
No turbo timer.	GReddy Turbo Timer. Allows the engine to run after you've left the car allowing the turbo to cool from driving.
No boost controller. The wastegate internal spring has been relied on to control boost.	GReddy PRofec B.  Evenutally I'll get the PRofec B.   For now, I have installed a manual boost controller.

This is not necessarily the order you would need to install the turbo in, or even should do it in, but since I am taking my time, somethings will be done differently than if I were installing it all at once. For instance, the intercooler generally wouldn't be installed before the turbo was ready to go in, but since the oil pan wasn't back from the welder and the IC showed up, I slapped it on instead of doing nothing. Get the idea?

Step 1) Relocate the battery.
Step 2) Install the front mount intercooler.
Step 3) Replace the oil pan and crossmembers.
Step 4) Relocate the radiator filler.
Step 5) Install the Fuel Management Unit.
Step 6) Remove stock exhaust manifolds or headers and install headers.
Step 7) Install collector pipes.
Step 8) Install the turbo and downpipe.
Step 9) Connect oil supply and oil drain lines.
Step 10) Connect the intake pipe and VAF.
Step 11) Connect the vacuum lines and boost gauge.
Step 12) Start it up and tune it!  Coming soon...
Step 13) Buckle up and hang on!  Time slips and dyno runs coming soon...

I will be amending a Turbo Notes page in a similar fashion to the NOS Notes that I kept.  Be sure to check it out for operating information.

For those wondering, it should be obvious that the install that was supposed to happen at Turismo Technology didn't happen.  At the last minute, John had to cancel due to his workload.  Since I had already waited two weeks longer than I wanted, I decided at that time to do it myself.   John is still interested in designing a turbo kit for this car and I will have no problem allowing him to pick apart my install for design purposes.

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