I did read the other turbo topics here, but all i read was for the EFI turbo cars.
Anyways, I have a 78 Mustang II 2.3. A friend of mine, a big time 2.3 builder, some that he has are amazing, Is willing to sell me a intake manifold and turbo from a 79 Turbo RS capri. I want to buy it for 300 dollars.
Heres on how i think i can get it to work. Ill have a muffler shop take the pipe for exhaust gasses down under the bellhousing, and cut into my headman header, then weld that pipe onto the header.
For the hood clearance issue, i know that the intake will only take a ford 2 bbl, so i will make a adapter to fit an aftermarket air cleaner on it, its a peice of metal, with holes for the stock studs, then a stud welded into the center, to accept an aftermarket air cleaner. I want to buy a 6 inch KN air cleaner, with the top that also grabs in air, then measure and cut a hole in my hood and put the factory style hood scoop on the car, but it will have to be offset to the drivers side because its a 2.3.
Anyways, i know stock, the original turbo motor made 140 horses, im already at 130 with an offy intake that i will have to get rid of, but, i have a header, and a full 2 inch exhaust, onlly a dynomax super turbo muffler.
So heres the question, does this sound like a setup that will work. After thinking it through, i think i can do it. All i need is to make a T to go where the oil pressure sender is, from some plumbing products from home depot. One for the oil pressure gauge in my car, and one end of the t will go to the turbo. Then i will drill a hole for the return line into the oil pan.
But heres what i have to work with, its a 1990 Longblock, stock internally, will it hold up well? The turbo doesnt put out that much psi, enough to be felt, but I dont think its enough, and Jay (the 2.3 builder) doesnt think its enough to blow a motor.
another thing ive noticed while putting that motor together, is two holes on the drivers side of the bock with some kind off block of in them, there small, and with a square fitting block off on them, is this where the factory turbos oil supply went?
Also, how does this sound for head work later on down the road, i wanna put in bigger intake and exhaust valves, and have it port and polsihed, then maybe a three angle valve job, and for sure toss in a nice big, but streetable cam, that will give me the shitty idle i want.
What do you guys think. Any knowlege shared will be greatly appreciated, but, if i do blow the motor, i have another short block in the garage to work with, and build from the ground up, balls to the wall! Its the original 78 Motor.
I haven't done a turbo set up, but thought about doing something like you are with the carb turbo manifold. Anyhow, I don't think you would have a problem with the short block if the HP is not to high. Maybe say 180 or 200. Just my thought. I would think you would do better with a 2.25" or 2.5" exhaust. Can a different turbo be used? If so that would be a good upgrade. Maybe a holley 350cfm or 500cfm(if you somehow got more boost pressure) carb would work well if an adaptor couuld be made.
Since you have a carb setup now that makes 130hp I'd like to ask you a few questions...
I am doing my '89 coupe up with a carb NA.
Which intake are you currently using?
Cam?
Head work?
Other mods?
I have the intake and carb already and the rest of this list is what I plan to do. Any suggestions?----
Offy 4 barrel dual plane intake, Holley 390cfm 4 barrel, Racer walsh long tube header, 2.25" exhaust, Racer walsh hyd. cam: lift-.454", I will self port the head.
Good luck on the project! Maybe I'll try the turbo setup eventualy.
I like that 4 bbl intake, i was gonna stay NA, but decided, i dont want to spend years building a 250 hp NA motor, which is very doable.
I dont know why though, most of the 2.3 racers like to use that 2 bbl intake as opposed to the 4bbl, but yet again, i dont know why, i think the 4bbl would work great, i have one, but am not gonna use it.
With the extra power i made, it made me feel better to put a 160 degree thermostat in there, and it NEVER runs hot, unless, i let the pony lose on the freeway and start going for top speed but otherwise, it never runs hot. It can be gotten from autozone.
Im using a 1990 longblock in my car, i figure, with the difference in years from 78 to 90, they probably worked out a lot of bugs, and applied the technology to the head and cam. It seems like my newer motor has a lot more balls in the top end, like 5500 k. The old motor seemed like it was choking from not getting enough gas and fuel in it to make any power that high.
If your willing to cut a hole in your hood, a 1 in or a 2 in carb spacer would give you more power in the bottom end, it lengthens the runners quite a bit. I dont know if you can or not, but maybe on the foxes, you can use the 1 inch spacer without cutting a hole, i have a II, so there is a difference in hood clearance, thats why i have to cut my hood to use the turbo set up.
Eventually, when youve got your intake, and exhaust setup done, youll want to work on that head for sure, or, maybe buy an aluminum head to lose some weight. SVO heads work great. Larger intake and exhuast valves will help it breathe easy, as well as a three angle valve job, and a port and polish.
Im using the offy 2 bbl intake, with a 73 ford 2bbl on it, i picked the 73 because of less emissions stuff, and my 79 carb, sucked, the fuel mixture screw had NO effect.
Sounds like your on the right track, but ill give you some advice another 2.3 builder has givien me. Youll want a MSD eventually, the sooner the better, because he was having issues with the ignition system and makeing that much power. Hes right at about 200 NA. He did the balls to the wall set up though, bored it out, stroked it, and i forgot what else, i think forged internals.
Good luck on yours, have fun showing those f body v6 camaros some tailights! lol.
Well I gues I am on the right path since I also have a MSD billet mag pickup distributer, MSD 6AL BOX and MSD coil. Great! What cam are you using on the NA setup?
Also, the offy intakes are for oval port heads, and mine is a d-port head: I could probably port match them, but I worry about the change in port shape effecting the performance. If I got an oval port head what one should I get. BTW I am investigating this on the internet.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks for your reply and good luck on you turbo setup. Looking forward to hearing about your progress.
Im pretty sure that my head is a D port, and im using the offy intake.
Maybe youll want to look into the racer walsh or esslinger heads, if you call esslinger, they'll make one just the way you want it. I called them, and for a good street strip turbo cam aluminum head, they wanted 2,100. Kinda pricy, but ill do it in the long run becuase it has the over sized valves and such.
I still have the stock cam in my engine, it seems to work great for it for now, But swapping it out wouldnt be a bad idea. Look for a Stage 2 Hydraulic flat tappet cam for your car, im pretty sure thats the type you need. That cam in the bottom of your last post will probably do you good. It doesnt seem like it would be too big of one that would cause you to bog at the line.
Just curious, did you notice a difference in power when you switched to a MSD? I know ill have to eventually, but ide like to put it off if its not gonna be a source of power. I know when i do the turbo, ill have to get one and get the boost retard controler, which im gonna hide in the center counsole to keep it a sleeper.
You probably will get the best information if you call the guys at Racer Walsh or Esslinger directly, i talked to the one guy at Esslinger, and he knew his stuff.
Well, I didn't get to feel the MSD ignition because the car wasn't running when I bought it. Since then I've purchased a lot of the parts including the ignition stuff. So unfortunatly I don't have a base line to see how big a difference my mods will make.
So have you found out anything about your planned setup yet?
What do you guys think. Any knowlege shared will be greatly appreciated, but, if i do blow the motor, i have another short block in the garage to work with, and build from the ground up, balls to the wall! Its the original 78 Motor.
Well, the carbureted turbo setup has several drawbacks, but it's definitely doable.
The biggest problem you'll have though is the short block you're using, it lacks the forged and dished pistons and better connecting rods for a turbocharged application.
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1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
Decided Im Going to Go Turbo 
