Exploring Forced Induction: The Fluid MotorUnion Ford Explorer Turbo Build Thread!

[Joe Dirt]

Holy crap those look nice...

[wood1]

Very very nice work

[psycareyo]

OMG! I want those on my Saleen supercharged STA!

[FluidMotorUnion]

Originally Posted by Joe Dirt

Holy crap those look nice...

Originally Posted by wood1

Very very nice work

Thanks, guys! Swain Tech has never done us wrong with their coating skills. And it's efficient as all getout, too; we've had headers covered in the thermal barrier previously, and we've been able to touch the pipes while the car is on the dyno doing runs. Engine bay temps drop a great amount, and heat stays where it's supposed to

Originally Posted by psycareyo

OMG! I want those on my Saleen supercharged STA!

http://www.swaintech.com

Give 'em a call. Turnaround times are long, but it's so worth it.

[east1la]

wow, that a cool project ya have. Can't wait to see video of this explorer in action.

[FluidMotorUnion]

Since it’s been a little while, we felt that we should put up some photos.

When the intercooler piping was still being arranged, we set out to make a water reservoir for the system. Unlike air-to-air intercoolers, which runs the air through the intercooler where it drops in temperature, a liquid-to-air intercooler uses liquid to take the heat from the intake charge. As a result, you’ll need a source for that water, and this reservoir will be that source on Scott’s Explorer. There’s not much else that can be explained, so let’s just take a look at some welds! Fabrication’s adeptness with aluminum is bordering on robotic these days!








And in case you’re wondering what’s up with the awkward shape of the box, it’s pretty simple — fitment. With the box shaped as it is, we’re able to fit it in just behind the passenger side turbo:



Intercooler piping is entering the final stage of welding and fitment, exhaust is next, then the tune is all that's left!

[willied]

That is some ridiculously good work right there!

[FluidMotorUnion]

Originally Posted by willied

That is some ridiculously good work right there!

Thanks! If there's one thing we're incredibly proud of, it's our fabrication skills. None of these guys are older than 25, either. Our welder who made that aluminum box is but 21.

[Limited02]

Wowza!!! Looking good!!!

Are you going to polish the box or do a wrinkle black finish???

[FluidMotorUnion]

Originally Posted by Limited02

Wowza!!! Looking good!!!

Are you going to polish the box or do a wrinkle black finish???

I'll have to check with our guys on that. Powdercoating is pretty quick, thanks to the company we work with, so that may be an option we haven't put into practice yet. But I'll let you know! Time for some pictures:

We’re blazing new trails here (not to make a Trailblazer pun) with a turbo setup that puts the snails in the engine bay. Rear-mounted turbo setups are fraught with all sorts of oil and lag issues. This should cut down on that. We’re also adding a bit of flair to the setup by powdercoating the valve covers Ford Racing Blue, which looks great against the white of the Explorer’s body. Two shots of the valve covers follow this paragraph, along with some quick shots during intercooler piping reassembly. There are quite a few back-pictures to go through on the blog, so there will be plenty of Explorer content in the coming days.

[tmsoko]

What??? A billet "Tee" - I must have missed that in earlier pictures. That took some time! Suprised with your welding skill you didn't just fab from two elbows. Looks cool though, that is for sure!

How much boost you planning to run? Any concerns with the factory plastic intake? Or do you plan to fab one of those too???

Keep it up! (And post some good pictures of the heat exchanger mount, hoses, etc.. I will need that once I get to my Saleen Series VI install...)

[willied]

That is just too awesome! I love the blue, it looks great!

[rocket 5979]

Originally Posted by tmsoko

What??? A billet "Tee" - I must have missed that in earlier pictures. That too some time! Suprized with your welding skill you didn;t just fab from two elbows. Look cool though, that is for sure!

How much boost you planning to run? Any concerns with the factory plastic intake? Or do you plan to fab one of those too???

Keep it up! (And post some good pictures of the heat exchanger mount, hoses, etc.. I will need that once I get to my Saleen Series VI install...)

I thought the hot side looked pretty damn good looking but I have my reservations of how the aesthetics of the cold side will turn out. Don't get me wrong, it is good fabrication and a real cool project, but the piping right around the AWIC's and the billet tee just make too much of a departure from the "cleanliness" of the rest of the project to do it for me.

There are no worries at all boosting a stock composite intake. We boost the hell out of those all the time in the Mustang and GM LSx community. When my Lincoln LS was turbocharged I was pushing 7psi on the composite intake with zero issues; and my TT G8 has seen 8psi on the stock composite and will see 14 before too long. People regularly boost this type of intake into the teens without issue.

BTW I like the blue powder coated cam covers.

[FluidMotorUnion]

Originally Posted by tmsoko

What??? A billet "Tee" - I must have missed that in earlier pictures. That took some time! Suprised with your welding skill you didn't just fab from two elbows. Looks cool though, that is for sure!

How much boost you planning to run? Any concerns with the factory plastic intake? Or do you plan to fab one of those too???

Keep it up! (And post some good pictures of the heat exchanger mount, hoses, etc.. I will need that once I get to my Saleen Series VI install...)

The billet t-pipe did take a little long to make, but I'd say it's worth it.

We won't be running crazy levels of boost, so we feel pretty confident with the composite intake. If this were our personal build, we'd probably get a little crazy and make a new intake, but at this time it's outside of the current build's budget, in terms of both time and money.

Originally Posted by willied

That is just too awesome! I love the blue, it looks great!

Thanks.

Originally Posted by rocket 5979

I thought the hot side looked pretty damn good looking but I have my reservations of how the aesthetics of the cold side will turn out. Don't get me wrong, it is good fabrication and a real cool project, but the piping right around the AWIC's and the billet tee just make too much of a departure from the "cleanliness" of the rest of the project to do it for me.

There are no worries at all boosting a stock composite intake. We boost the hell out of those all the time in the Mustang and GM LSx community. When my Lincoln LS was turbocharged I was pushing 7psi on the composite intake with zero issues; and my TT G8 has seen 8psi on the stock composite and will see 14 before too long. People regularly boost this type of intake into the teens without issue.

BTW I like the blue powder coated cam covers.

Thanks! We came to exactly the same conclusions as you regarding the composite intake. We're not going for 600 whp or anything, so boost will remain in the single digits and everything should be hunky dory. We thought about doing a new intake, but for the reasons I specified above, we didn't.

[FluidMotorUnion]

Quick little update from the FMU homestead. We've had some pretty crazy days this week, so I grabbed a few of the randoms and figured I'd get 'em out to you guys:

Filters and piping for the filters are finalized and in place:




Blow-off valves are welded into place on the underhood piping:



AN fittings are in place on the heat exchanger and intercoolers, braided hose is almost all in as well:




Water pump is in, as well:

[GRNMACHINE]

Work is amazing, really amazing. Curious, with all the engine/fab work etc, any plans for the rest of the vehicle? Wheels/tires/body looks pretty mundane in comparison to that engine.

[FluidMotorUnion]

Originally Posted by GRNMACHINE

Work is amazing, really amazing. Curious, with all the engine/fab work etc, any plans for the rest of the vehicle? Wheels/tires/body looks pretty mundane in comparison to that engine.

At this time, I don't know what's on the owner's mind, but as it's his daily driver, I'm sure he won't want to get too extreme with the exterior. But there's always something to do for next summer...

Plus, nothing beats a sleeper

[CDW6212R]

How do you like the black nylon/rubber hose compared to the SS braided stuff? I was disappointed when I found out that the black non SS hose costs as much as the higher end SS stuff. Is it basically as high of quality as the steel hoses, I'd prefer the black lines for ATF lines etc?

[rocket 5979]

Originally Posted by CDW6212R

How do you like the black nylon/rubber hose compared to the SS braided stuff? I was disappointed when I found out that the black non SS hose costs as much as the higher end SS stuff. Is it basically as high of quality as the steel hoses, I'd prefer the black lines for ATF lines etc?

The pushlok stuff is also pretty nice as well and very quick and easy to assemble with no real tools. There are more and more people going with it in their fuel systems and trans cooler lines as well. I would have went that way with the fuel system for the G8 but I had a certain color scheme I wanted to achieve under the hood so it was SS braid for this car.

[FluidMotorUnion]

Originally Posted by CDW6212R

How do you like the black nylon/rubber hose compared to the SS braided stuff? I was disappointed when I found out that the black non SS hose costs as much as the higher end SS stuff. Is it basically as high of quality as the steel hoses, I'd prefer the black lines for ATF lines etc?

Pretty much as you said, the quality of both is similar, and this specific style of hose has never let us down on other builds. We're making sure everything for this build is the best quality we can get our hands on, as this kit could become quite popular one day.