anyone turbo an ohv explorer

[matt351]

i posted a thread a while back about swapping in a 3.8 from a thunderbird supercoupe but that idea kind of went away because im sure the message center and many other things would quit working due to the swap. with 200k on the odometer im thinking this motor could use a freshining. i was thinking about fabbing up a single turbo for it. im not really interested in a race beast but a decently quick commuter. ive been itching to do this to my lightning but i just blew a lot of money on a set of heads and and a stall so im done with it for a while.

i was thinking about swapping in a 700r4 even though i hate chevys with a passion, but i dont think an aod or 4r70w would bolt up to the 4.0 ohv in my '95. i know i would need an adapter for the chevy trans to the ford engine but i think advanced adapters makes something for that swap. my friend has two really awesome lightnings with turbos on them and im impressed to say the least and i thought why not just experament a little with the explorer.

also, i was wondering if anyone used forged rods and pistons in their rebuild. could you point me towards some that would work. also, what do you guys do about camshafts. are the stockers hydraulic roller or flat tappett. anyone know of a good off the shelf camshaft for an explorer.

i know these are probably ridiculus questions but im sort of tired of playing with the lightning for a while and want to try something else for a little bit.

 

[93liftedXLT]

it cane be done with a good fabricator to weld a manifold, then just run vacum lines, oil lines, fmic piping, or sm piping,with wastegate,bov,mbc, and the decent turbo and boost controller , most of its easy, i had a 91 isuzu tropper with a small block 305 v8, with a custom turbo kit on i bar of boost i made 400+ hp, untill i rolled it..

 

[matt351]

yea i know turbos make great power pretty easily, thats why ive been itching to try it out. i think if i got a bunch of mandrel bends and some other odds and ends it would be a pretty cool setup, and yes it would be intercooled. i just wonder how the stock internals would handle it, im sure it would let go with 200k on the odometer. i planned to get a junkyard motor and rebuild it but i dont know where to get parts like rods and pistons.

 

[davesexplorer]

Someone had a turbo OHV setup, it was a white 4 door, xltish with larger AT/s or MT/s on it. Cant remember his name though... klowns, clowns I dunno I'm on too many forums to remember.

 

[huskyfan23]

Klowns, though I never saw pictures of his turbo, not even on his Cardomain page. He supposedly had a turbo and had a bunch of problems after adding it. There's also a guy with a Bronco, I believe he had a 4.0, and it was turbo'd. Made real good power and I don't think he had any problems, though his bottom and top end were built.

 

[j602]

It was klowns. The 700r4 will bolt up to the 4.0 with the proper adapters. Personally I don't think it's worth it. It would be a HUGE amount of work to put a turbo in, and even then, the OHV is so god awful slow you still wouldn't catch up to decently powered cars/trucks. Also, I know that if I had the choice between putting a turbo on lightning or an Explorer, it would be the lightning hands down. The thing's already wicked fast, why not make it faster? You'd have to spend thousands on thousands just to get the Explorer up to par.
EDIT: And don't get me wrong, I like my OHV, it's a workhorse, it's just a little lacking in the speed department.

 

[matt351]

actually the lightning is getting a paxton novi2000 or a vortech t trim in a few months or so, ive got a bracket for each of the blowers to mate up to the 351 in the lightning.

i was just curious as to how quick i could get the explorer with just a home made turbo setup. i know stock they make about 120 to the wheels, i was sort of hoping for enough power to run mid to low 14's. i think with a turbo it wouldnt be too terribly hard.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

Seems a little odd to me to take the supercharger off a Lightning and put a turbo in instead. What's your rationale there??

Edit: You're probably talking about a first gen Lightning, which were n/a. My fault

 

[davesexplorer]

I would think it would be plenty hard to make an explorer OHV go mid to low 14's.

 

[davesexplorer]

Seems a little odd to me to take the supercharger off a Lightning and put a turbo in instead. What's your rationale there??

Edit: You're probably talking about a first gen Lightning, which were n/a. My fault

He wants to s/c the lightning and turbo the explorer for mid to low 14's.

 

[matt351]

yep that would be it with the the analysis dave. im starting to think that the 14 second ohv v6 explorer is a bit of wishful thinking. i would like it at least a little quicker than my lightning was stock, about 15 flat. i dont ever take it off road so im not looking to make a wicked truck out of it, just a comfortable cruiser.

also, does anyone you guys know of run a 275 60r 16 on a gen2 explorer. the truck sags in the rear a little and i thought of dropping the front slightly. i just wondered how bad these would rub. oh they're pirelli scorpions too if that matters any. i believe the overall diameter is 29 as opposed to 30 of the stock 255/70 16

 

[huskyfan23]

Throw a supercharger on the X and build the bottom end. You'll get into the 14's, no problem. Nitrous will add to that.

 

[matt351]

i plan to build the engine up a little like forged pistons and rods. do you guys have any links to stuff you would use if you were building an engine, priced pretty well. ive just kinda got my heart set on a turbo setup after seeing what some of my friends are doing with them.

 

[Heavymentill]

The week link in our 4.0's is the crankshaft. AND Matt351 your lookin at about $600 for forged pistons and $1200 for forged rods. Every thing you are talking about needs to be custom made.

 

[ricklorion]

Paxton

Robbie Gonzales
Try here

 

[huskyfan23]

Paxton doesn't make them anymore.