Got My Turbo, Making Progress...

[HH1]

didnt ford make a thunderbird turbo coupe?!
and didnt those cars come with intercoolers and 6psi turbos?!
Now think of how many of those are rusting away in junkyards....hmmm 460 turbo??!!

 

[SaleenEXP]

Originally posted by HH1
didnt ford make a thunderbird turbo coupe?!
and didnt those cars come with intercoolers and 6psi turbos?!
Now think of how many of those are rusting away in junkyards....hmmm 460 turbo??!!

1) they made a sc thunderbird (supercharged, not sure about a turbo)

2) not sure, but they were quick

3) 460 + turbo =

 

[Robert]

Yes, the Thunderbird Turbo was the performance Thunderbird just prior to the Supercharged Thunderbird. The '88 Turbo ran the 1/4 in 16.302 seconds @ 87.5 MPG. This car was completely stock with about 120K miles on it. It was only a 2.3L turbo, 4-cylinder. the Supercharged Thunderbird beat that by about 1.6 seconds.

 

[RFR2212]

Originally posted by SaleenEXP
1) they made a sc thunderbird (supercharged, not sure about a turbo)

2) not sure, but they were quick

3) 460 + turbo =

the thunderbird Turbo coupe. they were made. they exist.

 

[Yomie]

yeah i had an 88 T-Bird TC when i was 16, back in the day. If i knew what i had then, i would still prolly have that car, even though it was a 2.3L Turbo. There prolly aren't anymore 2.3L Turbo motors in the JunkYards anymore, cause all of the Ranger guy's got smart and are putting the 2.3L Turbo's in their rangers

 

[Black Magic]

I'm sure you could find one, somewhere.

 

[B94Sport]

I go to school with a guy who recently converted his 2.3L Ranger to a 2.3L Turbo... He lives just down the street from me and I saw him come flying down the street one day and was like "Why doesn't this kid have a hood?" Then when he got closer you could hear the turbo. He's running low boost because the engine has quite a few miles on it, but the truck is still pretty quick.

 

[SaleenEXP]

Originally posted by Robert
Yes, the Thunderbird Turbo was the performance Thunderbird just prior to the Supercharged Thunderbird. The '88 Turbo ran the 1/4 in 16.302 seconds @ 87.5 MPG. This car was completely stock with about 120K miles on it. It was only a 2.3L turbo, 4-cylinder. the Supercharged Thunderbird beat that by about 1.6 seconds.

I thought they had an older turbo coup but wasn't sure, your right though, the SC Thunderbrids spank that time - they were pretty damn quick and had a lot of torque for a V6.

 

[XxX_Sport_XxX]

Who made the kit for you. Had to be expensive for the custom work.

 

[psychotic]

update us

 

[mbryda]

Originally posted by Yomie
There prolly aren't anymore 2.3L Turbo motors in the JunkYards anymore, cause all of the Ranger guy's got smart and are putting the 2.3L Turbo's in their rangers

Mustang guys too. It's a VERY popular swap for the older 2.3L LX's... Pop in a 2.3 Turbo (basically a bolt in) and have a 4 badnger that has 99% of the performance of a GT!

 

[DasFrem]

Not to mention the smaller motor makes it weigh a hell of a lot less. There's this guy here in NY that builds these 2.3s to do some amazing things. Getting over 400 hp out of them is no big deal for him.

 

[SVO42]

OK guys, this is my first post here, and I don't even have an Explorer, but I am researching them because I'm thinking about buying a cheap 4x4 4D one in a few months. I had to chime in here, though. All of you interested in turbocharging should check out TurboFord .

Just a few points, though. I have an '86 Mustang SVO. It's a 2.3 turbo with air-to-air intercooler (from the factory), rated at 205 HP (5 more than the 5.0 GT in '86!). Ialso have an '89 Mustang LX with the NA 2.3 and POS A4LD (I understand a lot of your pain!). I would never put any more than about 5 PSI of boost through the NA motor. The NA 2.3 had 9:1 CR and cast pistons. The 2.3 T is totally different. That's why people usually don't just slap a turbo on a NA 2.3 because one could easily blow it up. The 2.3Ts had 8:1 CR and FORGED pistons to handle the 16-17 PSI of boost (for the SVO). A low-boost turbo kit would probably be OK for the 4.0 since the CR is about 9:1 instead of higher. You could add an intercooler from another car for very cheap (<$100 if you know where to look) to reduce the chances of detonation. Then maybe get an adjustable fuel pressure regulator or FMU and a MSD 6BTM to handle any fuel and timing issues if they arose.

If you are serious about a 4.0 turbo (which this thread has really got me thinking about!), here's my recommendations. If you happen to be thinking about a rebuild on your 4.0, do it with dished forged pistons for strength and to lower the CR to around 8-8.5:1. Make up some custom turbo exhaust manifolds for a twin-turbo setup and use small turbos. From what I can tell, the 4.0 really isn't a revver, so you might as well get the boost as quickly as possible. For the cheapie route, get two IHI turbos from an '87-'88 T-Bird TurboCoupe or '87-'88 turbo Cougar XR-7. You'll probably see full boost by 2500 RPMs (how does 18 PSI sound?). If you want a little more power and airflow, get a pair of .48 A/R Garrett T3s from an '85.5-'86 SVO, and that'll move your full boost up to about 3000 RPMs but with more airflow and power. Run one turbo from each bank, not a sequential setup (like Mazda RX-7 TTs). You'll probably have to upgrade your MAF meter (70-80 mm) and injectors (30-36 lb/hr)as well if you want 15-18 PSI. Then you might want to think about getting rid of the 4R44 (A4LD on steroids) for a seriously built one or swapping to a C4 trans if you have an auto.

A list of donor turbo Fords (the good, blow-through EFI ones):

Mustang: '83-'84 Turbo GT, '84-'86 SVO

T-Bird TurboCoupe/Mercury Cougar XR-7 Turbo: '83-'88

Merkur XR4Ti: '84-'89

I am not an expert, admittedly, but I've had plenty of experience wrenching on my SVO and learning everything I can about it. If you are serious, look around TurboFord, there are some really knowledgable people there. Good luck, and keep everyone posted on your progress. I may not be around here often, but we'll see!

 

[Klowns]

The turbo that I had built, was custom made with some extra goodies, and is supposed to be at full boost at around 2200-2500 rpm's. While maintaining boost at high speeds as well.

 

[iceman]

sorry this is a dumb ? but how does a turbo and a sc work? i know they both add hp but how ?

 

[Yomie]

Look here

http://www.howstuffworks.com/turbo.htm
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question122.htm

 

[99exEB1]

Any Updates??

 

[DonM]

Surely the Turbo was installed by now, right??? I WANNA SEE PICS!!!!!!!!!



Don

 

[Josh]

I would also be interested. Is this an install that a shade tree machanic could do?

 

[Fischer]

I'm with Josh. If it hits the price point and falls within the ability of a couple of weekend warriors with beers, I'd be interested.

I can't believe I missed this one.