Completed Project Top Mount TURBO Explorer V8

[CDW6212R]

It sounds great, very subtle/normal muffler sound. I hope the exhaust is big enough, it could use a dual 3" or more volume/size given the turbo.

BTW, I see the washer bottle in front. I pondered moving those myself to make room for a turbo. I think I could have used the rear washer bottle to feed both the front and back, with some modifications. I bought a rear reservoir to play with, to see if I could install the front washer pump into one. The 98-01's have no rear reservoir, they use a special pump with two outlets. If the pump could go in the rear 95-97 reservoir, then the wiring and lines could be reworked to use the rear setup, and eliminate the front reservoir completely.

 

[RegionThr33]

geezus. if i that thing rolled up along side of me with that idle, i would turn the opposite way!
would you be able to do this for me. i would like a picture of how close your fuel rails are to both sides of the valve covers, and also a measurement from inside to inside of the rails as well

I'll have to get a measurement but i can tell you that its wider than the stock rails.

 

[RegionThr33]

It sounds great, very subtle/normal muffler sound. I hope the exhaust is big enough, it could use a dual 3" or more volume/size given the turbo.

BTW, I see the washer bottle in front. I pondered moving those myself to make room for a turbo. I think I could have used the rear washer bottle to feed both the front and back, with some modifications. I bought a rear reservoir to play with, to see if I could install the front washer pump into one. The 98-01's have no rear reservoir, they use a special pump with two outlets. If the pump could go in the rear 95-97 reservoir, then the wiring and lines could be reworked to use the rear setup, and eliminate the front reservoir completely.

I got 3.5" piping to fit from the turbo back. Mufflers are straight through 3.5" no cat.

My 97 only had one tank and the pump with two outlets. Im actually going to try it with my water/methanol injection. I have another 100psi pump if its not high enough pressure.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I'll have to get a measurement but i can tell you that its wider than the stock rails.

View attachment 158750

they are. i would say by 3/8 of a inch. i have the same rails. i am wanting to make a different intake on mine then i have already and will have to drill holes for the injectors because i will be doing a carb intake but cutting the hell out of it if i can ever find the one i want cheep

 

[CDW6212R]

I got 3.5" piping to fit from the turbo back. Mufflers are straight through 3.5" no cat.

My 97 only had one tank and the pump with two outlets. Im actually going to try it with my water/methanol injection. I have another 100psi pump if its not high enough pressure.

Ah, that was also a mid 97 change, Ford eliminated the rear reservoir after that point.

 

[delexploder]

they are. i would say by 3/8 of a inch. i have the same rails. i am wanting to make a different intake on mine then i have already and will have to drill holes for the injectors because i will be doing a carb intake but cutting the hell out of it if i can ever find the one i want cheep

I was thinking a dual 4 intake for what you are doing

 

[RegionThr33]

I need a linelock and tune. Shouldnt have done it on a dry surface but what is done is done .Lol.
1.1psi with AFR of 12.2

 

[Dono]

lol
What rpm did you build boost?

I'll be interested in what your timing table looks like once you finish the tuning. For whatever reason, my motor seems to want to detonate until I pull all kinds of timing. It's very strange.

 

[RegionThr33]

lol
What rpm did you build boost?

I'll be interested in what your timing table looks like once you finish the tuning. For whatever reason, my motor seems to want to detonate until I pull all kinds of timing. It's very strange.

Surprisingly 2500rpm. I figured it would be higher.

 

[RegionThr33]

Methanol pump is mounted and I didnt have to drill the body. Just bent up a base plate from some leftover sheet metal from my Hudson project. I also installed the O2 sensors using some spark plug non foulers welded to the header elbows.

 

[RegionThr33]

O2 sensors: trimmed the caps off of the sensors so they would fit in the non foulers.

 

[4pointslow]

Awesome welding skills!
I never learned to weld and I am jealous!
That is a great spot for a water methanol pump, I put mine in the same spot.
This truck is turning out awesome, I hope you get to race it in the1/4 mile because I would love to see how fast this thing can get.

 

[RegionThr33]

Awesome welding skills!
I never learned to weld and I am jealous!
That is a great spot for a water methanol pump, I put mine in the same spot.
This truck is turning out awesome, I hope you get to race it in the1/4 mile because I would love to see how fast this thing can get.

Thanks. I really just started welding myself. I did a little on my hudson and then jumped into this project. Not bad for flux core. It is a great spot for the pump. Worked out great. I will definitely run a quarter mile at least once. I dont have a track near me but I'll travel a couple of hours if need be.

 

[RegionThr33]

Alright guys. Last update before i get the tune. I stopped by the only tuner within several hours of me to set up an appointment. Bad luck, they are booked up for a while and are in the process of switching some equipment over. Sooooooo, i guess im going to go back to my original plan of a SCT tuner with custom tunes. Hopefully within the next 7-10 days.
The only thing that worries me is that i wont know my HP/TQ numbers. I really dont want to split my block as soon as i get to drive it. Im going to get 3 conservative tunes.
1: 83 octane / 6 psi, 40/60 methanol/water
2: 93 octane / 8 psi, 40/60 methanol/water
3: 93 octane / 10 psi, 40/60 methanol/water

Im thinking the 8psi tune will get me to the 450hp im looking for but im not sure. We will see i guess.

 

[RegionThr33]

Tuning options? I emailed unleashed performance about an sct x4 (listed on site for $399 with one custom tune, 2 tunes for $449, 3rd tune free) but he quoted me $499 for the x4 and 1 tune because of the mods i have.
Does this seem right? Who else tunes for the Explorer?
I just dont want to pay more than i should.

Edit: I do understand that tuning for my vehicle would be more involved than, lets say, an explorer with just a cam and exhaust. If the price is reasonable considering the mods, I'll buy it.

 

[4pointslow]

I can not offer any advice on price but I will say you need a custom wideband o2 sensor on your vehicle if you are doing remote tuning.
If you go to a dyno shop they usually have a wideband setup they can stick in the tail pipe if you don't have cats to mess up the readings.

If you have never had anything remote tuned and you go that route, you are in for an experience.

I used to teach tuning for beginners at the school I work at and have heard of a lot of tuners in the business.
I have access to behind the scenes forums for dealers on the SCT website since my school is considered a dealer because we bought so much from them.
Any way I will say that unleashed performance is well known and has been around for quite some time so they should know their stuff.

Don Lasota is another tuner who offers the most to his customers. He even has books and videos on how to tune your own vehicle.
I have recommended him to some on here and they have been satisfied with his work and I hope they will chime in.

We used to have James Henson who did most of the explorer tuning but he retired from tuning.

 

[RegionThr33]

Thanks. I do have a wideband with datalogging. The local tuner is very backed up and just last night had some part on his dyno fried from a power surge. He uses hp tuners and wasnt sure if it covered the explorer or not but he is getting into sct and cobb stuff in a few weeks.

 

[4pointslow]

SCT is used more for Fords, I believe a couple guys that started SCT were ford oem engineer tuners or something.
SCT does have stuff for GM and Dodge.

HP tuners is more geared towards the GM side of things.
HP tuners has stuff for Ford and Dodge(I think).

I would recommend SCT for Ford tuning.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i am a lasota customer. 4pointslow recommended him to me, as well as dono. i also at one time had henson tuning my truck and i wasnt happy with him. don is first off a very patient person and if you dont understand something he will do his very best to describe something to you. if there is a problem he spots in the tune that is mechanical related, he will also tell you steps to find it and fix it. his turn around times are fast as well. i think within the day or even next day most times. longest i had to wait was 2 days. i tried to have my truck dyno tuned locally, but when i told them the combo i was running they either gave me the deer in the headlight look, or would tell me they can do a remote tune (which i could have done myself). don is a one stop shop for tuning if you ask my opinion.
get'r done! i want to see this thing GO! lol

 

[vroomzoomboom]

one other thing i was going to ask. flipping over some of your pictures, i dont see your power steering reservoir. am i to guess you have ditched the power steering now? if you did post something about this already my apologies. im haft awake, and not the good haft either.