B&G Custom Turbo Install - Turbo Boost On A Budget Upgrade

Here you can see how the inside... 

   

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Here you can see how the inside of the bumper cover opening was widened to fit the tubing. The HP guys also fabricated some supports under the intercooler to keep the lower lip from sagging over time and at speed.

After a few short pulls on the dyno to check the air/fuel, Gonyon let it rip. The turbo spooled up and whistled sweetly, then the wastegate opened and let us know we were at full boost. When the dyno run was over, the mule turned out 398 hp and 458 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. The air/fuel ratio looked a little on the lean side, so Gonyon added some fuel at the top end and power picked up to 421 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque. Total timing checked in at a rather safe 19 degrees, and all runs were made while sucking down 93-octane gasoline from the local BP station.

During our two pulls, we noticed that there was a slight misfire at the top of the rpm range, as you can see the in the dyno graph (pg. 104). We think this is a coil and/or distributor problem, and will have to look into it before we do any more performance improvement upgrades.

Since our stock mass airflow... 

   

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Since our stock mass airflow meter was both maxed out and non-compatible with the blow-through design of the system, we upgraded to this Granatelli Motorsports 90mm unit and called Race Part Solutions for some of their killer silicone couplings and T-bolt clamps. Make sure you leave a good amount of straight tubing before the meter so that it gets a good air signal. Air is rather turbulent before or after tight curves and doesn't provide a steady flow over the sensor element. Also consider how far your wiring harness for the meter extends forward. It's not the end of the world if you have to lengthen the harness, but we were able to position the meter in a good location that didn't require altering the harness.

Worse than that is the fact that we have a head gasket issue with the engine again. During the engine buildup that we did last month, we ran into head gasket issues while performing dyno pulls on the normally aspirated combination. Just like then, we seem to be venting combustion into the coolant passage, which pressurizes the coolant. The problem is likely a warped deck, but we'll let you know.

After talking it over with various figures in the industry, our best option is to pull the engine and tear down the block to have the deck surface milled flat, and to have the heads checked for straightness just to be safe. We've encountered this problem when the engine was still in its original Mustang GT, and twice now that it has been between the fenders of our Recession Special notchback. Pulling the motor back down is a lot of work, but we'll save some coin by doing the majority of the labor ourselves.

We were so stoked to finally have this turbo project together, and driving it out on the street is really sweet. The car runs smooth as can be, pulls hard until it smokes the hides, and is only loud when you stand on it and the wastegate opens up. We may reroute that back to the downpipe upon reassembly just to keep the stealth factor. You can even lug the engine comfortably at 1,300 rpm with its 2.73:1 gears, and it's great to drive. Hopefully, we can get it back up and running soon.