Turbo 5.0

[Grandma91quis]

I was thinking that a turbo 5.0 in a stock panther would be cool. I dont know if this have been done before but i may try it. I was thinking about checking some local junk yards for a matching set of turbos off of a desel truck, or maybe a pair of t3's. I have never messed with turbo's myself, but a friend of mine says there prity easy to work with. I will have to run some oil lines, some intercooler tubes, and weld up some manifolds. I would like to find some turbos with internal waste gates 5-12psi. I dont know how practical this would be or anything. You guys have any thoughts? Problems i may run into? Only thing i think i would have to change on the engine is get bigger fuel injectors.

[Nathan in MI]

A friend of mine and I were talking about the possibility of doing something like this, except that we would use dual turbos. That way you can find a couple of turbos off of small 4-banger cars, which are plentiful, rather than one turbo that's the right size for a 302, which in junkyard form, is pretty rare.

Just be prepared to seriously beef up your engine. You'll need forged pistons, rods, and probably some way of stiffening the block as well. It's a great project, but it's not cheap. That's why it's a few years off for me, that is, if it ever happens at all.

[Grandma91quis]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...QQcmdZViewItem

found these on ebay. CHEAP HP

website i found -->http://www.homemadeturbo.com/

[Nathan in MI]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...QQcmdZViewItem

found these on ebay. CHEAP HP

That's the right idea! If you do this, let me know...or if I do it first I'll let you know. Either way, there's no sense in trying to reinvent the wheel.

[interceptor1985]

Try http://www.corral.net/ I saw a turbo manifold or headers for a 5.0 for sale there two day's ago.

[Lincolnmania]

those 2.3 mustang turbos were trash, and they are very expensive rebuilt
put 2 of em on my 84 turbo coupe.......dumped my mustang svo when the second turbo started going

[Nathan in MI]

Can you recommend a better turbo for the job, then?

[mrltd]

2 turbo t3's are too much for a stock panther. One would be more than sufficient. As rare as it is for me to disagree with Scott, the old turbos are great, and rebuilds are around 100 bucks. Anything off any diesel truck will be way too much (even just using 1), unless it's some small compact p/u like a chevy LUV. The stock panthers have cast pistons and it's kinda a waste of time to put a turbo on them, when for 100 bucks you can almost double the HP using some used mustang parts.

Nathan...go read up on turbomustangs.com. You do not need to "seriously beef up" the engine.. The block is good for 400-500Hp, same with the bottom end. The pistons are the weakest link. The fuel system will need the most work.

[Grandma91quis]

2 turbo t3's are too much for a stock panther. One would be more than sufficient. As rare as it is for me to disagree with Scott, the old turbos are great, and rebuilds are around 100 bucks. Anything off any diesel truck will be way too much (even just using 1), unless it's some small compact p/u like a chevy LUV. The stock panthers have cast pistons and it's kinda a waste of time to put a turbo on them, when for 100 bucks you can almost double the HP using some used mustang parts.

Nathan...go read up on turbomustangs.com. You do not need to "seriously beef up" the engine.. The block is good for 400-500Hp, same with the bottom end. The pistons are the weakest link. The fuel system will need the most work.

I would be up to changing the pistons if thats what would stop me. What piston do you recommend for stock bore? While im in there i could put gt40 heads on and a cam in it. I would like to run a small carb that way i dont have to worry about MAF sensor. I think its a killer idea. My car will be sittin this winter maybe ill pull it apart.

[mrltd]

you can do it with all the stock components (except for the fuel system), it just will be very sensitive to any error in tuning. For turbo 5.0 info search turbomustangs.com

[89LincolnTWNcar]

I would think it would be ok to turbo a stock HO block up to 6psi, right?

[Mercmarquis]

I'm planning on doing a turbo 5.0 this winter. Like MRLTD said, you need to replace the factory cast pistons with forged ones. 86-93 5.0 HO's had forged slugs from the factory. If you can find a low mile HO shortblock, you'd be set. They are good to around 500hp, after that they become a ticking time bomb. You will need good head gaskets, fel pro mls or copper ones. Also head studs would be a good idea to keep the heads from lifting and blowing gaskets.

The fuel system needs major work, you need a pretty hefty fuel pump. I see a lot of guys running 2 255lph pumps if you are staying fuel injected. 1/2 in fuel line is recommended. Adjustable FPR, at least 42# + injectors will be needed as well.

if you are running a carb you need a special one to handle boost, I'm not to sure on whats different, but I know theres different seals, floats and jetting.

The thing is you DO NOT want the motor to detonate under boost or it can cause serious problems, you can blow a head gasket and have bits of it fly into your turbo and trash it, You can melt your pistons and blow your motor as well.

The stock computer will be really hard to get the thing to run right without pinging or running super rich, you can use a stand alone computer like Megasquirt (which is what I'm gonna use) and be able to tune your car. You also need to limit your timing as well.

Thats a rough run down on all the things you need to address. Turbomustangs.com is a great source of info, also junkyardturbos.com is a good site.

shoot me a pm if you have any more questions, I'll try to help you the best I can.

[Nathan in MI]

Nathan...go read up on turbomustangs.com. You do not need to "seriously beef up" the engine.. The block is good for 400-500Hp, same with the bottom end. The pistons are the weakest link. The fuel system will need the most work.

Okay, well, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a turbo expert. I was just going on what someone else had told me, but it sounds like you've got more experience than I have.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

1/2" fuel lines, 42lb injectors? like 5 mpg?

[Mercmarquis]

Okay, well, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a turbo expert. I was just going on what someone else had told me, but it sounds like you've got more experience than I have.

If you want the motor to live at 600+hp reliably you'll need to seriously beef the motor. The block is the weakest part. The block will literally split in half and drop the mains right out. You have to find out how much hp you want and make compromises to get there. If you are expecting 650hp, you need an A4 or dart block, forged crank, h-beam rods, forged slugs, ect... If you want a little 450hp street terror, that rarely goes past 5500rpm, a stock HO will get you there.