Major Upgrades to 88 2.3 Turbo Coupe

Ok I've posted on here before with an odd topic, trying to use a standalone Air/Fuel tuner from a DSM in one of these TC's.
Anyway I'm not sure if I'm going to use the standalone AFC yet, I might just opt to get a Megasquirt ECU from Wilson Racing.

Back to the current topic. I don't own this car, a good friend of mine has hired me to work on it since I've got some experience building custom turbocharged cars and trucks. I have very little experience with these older Fords though. The only experience with building custom turbo cars is with cars that are post OBDII compatible. This is going to be a challenge to say the least.

Whats going into the car is a Garrett GT3076R dual ball bearing turbo which is a 550hp turbocharger, I'm thinking about 700cc injectors (I have a set of Precision Turbo and Engine 680cc injectors from a DSM build that I'd like to use), a front mount intercooler (he has already purchased an Ebay setup), manual boost controller, external wastegate (if I can figure out a decent setup within my budget I've been given, and a tuning setup (either the SAFC or a Megasqurt).

Hope this thing turns out as nice as I have planned. I want to make my friend happy so I'll be needing some advice along the way.

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Sounds like a fun build. What is the power goal and what fuel is planned on being used? That turbo is capable of maxing out those inectors with quite a bit left in it. Didn't see anything about any headwork/cam, may want to look into it with a turbo of that size. You can get a new manfiold with an external wastegate from Boport, Stinger, Gnari, ebay(crack prone), or you can build your own.

Keep us updated on the progress

I would give Scott at Wilson Racing a call about injector compatibility (high z, low z) with his ECU. Are the DSM ones high Z?

If the budget allows it, get the Boport header. Mine is very well made and works great.

Like Zip said, HP goal and fuel type will determine which way you go with this.

Unless the turbo has no provision for an internal gate, the external gate would be uneccessary. That mony would be better spent on a cam or porting, etc. Anything to improve airflow will pay dividends.

The 680cc PTEs are low-Z iirc, which makes them a drop-in in that regard, and with proper tuning, MS, PIMP, etc, they should be sufficient for ~375rwhp safely on most high octane pump gas.

Can't argue with anything already said above, good work guys.

Looking forward to hearing more!

The turbo is capable of WAY more than I want this car to be at right now. This guy is not used to high HP cars so I want to keep it in the 375-400hp range. I've thought about getting some 1000cc injectors that way its ready to be turned all the way up or he could try running it on E85, but for now I'm going to keep it simple and keep it on pump gasoline. The PTE 680's are low Z injectors. I went to 1680cc High Z injectors in my DSM so these are no longer needed and they were good injectors. Can anyone tell me what injector plug style is used in these cars?

I am seriously leaning towards getting the Wilson Megasquirt rather than messing around with wiring the SAFC into the system. I'm not familiar with the wiring in these TC's so like I said I'm leaning towards going with the plug and play ECU.

Right now the turbo doesn't have a turbine housing on it at all. As said above I've decided to go back with the Ford Flanged turbine housing and save the money I would have spent on the external wastegate and custom exhaust work and use it elsewhere in the build.
The GT3076R was a brand new extra I had on the shelf and my friend wanted it so I sold it to him. The car already has a Ranger cam in it, I don't want to mess with pulling the head off of the car right now. I figure it will be soon enough he will be pulling it off to replace the stock head gasket anyway and he can have the work done then.
I would like to install some ARP head studs though, can someone answer me if the cam will need pulled to do this?

I believe the injector plugs are called EV1?

Are you positive a stock Ford turbine hsg will work on that turbo?

As for the top end, that cam and unported head is going to be a roadblock for the HP goal. Ranger cam is no better than a stocker (only real advantage is being a roller vs slider). You will have to spin that turbo quite a bit harder without head, cam and intake mods.
The head bolts can be changed without disturbing the cam, but I'm not sure if it is a good idea to disturb the HG seal like that. May not matter....don't know for sure.

I've swapped studs several times on DSM's without it affecting the head gasket. One bolt at a time, in the order listed in the manual and you should be fine.

As for the head, cam and intake, I wish he would put a few hundred more into the pot so I could do that but he wants to stay under $1500. Thats the first thing I'm telling him to upgrade though as soon as he blows the head gasket.

About the turbine housing, honestly I told him now is the time to upgrade the outlet and wastegate setup but he's not willing to put the extra $700 or so into getting a new setup made. Since there is very little aftermarket support for these cars I'm having to make stuff on my own or have custom stuff made. However in regard to the turbine housing I found a company that makes a very nice piece that is T3 inlet flanged, with the correct wheel housing diameter for a GT30 series turbine, and has the Ford 5 bolt outlet flange.

http://www.maperformance.com/atp-turbo-t...VRq4jfheSq

If it were me I'd probably dump $3k-4k into it and be done with it but he want's me to do this on a budget so thats what I'm trying to do.
I think it will be a fun project.

Well my friend upped the budget a bit when I told him I had found a few items I wasn't expecting to find from some of the vendors here. So I just ordered $2k in parts for this thing, but it will at least be up to snuff for this 3076R turbo. I've told him the next thing he will need to do, when he does the inevitable and blows the head gasket, is to order a built head from Boport Racing.

I'll start taking pictures of the project. I wish I had taken one before removing the old turbo. Maybe I can get one from the owner.

How are you liking the project? I have to imagine it's quite a bit easier to work on than what you are used to as far as access and space are concerned.

Also... why is your friend not a member of this board yet? :confused: :confused: :confused:

Haha yea this car is a whole lot easier to work in in terms of space provided. I have a feeling tuning with the PiMP ECU is going to be quite a bit different than what I'm used to though so I hope that doesn't cause any problems.

I believe he is already a member here but just doesn't frequent the forum because of family and work. I frequent forums because I use them as a tool in doing my builds so thats why I already have 20+ posts and haven't been registered long. I have lots of questions because I want to be familiar with this cars systems by the time I get to actually putting parts together, turning wrenches and tuning the car.