North American Turbocoupe Organization



SVO Valve Cover on an '88 TC engine: Does it work?
DanMarshall Offline
Junior Member
#1
I haven't posted here in a while because original engine in my '88 TC took a crap on me and had little to no compression on the inner two cylinders. Recently I purchased an '87 Turbo Coupe with under 100K miles with a rebuilt cylinder head for $500 For it's engine to swap into my '88 TC.

With finishing up the most recent detailing on the engine to make it look nice I noticed something: the back oil breather hole on the '88's valve cover is huge compared to the SVO's valve cover that I planed to install.

Is there any way to run this valve cover without having to drill it out to fit the 88's oil breather line? My mechanic who has worked on many fords said if I bypass it and run just a filter in the hole that I will get a lot of oil seepage.

Would love to hear if there's any way for me to put this valve cover on. I spent a lot of time restoring it and I think it would dress the engine up a little bit more with the SVO VC.
1988 TurboCoupe 5 Speed 130,000 miles
1998 Ford Escort SE (Daily Driver)
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Not B Anymore Offline
Administrator
#2
Sounds like that valve cover uses the earlier-style breather. The 83-86 TC's have a breather that just goes in to that hole without a rubber grommet (metal-to-metal), and the hole in the VC is smaller, as you describe. If I were you I'd first try sticking your breather in the hole, but not with any grommet. If that doesn't work, find an earlier one and it should work.

You do not want to just run a filter in the hole. You can do a catch-can setup without issue.
Brian Leavitt
'86 TC 5-Speed -- MS2x w/COP | 83 lb. injectors | T3/T4 50 Trim Stage 3 .63AR | Full 3" Exhaust - No Cat | Motorsport FMIC | Ranger Roller | Ported E6 | Walbro 255HP | Kirban | 20psi | 120-amp 3G | 8.8" 3.55 rear | '03 Cobra Wheels
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Jeff K Online
Administrator
#3
Have you checked the clearance between the SVO VC and the throttle body and throttle linkage? The 87-88 TC VC's have that depression under the TB for clearance reasons.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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DanMarshall Offline
Junior Member
#4
I never put that into perspective. I know side by side the SVO VC is alot shorter in height so I figured it would fit under the Throttle Body no problem. Is there anyone on here running an SVO VC on an 87-88?
1988 TurboCoupe 5 Speed 130,000 miles
1998 Ford Escort SE (Daily Driver)
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natmac3 Offline
Administrator
#5
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iSUU432vhTA/TH...Engine.jpg

I used a homemade spacer between the upper and lower intakes to fit an older style cover on my 87tc.

Now I use a rotated plenum, but the spacer and some longer bolts from the hardware store worked great.
1987tc
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boosted chicken Offline
Senior Member
#6
Sounds like you just needed a new headgasket on the 88 motor and with only 130k miles, the rest of the motor should be in great shape. Would have been a lot easier than an engine swap. Just sayin'
88 TC#1 2.9L tall deck. Essy SVO head, Boport header, BW SX369 turbo, C4 trans, MS2xtra
88 TC#2 drag car project(someday)
88 TC#3 parts car (just needed the header panel...bought the whole car, lol)
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RDOG Offline
Posting Freak
#7
You will have to open the hole if you want to make the job easy. Then you can re-use all your stock breather stuff. I opened mine to 1" hole slapped the 88 grommet on it and went about my business.

You will also need to make a 1/4 inch spacer so that the short upper will clear the nonhumped VC. I just took a old upper I didnt need and cut the lower 1/4 section off. Makes for a perfect spacer.

lastly you can use a 80's ford tempo breather or mercury tracer breather for a nicer low profile breather.(You will have to open the hole to 1") It makes dealing with IAC and tps much easier.
1986 Turbo Coupe. Boport StageIII head, Boport 2.1, Performance Techniques 50 trim hybird, StageII.63, stinger 3" exhaust, Phenolic spacer, Boglog header,NPR FMIC intercooler setup, kirban fpr, bigrmotorsports fuel rail, diablo water meth kit, CAI, remote mount TFI, CHE rear adj control arms, MAC girdle, 8.8 rear disc, aluminum drive shaft, H&R lowerings springs Tbird Turbo Specific, y MAS!!
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Ramos617 Offline
Member
#8
RDOG Wrote:You will have to open the hole if you want to make the job easy. Then you can re-use all your stock breather stuff. I opened mine to 1" hole slapped the 88 grommet on it and went about my business.

You will also need to make a 1/4 inch spacer so that the short upper will clear the nonhumped VC. I just took a old upper I didnt need and cut the lower 1/4 section off. Makes for a perfect spacer.

lastly you can use a 80's ford tempo breather or mercury tracer breather for a nicer low profile breather.(You will have to open the hole to 1") It makes dealing with IAC and tps much easier.

Thanks for the tips, but I gotta ask. Why can't you just use the pre-87 breather? Is there a reason to go with the 87/88 breather?
1987 T-Bird
Too much stuff to list
Running better than ever
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RDOG Offline
Posting Freak
#9
Ramos617 Wrote:
RDOG Wrote:You will have to open the hole if you want to make the job easy. Then you can re-use all your stock breather stuff. I opened mine to 1" hole slapped the 88 grommet on it and went about my business.

You will also need to make a 1/4 inch spacer so that the short upper will clear the nonhumped VC. I just took a old upper I didnt need and cut the lower 1/4 section off. Makes for a perfect spacer.

lastly you can use a 80's ford tempo breather or mercury tracer breather for a nicer low profile breather.(You will have to open the hole to 1") It makes dealing with IAC and tps much easier.

Thanks for the tips, but I gotta ask. Why can't you just use the pre-87 breather? Is there a reason to go with the 87/88 breather?

They are a b*tch to make seal. I tried RTV and all ,inds of other stuff and it just never completely seals. It took all of 5 minutes for my cousin to open the hole up for me, and thats all do to him setting up his machine. A local shop wont charge you over $20 to do it.
1986 Turbo Coupe. Boport StageIII head, Boport 2.1, Performance Techniques 50 trim hybird, StageII.63, stinger 3" exhaust, Phenolic spacer, Boglog header,NPR FMIC intercooler setup, kirban fpr, bigrmotorsports fuel rail, diablo water meth kit, CAI, remote mount TFI, CHE rear adj control arms, MAC girdle, 8.8 rear disc, aluminum drive shaft, H&R lowerings springs Tbird Turbo Specific, y MAS!!
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DanMarshall Offline
Junior Member
#10
so the 88's Throttle Body isn't a problem with clearance on the SVO's VC?
1988 TurboCoupe 5 Speed 130,000 miles
1998 Ford Escort SE (Daily Driver)
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