North American Turbocoupe Organization



T3/T4, dual exhaust and PiMPx project
Chas K 88 Offline
Member
#1
I took on a big project this time, fortunately I have you guys to lean on for tips & advice. T3/T4 50 trim turbo from Bo-port and Stingers PiMPx and full dual exhaust all at the same time. I plan to take pics as I go and document my progress for anyone contemplating the same thing.

I'm starting the project at the turbo, then the exhaust and finish up with the PiMPx. The turbo and wastegate actuator came from Bo-port, I got the actuator on their recommendation rather than trying to modify a 35 year old one to fit. Great place to work with, I’ve emailed them several questions over the weeks and It’s never took more than a couple hours before their reply was in my inbox. The 3” down elbow came from Stinger, it made sense to not go with the stock outlet which measures between 2 - 2.25" id. I went with the 5 bolt T3 simply because I had 2 of them and only 1 ihi. Here is a shot showing the exhaust wheel difference vs a T3.

     

Unfortunately as this picture shows when everything is clocked properly the rod misses the arm. It looks like this bracket was made for something else by the way it points the rod the wrong way. My options as I saw them were 1, bend the rod to fit but I felt that would still put it in a bind. 2, Cut a triangle out of the bracket & weld it back together to correct the miss-alignment, or 3, shop for a different bracket. I chose option 3, I'll post how it comes out later.

   

Stingers oil return line looks like a tight fit but I believe I'll be able to get it together. I read suggestions on using a -10AN. 45 angle to make it fit better and speed up future turbo removal but I don't think I will need to do that. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to hang the exhaust because there's no mounting bracket on the new mufflers to bolt it to, see pictures.

   

   

Does anyone have pictures of how they went about this? Did you weld the old mounts to the new mufflers, use clamps instead?
Any Tips/advice is welcome.

Looks like I'll need to update my signature after this [Image: biggrin.png]
Chas K
Current setup - 88 T-bird, 5 speed, vacuum assist master cylinder, T3/T4 50 trim turbo from Bo-port, oil feed & return lines, 3” turbo down elbow, 3" to 2.5" dual exhaust and PiMPx from Stinger 255LPH fuel pump, CD, trip-minder, RR , K&N, 140 MPH speedo conversion (thanks Jeff K).
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BradM Offline
Member
#2
This will be a fun job and will wake up the 2.3L. I did the Stinger exhaust and used weldable hangers like in this picture. They bolt to the OEM hanger location and weld to the side of the exit pipe of the muffler (see picture). I found that the exhaust kit wasn't perfect and had some interference issues which required me to cut and weld to the get the bends right. Yours may not have the same issue (it depends on who was running the bender that day). I also installed MagnaFlow 35112 tips. Then later I installed a cam and replaced my Magnaflow mufflers with a set of FlowMaster FlowFX's. It never ends.


Attached Files Image(s)
       
1965 Mercury Comet Caliente; 1968 Mercury Monterey; 1969 F100 Ranger; 1982 Mustang; 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe; 2017 Police Interceptor
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spittinfire Offline
Member
#3
I'll be following along to this one. I'm actually planning to install the same exhaust this weekend along with finalizing my 5 lug conversion. I've got a T3/T4 planned for later but that will come with an engine rebuild and some serious head work.
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Chas K 88 Offline
Member
#4
No breaking news on my progress yet, I'm still waiting on the actuator bracket, that & it's been chilly & damp lately.
Brad - thanks for the feedback, I had read the exhaust pipes were made a little long because there can be differences from car to car so I expected I may be trimming here & there.
I bought a bunch of  stainless band clamps to hold mine together. I know welding prevents leaks but to me the difficulty removing the exhaust down the road ruled that out. I May do a combination of the two as long as removal isn't hindered. So you say those hangers bolt to the stock location? I didn't look close at mine, I assumed they were riveted from the factory and there wouldn't be easy access to the back side.
Chas K
Current setup - 88 T-bird, 5 speed, vacuum assist master cylinder, T3/T4 50 trim turbo from Bo-port, oil feed & return lines, 3” turbo down elbow, 3" to 2.5" dual exhaust and PiMPx from Stinger 255LPH fuel pump, CD, trip-minder, RR , K&N, 140 MPH speedo conversion (thanks Jeff K).
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BradM Offline
Member
#5
They bolt to stock location. Look into V-bands if you can weld and want to be able to remove things. I used one for the down pipe to exhaust Y and welded everything else.
1965 Mercury Comet Caliente; 1968 Mercury Monterey; 1969 F100 Ranger; 1982 Mustang; 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe; 2017 Police Interceptor
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John B Offline
Senior Member
#6
Please let us know your experience with the Stinger oil return line. I have a t3/t4 that will be going on soon and am looking at getting this oil return as well. I've gone through a few different types of turbos and have done custom return lines previously but for this turbo, a pre fabbed return line would be great
88 Turbo Coupe: Front mount intercooler, MGW short throw shifter, full coilover conversion, tubular control arms front and rear, svo front brakes, vacuum assist brake swap, manual steering swap, GT35R turbo with external gate, pimpx ecu, 60lb injectors, 3 core aluminum radiator, Boport 1.5 cam, gutted upper, corbeau fixed back seats, and the list goes on.
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Chas K 88 Offline
Member
#7
Still no progress to report, I cant get a warm day to work on it, 35*/wintry mix falling today, and the actuator bracket hasn't showed yet. I'm waiting on it because I don't want to bolt it on without it only to discover something is going to interfere.
John - my early experiences are it's gonna be tight. I did a couple trial mounts with it just to clock everything where it needs to be and the return hose is stiff/don't want to bend and it needs to bend a little. I found that sliding the turbo on the studs and only starting 2 nuts just enough to keep it from coming back off helps. I'd start the turbo side of the line leaving it very loose and connecting the other side was a chore so I'd take it off the turbo and connect the other side to the block, loose, and connecting the turbo side would be a chore. I can't remember which way worked best but I'll try to pay attention and pass it along. The awkward positioning of laying under the car at the time didn't help none, if it was out of the car it would be easier. Anyway, after getting it connected at both ends, I would snug both ends up evenly before putting the other 2 turbo nuts on and snugging them down. I then saw the lower mount bracket sitting on the bench and did a face palm because I forgot about it. I'm sure that if I leave the hose ends slightly loose I will be able to turn the 45* fitting on the block where it needs to be to clear the lower mount bracket before tightening the hose ends.
Having done this 2x now I was a bit surprised to see the connection on the turbo side has slight indications of cross threading on the 1st thread. Not a lot but enough to remind you that it's aluminum so be gentle with it. I did this damage using my bare hands and I bet it wouldn't happen if it was made of steel. I imagine I did the damage when I had the block side connected and was trying to start the turbo side.
Random thought for all of you. There was a ground wire connected to the cold side of the ihi, does it need to be connected to the turbo or would the inner fender do just as well?
Thanks again.
Chas K
Current setup - 88 T-bird, 5 speed, vacuum assist master cylinder, T3/T4 50 trim turbo from Bo-port, oil feed & return lines, 3” turbo down elbow, 3" to 2.5" dual exhaust and PiMPx from Stinger 255LPH fuel pump, CD, trip-minder, RR , K&N, 140 MPH speedo conversion (thanks Jeff K).
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BradM Offline
Member
#8
For the ground wire, I kept mine on the turbo. That's the OEM location and I believe it may help with any static charge or signal noise.
1965 Mercury Comet Caliente; 1968 Mercury Monterey; 1969 F100 Ranger; 1982 Mustang; 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe; 2017 Police Interceptor
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Chas K 88 Offline
Member
#9
Brad - Thanks, I'll do the same.
Chas K
Current setup - 88 T-bird, 5 speed, vacuum assist master cylinder, T3/T4 50 trim turbo from Bo-port, oil feed & return lines, 3” turbo down elbow, 3" to 2.5" dual exhaust and PiMPx from Stinger 255LPH fuel pump, CD, trip-minder, RR , K&N, 140 MPH speedo conversion (thanks Jeff K).
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Chas K 88 Offline
Member
#10
Finally some warmer weather, well 50's anyway.The actuator mount showed up and works better than the first one did. The 1st photo shows it wasn't perfect so I tweaked the rod in a vise leaving the oversize nut on it to protect the threads. Also in the 1st pic you can see how close the hose fitting is to the actuator bracket but it does not interfere.
   
   
This pic compares the two mounts, the third piece is one of the two fasteners that came with the turbo. Since the adjustable bracket only covers 2 bolt holes I cut and filed the third hole off both original fasteners to make it work. No big deal, took about a minute each using a good hacksaw and file.
   
Tomorrows forecast is to be mostly sunny and near 70* for the high. I hope to get more done but I've got 2 Victorys out there pouting that I've been neglecting them for months so no promises.
Again thanks for the input, if anyone who has already done these projects wants to share their experiences I'd appreciate it. Little things like "don't buy "X" part, it won't fit right" would be nice to know.
Does anyone need an actuator bracket? I have one I'm not planning to use.
Chas K
Current setup - 88 T-bird, 5 speed, vacuum assist master cylinder, T3/T4 50 trim turbo from Bo-port, oil feed & return lines, 3” turbo down elbow, 3" to 2.5" dual exhaust and PiMPx from Stinger 255LPH fuel pump, CD, trip-minder, RR , K&N, 140 MPH speedo conversion (thanks Jeff K).
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