Turbo V6 Mustang

[Toph6888]

Good progress. Should be able to dial this thing in before winter comes, then you got a whole winter of thinking about what else you want to do to the car.

 

Haha, thats what everyone keeps telling me "it will be nice to garage it right away" lol. Things will get done eventually lol.

 

Did some miscellaneous stuff today, no pics bc honestly it isn't anything you have't seen before.

 

Got the coolant overflow tube painted and on, and also plugged up the vacuum ports on the intake since I won't be using half of them anymore (hydroboost, egr delete, PVC delete, etc). Got some more tubing for the oil separator, so all I have to do is make a bracket for it and get it on. Got an old oil pump driveshaft from the pic and pull along with a socket/extension that way I can weld them together and use a drill to prime my engine.

 

Been practicing with the welder and got a 40cuft Ar/CO2 bottle and its not even funny how much better it is then the flux core. I will keep playing on some more scrap I have from my old exhaust, then work on making up my downpipe and midpipe for the dual exhaust.

 

Things are starting to get close, and next weekend is looking like I will ahve more free time, so hopefully we can get this exhaust finished up and that will be it.

[Patterson]

Stoked to see this thing run.

[Toph6888]

Got my wiring gremlins squared away, so just waiting for my battery to finish charging at autozone since it lost all the charge with me trying to find the missing grounds on my gauges lol.

 

I spent last night and today working on my mid pipe for my exhaust to go from the 3" dump to the dual cobra IRS exhaust.

 

New welder I got a while ago

 

Got the bends cut up and taped together so that I could tack them off of the car

 

Took a couple attempts to get all the tacks on correctly due to the pipe shifting a bit, but managed to get a decent tack with it on the car and having to almost blindly tack it haha. working on finish welding it all

 

Finished project:

 

I will be busy tomorrow, but I am hoping to get the stainless pipe that is going around the engine mocked up and tacked this week sometime, and then my friend with a tig is going to finish weld it all for me. Got the cam position alignment tool so once my oil pressure gauge works and I get the engine primed I will get that put in, and get the coil pack on with the spark plug wires and it will be ready to start. Getting nervous haha.

[Toph6888]

Been working on it some more today, had to help a friend wiht their brakes for a bit so that took a little bit of time away.

 

The other night I patched up a hole that I got in my tranmission tunnel a year or so ago when I went to pull up on my ebrake and the bolt had rusted and ripped a quarter size hole into it. So out with the welder and a patch panel!

 

 

Got the handle bolted down and painted it to help prevent some rust

 

Interior back in. Need to take the shifter cover off to finish up a couple more last connections, but all in all pretty much done inside.

 

Worked on getting the down pipe figured out. Just going through and figureing out all my bends and taping it together, then I will tack weld, make sure everything is good, and then I will let my buddy tig weld all the joints together. Lots of time with the grinder to make sure I even out all my cuts to make sure there aren't any gaps so the tig welds will be good.

 

Pipe coming up from the midpipe

 

about half of the stuff I have to work with

 

Piece for under the PS pump and by the manifold

 

Where I left off at the end of the night. Getting closer. I should have this finished up tomorrow

 

Once the exhaust is done I can work on getting hte upper intake all done and the intercooler piping all finished up. Gotta work on getting the engine oil primed and a couple other odds and ends and then we will be ready to go.

[zeitgeist57]

How much did you pay for the welder?

[Toph6888]

How much did you pay for the welder?

 

I paid $400 for the welder. There were a couple basic kits taht were cheaper, but this one came with everything but the bottle, and had good reviews except that it sometimes is shipped from the factory without everything (Mine was fine).

 

This is my first welder and I like it a lot. I don't know a whole ton about welding, but for a first timer I was able to get some decent results and I feel I am getting some good penetration. I work in a lab where we have microscopes and stuff and I took some welds in, cut the cross section and I was getting decent penetration for what I need.

 

The bottle cost me another $100, and another $30 to fill, but its well worth it over the flux core.

[zeitgeist57]

Thanks for that info. I've got 220V in my garage and after borrowing a couple of peoples' 170-175 series welders, I'm definitely looking to get one of my own. Sounds like for a 110V machine, you're getting your moneys' worth.

[Toph6888]

Thanks for that info. I've got 220V in my garage and after borrowing a couple of peoples' 170-175 series welders, I'm definitely looking to get one of my own. Sounds like for a 110V machine, you're getting your moneys' worth.

 

Yah I like mine, its rated at I think 135 amps, so its a decent little welder, but not good for much more then 1/4" with gas, 5/16 to 3/8" wiht flux core (I was amazed at how much heat that gas takes up). The main reason I went with a 110V is cause I don't have a 220V plug in the garage, and my roommate has a 220V at his shop that if I ever actually needed it I could use that. Mine is plenty for exhaust and subframe connectors and any other projects I want to work on lol.

 

Been working on a lot of cars this weekend, seems to always happen. Worked on some basic stuff on my outback, helped a friend with his Accord's brakes, worked on my girlfriends firebird's brakes this morning, and we found out that her floor pans are pretty much gone (I don't know how she couldn't have noticed that seeing carpet from under the car is a bad thing, so now I will be carpooling and she will be taking the outback till we can get her another car or get this one fixed).

 

Anyways, got further on the exhaust today with only working on it for about three hours.

 

First off, garage mod, got my super ghetto garage shelf installed so I could set up my stereo in the garage and have some music to work to.

 

Got the piping from the mid pipe up to the header, and then the pipe from the header to under the powersteering line. I have to trim the one pipe to put the other end of the vband on, but other then that I just need to smooth some edges, tack weld everything, and then give it to my buddy to TIG weld it all together for good.

 

Couldn't tell if it was a better pic with the flood light or not, since it was so dark out, so you decide lol Here you can try to see where I only have the one 90* bend to go from my turbo downpipe to the new piping.

 

 

 

I will be on a buisness trip tomorrow night, so I will get part of Tuesday night to hopefully work on it, and then thursday night as well (I have to work wed night). Hopefully I can get it all tacked up by Thursday that way I can give it to my buddy friday and he can take it home and weld it over the weekend. I can then spend the weekend getting all the other little odds and ends finished and hopefully start up the next week or weekend after.

[Toph6888]

Got some more work done the past couple nights.

 

Working on getting the tape off of everything and tacking everything in place. I used mild steel wire to tack it and it held just fine, so I'm not too worried about it right now. From all my research, I was orginally gonna have my buddy tig weld it, but he just had a baby and his tig is at a buddys shop, so actually getting it done would take 2-3 weeks. I foudn that while tigging is the best option, the mig with stainless wire and my gas (75AR, 25CO2) will give good results since its just an exhaust and not something that will be used for food or anything, which would require backpurging and a higher concentration of Ar if not going to trimix. I will also be ceramic coating everything, as well as wrapping it and not driving it in the winter, so I'm pretty comfortable mig welding it all together and feel it should hold just fine. I also don't care how these welds look, so Im not worried if they look crappy so long as they seal. (which I asked a bunch of people at work who weld everyday and they agree my plan will be more then fine for the exhaust).

 

And now, exhaust pron.

 

Getting everything tacked together:

 

Fitting the last bend:

 

Tacking the last bend into place, kind of a pain to get to, you can tell because I missed a couple times haha

 

And finally everything out of the car ready to be welded together:

 

I am just waiting on my stainless mig wire to show up that should be here Wed. I will be able to get it all welded then, and then coated and wrapped and ready to go on the car. I will make sure to prime the engine before hand though because its a lot easier to get to the crank pulley with the exhaust out of the way.

 

Last things to do:

Weld/coat/wrap exhaust

Make hanger for mid pipe

Prime Engine

Paint Throttlebody/IAC

Install upper intake for good

Clean up intake piping and install for good

Bolt turbo and exhaust up for good

Install brake booster

Run lines for wastegate/BOV

Connect power lines for Boost controller

Fill PS fluid, coolant, trans fluid, and diff fluid

Install rear brake pads

bleed brakes

Flash ECU

Turn Key

[Toph6888]

Started on the welding of the stainless tonight since I finally got my wire in. Only grabbed a couple quick photos, gf was getting hungry and I was pushing my luck with how much time I had to weld haha

 

 

Getting the hang of this welding thing I believe.

 

 

Only got two of the pipes done before my wire brush on my drill was out of power for cleaning up the metal, and GF was getting HANGRY, so I will save these for tomorrow I guess. 6 more welds to go.

 

[Nate1647545505]

Yeeeeessshh that setup is stuffed in there, good work brother. Hope all goes well, talk to Dyno Brian on the ECU if you don't have anything lined up. Turbos make him happy in the pants.

[The Man of Steele]

Impressive , I have wanted to put a SC setup in my 6 for a while

[Toph6888]

Hoping to get most of the car done this week.

 

Finished up most of the welding on the exhaust. I have one piece thta I have to grind the tacks off and take the vband off so I can clean it better, wasn't getting a decent weld so I will try to get that done tonight so that I can have the exhaust all finished up. Once the exhaust is fully welded I will spray it with some VHT exhaust paint and then bake it, and then wrap up anything that will be close to the exhaust.

 

 

Got the pyrometer bung welded in. Had a hell of a time getting it hot enough to weld and not warp the bung, so its been noted that this weld looks terrible but at least it isn't going anywhere haha.

 

 

I'm hoping to have the exhaust completely done and on the car by Friday. I am going to try to get all the pieces done tonight, get the engine primed tomorrow, and all the exhaust pieces back on, and then work on all the little left over things (couple wires, rear brakes, install brake booster and fill all the fluids) on friday/saturday, and maybe get the chance to finally start it up. This project only took a year haha.

[Toph6888]

Got some more work done tonight.

 

First up, take everything off haha.

 

 

 

 

With all that stuff off I was able to prime the engine. Was nervous at first because I wasn't seeing any pressure, but after spinning it for a minute or two it finally caught and started putting pressure, and gauge shot straight up to 75psi. Took the valve covers off and made sure all the valves and pushrods were getting oil up top, and rotated the crank around a couple times to make sure all the bearings had oil. Feeling much better about that now.

 

Next up got the cam sensor and oil drive shaft on.

 

 

Took care of my loose connectors on my fuel injectors with some zipties haha

 

 

And the last thing I finished up was getting the last exhaust header bolt on, I didn't do it earlierbecause when I was trying to get it on before it felt like it was going in crooked and bottoming out. Wierd thing was it would spin by hand for ten threads or so. I checked to make sure it was going in right, still not going in all the way,so I just trimmed the bolt about 1/2" and it worked just fine. Still bolted into the head a good ten threads or so, so I think it will be fine.

 

Friday night I hope to get the exhaust coated and wrapped up and put that on for the last time, as well as get the brake booster and upper intake back on and all the intercooler piping back on. Hopefully I can get everything onto the car on saturday,and then spend sunday working on fluids and getting it started.

[Toph6888]

Got some more miscellaneous stuff done today.

 

First worked on the brake booster. Go to put it on and realise that the pedal assemblys are in face different from vacuum booster to hydroboost, so most of my morning was spent working on that. When I bought my hydroboost the guy included the pedal assembly, so I was able to grab the brake pedal which is the only part that is different. The assembly was pretty rusty that he sent me and the clutch pedal barely moved, so I just swapped the brake pedals.

 

Taking apart the hydroboost assembly:

 

Brake pedal off of my current one (which I also had the nicer pedals, and only moving one was definitly better then moving two, because they are a PITA to put on)

 

Here is the difference in the pedals (The top is the vacuum, which has the booster arm connection much lower then the one for the hydroboost, on bottom)

 

Pedal assembly finally all back together after making sure I didn't forget to reattach a sensor or something

 

And back in the car, luckily I didn't have to take the steering shaft out to get it in there, its a tight fit between that and the fuse box:

 

And finally the hydrboost on with the lines run on it as well

 

Since I am finally done working on running things under the dash, I put the drivers seat back in for the last time

 

Then started working on other time consuming objects. Got the exhaust lightly sanded and cleaned for paint with VHT ceramic coating, I'll bake it on tomorrow in my grill haha

 

 

Got the upper intake underside painted:

 

Also decided to paint the pully for the alternator since it was a pretty big eyesore up front

 

While I was waiting for all that to dry I pulled off the accessory port on the oil pump for the oil feed for the turbo and got that line installed

 

And finally I got everything out of the way to put the intake back on for good. cleaned up all the contact surfaces with some carb cleaner and a rag, and then put a light ring of rtv gasket around the ports on the gasket, layed the gasket down, put more rtv on the top side, then torqued all the bolts down. Also got all the spark plugs run to the coil pack, and flipped my IAC the correct direction haha. I believe I can say the engine is officialy "100%" done, just need to get the exhaust and intake piping cleaned up.

 

 

 

Tomorrow I'm gonna get the exhaust baked, wrapped, and installed, also going to get the hanger made for the mid pipe, clean up the intake piping, get the two brake lines from the master cyclinder to the proportioning valve done, hopefully bleed the brakes and fill the remaining fluids. Hoping to start it either tomorrow night or Sunday.

[Jewtoys]

Impressive. That's a ton of work for a v6 mustang, best of luck

[BrendanB]

Awesome it's basically all done! Post a video when you have it running!

[99BlownYellowGT]

Awesome work!! What exactly is your goal with this?

[Toph6888]

Impressive. That's a ton of work for a v6 mustang, best of luck

 

Thanks. Yah this whole thing snowballed pretty badly haha. I kept finding deals and figured why not. I figure any car can go fast with the right parts/effort, and it will make people think a bit more about the potential of the V6. I like seeing the new 5.0's and everything everyone has at the car shows, but I prefer the cars people put a lot of effort into rather then the newest show floor model.

 

Awesome it's basically all done! Post a video when you have it running!

 

Yah almost there lol. There will be plenty of videos to come!

 

Awesome work!! What exactly is your goal with this?

 

Not really sure on the goal. Numbers wise I am looking for 400rwtq, and anything more is just bonus. Guy who had the turbo kit before me on a stock engine made 330rwhp/380rwtq, so I think it will happen pretty easily. As far as what I plan to do wtih it, I'll daily it till the weather gets terrible, then in the spring probably take it to some autocross events and what not. I built it more so to see if I could do it rather then have an end product if that makes sense lol.

 

Long day today. I found myself in the garage half the time and chilling the other half, I kind of didn't want to work on it because I didn't want it to be done, I've been working on it so long now that it feels strange that its almost ready to start, and I'm much more a builder then a driver, so its weird haha.

 

Didn't take a whole ton of pics today, most of the work was just buttoning things up.

 

Got the brake lines from the master cylinder to the proportioning valve done. Took two trips to the store because the two fittings on the master cylinder are different (thanks ford) and then the proportioning valve is different from the ones on the master cylinder. Hopefully they all hold.

 

Got the exhaust tubes wrapped for where they may come into contact or will be close to cables or lines

 

Then got the turbo gasket and wastegate gaskets done up and put that and the merge pipe back into the car

 

Got the wastegate lines in, got the intake pipes cleaned up and in, and finally got all of the exhaust pipes in. I did a lot of other miscellaneous stuff (electrical connections, a bolt here and there, hydroboost lines, etc) and I'm too tired to list it all. But essentially EVERYTHING under the hood is in. All I have yet to put on there that I can think of is the BOV vacuum line to the intake and the oil catch can. I'll do those tomorrow haha I'm beat.

 

 

 

 

It is a tight fit for that dump tube. If I didn't have the hydroboost I never would have come close to fitting it. Maybe if my headers were made a bit tighter, but even then its super tight haha.

 

 

I need to get the battery charged again (or most likely just get a new battery) and then fill all the fluids, the oil catch can, bov vacuum line, get the hanger made up for the mid pipe, then bleed the brakes, try to get the alignment close to where it will track decently, get it off the ramps, and then push it outside, flash tune the ecu, cross fingers and turn the key. We will see what happens tomorrow.

[BrendanB]

Looking forward to the vids! If you wanna run a stock LS1 at some point, let me know! :gabe: Edited October 20, 2013 by BrendanB

[Toph6888]

Didn't get to the point to start it today, but got the rest of the loose ends tied up today.

 

Got all the wastegate lines connected the correct way as well as making sure all the fittings were tight/sealed.

 

Flash tuned the ecu

 

Then I set up the BOV line tee into the intake.

 

Got the overboost switch and the intake over pressure signal light into the center console

 

Made a bracket to hold the oil separator canister and cut the lines to fit it.

 

 

Was gonna put an exhaust hangar on the midpipe but after tightening up the exhaust from the turbo and the connectors for the catback the midpipe was in there solid, so I'll run it for a bit and see if I have any issues.

 

We also got the brakes bled for all the lines, at least most of the way, so once we get the car running and the hydrboost in there we will finish bleeding the brakes and take it out for a drive.

 

Hoping to start it tomorrow, just need to fill the radiator with water, fill the trans fluid, check the diff fluid, put some gas in the tank, and turn the key. Gonna be a long day at work tomorrow.

[Toph6888]

Well. Interesting night I suppose.

 

Some good news and bad news. Bad news first.

 

Didn't get a chance to get the car started. The thermostat housing was leaking fluid when I was filling the whole thing up with distilled water. This I found after we had let it down and pushed it outside and going over all our extra checks.

 

Good news:

 

When I installed the thermostat, I just used the gasket, didn't use any rtv, and the housing and tube look to be smooth, so I put on a general coating of RTV and sealed that baby up. But I have to wait for it to cure before I try to start it, and I'll be on a buisness trip tomorrow but be back late wed, so I may start it then may wait till thursday.

 

Also, when I was checking my radiator hoses, something irked me in the back of my mind, and I decided to pull them off to make sure everything was clear, and here I still had the tape paint over the water pump inlet, so I'm really glad I checked otherwise I wouldn't have been circulating any fluid.

 

Also happy to know that there is water in block, I was really nervous that it was just going to be dry during start up, and my buddy and I kept wondering where it was all going haha. Also very glad we were using distilled water so that none of the other gaskets/RTV seals got hit with any coolant so they should all be ok.

 

Decided to check the spark plugs one more time, and had one that was hard to reach that wasn't quite tight, I must have missed it when I was tightening. Also the spark plug wire wasn't on all the way.

 

Got her some 93 octane and filled her up a 1/4 tank, and also when turning the car to the on position I could hear the fuel pump priming, so I know I will be getting pressure at least and that I didn't mess up the wiring when I had to splice in the harness.

 

So I have oil pressure, water in the block, and fuel in the line, and I got a couple of little things fixed that I looked over before, so at least I can sleep easy knowing that. I would much rather have the issues now before I start it then during or after. Till wednesday or thursday.

[Not Brian]

You need to fire your "welder"

[Toph6888]

You need to fire your "welder"

 

Lol whys that?

[NTHER91]

don't mind "brain" hes perfect just ask him...