90stang5speed Rear Mounted Turbo Project Thread

Thanks. Yeah it needs more tuning. I plan to start small with the boost. I have a 5lb spring in the waste gate so that will be the low end of things. once I get everything put together & get the tune dialed in better, I want to work my way up to about 8-10 psi with the stock block. If I make it to 10psi without blowing it up, I might go to the dyno to see what kind of power Im making. Before the video, a kid was walking down the street when I reved it up to where the 2 step kicked in. He stopped and then started walking backwards while looking at the car lol.
 
Just a little update, nothing picture worthy but, I decided to connect the radiator fan to the EEC so it could control the fan. I had to adjust the tune a little but now the fan kicks on at about 175* and is supposed to shut off when I reach 55 MPH. Pin 41 is what controls the ground for the fan. Pin 41 doesn’t actually have a wire in the harness on a 90 with an A9P EEC. I had cut out a lot of wires from the harness so I just took the connector apart & moved a wire and pin to the pin 41 location. The stock tune for an A9P doesn’t have the fan settings enabled so you will need a tuner of some kind to do this also.
 
The turbo is where its going to be. As for it to be a positive thing, only time & track slips will tell on that. Originality, well at the time when I started the build, I hadn't seen it done. I guess I didn't look hard enough. As for safety, That is still under construction. There are many things that could fail in a race application. The turbo isn't the only potentially life threatening one. Its just the one being focused on.
 
I agree I mean, there are many things that can go wrong, but just keep in mind that IF that turbo fails, that little box you built around it is not going to stop those metal pieces from flying in your direction. I'm not gonna be in the driver seat so I say keep on building!
 
That link to the turbo fail post & the pics in it has got me to thinking that more should be done in regards to safety. The pic of the rear mounted twins with the aluminum covers is also an example with less safety shielding in place than mine. While this is mainly a track car, I want to feel safe enough to take my kids for a ride now & then too. I have some ideas in mind to beef up the shield. More time & funding are the issue there but, there is no deadline for this project.
 
Of course there are a lot of things that can go wrong. But why add one like that to right behind the drivers seat? If it comes apart, it doesn't even need to hit you if it just scares you just enough to lose control that COULD make you smack the wall. That is if the tech inspection passes your setup, which I doubt. There is a reason it hasen't been done more then a handful of times, otherwise you'd see all the outlaw guys doing it. Make a 1/4" steel box for it, I would think that would be better. But generally you don't want to add a 100 lbs box to your car.
 
I agree that adding another 100 lbs to the box would not be a good thing. I think I can come up with a way to reinforce the areas that are in line with "the plane of rotation". I should be able to build it as strong as a 1/4" plate and weigh less. Military armor uses deflection as well as overall thickness. I think I can barrow some ideas from that to keep weight down. Some additional braces from the floor & cross bar of the cage might come into play later too. I still need to do the through floor sub frames before I get too carried away with the braces though.
 
I gotta tell ya.

My nick name around my friends is "Do it twice Mike".

One of the reasons is I don't like or am not happy with what I have done.
(this happens quite frequently as I'm never happy with what I do)

The other is: my "plan" just did not work out the way I wanted it to.
(This only happens when I go against conventional wisdom, and decide to do a mike's one off amazing whizmo-gizmo.)

Among these have been: line locks using a JC whitney parking brake "hill holder"; 2 x 4 boards as support braces for cedar beams holding engine hoists; Super glue to hold a "too small" o-ring in the groove of an O- ringed block; and my crowning achievement, the decision to spray 150 HP on an untried combination in one of my Ford motored Ricers that ended up leaving me looking at Venus after releasing the transbrake.

The immediate aftermath got me my new nick name, "Valdeez" after I fouled the track to the 60' mark as a result of the pancaked oil pan when I re-entered the atmosphere.

I think I have to re-advise you that I think it's time for you to step back and punt. Pretty soon there will be significant "diminishing" returns on your plan, and the fact that it is "different" will become a P.I.T.A. Sooner or later you are gonna have to face the inevitable that this might not be the best course of action.

Adding any weight to a race car goes opposite to what most strive to eliminate. The "box" is probably already pretty heavy as it is. You having to "double reinforce" it to keep it from killing you, becomes fodder for one to ask:
Why am I doing this?

You know me. I am a giant fan of "doing it different" and I applaud your desire to hang on to it and make it work.

But,

Walking backwards is different too, until you walk off a cliff.:nonono:

Know what I mean Vern?
 
Time to revisit the ballistic blanket technology.... Build a 1/16" sheet steel box to shape and support the ballistic blanket that covers the turbo. Use aircraft stress panel 1/4 or 1/2 turn fasteners to hold the steel support together and in place. The ballistic blanket is used as a liner inside the steel box. Use extra heat reflective, insulating material to keep the excess heat off the ballistic blanket. You will need a vent in and vent out parallel to the turbo shaft to keep temps below the critical point for the ballistic blanket. The parallel alignment of the vents to the turbo shaft reduces the possibilities of flying parts coming out the vent openings.

Plan on running synthetic motor oil and never shut the turbo down without allowing it to run at idle for 2-3 minutes or more to reduce any possible coking of the oil. See coking oil in turbo - Google Search for more information.
 
Thanks Mike & jrichker. I like the ballistic blanket idea but I wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to install outside the box. This way heat wouldn’t be such a factor for the blanket. When I tried to look up the blankets, they seemed to be around the $600 range. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place but I need something that is about 12x36 inches. That should cover the front, top & back. There shouldn’t be as much to worry about from side to side based on rotation. Mike, you might be known as “Do it twice Mike” but around here there is no such thing as Murphy’s Law. It’s Travis’s Law lol. What can go wrong will go wrong. It’s only a matter of time.
 
Before you do anything!!!!! ............... talk to the tech guys at the track you will be running at. Whether it's IHRA or NHRA sanctioned or neither, each has it's own rules and ways they like to do things. One guy will not tech a car like the next. All this work to make it safe will be all for not when it comes to taking it to the track if they won't even let you run it.
 
Thanks for the info but, the turbo stays in the back. The AR of the housing would be to small to just move it to the front so, you would have to figure in the cost of a turbo upgrade for a turbo that only has a couple hours of use idling in the drive way.
 
Sell the turbo, buy a complete PD hot side for $500, ebay cold side piping kit with couplers for $200, CXRacing ebay intercooler for $150, another $500 for a MasterPower T-70 with .68 a/r for quick spool on the street and be done with it. TiAL BOV and wastegate, manual boost controller, and you're into it for half the heartache, danger, and frustration. I honestly don't think you can "see the forrest through the trees" on this build, but my opinion has been voiced. I'm just a spectator.
 
“I honestly don't think you can see the forest through the trees on this build” has been a very common opinion from people with far more experience than I will probably ever have. I’m going to finish this build as a rear mount. Those that have expressed their concerns for safety & opinions or suggestions of how I can improve the design, I greatly appreciate. Even small thing like, the heat soak after you shut the car off will probably melt the ***** out of a plastic fan sitting above the heat source. That’s an easy one to fix but I hadn’t thought about it until someone else through it out there. Info on kill switches with diagrams, articles on oil coke & how to prevent it, info on sub frames, body work tips & many more have all come out of posting this build here. I know its un unpopular approach to doing what could have been done a hundred other ways but, for those that have supplied helpful info along the way, even if they would never do this themselves, I want to say thanks for the support.