Is anyone running or has every ran a on3performance turbo setup on a stock explorer block. Im asking because i've read that those pistons are not forged and are weaker than the pre 91 blocks.
Don't quote me on the year but the earlier mustangs came with forged pistons, later models did not. Being that the explorer 5.0's were made in the late 90's I am going to assume they do not have forged pistons in which case you are correct they are not as strong. Now does that mean you cant run a turbo on it? Not necessarily.
The switch from forged to hyper pistons in mustangs happened towards the end of model year '92. I think the color of the oil pans are different in those motors, but I can't remember which is which. I think one's black and the other's grey.
6-8 psi will be fine. Just keep the timing and tune conservative (11.5:1 AFR at WOT).
Ok, so '92s with a grey pan apparently have hyper pistons, and those with a black one would have forged. Can anyone with a '92 (end of the model year) or a '93 verify they have a grey pan?
There is absolutely no way in hell I'd go by the color of the oil pan on the motor in my car 20+ years and 1,000+ previous owners after it rolled off the assembly line. These cars are heavily modified. Some of them have been modded extensively and then returned to stock multiple times before we get a hold of them. Ten motors and 4 transmissions later, how the hell do you know what you have?
Regardless, it's good information to know. Some of these cars are still all original. In any case, if you want to run a turbo, just throw it on there and tune it. , if it blows, go down to the JY and buy another one for $50-$200.