Engine Turbo Reinforcements Required?

Start with small, simple things and see and learn how the car responds and how you are as a new owner/mechanic.

In all seriousness, I urge you to start small and simple. A turbo setup is not a first time mechanical project, not something you can do in a couple of afternoons after class. Your personal info in your Stangnet profile says you are 17. Unless you have been seriously wrenching on cars since you were 13, you will quickly be overwhelmed. Not only does this endeavor require serious mechanical experience, it is also very expensive. You will have $6000-$7000 in parts alone invested in the car by the time the turbo/engine/driveline/suspension upgrade is complete.

A turbo is not just a bolt on and go item. At the very minimum, the stock engine will have to have a custom dyno tune and limitations on HP output. The stock blocks start to split down the lifter valley around 450 HP & vigorous driving; with a turbo, that limit will be quickly reached.. You will need new fuel pump, injectors, exhaust, cylinder heads, intake manifold, throttle body, clutch, transmission and some serious mechanical experience working on American V8 engine cars.


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Not all of us know how to fix everything, but some of us know how to fix some things
with excellence!

Places to check out here on Stangnet:
Technical Thread/how-to Index | Mustang Forums at StangNet How to do it tips for some of the most common problems and upgrades for 5.0 Fox body Mustangs.
The official progress threads thread | Mustang Forums at StangNet the collection of build/progress threads from Stangnet members. You get to find ideas and clues to what works well and what doesn’t.
Resources | Mustang Forums at StangNet Has tech tips for common problems on Mustangs.

If you are in California or some other state with strict emissions laws, part of the deal should be that the owner takes the car and has it emissions tested. If it passes, you buy the car and pay for the emissions test cost, if any. If it does not pass, walk away from the deal. For a mechanically inexperienced owner, emissions related problems can be difficult and expensive to fix. Avoid any car that was originally EFI and has been converted to carb like the plague. That's often a clue to the fact the previous owner had problems and the resulting hack job has MORE problems.

Keep in mind that states with strict emissions laws may make the go faster goals more difficult to reach. Some parts are OK to replace with aftermarket parts and others aren't. Check carefully before you get out your wallet and buy something you can't use in the area where you live.


If you want to do the fix up & power up thing, make sure that you have some other form of reliable daily driver. That way the stang can sit while your wallet and hands take a rest from the last project that didn't quite get finished on that 3 day weekend. Things always cost more and take longer the first time you do them. Having some other working vehicle makes life easier since it isn't the big crush to get it running for the Monday morning drive to work or class.

Plan on spending some money on tools it you don't already have them. The stang has both metric and American fasteners, so you really need two sets of wrenches. A timing light, digital voltmeter, vacuum gauge, compression tester, fuel pressure test gauge and fuel line coupler tools are some of the test & tuning tools you'll need. Visit the pawn shops and sometimes you can find a deal on tools & test equipment if you stick to well known name brands.

A sheltered work area is almost a must, someplace that you can leave the car in pieces without upsetting anyone. Some guys here have changed a transmission in the parking lot of their apartment in a rainstorm, but they will tell you it wasn't fun. Depending on where you live, a warm dry garage is a nice place to do the winter projects that stangs tend to become.

EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) Computer - every stang after 85 has or had one: don't let it intimidate you. The computer based EFI systems are not hard to fix and most of the time they tell you what's wrong with the engine. Here's a book that will get you started with how the Ford electronic engine control or "computer" works.

Ford Fuel Injection & Electronic Engine Control 1988-1993 by James Probst: ISBN 0-8376-0301-3.

It's about $35-$45 from Borders.com see Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more . Select books and then select search. Use the ISBN number (without dashes or spaces) to do a search

Use the ISBN number and your local library can get you a loaner copy for free. Only thing is you are limited to keeping the book for two weeks. It is very good, and I found it to be very helpful.

For lots of great ideas and tech notes on upgrades and repairs, be sure to check
out Technical Thread Index | Mustang Forums at StangNet “Useful Technical Thread Index” sticky at the top of the 5.0 Tech forum.

Things that break often:
T5 5 speed manual transmission (syncros go bad, mostly 3rd gear)
TFI Module (Thin Film Ignition module - mounts on the distributor)
Electric door locks (see the link in my sig for a cheap & easy fix)
O2 sensors(oxygen sensors) They are good for about 60,000 miles and start to go down hill after that.
TPS Sensor (Throttle Position Sensor) causes flaky problems with idle & acceleration.
Fog lights They overheat the wiring and cause the headlights to flicker. The fix is cheap and simple if you can do electrical stuff.
Harmonic Balancer – they separate between the hub and outer ring. A harmonic balancer puller is a must have to change it. You can rent or borrow a puller from most of the larger auto parts stores.

Things that are very durable: Engine - as long as it hasn't been abused, it will run good for 150,000-200,000 miles without an overhaul
Rear axle - other than an occasional case of worn clutches in the traction lock, they almost never have problems.
Computer - believe it or not, the computers seldom have problems of their own. Most of the problems are with the sensors and the wiring.
Suspension – the front and rear suspension has very few problems if the car hasn’t been wrecked or seen a lot of drag strip runs. The drag strip runs tend to distort and tear the mount points for the rear axle control arms. Revving the engine up to 4000 RPM and dumping the clutch with slicks or drag radials tends to break things.

Things that don’t break often but are hard to fix:
Water pump mount bolts – they corrode and shear off when you try to change the water pump.
Rear oil seal on the engine – lots of parts to remove to get to a $20 seal.
Power steering pump – the pumps are noisy and the pulley requires some special tools to remove and install. If you have the tools, they are easy to do. Again, the larger auto parts stores will rent or loan the tools for the pulley.
Power Steering rack - it is hard to get the toe in set so that you can drive the car to the shop to get it properly aligned.
Starter – the top bolt is hard to get a socket on if you don’t have the right combination of socket, universal joint and extensions.

Everything considered, 5.0 Mustangs are not hard to work on. They just require some patience and though before you get started.

First deal with the cars weak point for power - the chassis, add quality weld in subframe connectors. they're reasonably priced and stop the frame from twisting due to torque. Even a stocker can benefit from them. I run Maximum Motorsports which are top quality, there are other brands as well folks may chime in on.

JoeHulahan said:

Would i need to do heavy motor work though? Like stronger rods and etc?

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Yes - to reliably make 450+HP, you need a Dart 4 main block with forged crank, rods and pistons. The cost for an assembled Dart short block starts at $4200.

You may get away with the stock parts, but not for long and when it breaks, it will be nasty.



Like I said, do the small simple stuff first. Do the list below and you can have a nice street car with plenty of kick without breaking the bank. Do the whole list and you can have an easy 250-275 flywheel HP that is fun to drive and reliable.

On a budget? do the junkyard upgrade...

Gears - 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe rear axle - disc brakes and 3.55 or 3.73 gears in one package for $125-$300. Add another $100-$200 or so to complete the brake upgrade.

94-95 Mustang GT MAF - $40-$100. It is 70 MM instead of the stock 55 MM on regular stangs built prior to 94. It uses a slip on duct on the side that goes to the throttle body and a 4 bolt flange on the other. You need a flange adapter to fit the stock slip on air ducting that goes to the air box. Wiring plugs right in with no changes. *1 *2

95-97 Ford Explorer intake manifold & throttle body $150-$300. The intake manifold flows 220 CFM +, much better than stock. Throttle body is 65 MM, bigger than the 60 MM on stock stangs. I got a 96 with EGR passages that match the stock setup, so my smog gear works just like factory. You’ll need a 65 MM EGR spacer & new gaskets for $65-$90 so you have a place to mount the EGR & throttle linkage.

Explorer GT40 or GT 40P cylinder heads. The GT40 heads have 3 bars cast at the end of the head. GT 40 's will work with any header setup, they are found on the earlier model Explorers from 95 - 97 I believe. The GT 40P's are found on 98-2001 model cars and have 4 bars cast into the end of the cylinder head.. They need aftermarket headers designed to clear the angled spark plugs.
Whatever you GT40 heads get, plan to replace the valve springs replaced with good quality aftermarket springs from someplace like Crane Cams or Competition Cams.

3G alternator from 94-95 Mustangs or other Ford. $20-$120. A must have to make the electrical system work like it should or if you have an electric fan. You’ll need a 4 gauge power wire and a 125-135 amp fuse to go with it about $15- $30.

Lincoln MK VIII electric fan -$40-$160. Free up some HP by not having to drive the stock fan. The 3G alternator upgrade is a must have prerequisite before you do the MK VIII fan. You won’t have enough electrical power if you don’t do the 3G upgrade.

Aluminum driveshaft: (courtesy of shawn13) It needs to be from a 92-93-94 Aerostar AWD. It measures 45 ½” center of the front U-joint to center of the rear U-joint. You will need the U-joint, part #PUJ353 from NAPA. The Canadian NAPA pat number is 1-0134BF. It should bolt right up after the U-joint swap.

Note: This driveshaft is not an exact duplicate of the Ford Racing part. It is 3” in diameter while the Ford Racing part is 3.5” in diameter. There is no guarantee that the balance will be any better than the stock part.

Use a piece of string and wrap it around the driveshaft. Make a mark on the string where the ends overlap. Measure the length of the string:
On the 3" AeroStar driveshaft the string will be 9.42" or about 9 7/16" long.
On the Ford Racing 3.5" driveshaft the string will be 10.99" or about 11" long

*1.) Metal flange adapter Ford MAF Adapters - Air Filters - Kurtz Kustomz Motorsports, Inc. KKM Buy the TR70 for $40. Or spend some time on eBay looking for one that may fit.

*2.) MAF & sensor interchange
The 94-95 Mustang 5.0 MAF & sensor is also found on:
1995-94 Mustang 3.8L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Crown Victoria 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1995-94 Mustang, Mustang Cobra 5.0L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Town Car 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Grand Marquis 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
Evidently the –A1A, -A2A, AA, etc. on the end of the part number is a minor variant that did not change the operating specs. You should be able to ignore it and have everything work good.

JoeHulahan said:

Hi guys, first post here. I have an all stock 1992 mustang gt. Its been sitting for almost 10 years in a garage. Its in great shape no rust or anything. Just bought it last week from the original owner who took it out of storage and tuned it up. I got an oil change for it and made sure everything is in proper working condition. Anyways, i want to turbo the mustang. I need to know what do i exactly have to do so it doesn't blow everything up. Shes my daily driver ( not in the winter of course) New Jersey has bad snow in the winter. Im not going to bring the car to drag strips and race the car on a track. Im looking for more power, and a funner car. I see turbos for sale on american muscle, which ill probably buy when i save up some money. Thank you!

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First thing to buy if you are considering putting a turbo on your mustang

@JoeHulahan

Please do lots of reading here on Stangnet and other boards if need be to understand where we are coming from. Most likely at first you are already thinking we like to shoot down peoples dreams and give them a hard time but that really is not the case. Most inexperienced guys will come in with a newly purchased Fox and immediately want to add a ton of HP but fail to realize that the Fox platform Mustang has a weak chassis and even worse brakes. You have to be able to handle the HP you want so you don't kill yourself or somebody else on the road.

In order to own these vehicles you better have some knowledge with wrenching, electrical know how and like @mikestang63 suggested a good pair of jack stands and a garage to store the car in while it's on them. Pretty much any nearly 30 y/o vehicle will require this kind of preparation, $$ and patience.

A rule of thumb hear is whatever budget you think you'll need for your upgrades and down time, DOUBLE IT!

Welcome to Stangnet and post some pictures of your new ride.

JoeHulahan said:

Theres a kit on late model restoration that includes injectors fuel pump Adjustable fuel pressure regulator and A mass air meter, and by exhaust do you mean headers, x pipe and a catback, because i have those already.

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A turbo will need a special kind of MAF meter. Also, a turbo will require a special style header that routes toward the front of the car to where the turbo is located.