94 Cobra turbo build

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

I am hoping to get some help from the wise, and talented members of this forum with tuning my 94 cobra now that I have installed a turbo. I will do the best I can to include all that I have done so far, and any suggestions would be great. Here is what I started with....

but it looked like this where it counts...

and it was tired, and beginning to show signs of being ridden hard and put away hot and wet so I got brave, since I am really just a weekend shade tree guy, I was worried about what had to happen next....after getting the top end off, the right side looks pretty normal, but the drivers side looks cooked by comparison.

Turns out what I took for rings going bad, or valve seals allowing bad oil bypass, was actually a terribly leaking intake manifold gasket, and a really clogged up coolant system. I had the typical broken bolts despite being "extra careful" on both the timing cover and the intake manifold, as well as the heads. It was really overdue for some love. I had traded a FZR1100 for this car, and other than the wheels, and a few other little upgrades, I hadn't had to do much to it, except fluids and such. But my good friend has a fox with an 88 MM turbo, and he suggested, "Why not go boosted"? Famous last words I think.

I had the heads gone through at a local machine shop for a great price. GT40 heads flow pretty good, so I didn't change them. Aims Machine did a great job. The rotating assembly didn't really show any wear at all, amazingly, so after new total seal rings, and mains, and some light crank polishing, back together it goes.

I wanted to build my own headers and basically assemble a turbo kit from spare parts. I had a bunch of pieces, and I used these knock off headers as a guide to location. These really will not work if you intend to keep Alt. in factory spot, or basically anything else factory. I wound up using them as TIG welding practice.

I will post some more later. Thanks for looking.

evilcw311 · Feb 1, 2017

We love us some turbo builds here!!!!

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Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

I don't know why it posted the same dang pic 6 times. sorry guys.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

This is what it looked like for months while I was sorting out what to do next

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

I didn't want to "punch a hole in my pan" like I had been told, so I went to the shop, drilled, and welded a bung for the drain.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

Ugly, but serviceable.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

After trying to find time to weld up my own headers, and looking at various options for kits for these cars, I went with On3, and I have mixed feelings. I had good reviews, and bad reviews, but since I can fab, and I didn't expect a "perfect fit" it was worth the money for the hot and cold side piping alone. Alas, nothing actually fit, let alone be perfect. Here is the crossover between left and right. They told me, "it's supposed to be close to the Crank Pulley, they have always been like that" .......I disagree.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

I spent some time looking at options, and trying to get support from the "manufacturer" as to why this was not at all close to lining up. As well, the headers basically didn't fit either. Holes didn't match. So I just cut it and reworked it. This is what I came up with at home with my little tig machine.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

The charge pipe was also way off, from allowing me to hook to my TB, so I again just cut and welded. You can see the angle is way off in the lower picture.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

All better

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

Almost back together

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

So some details. My friend who advised me to "go turbo" , snickering all the way, I might add, also gave me some advice on what kind of programmer he uses in his 9 second street/bracket fox. He has a Anderson PMS, and he swears by it. So I coughed up the $1199.00 for the EEC-IV PMS as a piggyback tuning device. I also live close to Summit Racing in Northern Nevada, and they have become so familiar with me, that they now welcome me by name when I come in the store. That is not a good thing for my wallet.

I went with Aeromotive 340 LPH fuel pump, and an Aeromotive Adjustable Fuel Pressure Reg for the stock rails. I used the factory o2 sensors on both headers, but also installed a Auto Meter Wide Band in the Downpipe. I have 42 pound injectors from Ford Racing. I didn't understand the importance of changing the MAF to match the injectors, and I struggled with the choice of which brand to go with, but after stalling for a month, I got another Pro-M but instead of having my draw through recalibrated for larger injectors, I bought a new Pro Tube that I will be welding into the Charge Pipe this weekend.

I also have 9mm Ford Racing plugs, and Distributor cap, and the factory MSD coil and distributor are in great shape, so I didn't see any reason to change them. I have cut the wires to fit as tight as I dare, to prevent heat transfer from the headers. I have also installed boot protectors for obvious reasons.

Purely for looks, while I am no pro at polishing things, I love the upper intake on these, but they look dreadful with that tragic powder coat on them. And I also polished the Alternator bracket, and the Power Steering bracket, along with the timing cover, well, most of the timing cover anyway.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

This is current as of today

Orange 94 · Feb 1, 2017

Awesome!

You talked a bit about on3, do you feel the kit is a decent kit? I've always wondered if the kit would be a good buy as a starting place and you can modify and upgrade on top of that.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

SO.....I also used exhaust wrap on the cross over pipe, and the down pipe, but I think I will have to take all the exhaust off, and cut the v-band joints off, and weld in better ones that actually seal. I have terrible exhaust leaks all through the system, and I was warned about the possibility of this on the forums, but......I wanted to believe that Something would work as advertised. No such luck. I am running NGK heat 6 plugs gapped to .030, and I have tried replacing them already, due to fouling, and tuning issues. Here goes the questions:

Please, is there someone who can help me figure out a good baseline tune to add into the PMS, so that I can at least get the car down the road? I seem to have great initial fire up, and after about 30 seconds, all of the idle goes to hell, and it runs either Pig Rich, or Jenny Craig Lean, and despite my efforts to dial it in, there always seems to be an issue with the engine returning to idle after a rev. I have driven it once, when I thought I had it finally, but under a load, it just falls on it's face, and then the wideband it telling me it's super rich, so I am scratching my head, and crying the blues. HELP if you can. I will answer any questions I have forgotten to mention. Like IAC clean, and the PMS shows Idle on the home screen. Factory T/B and who knows how old the TPS is but the voltage is set to 1.01. I have 35 psi at the reg for fuel pressure, I just can't think of anything else I can add.

Turbulence · Feb 1, 2017

I think they have great material. The 304 stainless for the cross and the down is second to none. I think they let the production of these kits get out of whack somewhere. It is an inexpensive kit, so if you have time and knowledge, you can modify it to work. I gavent had the pleasure of actually using it yet, since I have been struggling with tuning it, but I expect it to go like hell, and do the job.