Thinking of buying an ON3 Performance Turbo Kit For Your SN95? LOOK HERE FIRST

slow90coupe

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Ok, since I now have my 1997 Mustang GT finished, running, and driving, I thought I would take the time to write a detailed write-up of everything I ran into during my install of the ON3 Performance Forward Facing Turbo kit for the 99-04 Mustang GT 2v. This information would have DRASTICALLY helped me during my install, and I would have had my car running weeks ago if I had known what to expect and what I would need to modify to make it all work and fit properly.

1. Before you pull the trigger on the kit, make sure you have your slot-style MAF of choice selected. I chose to run the PMAS HPX meter because it was what my tuner had experience with. Also be sure to get on3 to weld the MAF bung on the discharge pipe that runs to the throttle body. I chose to have mine welded underneath the pipe so you couldn't see it. You will also need the adapter harness that you will splice into the existing MAF harness.

2. Order GOOD V-BAND CLAMPS! Please do NOT attempt to use the cheap Chinese clamps that is supplied in the kit. They will leak, and I even had some of the welds break on mine when I was using them for a mockup. You will need 3-2.5 inch V-bands and one 4 inch if you desire to put one on your downpipe (I used the supplied V-band for this one and it worked fine since no pressure was on the downpipe.) I highly recommend Race Parts Solutions V-bands. Mine are great.

3. You are going to want to buy some Stage 8 locking header bolts, because trust me, you NEVER want to take these headers off again. They are a total ***** and a half, and you will thank me for this later.

4. I would also recommend some Remflex header gaskets, since they are very thick and will compress and ensure no leaks. I used the ones supplied with the kit and am fine so far. But for the added peace of mind, I would use the Remflex's if I did it again.

5. Coil packs (96-98 only). It is recommended to switch to a COP setup to give more room for the turbo. I did this. I picked up a COP conversion harness from Red Monster on SVTperformance, and was very impressed with the quality of this kit. It was $200 and even came with OEM used Ford coils.

6. K-member. You're going to have to run a tubular K-member AND A-arms to make room for the cluster of turbo piping. I used the UPR K-member kit since that's what the ON3 kit was ran around. Buy new rack bolts too, as the factory ones are too long.

7. Oil cooler issues. If you have a 96-98 GT or a 4v car, you're going to have to get rid of the oil cooler and get a 99-04 style oil filter adapter. I tried to get my drivers side header on with mine and failed miserably. I picked mine up for $30 used, you just have to look around and find one.

8. Oil filter relocation. You are NOT going to want to even unbox the oil filter relocation kit sent with the ON3 kit, it is a total POS. My spin-on adapter cracked, my rubber oil lines leaked, and the fittings were junk. DO NOT try to run this piece, you will have problems and once the header is on, it's virtually impossible to remove the spin-on adapter! I picked up a Moroso spin-on piece. Here's the link to that piece, it's VERY nice. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-23686

Oil lines- I chose to run -8 AN lines and fittings. This is highly recommended as well. You don't want to lose all of your oil, trust me, it almost happened to me when I was using the heater hoses supplied in the ON3 kit. I also chose to mount my oil filter on the bellhousing to reduce the chance of anything happening to it.

9. Bumpsteer kit. If you're lower than stock, a bumpsteer kit will be needed to get the tie rod ends as far away from the hotside as possible.

NOW you're ready to buy the kit! All of the above will greatly improve your experience with the kit, and I highly recommend ordering all of it before you order your kit, so you're not stuck waiting on one piece for a week like I was.

Ok, now that you've received everything, you're going to have a ton of really nice looking pieces that you think will never fit underneath your car. Believe me, it's a tight fit, but it all fits and nothing touches.



Now it's time to start. I recommend putting the headers on while the K-member is out, to make it less of a pain. It's still going to kick your ass though.

You will have to enlarge the holes in the headers, I had to enlarge half of mine on the drivers side and the 2 rear holes on the passenger side. Now you can put them on. There's one hole on the passenger side that is impossible to get a bolt into, so you're going to have to use the factory stud and nut combo on that one. It will also require the removal of the starter to tighten this bolt down with an open end wrench, moving a very little bit at a time. This one bolt will take about 30 minutes to get tight.

Now, move onto the oil cooler. Take that thing out and throw it in the trash. Put on your new oil filter adapter with the correct gasket.

The drivers side header won't be too bad.

Now move on to the rest of the hotside piping. It will require the use of an exhaust jack or a come-along to get the last V-band clamp on there. Everything else is straight up. You will have to modify the turbo bracket if you have an older style timing cover like I did.

The intercooler and cold side went on without any issues. I did have to modify my passenger foglight bracket a little by cutting part of it off.

After the coldside is done you can put the oil feed/drain on and button everything else up. Vacuum lines are easy, run the BOV to the plenum and wastegate to the coldside piping.

Here's a few pics of my setup. It's very cramped but it all fits.











If you have any more questions, PM me or look at my build thread. Hope this helps!
 

nightfire

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I would also recommend buying a quality wastegate instead of On3's. They are known to over-boost
 

97stanger

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Great advice man. Which turbo did you end up going with?
 

DropTopPony

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Nice job!

I remember Justin having all kinds of trouble with the clamps also but I thought they fixed that problem or maybe not.
 
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slow90coupe

slow90coupe

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Great advice man. Which turbo did you end up going with?

I ended up going with the 70mm ON3 turbo that comes standard with the kit. So far, I love it.


A little update since I have about 150 miles on the car now, holy crap, the turbo game is where it's at. It is worlds more fun to drive than it was with the blower. It sounds amazing under full boost and pulls just as hard on 6-7lbs as the Vortech did on 14lbs. I definitely recommend this kit now! It was worth the hassle and frustration.
 

justinschmidt1

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Nice job!

I remember Justin having all kinds of trouble with the clamps also but I thought they fixed that problem or maybe not.

Yep the clamps are junk....i ended up going to rps vband clamps and still ran some metal reinforced gasket in there to prevent leaks.

Everything he said was pretty much what i experienced. That oil relocation setup was a disaster

I replaced the blow off valve turbo and waste gate before i ever ran the setup

I didnt use any of the gaskets provided with the kit.

Even with the bump steer kit i had to run the front end of the car really high in the air and it still would hit the hotside.

All said and done i should a stayed with the Vortech and done trickflow heads/cams instead.
 

Rallim

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I'm sort of just thinking about getting the CX Racing twin manifolds, 2 70mm on3 turbo's and making all the plumbing myself. It seems pretty straightforward, then I can get quality v-bands and gaskets and save some money.
 

A_+

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Well, it’s been 5 years. If you’re still around, Do you still have the car? How did the turbo hold up? I’ve always read that on3 has fitment issues on the sn95 but they claim to have figured it out THIS time around. I would love to run a turbo someday, when my heap is running better [emoji58]
 

ttocs

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Well, it’s been 5 years. If you’re still around, Do you still have the car? How did the turbo hold up? I’ve always read that on3 has fitment issues on the sn95 but they claim to have figured it out THIS time around. I would love to run a turbo someday, when my heap is running better [emoji58]
he has not logged on in 2 yrs
 

ttocs

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its not something that someone can just say its good/bad as that is all relative to how its been ran, how it was tuned and what else has all been done. Its been pretty well known that they are not the worst, not the best either. I have to say if you want a proven reliable track record with boost on the 302/mustang platform that a supercharger might be better.
 

Benni614

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he has not logged on in 2 yrs
Well I run the 2v on3 turbo kit and love it. I know there was alot of crop for the v1 but the v2 I haven't had any issues. Honestly I wanted to use whatever came in the kit to get the most accurate info about it and I Honestly love it

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
 

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