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So you got a turbo car now what's next


Shelby
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ok every so often depending on how many new guys we get there comes a time to warm them turning the boost up is so easy , too easy infact that most do not know or care what the results will be,, with out takeing proper care and precautions befor hand the result is always the same , a blown head gasket, that a lot of the time rsults in a bout of name calling and dang junk car any way, next thing you know the car is part'd out,,all because of the owner NOT takeing the time to learn what he needs to do ,he just wants to bypass all the stuff the rest of us have learn'd the hard way

 

14lb boost is the max safe and when i say safe i do not mean the longest lasting safe level of boost for the engine or the turbo,,any time you go over the factory limet of 10 lbs boost you are asking for a shorten'd life of the turbo and the head gasket , thats a fact of life , learn to live with it or leave things alone

even 14 lbs should never be ran unless you know for a fact that every part of the car's fuel control system is at 100% or better , and that is your responcibility to find out

one more thing don't read that Tommy the nitro (no real person) down the street is running 28 lb of boost and think you can do the same , you won't make it with out spending a lot of loot or trashing your engine

 

many of us have been at this for a long time and we've came a long way towards many more power then ever befor BUT makeing this power and keeping the engine alive for a reasonable time is our goal not a 10 minute wonder ,thats the reason many of us go at this at a much slower pace then others , that and money comes hard to some of us

i'm not saying don't what i'm saying is take the time to fully understand just what it is your doing to the turbo and engine when you do these mods , in the long run you'l be much happier with your car and the money you've invest'd in it , theres many guys here to help you  ,but most lean toward the  let's take it  slow and  make it last rather then a  quick  short life'd  shooting  star

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Shelby,

I find this to be true with the SVO and other 2.3 turbo Ford customers I deal with also.  They all want the big turbo's and want to turn the boost up and the whole 9 yards, but it's not really safe.  There are guys who have been through multiple head gaskets and heads and blocks even because they are running all but one component upgraded to work with the rest of the system.  Usually it's fuel related.  Not enough injector, too much injector and they wash out the cylinders, etc.  Some put a T3-TO4E on a stock motor at 25lbs and think they'll run 10's.  NO!  The SVO's will run 10's and there are quite a few of my customers doing that and one in the low LOW 9's still using the 4 cyl turbo.  But these people have a ton of money and the really fast guy, Jon Dell Blair, has a full machine shop at his disposal.  Anyway, you have to map out your entire powertrain if you are going to do it right and assure each component can deal with the stress induced by the other components feeding it.  Assure your turbo is sized right for the engine, assure your head & intakes can flow enough to let the turbo breathe, assure your injectors are up to the airflow being introduced to the motor, assure your headgasket is the best possible, assure your head bolts/studs will hold the cylinder pressure you are going to produce, assure you have the right bottom end for the power you are planning on making (forged pistons, good rods, fully treated crank), assure your header is the best for flow and helps the turbo spool, make sure your exhaust is as open as possible, make sure your clutch and transmission are build and upgraded accordingly, rear end, driveshaft, the whole 9 yards.  You have to map everything out.  You basically have to set a goal and obtain parts that are key to helping you achieve it.  If you skimp out on just one little part, you'll pay dearly.  Do not half a** your performance car or you'll be sorry.

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ok every so often depending on how many new guys ..... make it last rather then a  quick  short life'd  shooting  star

 

Great post.

words to live by, we can't say you didn't warn us.  Hearing and heeding that warning 10 years ago would have saved me LITERALLY thousands of dollars and countless hours of wrenching and frustration.

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...If you skimp out on just one little part, you'll pay dearly.  Do not half a** your performance car or you'll be sorry.

 

On that note, think about what basic part allows control over your boost levels...vacuum lines. Most guys would spend $800 for a turbo upgrade before they spend $40 for some vacuum lines. These cars are 15+ years old and just one crusty, leaky vacuum line could result in the need for an engine rebuild.

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ok every so often depending on how many new guys we get there comes a time to warm them turning the boost up is so easy , too easy infact that most do not know or care what the results will be,, with out takeing proper care and precautions befor hand the result is always the same , a blown head gasket,

 

haha, that's what happened to me, exactly.  Got my boost controller in the mail, turned it up, and THAT DAY, I blew my head gasket, AND turbo boosting way more than I should have.

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  • 3 weeks later...

well for the people who do that are just retarded. I can understand doing the boost up a notch. But any inclined person would make the motor ready for those type of modifications. And it is possible to have a high performance starquest as a daily driver. I am. Anywho. Yes I think this should be a sticky for the new owners who just want to turn up the boost to take on that next car and us to explain to them what happened to their head gasket. or their bearing, or melted piston, blown turbo and such

jeff

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