FoxGT

I'm not entirely where to start on this... I guess non turbo related first.

There is nothing wrong with a built auto. You can't compare a stock auto trans vs a built one. Driving a mustang with a manual valve body, shift kit, & stall vs driving the same car with a stick would probably change your mind. I've done 7 transmission swaps on my '89 GT between a built c4, built aod, & t5, just because I'm not sure which I want more, none of the transmissions broke I just wanted to swap. The 5spd makes me feel more in control of the car, but the auto in the car was definitely faster. I love manuals, but if i was building a straight line street car i'd go with a built aode with a decent stall.

As for turbo vs supercharger. Turbo kits are not very complex at all unless you make them complex, turbo kits are very easy to build vs supercharger kits. Don't get me wrong supercharger brackets are very easy to make, but one vs the other a turbo kit is easier to build imo.

For boost 3.27s vs 3.73's are going to behave the exact same, you have to get to boost threshold point with either gear. Of course if your accelerating under 1/4 throttle you're probably going to see 0-2 psi max. At wot you're going to achieve boost threshold & full boost at the exact same rpm with either gear.
The auto is going to see the same boost conditions as the manual unless you run a stall high enough to put it above boost threshold.
If you have a bypass or bov installed that is sized good for your setup & you're having to wait for boost to rebuilt you did something very wrong. If I punched it at 4000rpm it took about .1-.2 seconds to reach full boost. The turbine is going to stay at very high speed unless you aren't running one then the high pressure caused by the throttle plate being closed will cause it to slow down & if you have a decent intercooler it will even cause it to spin backwards.
centrifugal superchargers are the same way, in an intercooled setup the pressure pushes backwards on the impeller & puts a strain on the supercharger. It's smart to run a bov or bypass valve in either setup & extremely stupid not to run one if you're running an intercooled setup.

You can make boost off the line with an aftermarket ignition & set it to retard ignition timing at a lower rpm (say 3500) then leave the line with full boost. Has to be a timing retard though, a fuel cut wouldn't work the same.

I have NEVER had a problem with any twin turbo or single turbo kit i've built burning anything. If you burn or melt something with a turbo kit blame yourself for placing the turbo extremely close to the turbo or letting something rest on the exhaust housing.

You only need a new tune when you adjust boost if you get a sh*t tune in the first place or someone doesn't know what they're doing. With any normal tune you don't need to tune it to up the boost any.

A turbo kit will (in most cases) cost you more to build than a s/c kit. Really depends on what route you go. I've built a twin turbo kit for under $900, that was including fuel requirement parts, not just piping/turbo, but it was using mostly junkyard parts. Most of the turbo (be it twin or single) generally cost $1000-$2000 depending on what parts are used.

As far as what to use depends on what you're aiming for & if you're going twins or single. Also depends on if you're buying new parts or going with a junkyard/cheap approach. For the kits i build I give the option, most people choose the junkyard route which I rebuild the turbos anytime I use them & i've never had a durability problem + they're extremely easy to rebuild. On the otherhand, new/refurbished turbos will give you piece of mind.

If you're going the new turbo route I'd recommend going with a single to keep cost down. If you're going junkyard route I'd recommend twins since cost won't be as much of an issue.
There are multiple things you can do to increase efficiency of the kit, but to go all out you'll probably have to cut on your car, so i'd stay away from them. My $2k project car for example i'm running a 22"x32"x3" intercooler core (not including end tanks), but I had to take out my front bumper, take out the impact absorbers, & cut part of my headlight bracket on both sides to make it fit.

If you run a single I'd recommend painting & wrapping the crossover pipe to keep exhaust temps as high as possible inside the pipe. High temp paint is optional on the rest of the exhaust components to keep it from looking rusty.

For fuel management I would recommend an unassembled megasquirt standalone & assemble it yourself, they're extremely easy to put together. & a wideband o2. Summit sells a kit for $250 that uses a summit digital gauge with the innovate lc1 controller or ebay has the aem 6 in 1. Both of those together will cost around $450 total, but imo is a very good investment & no need for a dyno tune that route + you can do away with the maf sensor which could hurt airflow .

If you don't want to go that route I'd say go with an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. Either way i HIGHLY recommend getting a wideband.

Let us know what you decide to run, twin or single turbo, new or used & we can help you pick out turbo(s) size.

For the boost controller I recommend just building a manual boost controller unless you plan on using an electronic one. I bought one for my first kit about 6 years ago, took it apart only to find everything used I could get from my local hardware store for under $15 other than the **** (I just use a knurled bolt).

rwdfan

I planned on going with a manual boost controller until I build my engine and get a good dyno tune. There is no sense in have a controller to turn up the boost that is so easy to mess with, its too tempting to turn up that boost when some corvette wants to race you at the stoplight. I would rather keep it safe until I make the engine more beefy. I agree wholeheartedly with Fox on this one. I am sure that if i wanted a straight line car, I would choose an auto and run 10s or elevens. I just want a streeteable 12 second ride. I dont want a stall converter, I dont want a roll cage, I dont want a huge gauge in my car. I have thought of going the junkyard route and going with some old turbocoupe turbos or turbos off some saab. There are T3 turbos everywhere, and I can put two small ones with very little turbo lag on and be where I want to be. I do not want a prefabbed kit, whats the point? 3-5 k down the drain for someone to tell me what they think will work good...I am just asking for opinions on what setup will work good. I have a read a lot of good things about the megasquirt FMU. I was going to do a VQ35DE swap (350z engine) into my 89 240sx a while back until I realized a megasquirt would not run the engine at full potential because it would not run the variable valve timing or something like that. I forget, it was a while back. heatwise, I was planning on running ceramic headers...but I need to check and see if anyone makes ceramic turbo 302 headers... I already have a walbro 255 installed for fuel supply, I will prob need 30lb injectors though as well. Thanks for all of your feedback, feedback was what I wanted. Not someone treating me like a child and telling me Im not smart enough or its too dangerous to do a turbo. I asked what COMBO worked. Not if I should go turbo or s/c, or if people thought I was smart enough or if my engine could handle it. Ido not recall asking that question. So thanks FoxGT, finally, an actual answer to my question. So, please, enough with the mothering people. I am not 10,16,18 etc...or live with my mother. I am a married man, I own my own business, I own my own cars, and I pay my own damn bills. Nuff said.

FoxGT

For a 5.0 & that hp I would go with two junkyard T3's from svo/turbocoupe/xr4ti/capri rs. with a .48 exhaust housing. That's good for stock & quite a bit of mods. If you're going with a built stroker I'd go with the .63 a/r T3's. Most of the saab turbos are too small.

You don't need ceramic coated headers. For turbo headers I would recommend buying some cheap aftermarket unequal shorty headers, flipping them upside down & elongating the bolt holes. They work very well actually. You can use stock crinkle bent headers, but the bends aren't exactly good flowing. It's a way cheaper way of doing it than fabbing your own header (at least in my case) I use thickwall weld l's on headers I build, not sure if you've seen the prices on them, but they are quite expensive when you get a few. I use the thickwall to prevent the header from cracking with the weight of the turbo on it. Summit has some of their brand shorty headers for fairly cheap which would work perfectly for this without hitting the wallet too hard.

30lb injectors are a good idea, you can run bigger with the megasquirt & still have good driving on the street.. I would probably go a little bigger if i were doing it, better safe than sorry & if you decide to turn the boost up quite a bit later you don't have to go out & buy a whole set of injectors again. + you can lean the car out quite a bit more under cruise conditions for better fuel economy

Your internals will work perfectly fine, but I wouldn't go higher than 400hp.

T3's from the ford 2.3's; when I get them to put on my or anyone elses cars I always replace the bearings, snap rings, seals, & o-ring. That cost me about $50 per turbo. I've one turbine shaft i've had to send off to get the proper bearings for it which cost me $10 for the shipping, the shop I buy my turbo rebuild kits from swapped the bearings for the resized ones for free, I just gave them the new ones from the kits I got.

For a cheap bov you can get some from the 1st gen dsm's (the metal ones) If one doesn't move enough air, don't assume that you have to buy a big race one (which are kinda expensive), there is nothing wrong with running multiple valves. I've ran two on a car I built, I've seen a car that ran three. But for $10 a piece used it's kinda hard to beat.

The intercooler I'd recommend looking into ebay's choices & measuring how much space you have to put one (don't forget where the end tank inlet & outlet locations are) The only reason I didn't go with one was because I was trying to find an 18" height core & none were cheap so I got a diesel one with the intention of cutting & rewelding the end tanks, but turns out I could fit the whole thing with some modification.

Also for stock, if you plan on using the junkyard T3's you won't need a boost controller. The stock wastegate spring is set to 7psi, so it will automatically open the wastegate after 7.
You won't be able to turn the boost down lower than 7psi with the stock spring in it with a boost controller as controllers only let you turn the boost down to the spring pressure. There's a few things you could do to change that, but personally i'd just leave it at 7psi until you get everything ready to turn it up.

Also the megasquirt works as more than just a fuel management unit. You can tune the ignition aswell with it.

rwdfan

I guess you could say it is a programmable piggyback ECU...Or something like that. Anyhow.Thanks for all the info yet again. Quite helpful and I soaked up every word of it. I am so excited to start my project, it will be a few months before I have a garage to work in again. I am about to start purchasing parts and I am planning everything out. I know it will not be a weekend job. Fortunately I have another car and a work truck. Thanks for all the accurate information.

AdderMk2

Megasquirt is not a piggyback at all. Its a complete stand alone system. I had one running in my car for a while.

FoxGT

^ Adder is right ^

piggybacks aren't as flexable mainly in the area of controlling the ignition. They work by changing the signal your eec gets from sensors. For example say your coolant temp sensor, when running at operating temp sends out the signal that the engine is warm, A piggyback could take that voltage reading & change it so the eec thinks the engine is cooler than it actually is which would make the eec trigger to put in more fuel (cold air is more dense so if it's getting more air obviously it has to put in more fuel to run correctly, otherwise it would run lean)
Some piggybacks can control the ignition a little better than others, but it works around the same concept, so it's not going to work as good.

A standalone on the other hand you make your own maps, you make your own fuel maps, you make your own ignition maps.
Btw, megasquirt will control variable valve timing.

If you're going with a forced induction car I would never advise using a piggyback simply because of the ignition maps to get the most power.

94StinkinLincoln

um hello, Tweecer R/T, installs on the J3 port, and you modify the stock tables to what you want them at.

NoGo95GT

+1

FoxGT

The reason I suggested the ms over the tweecer was because of the megasquirt using ve tables since he's going with forced induction.

I will say this, the tweecer is easier to install. the ms takes a bit of wiring work. If you're one of those people that prefer to buy parts premade & don't want to mess with much to get it going then you might be better off. With the tweecer you already have a base tune, with the ms you have to build your own (which imo was pretty easy)

A while back I drew something to help with wiring up the ms to where it would plug into the stock engine harness so you wouldn't have to splice ANY wire or cut anything on your harness, all could be done so the megasquirt was just a plug in thing.

https://mustangforums.com/m_5028810/tm.htm



There you can see the ve table on the top right. That screenshot was taking RIGHT when the car first started up. If you look on the left side at the graph you'll see how the idle kept bouncing up & down. The only thing I did to give it a smooth idle was clicked on the ve analyze button. That was why I said the megasquirt will practically tune itself. The blue #'s on the ve table were the #'s it corrected. That was all it took to get a perfect idle. The only complicated thing to do is configure the fuel settings to get the car idling (which megatune has a calculator to give you a base fuel map based on engine size & injector size.)

In that situation you can see the ve table only goes up to 100, in a forced induction car, the table would go higher.

I did this install & tune on a friends '90 lx along with an eaton m90 s/c kit (supercharger was not on yet)

But for the price of $180 if you don't mind assembling it, you can't beat the price...

FoxGT

More goodies to the ms