Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

So new turbo coupe owner here. Well pick it up Friday
Running and driving 87
Has had the turbo replaced with a holset turbo. Has an unknown cam in it. Caster camber plates and a few suspension parts.

According to the owner it has an exhaust leak right after the turbo.
He said it started leaking when he reclocked it??? What is reclocking it lol.

Will post more info and pics on Friday. Lots of questions to come.

Welcome to the forum!
Be sure to post  some pics when it arrives.
Ron

Thanks

Guess my first noob questions are:

What is clocking a turbo?
How do I adjust boost? Po said he took out the intercooler and dropped the boost to 5-8psi.....

Po also said he took out some timing. What's base timing for the turbo coupe.

I plan to replace the intercooler and turn the boost back up and I would like to get the timing set back to stock as well.

Welcome!

Clocking a turbo just means rotating part of it.  Usually the turbine housing and the compressor housing can be rotated independently of the center section for different exhaust and intake configurations. 

Stock timing is 10 degrees BTDC.

There will probably be a manual boost controller mounted somewhere.  I would follow the vacuum line back from the wastegate to find it.

A stock intercooler probably won't work with the current turbo setup (Holsets outlet face forward I think?) and you will probably need a front mount if it doesn't already have one.

From the pics it appears he reclocked it to face the motor. The piping goes straight from the turbo to the intake.
I'll post the pics I have today once I can get some WiFi to upload them.

You were right. Its forward facing.

The factory intercooler is a top mount that requires the turbo outlet to point up, which is probably why it was removed.  Also, the factory TC hood has scoops for the intercooler so at this point you will pretty much have to go with a front mount intercooler or stay with low boost.

According to the previous owner the new turbo is a holset he351 he said its turned down to 8 psi. Does it make sense that the holset wouldn't start making boost until around 3400 rpm or should I be looking for another turbo.
Any recommendations on a front mount and piping?
Also recommendations on a head? Are there affordable aftermaket heads available or is there some trick stuff to be done to the stock head.

Motor has 174k miles. I plan to get it freshened up in the spring. Neihboor owns a machine shop :)

Hooray, a local!  Glad to see see someone picked that car up.  I saw it on CL for a few weeks and hoped it would go to a good home.

LMK if you need a "stockish" TurboCoupe to look at to see how things were done from the factory...  I'll be happy to stop by with my daily driver. :D

Daniel

It looks like the PO had plans for a front-mounted intercooler, but didn't finish it.

Where in the triad are you from?
Text me at 910-467-6674 please

Thanks

You need a bigger air filter ;)

Not used to seeing that hood on a TC.  Cant decide if I like it or not.

I would think a stock car should still handle more than 8 psi, I suspect that turbo is larger, and would take "some" longer time to spool, I dont know how long though.  I havent driven a 2.3T for awhile.

It is common with bigger turbos to make boost at a higher rpm.  Really depends on the engines airflow.  You may be able to find someone with a similar combination on Turboford for comparison.

Aftermarket heads are available from Esslinger.

Stinger Performance sells a FMIC kit for these cars.  You might have to modify or make your own piping from the turbo to the intercooler inlet with this kit depending on where the turbo outlet is compared to a stock setup but the intercooler itself and the piping to the throttle body should all work fine.  I would email Stinger for details. 

I'm pretry sure the 87-88 cars EEC is programmed for more timing than previous years since they are intercooled from the factory.  I wouldn't run any more boost until I had an intercooler on there.