The truck is a 1978 f150, it belonged to my grandfather who bought it new off the lot in Grand Junction, Co. It spent its life as a farm truck in the Moab valley, he did a lot of hunting out of it, towed with it, used it as a welding truck and took it places no full size should have ever been. He passed away this summer and I ended up with it. The truck has a 400 ford and a fresh C6 transmission in it. The 400 is a bit anemic, and I have been wanting to turbo something for a while, so here goes!

The turbo is a tv7511, .75 AR cold side, 1.08 hot side. Its monstrous, probably not ideal for the application but I am really not trying to build a max effort monster at this point. I will be doing an engine swap a little later on, looking at the ford 6.2 and if I cant figure out how to make it work ill go either 460 or 351w.
So far the build has looked something like this:
Clean up the engine bay, grease and oil mixed with red sand on everything, sucks to clean.
Install Fitech, got it running well, got it to pass emissions, got familiar with the tuning setup and got a good baseline.
Brakes sucked so I installed a hydroboost unit, new pads, rotors, drums, shoes, hardware and master. Hydroboost rocks!

Day 0: Try to figure out where to put the turbo, I want to keep factory AC which really hamstrung the project. When I finally figured it out I had to relocate a bunch of stuff.
Day 1: Relocate everything needed to fit the turbo in its spot, start on turbo bracket
Day 2: Finished turbo bracket, pulled oil pan to tap for drain line, replaced rear main seal.
Day 3: Finish oil pan, reinstall, tap into block for oil feed, route oil lines to turbo. Start on up pipe
Day 4: Well that's today, Almost done with the up pipe, have to install the wastegate and then ill work on the downpipe and cold side tubing.

#ad


#ad


#ad


#ad


#ad

 

Found a picture from the day I picked up the truck.
Also got the wastegate flange attached. I am happy with the angle, I remember reading something from M&M turbochargers that talked about prioritizing the wastegate, I think I got it right.

#ad


#ad

 

Good looking truck! Ive got a 78 crew. Looking forward to more progress and how you like the fitech.

 

lookin good!!!

 

Looks good, that should be a huge amount of fun when it's finished.

 

Look up what Kaase has done with the 400M's. Those motors can be stroked and lots of heads available now.

 

Turbo too big!!!

Well, its "done". Unfortunately it seems like I've gotten too big on the turbo, I am only seeing about 2.2 lbs most of the time, if i really rap it out up a hill I can get to around 5.2 PSI, waste gate spring is 8 PSI. Cant hear the turbo at all. Current hot side configuration is 2 inch y pipe to 3 inch up pipe, turbo, exhaust reduced to 3", 3" down pipe and exhaust. Seems like it should have plenty of breath.
So I guess I need to decide what the next step will be, I know these engines came with a really small cam retarded 8* from the factory. My initial thought is to do cam, timing set and valve springs, but ill be at about the same cost of a different turbo at that point. The current turbo is 1.08 A/R exhaust side, 72mm .75 A/R on the intake side, i thought it would work out OK and knew it would be a little bit big on this engine, but I had planned to build an engine and shoot for around 600hp over the summer. At least my IAT are very low, even with no intercooler. What does anyone think?

#ad

#ad


#ad


#ad

 

Cam, rear gears, converter, condition of motor, etc....they all can play a role in "why" you aren't spooling. Leaks are an option..

 

Cam, rear gears, converter, condition of motor, etc....they all can play a role in "why" you are not spooling. Leaks and timing are causes..

 

That turbo should do better than that on even an anemic 400. I'd look for leaks on cold side, or wastegate. Any pics of the hotside? Do you have the valve seat in the waste gate?

 

I do not have anything to add about your boost issue but here is a good read on building your engine.
Good luck.

http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-...ll-block-into-a-351-cleveland-stroker-engine/

 

Thanks for the tips. I am going to go tear into the waste gate this morning and see if there is something wrong.

 

Wastegate

I removed and opened the PT46 this morning.
[/EURL]#ad


#ad


#ad

 

Wondered what the extra machined piece in the box was for... turns out I forgot to install the fire ring... Didn't know what a fire ring was, now i do! Turbonewb. #ad


#ad

 

Thats the valve seat that many forget to install.... you'll have boost now.

 

Get ready for some boost, you've got her figured out.

 

Getting the valve seat in there fixed the problem. I have around 7.5 psi when the waste gate opens now. Around 2 psi at 2k and full boost is in by 3800 rpm, shifts around 4500 but carries 7 ish PSI through the shift. I would like it to come in a little earlier but its tons of fun now. Need to get my BOV welded on, I haven't tig welded aluminum before so I am going to spend some time practicing during the week.

 

Super cool I love projects like this!

 

So it's about time for an update, and I need some help.
First, I tried to fit a 4" thick core intercooler in this and there is no way its fitting, in fact there is so little room I think a water to air with a 2" thick heat exchanger is probably my only option.
The engine is on its last legs, I knew it was a little rough when I checked main bearings during the oil pan gasket replacement. Unfortunately things are happening sooner than later, i drove it about 150 miles and blew through 30 gallons of gas and 2 quarts of oil, there weren't a lot of hard runs in there either, mostly highway in fact. So its time for a new engine.
The project absolutely has to stay below $5k, but I think that's reasonable. Probably means no exotic stroker combos though.
Goal is 550-600 hp, lots of torque. Truck has to be able to tow and haul, I live in the foothills of Colorado so long grades and steep hills will be part of the routine. The max tow rating on it is 6k, this may or may not be exceeded.
I already have a shiny new BW s475 in the 83mm 1.10 configuration, 5" exhaust, turbosmart BOV and precision 46mm wastegate. The transmission is a C6 in stock configuration but it was overhauled less than 2k ago. I will probably pull it apart and at least upgrade the clutch packs, i'm not yet sure what all would be required.

I've got 3 obvious choices for engines.

I kicked around the idea of going to a 351w platform backed by a 4R70W. I like the windsor, have one in my M38A1, I am familiar with it and have some spare parts around. I would look for a 95 or 96 truck block as they have factory roller cams. These are fairly easy to build and can be done relatively inexpensively, this is probably the best option if I want to have any sort of fuel economy, and the swap isn't too hard. It does however mean I have to shell out cash for the engine, trans/controller and adapters all at the same time.

Another possibility is rebuilding another 400, I am not sure how I feel about this because parts are comparatively limited/expensive and there aren't many builders who have a lot of experience with them, especially in boosted applications. I would keep the rev limit around 5k. I cant even find much on what the limit on the blocks of these engines is. Torque would be excellent in this engine and I wouldn't have to do any modifications to turbo plumbing, engine mounts ETC.

The last option is a 460, seems easiest to hit my power goals. I would do at least a basic rebuild to any engine as this truck will likely be a daily driver. I can probably keep the boost pretty low and forgo an intercooler. It will bolt right up to the C6 in the truck and uses most of the 400 accessories with some custom brackets which I can build myself. And of course massive engines are sweet.

So what engine would you choose? What sort of components would I need in that engine to be able to expect reasonable longevity and not fear putting the boost to it when the mood strikes me.

 

There are a couple other possibilities which I neglected to list, also the most complicated by far, likely the most expensive. The 6.2l boss engine from the modern trucks is something I have researched a bit. It would be backed by a 5R110W since there are standalone controllers available or the factory SD 6R140. I think the electronics control for the engine/trans is what has me staying away from it. Also it seems the stock bottom end is only good to about 500 HP. The heads are phenomenal though and these engines sound great and can be had for a reasonable price since no one is using them.

Maybe the Coyote 5.o. There is a lot of aftermarket support, but the engines are tough to find for a good price, the truck versions can be had a little more easily which would probably be fine for my application. Not sure how friendly the electronics are with turbo systems.