Welcome fellow turbo falcon fans,

In this thread I will explain how to turbocharge your mpi falcon. I have done this twice now, first on my old EA fairmont ghia and currently on my ED GLi.
I'll go through how to modify a standard manifold to suit a T4 turbo and external wastegate, mount and plumb up a front mount intercooler, install and road tune a Wolf 3D and upgrade the standard fuel system.
All this will easilly suport 250wkws on your standard unmodified i6 motor.

I will put pictures up at the end of this thread, so read on or skip to the fun part

First up is the turbo and what type to buy for the job. A good thing to do is decide on what you want at the end of all this... do you want a nice streetable falcon that will eat most cars on the road, yet look and behave as a standard falcon would, or do you want a dyno monster that will do sub 10 sec quarters?
Well, for me the choice was easy, I just wanted a 12 sec car that looked just like any other car on the road. So, after calling a few turbo shops equiring about what turbo's they could offer me, I went to GCG Turbos in sydney and told them I wanted a turbo to that would give me 300wkws at 5000rpm and on no more than 1 bar ( 14psi ). 1 bar is pretty much the limit of the standard ED motor and 5000rpm is the max I want to rev it to.

GCG sugestested a Garrett GT40, but at a price of around $2500, it was really a bit over my budget, unless I bought the internal wastegated version ( very similar to the BA XR6 turbo ) but these suffer from boost spikes due to the poor flowing wastegate, so an external w'gate was to be used with a cheaper quality turbo. The turbo I ended up getting is a Garret T4 plain bearing unit. I had it custom made with GT40 spec compressor wheel in a plain 0.60 AR comp cover and 55mm back cut exhaust wheel in a 1.00 AR exhaust housing. With this turbo I can, at a later date, upgrade the compressor wheel and housing to a larger size when I require more power but at the same 14psi max boost.
Wastegate was the next item to choose and as many have seen, you can get some cheap ones off ebay but for piece of mind I chose not to skimp on quality and bought an American made Tial 38mm wastegate, also from GCG. These gates are proven to suport well over 300wkws and are of outstanding quallity.
Next up is the exhaust manifold. Some choices to be made here but unfortunatly notting is available off the shelf for us just yet. there are a few poeple making them and selling via ebay, Snort performance being one of them and they make a fine manifold.
You can use a basic " log " style manifold or a more complex tuned runner type or you can modify the original manifold as I have done here.
Once the manifold is sorted out and hanging off the head with turbo proudly sitting on top, you will need to a dump ( or down ) pipe to join to the rest of the exhaust system. I have retained the Lukey 2.5in mandrel system that I had fitted when i bought the car, and it seems to be doing a fine job, though it will need to be increased to a 3in system to really benifit the turbo and free up some back pressure. But, if a 2.5in is what you have, it will still support an easy 200wkw.
Now that the turbo is plumbed into the exhaust you need to have the wastgate ( if external type ) plumbed into also, but this is just a small pipe that normally enters the dump pipe near the bottom. Pay attention to the way the pipe enters, it should be a smooth entry so that it doesnt effect the gasses coming down the dump pipe from the turbo.

Intercooler time. I chose a a 600 wide by 300 high by 75mm deep alloy bar and plate intercooler. Over the last few years these have become very cheap and they do a great job and are used on many 300plus wkw cars so they will be fine for this job.
The cooler comes with mountes top and bottom but you will need to make brakets to moun t it to the radiator cross member and top radiator suport panel. I made these out of basic alloy strip, just bend it to suit in a vise and drill holes to suit.
Now you need to plumb up the intercooler, a good rule of thumb for intercooler ping diameters is... from turbo to cooler, use pipe dia' the same as the turbos outlet, and from cooler to throttle body, use piping the same dia as the throttle body. So, in this case I used 2.5 inch pipe from turbo to cooler and 3in from cooler to the throt body.
I bought the pipe bends from Liverpool Exhaust in sydney, 7 bends in total, but I used a few silicon bends to make it easier for me as I wanted to keep the welding to a minimum. You'll save a few hundred doing it all in steel and welding together though. I used mild steel to keep the costs down, but it is heavy and can eventually rust, alloy is good to use as its easier to cut and wont rust but it is around twice the cost.

So, now the turbo is mounted, plumbed into exhaust and intercooler, you now need to fit the turbo's oil lines. These are basically one line to feed/ lubricate the turbo, the other is a return for the oil to drain out of the turbo and run down to the sump.
Dont be tight here as a good supply of oil is critical to keeping the turbo alive. When you buy your turbo, also buy the correct oil line fittings to suit that turbo. With the garrett turbos they have flanges to join the oil lines to so you need to buy the flanged fitting and gaskets to suit. Once you have them, head down to someone like ENZED and have them make up a braided line to suit your turbos inlet fitting and at the other end, it needs to go onto a T piece that screws into the oil sender units mount on the block. Screw the oil lin into one end of the T piece and the oil sender unit into the other end. Be prepared for a struggle as the oil sender is under the inlet manifold as is a major ***! to get too.
Next you need an oil drain line, I used 1inch dia silicon hose and ran it down to a fitting that i mounted to the wall of the sump dirctly under the turbo. Keep this line free flowing and no less than the fitting on the turbos diameter or it will slow the oil flow from the turbo and you will get big clouds of black smoke out the exhaust... and eventually ruin the oil seals in the turbo.
At this stage most of the hard work is almost done, you just need some sort of air filter and inlet system. Ive had a few different ir filter arangements, the best being a sealed large air box with 3in tube feeding it from under the car. You can use a large pod filter on a 45deg pipe and still retain the standard battery, but not the air box as its on the wrong side of the eng bay now.
On the ED, you can swap the battery to the other side easilly as the starter lead reaches over but the rest of the wires will need extending. Where the battery was is a good place to make and mount an air box and feed it to the turbo. MAny poeple just mount a pod filter here and it works well.
Now, you can start the car and drive it but only off boost, but you can get around if you need to take it to a shop for the fuel system/ ecu tuning. Or you can DIY that too... its easy

You have some choices here, the absolute basic is to use the stock ecu and injectors/ pump and use a Rising rate fuel regulator. This will increase the fuel pressure to the injectors as the turbos boost rises. This is a very rough way, but you can get upto 180wkws depending on turbo ect, though its not recomended for long term use.
Next choice is to get larger injectors that suit the ford EECIV, such as 42lb, and have the EECIV chipped to suit the boost you want to run and these bigger injectors. This is a one off chip and if you need to retune, a new chip needs to be done so it may work out rather pricey at the end of it all. Also dont expect much more than 200wkw as you cant alter the timing other than static timing ( rotating the dizzy )
At this point the standard fuel pump is fine, but for over 200kws a bigger flowing unit is recomended, I used a Walbro 255lt pump in the EA, but as its having isssues pumping fuel now I just use the standard one in the ED.
The next step is a new programable ECU, I use Wolf, but any other brand will work as well, even the old type micro fuelers work well, and they are very cheap s/h.
Expect to outlay a few grand on a good ecu and if your keen the install it, its accually not to hard to do. If you can wire up a big car stereo, this wont be too much for you, its basically only a dozen or so wires, but you will need a diagram of the EECIV pinouts to piggyback most of the wires.
I wired the Wolf in a semi piggyback fashion to the EECIV as it still runs the auto and smart lock ect and mounted it under the dash away from sight.
Sugested injectors are anything that will suit your chosen ECU and are of bosche origin, this will ensure a fit into the stock injector bosses and fuel rail ( you may need to change the Orings on the injectors to get a good seal, but thats just a trip to an efi specialist for some suitable Orings).
If your budget wont strectch for new injectors, many standard jap injectors are big enough to support 250wkws. A few that I know of are nissan CA18 turbo, RX7s4, and some supra varieties. Just look for anything over 450cc ( 40ish lb ) and search the for sale sections of jap turbo forums... bargains are to be had as most of these injectors are sold off and replaced by larger units, so prices are low. Ive seen plenty sell $50 each.
A rising rate fuel reg should be fitting replacing the stock reg to ensure fuel pressure stays above air preasure or the fuel will blow back as it is pulsed out of the injector.
At this stage your standard pump ( if in good cond) will need upgrading, though mine is coping with 200 odd wkws so I will keep using it until I find its limit. A good affordable pump is the Walbro 255lt intake pump, its a intake unit and fits in nicely. They are a 600hp rated pump so is fine for this set up.
Its a good idea have have a boost gauge and an air/fuel ratio guage. The A/R guage is a very good tool for instantly seeing if your motor is leaning out, although the basic meters running of the standard narrow band sensor are not totally accurate, they do give a fairly true readout.

Once your almost ready to hit the road and have fun with some boost, make sure to get all new ignition parts. Leads, rotor, cap, coil, and plugs ( use XR6 plugs ( of your model )). This will ensure you have the biggest spark the stock system will supply to reduce chances of detonation. Also, use ONLY high octane fuels... 98ron or higher. bottle of octain boost also helps if your up for a serious boosting session.

Anothe thing you will need to do is unhook air hose from the throttle body to rocker cover and plumb it to either the inlet pipe befor the turbo inlet or into a separate air oil separator. If you dont do this you will blow boosted air into the motor and preasurize the sump... oil will come out where its not spose to.... not good.

PRICES.

These are some of the prices you should expect to pay.

TURBO,

Garrett T4s can be bought for around $1000 used but really you should buy new as turbos can be very suspect on the used market. new they go for around 1400 in some shops GT3540, GT40s ect can be bought new for around 2000 so check with the turbo shops for specials as prices vary alot.

INTERCOOLER,

Ebay has been flooded with cheap decent bar and plate coolers ( HYBRID ripp offs ) and go for around $300 for a 600x300 so dont bother with used intercoolers as the cores can be damaged and leak, and at 300 bucks they are cheap as...

EXHAUST MANIFOLD.

Theres a few good fellow on this forum that make them and most exhaust shops will knock one up for you. Expect to pay $600 to $1000plus.
Or, DIY your standard manifold for a few hundred.

EXHAUST SYSTEM

If your a welder this will be pretty cheap for you, as 3in mild steel bends cost around $150 each and flanges can be anywhere from $20 to $50 depending on what flange it is.
If you already have a 2.5 in system like most do, make up a 3in dump pipe and join it to the existing system. You will need to go larger but it will start you off ok. Expect tp pay around $300 for a dump to be made or $100ish if you cut and weld yourself. Dont forget to mount the oxy sensor in it.

INTERCOOLER PIPING/HOSES

Mild steel pipe bends cost around $15 ea, silicon hose is around $7 per inch, silicon bends are around 80 to 110 each depeding on diametre. Clamps are $4ish for normal type and about $13 each for heavy duty bolt up types. The normal types work fine is your pipes all but up neatly and there are no stress points in your hose joins.

OIL LINES and FITTINGS

Oil suply line will be about $200,
T piece off the block is about $10
Oil return line is about $100 ( silicon hose )
Sump fitting about $20
You can also buy these all as a kit from turbo shops for around $250 which saves some hassles (excluding T piece and sump fitting)

ECU

Chips for the EECIV are around $500 installed and dyno tuned but again, these are a one off deal.
Programable ecus go for upwards of $1400 and there a many great units to choose from. Dyno tuning is usually around $400 plus to tune a "dry" ecu and then hourly rates of around$ 100 after that if oyur looking for more kws.

FUEL

Injectors, used can be picked up for $300 upto $1000 for new ones. I wont go into detail on prices here as your best off shopping around.

Regulators can be had for around $200 new
Walbro pumps go for around $170 new.

AIR FILTER

Use a good quality pod filter ( preferably in a sealed box ), around $90 for a K&N type


So there we go, thats the basics of a turbo falcon set up. Its pretty much the same deal on an XF, AU... most cars really.

Here's some pics of the intercooler getting fitted and some of the turbo fitted up









This is the way it looks today with afew updates


In this pic you can sort of see the oil coolers mounted above the intercooler. They are standard ford coolers from a wreckers, but they stop the auto from heating up and slipping on boost




Here is the dyno print out of my set up at the last Ford Mods Dyno Day held at Creasent Motorsport, Sydney. I have since changed the A/Rs alot and moved the wastegate position which feels as though the power has increaesd but this readout will give you a good idea of what to expect during the "early days " of your turbo instalation... it gets a whole lot better.


Please note, this dyno readout was from a road tune I did and not the tuning work of Cresent Motorsport... I have sinse had the fuel map tuned by Cresent Motorsport, making similar power but with near perfect air fuel ratios.

Here are a fwe links to help your search for parts and more info

www.gcg.com.au these guys know plenty and offer good deals
www.firesport.com lots of good bargains here
www.ausrotory.com good place to find injectors
www.turbomagazine.com heaps of turbo info here
www.turbomustangs.com again, lots of info and DIY projects
www.horsepowerinabox.com good prices on new gear
www.wolfems.com.au my fav ecu's
www.calaisturbo.com.au see how the holden guys do it

Last edited by CHEF on Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:08 pm, edited 12 times in total.

So far so good, CHEF I think posting something like this is a GREAT idea, people like me would benefit greatly from a read like this.

pffft...where is this fun part?

Good stuff.

Chris, can you add any images or further text into the original message. Once complete I will turn it into a doco

I'll finish it over the next few days... pics are on the way, I'll put them all in step by step at the end

gw chef, i loved your EA thread.
infact its what made me stick around on fordmods, even before i bought a ford, or started posting.

i think i googled for turbo falcon and fell in love with that ea

Ah s**t.. we'll blame CHEF for you being here then!

oops you made another mistake brad, i think you mean THANK chef, not BLAME...

Awesome guide, we really needed it too. With pics will be even sweeter.

Excellent work chef, great to see something like this being created. I also strongly agree with your other threaad about cutting the crap to young guys, and this thread will help significantly with that. Good work.

Chef. You quoted a price on a GT40 but what about the plain bearing T4 you've actually got?

Ah ha lol thats not nice.. hmm somtime down the track i will prolly go turbo.. either that or N/A. But cheers to CHEF for the sweet as doco!

I'll put a detailed price list/guide at the end of the thread, but I paid $1700 for the T4, you can get them a few hundred cheaper if you sho around, but they would be off the shelf units not custom made

its good you have narrowed it down to 2 choices :p


anyway now that chef has made this thread either way will be easy to understand now

Check the prices from GCG now! The GT35/40 is $1800 ...All Garrett prices dropped...At GCG anyway...Ball bearing and latter tech easy 600+...