Foxbody style turbo setup 6.9IDI

6D9N24/7

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Hey guys I am in the process of putting together a custom turbo setup for my 6.9. I am going to try to keep the top of the engine as clean and uncluttered as possible for ease of maintenance and future upgrades. I am a big fan of the single turbo placement in the foxbody mustangs, behind the passenger headlight, and I am going to try to fabricate something close for my truck. I am ordering a set of the exhaust flanges from R&D idi performance, and i need somebody with a set of heads lying around to get the measurements from exhaust port to port (center to center, and edge to edge) so i can make this happen. My goal is to get a set of headers from jegs (or anywhere) in a platform that is close to the port spacing for my 6.9, cut the flanges off and weld on my 6.9 flanges, saving me a lot of time and trial and error in the leak department. I know many will say "save the headache just get the ATS kit" but i want my truck to be unique, and i want to give other IDIers inspiration. I plan on running a Holset HX40, and yes IP, cam and studs are also on my to do list.

My batterys are going behind the bench seat in my single cab 86, all the bs is getting deleted and i am doing a wire tuck to keep it spotless under the hood. No A/C, no mechanical lift pump, and no belt driven vaccum pump.

For all of you interested in pics of the build i will post as soon as i can get started, but it may be a little while seeing as work has us slammed, and im an "on call" road service mechanic.

I am a diesel tech by trade, and i am still learning the tricks for these dinosaur motors, but i love every minute of it.

thanks.
 

6D9N24/7

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Thank you! I am interested in seeing how big of a challenge it will be and i am looking forward to starting the build. Great looking truck you have there!
 

88 Ford

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How will it be street legal without the headlight? Sorry if that is a dumb question. Lol
 

6D9N24/7

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LOL if all goes well this truck will stay my DD. I do drive a company truck so i can afford to have the ol yeller torn apart for weeks at a time, which is a plus.
 

6D9N24/7

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I guess my best bet would be to just head on over to the local parts store and have them pull an exhaust manifold gasket set for my truck and some other v8 motors and just start overlaying and see which one suits my needs the best. Tomorrow night i will start the tear down and relocation of everything that has to go to fit the snail in, and i will get a mock up with a turbo i have here off a cummins clone motor (paccar) that is a VGT so it wont suit me, but it will give you guys an idea of what is to come, and some pics to stew on.

Heres a set of shortys for a 351W, similar style to what i would run. i am going to flip them to opposite sides so the donut is facing forward and down, drivers side will come down under front of oil pan (balancer) and back up where the lift pump was (roughly) and the passenger side will make a short horseshoe and come up and Y into the drivers side crossover, with a T3 flange perched right on top. 4" Downpipe from turbo will possibly exit out of passenger side fender facing down at an angle (idk still toying with that idea in my head lol)
 

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Greg5OH

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i too am intestested in this style of turbo mounting. the whole pipes behind the engine and constant boost leaks not to mention having to take everything apart to do any kind of top end work puts me off the stock style. Also, I have no room back there for the hot pipes!
 

6D9N24/7

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Things definitely get tight with the turbo back there. I just did injector return lines on my truck and my buddies 94 stock turbo 7.3IDI. Mine were a breeze (wide open valley with my k&N Velocity Stack), but his got tight, still doable without major disassembly (just intake tubing off) but that turbo definitely let the wrenches know it was there! I love Simplifying while modifying, because i personally wrench on all my trucks, and i know most of you do as well. That's one of the reasons these engines are so appealing to me, bare bones simple and outstandingly durable as long as you keep up with maintenance...
 

6D9N24/7

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Here is a picture of the layout i am shooting for, this is a very well done version for a SBF mustang. identical concept.
 

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franklin2

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Do the headers give that much gain? Can the stock exhaust manifolds be turned around?
 

freebird01

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the old BAE systems kit kind of did that. Only they mounted the turbo just above the steering shaft and it was tiny. I had an 85 6.9 with that system. Personally i did not like it. I felt that the way the downpipe had bee run it caused issues with my brake system. cooking the fluid and ruining the proportioning valve causing my calipers to lock up. With that style of mount you could relocate the drivers side battery and place the turbo in that spot pretty easy i would think.
 

6D9N24/7

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I do not know if the headers would provide any hp gain, and flipping stock manifolds is definitely an option, but may hug the block too close I will check tolerances tonight. Another idea would be 180* exhaust tubing off the stock manifolds in the stock location may also be a good candidate. I just like the way the headers look!

I had no clue there was ever a kit made like that! Thanks for the info freebird!
 

icanfixall

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Look closely at both sides of the idi engines. The exhaust manifold logs are differant. The drivers side leaves the heads above the ports where the passenger side leaves below the ports. The big rig dump trucks with the idi had manifolds that were even more differant. They meptyed out the front near the radiater end of the heads. Might look into a set of those. They might fit.
 

6D9N24/7

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Thanks for the info fixall, I will check into those and see if there are any available nearby or on ebay. My 6.9 exhaust manifold gaskets will be here early tmr morning and we have some random exhaust manifold gaskets laying around the shop here I can try to find as well as have the parts store pull some for comparison, and will be taking pics to post up. This may also be a decent route to go as far as any of the N/A guys looking for a set of quality longtubes, or an alternative to what is already out there.

The link you added freebird is very interesting, I have never seen a kit for the 6.9 like that before and is very similar to what I plan on doing. Just a little different placement and a BIGGER TURBO! lol :backoff
 
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