Interested to see how some of you have your turbo setup done using the OBX (ebay) forward facing headers. VERY intgerested in single turbo setups especially using these. A buddy just bought them for his 91 bird and we want to get some ideas. The fit kind of sucked on the drivers side, but after some brake line re-routing and a bit of "clearencing", we got them in. Planning on cutting off the T3 flanges and welding on some 2.5" V-bands and going from there.

 

i'm also very interested in this . im subscribed

 

My buddy and I started fabricating his single turbo kit with them. We cut the T3 flanges off the ends and welded on some 2.5" V-bands. I will post pics ASAP. Merge pipe is almost done. Got sick of waiting for replies lol, so we'll be the guinea pigs!

 

Pics as promised of where were at so far with my buddies setup. Merge pipe is finished for the most part. Just have to connect it to the turbo. Then we'll make the downpipe and it should be good to go! The headers actually worked out pretty good, and look sweet in the engine bay!

Sorry for the crappy pics. They're off my buddies cell phone. I'll get better ones once we get more work done.

 

so they would clear my ac unit then ? thats what i been worried about .

 

No idea. You have the serpentine belt setup, correct? This car has V-belts and no A/C. Tough to say if they'd work on your setup, but they do physically fit in the bay pretty well.

 

i'm gonna put the turbo where the battery is an move it to the trunk . i'm gonna see is i flip my shorty header upside down if if it will work like that first . the obx is by second choice . i showed know here a few weeks tho .

 

where did you plumb the oil cooler into ? sorry i'm off topic but i been wondering about this an since your in the middle of thhis build ...

 

Not running an oil cooler on his setup. If you meant the turbo oil feed line, it's "T'ed" into the back of the block right behind the distributor. Theres an 1/8 inch threaded oil port there where some years had an oil pressure sensor.

 

where are running the oil line back from the turbo to ? my oil pressure senser is in the spot you mentioned so i'll just have to t it there
i'm thinking about useing the fuel pump block off plate to run the return line to

 

Thats where we have this one drained to...the fuel pump block off plate. Works good!

 

That is where I am running my return line to as well, the block off plate, works like a charm. Old pic, I removed this coolant fitting and replaced it with the larger fitting from off of the waterpump...

 

Couple new pics with my digital camera. Finished the merge pipe. Just have to fab up the downpipe and get the wastegate in there!

 

Nicely done. Is that a rear spring isolator holding up the turbo? Why you did not go with a bigger pipe size after the y merge?

 

Yep, thats a spring isolator lol. We used it to hold the turbo in place while we fabbed up the merge pipe going to it. We still have to make the brackets that keep the turbo bolted to the framerail.

And the piping that was on the setup before this was only 2" so this is WAY better than it being 2.5". Turbo setups in my experience do not need big merge pipe tubing because in the end it just causes you to lose exhaust gas velocity and slow down the spool.

 

How does the DP routing look?

 

make sure you ceramic coat the piping and the ex housing on the turbo....being right there it will heat up the hood quite a bit.....im using the forward facing headers too and im in the middle of redoing my crossover and down pipe due to under hood temps as well as the hood getting too warm

also where are you intending on putting the waste gate?

 

Came out good. He was able to fit a 3.5" downpipe right off the turbo and past the framerail. If I see him soon I'll try to get a few pics for ya.

 

The piping is all wrapped now with DEI heat wrap, and the turbo has a hotside blanket on it, so underhood temps should not be a problem. Wastegate is mounted as well right by where the T4 flange is. I will try to get pics of the finished setup when I see him again.

 

i even had mine wrapped and a turbo blanket on my turbo....still got pretty warm under there....i have a feeling you will encounter higher engine temps but i may be wrong....keep me posted on how hot it gets while your spoolin that turbo for a good period of time.

 

This car hasn't been run yet since it's still a work in progress, but my personal car with a 76mm turbo on a 5.3 will not go above 185* even on a warm day. Stock thermostat, stock 3rd gen radiator, and twin derale 2200 CFM pusher fans. Even if I go WOT through 3 gears, the temp doesn't budge. I have my piping all heat wrapped and a heavy duty turbo blanket. When you pop the hood after driving it, the warmth you feel is like a stock engine. Guess it's all in the setups and how efficient your cooling system is. I know those twin derales move some big air, and I have a good size custom made airdam on my car as well.

 

Thanks for the pics. The way those fit in is very interesting, and may prove useful for figuring out what to do on my project.

 

How close were they to hitting the steering box? What about header bolts are they a b*tch to fit? I use 1 1/4 Allen head bolts on mine with no problems at all but the header design seems to interfere and not allo for much room between the pipes and flanges but I could be wrong

 

here is what im using for forward facing headers.......i just finished curing the paint on them today.....thursday i will receive the rest of my piping to do the crossover

 

There was plenty of clearance by the steering box. Header bolts also weren't bad at all, but his car has no AC...that could make it worse. Only spot that was real close was the Steering linkage that comes out of the firewall. We actually had to take a mallet and slightly dent one of the header tubes for it to have about 1/4" of clearance at one spot. Other than that, no real issues with fitment.

Pretty sure those are the ebay OBX's. Look just like my buddies. Looks good so far!

 

thanks. i got them from a member here over a yr ago.....they have t3 flanges on them...but they do the job and the primaries are decently sized too

 

I have a quick and maybe stupid question, why a merge pipe? why just not run 1 passenger side front facing header, plumb to turbo, and run a shorty on the other, Y piping in nearly the original place of the factory exhaust?

 

the pics of headers in here appear to be the ssautochrome really cheap ebay headers that you find for $199, not the obx ones.
raynehr, your idea would work fine as well.

 

Thanks Diggler, I am in the plan/start spending phase on my Formula, planning a single turbo build, already have a set of shortys on my car, and know I am going to have to buy/make at least one for the turbo, was thinking about getting a front facing set, and just leaving my shorty on the drivers side after the motor build. I figure a bank of 4 will spin a decent sized turbo up just fine instead of trying to feed all 8 to one turbo (because that, in essence, is what the merge pipe is for). I don't like the idea of running exhaust between the radiator and harmonic balancer.

 

all 8 exhaust ports will need to be routed into the turbo. you can run your shorty header down, under the motor, and back up to the turbo, but you wouldnt want to simply run one side of the engine to the turbo and the other side out the back.

 

I know this thread is over a year old but is there any update on the headers. Im looking at getting a pair and was just wondering if u had any negatives to say about them. Ta