Can you Turbo a 3FE?

[akarilo]

The FMU has a base fuel pressure setting that is set at atmosphere. When the vacume line is hooked back up the diaphram lifts and the stock pressure resumes. As the engine is transitioning from vacume into boost, the fuel pressure rises with a ratio that coensides with the boost pressure.
The FMU also has a bleed valve with a one way check valve in it. This is used to fine tune the rate of rise.

I am in the process of putting together an additional injector controller setup. That will eliminate the FMU and allow for a very fine tune, improving mileage as well.

 

[matt.mcinnes]

Ok this manifold design has now been official copied and will be used in the setting up of my 2F-ETI,

top work Akarilo

 

[akarilo]

Cool. Here's another shot for reference purposes.

 

[cullmancruiser]

This has been a very interesting thread. I'm still leaning toward the 4BT Cummins swap for my rig because my main interest is improving fuel mileage but if I was going to stay with a gasser this looks to be a way cheaper and easier thing to do than a V8 swap. The manifold looks great except for the one abrupt turn that will hurt flow but I know that compromises have to be made because of space limitations.
One question I haven't seen addressed is vacuum accessories. Have you had any problems with the power brake booster or the transfer case vacuum shifter? do you have check valves in those lines or you using some kind of vacuum accumulator? At speeds the turbo would come into play this might not be an issue.
If I decide not to do the Cummins thing I probably will go the turbo route. I am a machinist and welder in a diesel fuel injection and turbocharger remanufacturing shop so this would not be difficult for me to do. We have thousands of turbos laying around to fit everything from motorcycles to locomotives. Thanks for giving me this idea, I hadn't even considered the possibility of turbocharging my rig.

 

[matt.mcinnes]

Cool. Here's another shot for reference purposes.

Cool, I will go with a 2 into 1 at the Turbo manifold rather than teeing it in but saves a fortune over fabricating a custom 6 in to 1 using the 3F-E headers which I had not considered until your post.

Just to give you some idea of the saving the 6 into 1 was going to be over $2500Aus custom made in stainless steel.

The 2 into 1 will just be over $500Aus and that includes the ceramic coating


The are on me

 

[slow91fj90]

Akarilo's turbo setup is great

OK, I got everthing ready to start to copy your build but dont know where I can find that exact Turbo you are running, I know its a IHI off and older mustang, but havent been able to find one yet. I didnt know that there was so many differnt types of IHI Turbos. I want to get the same one as you because of the size issues. Or if you know of a similar turbo that would work, any more info would be great.

 

[alkaline747trio]

Any of the other turbos that came on the Ford 4-bangers, others will just have a very slight amount of lag over the one he used, but will make more overall boost.

Matt...would you or your fabricator be willing to make duplicates or draft it in CAD for us Americaner's to copy?

 

[alkaline747trio]

You said you had played with fuel pressure before turbo'ing it, how were you doing that?

 

[matt.mcinnes]

Any of the other turbos that came on the Ford 4-bangers, others will just have a very slight amount of lag over the one he used, but will make more overall boost.

Matt...would you or your fabricator be willing to make duplicates or draft it in CAD for us Americaner's to copy?

Happy to look into that, mine will be fabricated up mid Sept all been well. Quite happy to have more than one made and sure the more I order the cheaper the cost, Though final price may vary from quote, As for been drafted in CAD I can ask the question, as a one off I would say no but if I start to ask for more than one with prospective orders they may elect to CAD it for replication. The 3F-E market is very limited here in Oz as it was only ever available in the 80 series 90-92 and some of the early 80's still had a 3F

Shipping would not be a great expense.

The one I was planning would have the same flow lengths to the Turbo manifold and made in Stainless Steel utilizing the 3F-E's headers, ceramic coating would be optional.

The easiest way may be for me to have mine made and photographed, and for you to just show a pic to your nearest fabrication place.

 

[akarilo]

You said you had played with fuel pressure before turbo'ing it, how were you doing that?

I installed the FMU and raised the base fuel pressure without the vacume line attatched. After re-connecting the line, the fuel pressure falls back to normal. When you accelerate, the FMU's diaphragm lowers (due to less vacume being pulled on it) and raises the fuel pressure. This is the feature that makes the BEGI much more adjustable than most FMU's. It will actually start raising pressure during the transition from vacume into boost, thus avoiding a momentary "lean spot" when boost comes on.

 

[alkaline747trio]

Ok, that answers my question. So, it looks like turboing a 3FE is becoming easier, and will be especially easy if matt in Oz can get the turbo mount made, and made for a reasonable price. Matt, how are you planning on doing the wastegate? Identical to akarilo?

 

[matt.mcinnes]

Yep waste gate will be something along the same line.

 

[crushers]

to reduce the charge pipe even more have you considered changing the intercooler to a top mount with a scoop on the hood?
nice setup, i would love to go for a ride along someday...
cheers

 

[akarilo]

To much heat soak for a top mount. Besides, the pipes arn't really any longer than your avaerage turbo'd rice burner.

 

[akarilo]

Heat Shield

Turbos tend to add quite a bit of heat under the hood! August in Oklahoma doesn't help matters either. I fabbed this heat shield today from 1/8" mild steel 3" bar stock. Looking forward to reaping the benefits, (hopefully anyway).

 

[tclndcrz]

Did you ever bump it up to 6psi? If so.. how does it feel?

 

[akarilo]

The six pound spring netted 5psi with the wastegate being plumbed at the intake manifold. I am really impressed with the results and am considering going with a couple more psi. I just got an Innovate wideband and datalogger and can't wait to get all the sensors wired up. The narrow band gauge showed the engine going lean under boost regardless of how much fuel was added, but the info was false.
Now a slight adjustment can be made to injector pulse width and it is immediately noticable with the wideband. Turns out I was really running around 13.9 afr under full boost. I will richen it up about a point and bump the pressure a hair. Then it will be time for a DYNO!

 

[Tapage]

Your plans are point up to 12.8 or so . ?

 

[matt.mcinnes]

What news on your progress?

 

[akarilo]

I recently added a wideband and datalogger setup. I've been constantly working on getting the AFR smoothed out. A few variables that have been encountered are;

Auto tranny puts a wide variety of loads on the engine and it makes it difficult to get a good compromised tune for different load parameters. I did a run with the tranny kick-down cable disconnected, (it's really not needed anymore), but the tranny was confused when accelerating from a stop. I need to research more about the function of the cable and see if it can work smooth without it.

Open loop vs. closed loop is exciting as well. The truck has a tendancy to go lean at initial boost onset, due to the factory ECU attempting to pull back the added fuel. I've run the vehicle in open loop (by disconnecting the O2 sensor) but it is much too rich in the cruise regions. Maybe I should go the megasquirt route and say to hell with the factory ECU.

All of this said really amounts to nothing, as the truck is a blast to drive and has gobs more power than stock. I just get kind of anal when it comes to tuning. The truck is currently running 6psi and I WILL eventually dyno it when I'm done with the tuning.