NOT A MIATA, FE3N+HOLSET+73 FORD COURIER BUILD
 

my buddy said that you all would like to see my fast piece of shit im building. heres a copy and paste of my build thread from ----------------------


so i picked up this ford courier a few moths back with the dream of decent handling, solid braking, and 500whp.

what im going to be using:

Engine:
Kia/mazda FE3N possibly gasket matched ports but thats about it

Induction:
Holeset HX35 with BEP T3 housing
Tial MVS 38mm external waste gate

Drive train:
Mazda B2600 trans- possibly with the RX7 TII gears inside
99 Ford Explorer 8.8 3.73 lsd 31 spline with disc brakes
custom drive shaft
i havent decided on what clutch im going to run yet, i loved my spec so i might go that route

Suspension:
Rear:
triangulated 4 link with coil overs mounted as far out as possible
Front:
full mustang 2 front end narrowed 5"

Brakes:
front Ford Granada 11" rotors with metric GM calipers and pads(standard Mustang II "big brake" set up)
stock ford explorer rear discs, calipers, and e brake


there is a lot i have to get into place before i can even get the engine/trans mounted

first i had to weld in some temporary cross members to keep the frame straight. then i got to remove the stock garbage. 6 hrs, one plasma cutter tip, 4 cut off wheels, and 2 full grinding wheels later the frame rails were all pretty
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj146/aintnobitch/courier/stock%20front%20end.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj146/aintnobitch/courier/stock%20front%20end%20removed.jpg
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using this awesome thread How to Mustang II, Deux! The H.A.M.B. i was able to figure out i needed my cross member to be narrowed 5" to set the proper track width.
i drew up my measurements on a piece of 10ga plate and got cutting
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i bolted the 2 plates together, leveled my frame,centered them on my lines, leveled the cross member, and weled them up
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I made the upper control arm mounts out of 1/4 plate. i used the mustang 2 anti-dive angle instead of making them flat because its a truck and it will be front end heavy.
i centered and bolted the uca mounts to a pair of extra bars i had laying around to make sure they didnt move. i then double checked that the frame was level and centered the uca mounts with a plumb bob. once they were welded into place i boxed them in with 10ga plate and gusseted the over hang and welded in the shock mounts which are also made from 1/4 plate.
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http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...ck%20mount.jpg

slow at work so me and my boss started playing around with ideal ride height. put the tires(245-40-17) in the wheel wells and set it on stands but then we got busy so i spent the rest of the day staring at it. the more i stared the more i wanted to drive it. with that motivation i finished my tubular control arms mounts, welded in cross member reinforcements and got my main steering rack mount in. tonight i pulled the cab off to fit the engine. looks like the fire wall will need to pushed back round 8 inches to get the engine seated low enough and back enough to make me happy. more pics to come

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https://www.miataturbo.net/ width=35...110_180323.jpg
https://www.miataturbo.net/width=359...110_193050.jpg

after a week of going back and forth with amazon trying to get my Chassis Engineering rack mount kit and continuously getting the wrong part i said fuck it im making my own.

a piece of 1/2" wide by 2" tall aluminum
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making threaded inserts
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finally mounted. i could probably lift the car from this rack lol
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More please.

im fixing the broken links first, its gonna be a years worth of build thread posted today lolo

playing with some card board i came up with my engine mount brackets. took a few tries but i think i have the design down.Gonna make them out of the same 10ga the cross member is made of... when all boxed up it should be plenty strong enough to hold my projected 500whp in place.

P.S. when im done im gonna turn this thread into a photo album that stays in my truck to beat the fuck out of all the fags cambered out with rims with "built not bought" stickers

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i transferred my cardboard design to some 10ga.Cut them out with a plasma cutter then welded all 4 together so i could grind them into shape and drill the holes. bolted them to the mounts to get the proper spacing. removed the center collar from the bushing and bolted it in by itself before welding it up. i might have the motor in this weekend.

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https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ddf8851a1b.gif

i took the week off of work for a vacation but ended up not going. just more time to work on my truck. finished the trans cross member/mounts. used the same poly bushings that i used for the engine mounts on a piece pf 1x2. with the engine and trans set where i wanted them i started cutting until the cab fit. over the engine/trans. this FE3N is a little bigger than i first thought it was.

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pulled the cab back off to fix some rust before making the new tunnel. turns out there is a shit ton more rust than i originally thought so now i have to fix all of that before i can even think of making a floor. im a very shitty body guy so any tips will be appreciated. im just taking what i think is the logical approach and cutting everything out until there is good solid metal, tracing a pattern onto some 20ga, cut, drill, plug weld.

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got the cab mounted back to the frame and started working on my floor boards with my shitty harbor freight bead roller. didnt turn out too bad considering the tools and that this is the first floor ive ever made.

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before and after bead rolling
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Ford courier...I used to drive one when I was like 14 around a campground picking up trash. Always wondered how cool it would be to bitch one out. Nice selection!

started putting my floor in today. using self tappers to tack it all in place while i form the tranny tunnel. as soon as it all fits to my liking i will seam weld the whole floor in place.

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this floor is taking forever and i havent even started welding on it yet.

i hand formed the rough shape of the fire wall and screwed it into place. the self tapping screws are very helpful cause i was able make all the marks for bending and cutting, remove it from the cab, make all the bends and cuts and put it back in the exact location so everything lines up.

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it was a long day so i didnt get pics of all the shaping and bending of the flanges to join the new fire wall to the cab.

after it was all screwed into place i took my harbor freight body hammers and beat the shit out of the lower sides where i dont need a lot of engine bay space to gain a little foot room. after its all welded im gonna pull the cam and have q buddy hold a dolly on one side so i can smooth out some of the hammer marks.

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6 hours of welding later i have just about all of the top of my floor welded. it doesnt look like any of it warped. i pulled the cab off to get to the bottom seams right before i left for the day. should be able to finish welding it tomorrow and maybe even put primer on it.

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i was expecting to have to do some bracing but its incredibly solid as it sits with barely any flex even with my fat ass crawling around on it. when i put the seat rails in i will be adding some overkill bracing top and bottom. thats just to make sure the seat stays put if i ever do hit anything.

finished the floor and got it seam sealed and primered. there are two spots on the upper fire wall that i missed and will be finishing them today. i just needed t get the primer on it before today so i dont have to worry abut it rusting while it sits outside

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more progress. i picket up upper control arms, steering stuff, 2003 Saab 93 seats, and a short side axle to narrow my 8.8 rear end.

the seats take up a little more room than i originally thought but they are heated, power leather seats and say "Turbo" in the middle so ill work around that. i pulled the seat cover off and cut out the "hump" on the back of the back rest for more clearance. that wasnt enough so i also trimmed the rear cab brace to get an extra few inches. after the seat was installed i realized how little room i had left for my pedals so i had to cut the fire wall out and extend it back into the engine bay.
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spent most of the day working on narrowing my 8.8. i chose the hard way and drilled the plug welds and hammered out the axle tube then reinstalled it lining up all my marks. it was a huge pain in the ass and if i were to do another i would just cut and weld the tube. installing it was even worse than removing it. i used 2 2200lb eye bolts and shackles hooked to a 2600lb chain through the pumpkin with some bearing press dies threaded around the eye bolts. i had to tighten the bolt as hard as i could then beat the fuck out of it while its under tension with a hammer then repeat steps 1 & 2 for eternity each time only moving the tube a millimeter or two. giant pain in the ass but its done and im over it.

drain
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mark
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drill- 1/4, 5/16, 18.5mm mill bit
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remove all fancy like
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difference in left vs right axle 2 7/8"
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fancy press tool
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doing some more assembly. the truck is a bit lighter than i expected it to be. it cant even compress one jaguar rear coil spring(jags have 2 per side). the shocks just stay topped out and dont even sag when i stand on the front bumper. narrowing the axle made the spring perches the perfect width to bolt it back up to the leaf springs for mock up. feels good to see this thing back on its own wheels after 9 months.

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almost done with the fire wall
passenger side finally done
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steering support in place and basic shape of teh drivers pedal area worked out
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extended floor piece for the gas pedal shaped out
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all welded in
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picking up the pieces to install my 4 link this weekend. the threaded bungs i got were 1" OD so i made some sleeves out of 1.5" .250" wall DOM to fit them snugly into the 1.75" .125" wall DOM im using for the links.

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cut all the stock tabs off of the 8.8 so its ready for the 4 link tabs. i grossly underestimated how much time and grinding that this would take.
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i fabbed up some sleeves to replace the front coil springs and made spacers for the rear to set ride height to give me an idea of what needed to be where. its a little higher than i thought it would be but it still looks good. if i decide to slam it out i can get drop spindles to keep my control arm alignment in the front.

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doin more work. seemed like i didnt really get shit done this weekend cause it takes forever to plan out shit than to actually build it. only have 2 links done but i know where the other 2 are going so the fab work should go quickly.

pulled the cab and bed off so i could take accurate measurements and make sure everything is perfectly lined up. measured everything at least 20 times before welding. then measures 10 more after tacking it in place.
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trying to get the most angle and still keeping it true 4 link i combined the top frame mount 3 tabs, 2 bushings one bolt.
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the links
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finished the lower bars and got the brackets tacked into place. ill pull the rear end out tonight and finish welding it all in and mock up the coil over tabs. ill also cut the crossmember out thats over the pinion while im at it.

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i think im going to have the frame powder coated and obnoxious neon orange like this. i think it will pop with the blue
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i finally found someone selling a Holset that is not a fucking flake. i want fast spool and drivabiility over peak power so i was looking at HY35's but came across this HE341W for $200. spins freely and has zero play. im so happy to finally have it to start mocking up my engine bay!

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its slow going to to lack of funds and its hella nice out so ive been on my mountain bike a lot. a buddy of mine had my flanges laser cut so i can start mocking up the manifold. heres where the turbo is gonna go.

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Just got my weld els! Should have a manifold by this weekend!

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I got runners 1 and 4 done so far, I feel retarded fir how hard it is to fit the pieces together...

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Should have plenty of room for the down pipe and heat shields.

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i ran out of argon before i could finish all of the bottom welds but its just about done. trying to figure out the order to do the finish welding in was a pain and took forever.

had to weld up 1,2,& 4 with 3 out then weld the 1-3 collector elbow onto the T3 flange. then the elbow off of thttp://www.----------------------/forum/Themes/core/images/bbc/ftp.gifhe head flange had to be welded completely to the straight bit. it left just enough room between 1&2 runners to fit the torch in there to finish off #3

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looks like the only spot to mount my Tial MVS is gonna be straight on top of my #3 runner. ive seen manifolds that do this but not sure how i feel about only tapping into 1 runner for the wastegate. even if its right at the collector.

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manifold is done! just gotta send it off to get ceramic coated now.

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a look down into the wastegate flange
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started out with a bronco 2 tilt column cause it was the most compact. cut abut a foot off of the housing and cut the outer support cup off and welded it to the shorter shaft. i was able to pic the ignition lock and bought a new replacement from autozone for $16 with 2 keys
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i tacked the piece of angle to the firewall and built this shitty bracket to hold it all up. after every thing was tacked in place i broke the tacks to remove and fully weld all the seams.

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Slow progress is still progress... finally got my passenger seat rails welded in and the seat mounted. Sold one of my cars so I finally have some cash to order parts and hopefully get this thing running.
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Extended arp wheel studs and new wheels fitted to measure for spacers
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bought a Greddy knock off s13 sr20det intake manifold. the casting looks like garbage and they machined a one of the vacuum ports wrong and put a hole in it. My expectations were pretty low for $89 shipped but i was still disappointed. if this works i may buy a real Greddy manifold. . i decided to build an adapter instead of just swapping flanges because the runners in the head are pretty steep pointing up and the runners on the manifold point down. i figured rotating the flanges for a straight shot would increase power potential.

i didnt have an SR20DET flange so i had to make one. i would usually use a gasket as a stencil fot the flange but it wont be here til Friday and im impatient. i used a trick my high school auto shop teacher taught me, thin cardboard/paper put a couple of bolts in the holes and hammer. traced the template onto steel and cut it with a plasma cutter. then used a carbide cutter to smooth it out

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put the manifold against the head to work out what angle it needed to be then tack welded the two flanges together to make sure everything would bolt up. and it does. i can still get my oil filter off too which is nice.

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im building the runners today so more pics later

done!
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a little confusing to look at but i bolted both flanges to the intake manifolds to keep them from warping while welding.

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[img]htttp://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj146/aintnobitch/courier/20160717_151913.jpg[/img]
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painted all pretty

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final assembly

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all caught up. this documents the last year of my life

I love seeing build threads like this, so cool! I wouldn't know where to start with something like that and most likely it would end up in the scrap heap after cutting it up for a build and not knowing how to make it whole again lol.

awwww yis. for the record, I am "his buddy" :)
and will be tuning this insane contraption. Then we will proceed to hurt feelings with it

And tires, too?

Oh hells yes. I heard the grumblings and I'm glad to see this build made it over to MT. I eventually need to come up north ad see this thing :bigtu:

I thought I was getting close til I starated making a to-do list. :(

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I thought I was getting close til I starated making a to-do list. :( anyone see anything I missed?

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Yesss. More updates please.

My turbo outlet flange and clamp came from pure diesel performance today. I might get the exhaust started this weekend

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ive decided to go with a 1987 S-10 Blazer fuel tank. its cheap, it fits between the frame rails, and it uses an intank pump. again ive tried to order the direct fit straps and nothing fits so im making all of my own mounting hardware out of some square tubing and 2" strap steel.

it took longer to square and level the tank in the frame than it did to make the upper brackets. im going to use some rubber hose slipped over the strap to protect the tank.

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Busy weekend. Finished mounting my fuel tank, finished my shifter, got my escort ZX2 center console mocked up, and found a throttle body.

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[img width=337 height=600]http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj146/aintnobitch/courier/20160903_165009.jpeg[/img]

I saw one of these on the road the other day.
it is SMALL! like, the miata equivalent of a truck small.

I want wheelies!!!

Awesome work!
I have a b2600i and have mulled tinkering with the fe3. Does the fe3 block mount to the b2600i trans cleanly?

I also want wheelies lol

Depends on year, if it's 88-93 (G6) block it's the same a pattern as the FE3N

Self esteem... dying...

You'd know that if you ever stopped by the shop :'(
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...73ce83938e.jpg

:bowrofl: one of these days, I promise

i had to move the truck to a different stall at work than it usually goes into and i found that the tires rub the cab now that have the spacers on them. the spacers need to be there and im sticking with 245/40/17s all around so i had to do some more cutting and welding. i used some thicker 16ga to keep it from distorting when my fat ass pushes on it to settle in my seat. i was worried that it would take up more of my limited leg room but the little extra isnt noticable

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It looks so plain with the hood on. I guess it will work in my favor for sleeper status...

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Nice :bigtu:

double post

i started on the hvac. after a lot of looking around i decided on using all of it out of a 2001 kia sephia. cheap to replace, lots of them every where and the size of everything seemed about right. im going to be putting the evap and heater core in a custom box that is gonna make up the front of my center console. i didnt want to take away from the tiny bit of space that my passengers have to put their feet.

so far i have the blower motor mounted.

fresh out of the junk yard for $60
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massive evap. should keep my cab nice and chilly on those 100*+ days
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heater core is alot smaller but i have heated seats so im not worried.
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i didnt take pics of the mounting but there is a 10ga plate that is welded to the underside of the cowling with studs in it to bolt the blower to. that blower pushes a ton of air. im building a box that will cover it and hold a cabin filter.
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finished my hood latch support. it works, just need to grind the welds and make it pretty.

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