Come on Greg, with your knowledge and fab skills you are telling me you can't build your own turbo manifold?? There are more then one company out there that sell the stainless bits and pieces( elbows, collectors, etc. ). The hardest part would be having someone with a plasma table/laser cutter? water jet/etc. cut out a head flange for the 240/300. I've seen more then one Honda kid build some amazing looking/performing turbo manifold. If they can do it I know you could.


You don't really need a really low compression ratio with a turbo. 8.8:1 -9.0:1 is more then doable. You just need the fuel system that can back it up and keep things safe. Water/Methanol injection is a good addition with a turbo. So is running E85 or even both combined. If you can get the tune right then the compression isn't too big of a deal. Plus a slightly higher compression will make more power with less boost.

Yep, the 351W is the best fit for V8 pistons. Same bore, same or close enough compression height. You just need to work around the piston pin diameter ( .912" ) . Either run the 65-67 early connecting rods ( stronger then late rods because no oil squirters ) that have the .912 small end or have the 68-97 rods ( their oil squirters may be beneficial with running boost even though slightly less strength ) bushed down from .975" to .912".

For some reason a lot of people like to run a 390 FE piston. But I don't like going more then .040" over on a NA engine let alone a boosted one. The cylinders are just too thin. And you are just asking for trouble especially if you consider stuff like core shift on the block castings. If boring more then .030" over you really should have the block sonic checked for cylinder wall thickness.

But if you are going Forged pistons and you should on a boosted application. There companies that build custom pistons. And that's is the best solution and a I believe a couple of them weren't a whole lot more expensive then a off the shelf piston. But with a budget build a off the shelf 351W is a good choice too.

 

Well honestly fellas this is the most informative community I've ever been apart of. I am thankful to be a part and hopefully a regular around here by the time this build is said and done.
i think the custom piston route may he the best option, maybe not the cheapest. But it could be made exact to specification. I will just have to shop around and see if there is anyone reputable in the birmingham metro area. Any ideas?
as far as water/meth injection. I was hoping to avoid it unless absolutely necessary. Do y'all think if I plan the build well enough I can tune out detonation with traditional tuning alone? I know there are a lot of variables here, but I don't plan to take this truck to the drag strip and run pass after pass. It's really all just for personal satisfaction..
i need to do some more research into a good blow through carb, since I plan to run dual carbs. I have access to a plasma and laser cutting table and welders at work. So I can prolly fabricate a 2 into 1 top hat for the carbs. But one step at a time lol I keep getting ahead of myself. More to come this weekend on actual progress thanks again.

 

I doubt you will find anything local for custom pistons. You will probably have to order them. I believe Pmuller9 over at Fordsix.com has had good luck with Autotec pistons. They are probably going to be the cheapest or one of the cheapest for some good custom pistons. I know Diamond pistons are also a good choice but I'm pretty sure they would cost a lot more.

Do you plan to run race gas or E85? The water/meth. injection helps a whole lot to avoid detonation. Especially if you want to run pump gas. If you don't want to run it then I suggest running on E85. The E85 will have a higher octane rating ( around 105 ) and it runs much cooler then gas. It combined with the carb venturis you should get a decent drop in the IAT. You do that with a good intercooler and you could be safe. But it's a whole lot better to have the water/meth injection set up kick in when you hit a certain amount of boost. Think of it as added insurance. I'm sure you could get by without it, if you really want to.

 

Its not that I can't build my own. I've done stainless exhaust manifolds. Not exactly an overnight project. And the one on my champ car avatar was real expensive to do. Each stainless steel mandrel bend cost $46 at the local aircraft tubing supply house. That's $276 just to get the gasses to exit at right angles and begin to transition into a merge collector. Or three. So throw in the 3/8 thick flange plate and some bungs and flanges and you're lookin' at getting not much change back from a thousand dollar bill. To say nothing of the BOV and wastegate.

After I complete my champ car and Anglia projects I may have the time to conjure up a turbo program. But I'm not fooling myself thinking it'll be cheap.
Or simple.

 

Yea I know it's not cheap. I'm building two sets of custom mild steel full length headers for my projects with 1/2" flanges and 14 gauge mandrel U-bends, merge collectors and V-band clamps at the collectors. I've got probably $700-$800 into parts and supplies to build them. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense when I could have bought a pair for $200-$300. But I wanted a stronger set built and designed by me. So I had to pay.

Even if there was an aftermarket turbo manifold available It would probably be at least $1500. Good ones aren't cheap. Turbo set ups are not cheap or as simple as people think they are. There's a reason I like the positive displacement blowers instead!

 

I'm planning to just run on pump gas. 93 octane. I know it's not required for a low compression engine. It just burns cleaner and leaves less deposit over time. I never considered E85 so I am un educated on what is involved for that conversion.
but I do think I've come up with the bottom end solution to the build. Factory forged 300 crank cleaned shaved if needed and balanced. Arp mains. Then factory 300 rods cleaned balanced ect with arp rod bolts with a set of low compression dishes forged 351w pistons.
I believe y'all said the only issue I might run into is finding ones with the right wrist pin size correct? And of course formulating the correct length set up as far as compression height is concerned.
Ivthink the factory rods will be strong enough to hold 15 to 20 lbs, don't y'all?
I also think I have a turbo in the works. I have a buddy that works at a turbo shop here in alabaster Alabama and we're gonna get together about what I'm looking for so he can build a custom turbo for me.. so things are beginning to come together. Just have to find some time not at work to get things rolling. I'll check back in soon thanks again guys

 

Another thing I thought about when it come to the head machine work, is there is no point to give them the head and tell them to go to town on it. It should be port matched to the Clifford intake (maybe they can port it some also) and to the custom turbo manifold. Any other material removed beyond that is unnecessary if I'm thinking correctly? What do you think? Along with blending the runners ect ect

 

I'm with you there. Stainless is lifetime and less problematic when it comes to corrosion. I like to think of making this stuff as building monuments to myself. They'll be here long after I'm gone.

 

Don't obsess over opening up the runners to match the gasket openings. Concentrate on the areas around the valve seats and bowls / guides. I'll quote Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins one more time, "The further you move away from the valve seats the less effect your efforts will have on flow."

 

I seriously doubt you'll be running 15-20 pounds of boost on straight 93 octane. I think you are going to be more likely limited to 5-8 pounds of boost. I might be wrong. But I think 15-20 pounds of boost is going to need E85 and water/meth injection.

Good luck finding a factory steel crank. They are getting hard to find. And when you do it will probably cost you $500-$800 for one that needs to have all the machine work done to it.

If you want to run 351W pistons you will need to find a early set of 300 connecting rods ( 1965-1967 ) . They don't have the oil squirter which makes them a little stronger. They have the correct .912" piston pin diameter. You will still need to have them bushed for full floating pins for most forged pistons. If you want to run your current rods you will have to find someone that can bush them down from .975" to the .912". All 351W pistons will have a .912" piston pin diameter unless they are stroker pistons ( which will be too short for your build ) > Most stroker pistons are a .927" chevy size piston pin.






I don't have the equipment and probably the skill to weld stainless that's why I'm using mild steel. But sticking with steel instead of stainless is the same reason I'm building my intakes out of steel instead of aluminum. I don't have the equipment or the skill to weld either. I do all my fab work and welding in my driveway and use a flux core wire feed welder. Uglier welds but I can do it out side without loosing the shielding gas. Hopefully( if I win the lottery ) I will be having them ceramic coated though. Which again will pretty much double the price again.



I don't know if this is the case with the 300 head. It's so bad on the ports. I was able to remove a lot of material. I still need to see if it actually helped or hurt the flow though. The aftermarket intakes pretty much are what they are. They aren't thick enough in the runners to make a whole lot of difference. I need to get a flow bench built so I can do some testing!

 

So I've made my first "supplies" buy haha it wasn't the primary purchase, but then again there is probably going to be several different buys.
So far I bought all the arp stuff for the whole build
7/16 rocker studs (kinda guessed on overall length on these, think they were 1.9?)
Main studs
Head studs
Rod bolts
Clifford Exhaust studs
Went ahead and got the Harland Sharps Roller rockers as well (they have them for 7/16 studs!)
so there isn't too much I can do except the tear down really, but hey it all was necessary so progress is made.
So I believe I have decided on a cam for the build. It's the baddest I can find other than a custom grind, the Crower 19312. It supposed to be for high cr build but I see it working well. It's just a matter of mating the correct turbo for proper spool for the low end. Cause it's a mid to high rpm torque builder.
im going to have to have a boost referencing fuel regulator for sure and a programmable spark box.
So the only things I'm uneducated on for the build are a good oil supply for the turbo other than a stand alone they are super pricey. I could use the factory oil filter housing machined and tapped for a 90 elbow i suppose. Anything simpler you guys have discovered? Single in single out back to the oil pan. That's easy.
Also back to the carbs, I suppose 2 4 barrels will over feed her? I'm used to v8s and they can handle some fuel. I know the way my 300 is now she can DRINK some fuel.. like 9 mpg.
What cfm 2 barrels do y'all recommend? Will the factory mechanical fuel pump suffice or will I need an electric unit for duals? I'm guessing dual Holley 350 2 barrels sounds about right?
Found some .912 OEM 240 rods on fleabay for decently priced, but I think considering the length difference, which I know could easily be compensated for by piston height, I'll prolly bush down the factory .972 rods mainly due to it being 6 less items required to buy. I'm already anxious enough about this build.
It's going to be paycheck at a time fellas. Thankyall so much for the help. It's gonna be well worth the wait at the end. And please y'all let me know if my thoughts are askewed and the build in any way.
I suppose after I tear it down this weekend and take all these pics next week after I collect the rest of my parts for the head. It along with block will get sent off to the machine shop.

 

Sounds like you have a good list already going. I'm looking forward to the progress on this build.

As for the cam, that looks to be a very aggressive racing cam. RPM range of 3500 to 7000. You might want to contact Crower and ask them how they think it would go with your build. That's their area of expertise, they they might guide you to something better (if that one ins't a good match). Otherwise, I'm not well versed on how cams go with turbo setups.

On the carbs, I'm wondering if the 350cfm 2bbls might be a little small. 1 and 2 bbl carbs are rated differently than 4bbl carbs. To compare, divide a 1/2bbl cfm by the square root of 2 (1.414213). So, a 350cfm 2bbl is equivalent to a 247cfm 4bbl. Two would be around a 500cfm 4bbl. That'd probably be just about perfect for a N/A motor, but with a turbo, I would think you'd want a little more flow.

As for connecting rods, here's some Ford 300 connecting rods with the 0.912" wrist pin:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-64-68-...sAAOSwDNdVv5-e


And totally understandable on the paycheck at a time build! That's how I did mine. I started on Jan 31st, 2016 and my engine was finally installed on April 6th, 2017. It was hard not to get anxious, but the slower pace helped me really make sure I knew every square inch of my build and that everything was just how I wanted it to be. So, no rush!

 

I don't know how much I'd trust any mounting hardware from clifford. I think I'd stick with all ARP stuff.


Do you really want to deal with the extra hassle of a solid lifter cam?? You are already tackling a complicated set up, why make it even more complicated??? Myself I like the Crower 19205 Hydraulic flat tappet cam. I'm also pretty sure that Sick6 also ran the 19205 in his turbo 300 and loved it. It also has the 110 LSA which should be better for a turbo set up then the 19312's 105 LSA.

You don't have a whole lot of choices if you are going new carb as far as 2V carbs go. You've got the Holley 350 cfm ( I think it's list # 7448 ?? ) Or the Holley 500 cfm 2V ( list # 4412 ) Otherwise you are left with some very expensive performance versions of the 2V Holley's. If you don't think the 350's will be enough go with the 500's. If you want to run 2-4V carbs go for it. It will just be that much more complicated and more tuning.





Most people don't go aggressive enough with cams. The 300 doesn't work like your basic V8 does when it comes to cams. I don't think the 19312 is the best choice because it's a solid lifter cam and the LSA is a little too narrow. I was going to put the 19205 into the engine going into my E350. Which is totally nuts to most people. But I decided I'm going to go custom and get one with a little less lift and run a 1.75:1 Crower roller rockers.

 

Yea that's what I was literally just doing is massive amounts of research! It's so funny how when you have the WANT to learn somerhing you can virtually become an EXPERT on it overnight.. figuratively speaking of course.
Anyways about the carbs, I'm seeing mixed reviews all over the internet about running dual autolites 2100.. let alone blow through. considering I'm going the boosted route and haven't bought the intake yet I can always change my mind, though I still believe 2 carbs would be an awesome build!! I have yet to find anybody doing anything similar yet, which is why I want to do it even worse.
Probably will attempt either way... I wish there were some "mild" blow through carbs off the shelf. If there is I can't find any..yet. I'm scouring.
I love tinkering with stuff so I'm down for a challenge!
For engine management msd makes a brain box specifixaspe designed for boost control.. it's expensive but sounds like the ticket for detonation control.
That kicks the DUI dizzy out the door though cause it's an hei, I'm sure it could be done but not as easily as a standard Distributor.
Research research research lol

 

I love the autolite carbs! I've got somewhere between 20-30 of them sitting on my shelves. I'm building my own intake manifolds and am going 2 Autolite 2100's on my 300 and 3 2100's on my 240 build. The Autolites are great carbs!

But in a blow thru set up you will want the extra tune-ability of the Holley 2300's. You'll just have to deal with the added leaks the holleys always end up having.

Dual carbs is going to add more hassle with the blow thru set up. But I believe the more even air fuel distribution will more then make up for the extra hassle. A single carb especially when you add boost is going to end up with some lean cylinders. The dual carbs will help that greatly.