project isperom (more psi)

the story of project isperom

the 2003/2004 ford svt mustang cobra has already etched its name � terminator � into the history books as the most powerful production mustang thus far. with its base rating of 390 horsepower and 390 foot-pounds of torque, the eaton-supercharged, cast-iron block, forged internal 4.6l is more than an even mildly-unstable mustang enthusiast could wish for from the factory. throw in a heavy-duty t-56 transmission, a 3.55 gear ratio and some sinister good looks and even the most hardcore tuners may be satisfied. adding to its legacy, the phenomenal handling right off the show-room floor is eerily reminiscent of its venerable, open-track-monster older-brother � the 2000 cobra r. with 600 pound per inch springs in the front and rear, bilstein gas-charged shocks and struts, beefed-up stabilizer bars, 2-piston 13 inch brembo brakes up front and an 8.8 inch independent rear suspension, the similarities to its widely respected predecessor are obvious. without a doubt, the 2003/2004 ford svt mustang cobra met and exceeded the majority of the mustang-loving population�s wildest expectations.

for some, however, the 2003/2004 terminator is merely a platform for their dreams of a street-legal, daily-driver super car. thanks to an aftermarket teeming with a wide variety of well-manufactured choices for various bolt-on modifications, this sort of thing is well within nearly any enthusiast�s grips. a high-performance muffler system and an air intake put the vast majority of �03/�04 cobras well into the 400 rear-wheel horsepower realm. add a smaller supercharger pulley and a custom tune and between 50 and 90 more rear-wheel horsepower can be had. for those who want even more, bolt-on aftermarket superchargers and nitrous oxide systems are also readily available to catapult you into the 500, 600, 700 rear-wheel horsepower domains, within sight of the 800 rear-wheel horsepower mark. these types of modifications put the terminator on a road that very few vehicles have ever traveled. but what happens if that�s not quite enough?

it takes a different type of human being to look at what most people see as the pinnacle of high-horsepower setups and say, �i want more.� there is one method of forced induction that has no parasitic drag and typically a much higher level of efficiency: the turbocharger. amongst perhaps the most significant reasons that most cobra-owners shy away from the idea of a turbocharged setup are the financial burden, significant installation effort, supporting modifications required and the fact that the terminator comes with a supercharger from the factory. but for those who simply want more, the turbocharged route is the only option and it is worth whatever it takes to get there.

one such person � jason roth, of competition speed and sound, llc � decided in april of 2005 that this was exactly the destiny of his cobra. hearing about the �typical� 600 rear-wheel horsepower aftermarket-supercharged 2003/2004 cobras ignited the desire for something different � the road less traveled. he wanted to be able to drive his vehicle to the local 1,320 ft. runway, run mid 10s and drive home again while still having the capability to go faster if the need or desire so presented itself. for jason, a person who�s had superchargers � roots-style and centrifugal � and nitrous oxide, there truly was only one form of induction left in order to be taking on something new and interesting. what better way to learn more about how vehicles react to different forms of induction and further one�s own knowledge base? jokingly, the author of this article believes that he merely has supra-envy due to his southern florida up-bringing and that he just needed a name change on the various message forums he frequents.

in all seriousness, it takes a person very similar to jason � technically, mechanically, and electrically savvy � to undertake such a project, even with some help. thankfully, there are even a good number of choices for custom-fit turbocharger systems for the 2003/2004 terminators. again, taking the road less traveled, jason opted for hellion power systems new single turbonetics t76 (76mm ball-bearing) turbocharger kit instead of a twin-turbocharger setup. the reason�s he opted for this kit are as follows:

• kit ships almost immediately.  no waiting months to receive the kit
• top notch customer service
• all stainless steel piping
• no documented installation problems
• when installed the kit appears it could have come from the factory
• a single kit means less parts to potentially have a problem with and only 1 turbo to maintain
• the kit has been proven at the track

this kit is rated to support up to 950 crank horsepower and jason intends to push the kit towards its maximum horsepower rating. he intends to run approximately 10 to 15-pounds on the street and 20+ pounds at the drag strip, which should put him in the 550-600 rwhp range on the street and 700+ rwhp at the drag strip. with more boost and other component changes the 900+ hp is well within reach.  this setup should satisfy the need for more power and speed. at least we hope so�

the install

note: the following are not step-by-step installation instructions.  this is to be used as reference only based on our experiences during the install. the installation of hellion�s single-t76 turbocharger system � assuming the right tools are at hand � is not extremely complex or difficult. in fact, installation is where the single-turbocharger system may turn out to be quite advantageous, when compared to some of the twin-turbocharger setups available. the rest of this section will be dedicated to a brief overview of the steps that were taken to install the kit from pulling the car into the bay and driving it out.

suspension and chassis work

hellion�s single-turbocharger system requires the removal and replacement of the stock k-member, which cradles the engine in between the front wheels. the granatelli or upr k-member is standard in the kit to replace the stock k-member. maximum motorsports has also developed a k-member that will fit and is offered as an upgrade. the main reason the new k-member is included in the kit is because of the clearance requirements for the turbocharger exhaust piping. the pa racing k-member will also work with minor modifications to the up-pipe. the d&d was installed by a customer and apparently will work as well, but hellion has not tested this on a vehicle. note: the k-member in the picture is the incorrect k-member for the hellion turbo kit.  granatelli drop shipped the wrong one.  the smaller bar that angles back on both sides just behind the larger bar should not be there.  we had to cut this off in order to make it work.

we began the suspension and chassis work by removing the rear springs and replacing them with maximum motorsports coil-overs that had a spring rate of 600-pounds per inch based on maximum motorsports recommendation for a daily driver/drag strip car. the rear coil-overs are not required, but since the front suspension would have coil-overs, jason saw this as a perfect upgrade for performance and handling. the removal of the stock springs is done with relative ease, as is the removal of the factory bilstein shocks. the coil-overs were assembled, put into place and quickly adjusted to make them equal on both sides. the following picture shows the assembled front coil-over setup.  the rears are very similar.

we then proceeded to the front end of the cobra.

before we started on the k-member, we determined that we couldn�t use the 4-post lift to do the work because there was no unobstructed way to support the engine freely once it was detached from the k-member. so, we decided to go the way of the floor jack and jack-stands. the vehicle was placed on jack stands on all 4 corners. we then used one jack on the front of the transmission housing and another on the front of the engine, using a custom-cut piece of wood that fit snuggly against the front of engine block on the front of the oil pan lip to avoid putting pressure on any engine components or brackets. there are other ways to support the engine, but at the time this proved to be the best alternative with the hardware we had available. once we were confident that the engine was entirely supported on the jacks, we removed the front wheels, brakes, rotors, a-arms, springs, struts and began unbolting the engine from the stock k-member. we loosened all 4 front k-member bolts and 4-rear bolts and then lifted the engine less than 1 inch with the jacks to allow for clearance between the k-member and the engine. if you have a firewall clutch adjuster, be sure to screw it in as far as you can towards the firewall. if not, the valve covers may interfere with it and damage the adjuster when jacking up the engine.  after doing so, we removed all the k-member bolts and dropped it out. at this point you need to remove the oil filter and install the oil filter relocation adapter.  if you do not do this, it will be very difficult and time consuming to remove the filter with the k-member in place since the k-member will hit the filter. if you are planning on installing solid motor mounts, please do so at this time. after setting the stocker aside and grabbing the much-lighter granatelli k-member and partially installing the bolts by hand, the brake lines on the passenger side need to be slightly pulled and bent forward and the same on the driver side.  there is a grounding wire for the block that also gets in the way of the k-member.  relocate this ground wire as necessary. we then squared the k-member to the frame, bolted it up and then tightened to spec. we then lowered the engine back to its original position and tightened up main engine mount nuts to spec.

next we installed the tubular a-arms. again, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer here. we ran into problems on the passenger side and believe the a-arm mounting points were not welded in the proper location. we had to trim the crushed sleeve and one of the polyurethane bushings in order to make the a-arm fit properly. the problem location was the rear passenger-side a-arm mount. after the a-arms were in-place the install of the caster camber plates and putting the front coil-over system together was next on the list. jason opted for the maximum motorsports caster camber plates to match the coil-over setup, adjustability and quality of their parts. we then assembled the front coil-over assembly and followed the manufacturer�s installation instructions for the proper spacer usage with the coil-overs. a spring rate of 350-pounds per inch was selected based on maximum motorsports recommendation for a daily driver/drag strip car. next, install the steering rack, front brake components, sway bar, coil-overs and bolt the tie rod ends to the spindle. here we ran into another problem. the front mounting bolt head on the passenger side for the a-arm had to be trimmed due to it interfering with the steering rack assembly. after doing so, it fit well. some of these problems may not occur with other k-members and to date jason has installed a upr k-member without any of these problems. our experience and discussion with others is that no k-member is a direct replacement and modifications are typical when replacing the factory k-member. granatelli was contacted in regards to this and offered great customer service and was willing to replace any parts needed.

after completing the installation of the coil-over setup, adjust them per the manufacturer�s recommendations and have a 4-wheel alignment performed. jason opted for the car to sit a little bit higher than it did with his steeda springs for ride quality and drag strip performance.

first thoughts of the ride quality are overall good.  bumps are felt a little more, but not too bad. this is probably due to the spring rates selected. the handling has been greatly improved. jason noticed a binding noise when turning the wheel to the left or turning left. after further inspection and removal of the left coil-over setup, the spring was rubbing on the inside fender well. there is a cutout on the inside driver fender well that has some metal that protrudes towards the coil-over setup. the spring was close enough that it would rub depending on the rotation of the spring. this protruding metal was grinded down to allow clearance for the springs. depending on the alignment, this may or may not be an issue for others.

engine work

after doing the necessary suspension and chassis work, it was time to start on the engine-related work. the first job tackled was the installation of the oil filter relocation kit. note: this should be done when doing the k-member. the front bumper was removed to make the installation of the kit easier. the kit requires drilling two or three (depending on relocation kit) holes in the back of your front bumper, which turns out to be not so easy. the metal for the bumper is very thick and takes a while to get through, even using a smaller bit to start it off. make sure you are using a quality metal drill bit; this will make it much easier and faster. after drilling the holes, simply bolt up the oil filter housing to the bumper and screw the relocation adapter onto the oil cooler at the original filter location on the engine block. press in the supplied socketless straight barb fittings to the socketless hose. cut the hose to the proper length making sure no mechanical parts, such as the sway bar will interfere with the hose. once the hose is cut to length, press in the other fittings and connect them to the adapter that was just placed on the oil cooler. we found putting the socketless hose in boiling water for a couple of minutes helped with the installation of the fittings. see installation instructions for any other specifics.

next the supercharger and stock intercooler assembly, lower pulley and all other idler brackets and pulleys associated with the factory supercharger setup were removed. the factory alternator is also removed and replaced with a 99-01 cobra alternator and put into the 99-01 cobra alternator location. we highly recommend using an egr blocking plate and cap on the exhaust.  this will eliminate the possibility of melting through vacuum lines, wire harnesses and the aggravation of the installation, all of which we experienced. the factory power steering fluid reservoir bracket is also replaced with the 99-01 bracket and is provided with this kit.

next the 99-01 cobra upper intake and lower intake manifold was installed. the installation also requires the 99-01 cobra throttle cable and the throttle cable bracket. the alternator was then installed with the coolant crossover tube at the same time. this may take a few tries as our first attempt resulted in the alternator pulley hitting the crossover tube. the solution to this was to put a couple of washers under the crossover tube bolts to raise it up a little bit, but not too high.  you need to make sure that the o-rings on the crossover tube seal in the block. the 99-01 alternator requires the installation of a ford pigtail harness, which wires into the existing alternator harness, but requires one additional wire that should be connected to 12-volts.  we opted to connect this to the same location that the battery is connected to on the relay box in front of the driver side strut tower. follow the hellion instructions for the most part with the rest of the installation.

other items of note are the sensors.  there are a few on the side of the stock supercharger that are removed and not used.  the two that remain in use are the iat2 (intake air temp 2)/map sensor and the frps (fuel rail pressure sensor).  this is nice because it cleans up the driver side of the engine bay considerably.  what we decided to do was put a vacuum hose on the driver side port of the 99-01 intake that was large enough to fit the iat2/map sensor inside so that it can sense vacuum and temperature. another item of note is the tps (throttle position sensor) has to be reversed from the factory location due to interference with the 99-01 upper intake manifold.

the instructions state to bend the power steering line that is mounted on the reservoir bracket towards the engine.  i bent it towards the front of the reservoir instead.  this seemed to work better.  final step for the conversion was to install the serpentine belt.

intercooler plumbing and exhaust tubing work

note: do not tighten any nuts and bolts until everything has been assembled and fitted loose first.

after all the engine work was done, the plumbing for the up-pipe and crossover tube with reducer (when using stock exhaust manifolds) was installed. first the exhaust was disconnected from the mid-pipe and the mid-pipe removed from the exhaust manifolds. be sure to unplug all of the o2 sensors prior to unbolting the mid-pipe. the following picture was taken from under the car after all of the exhaust tubing was installed. it shows the crossover pipe and the up-pipe that attaches to the passenger side exhaust manifold and then bends down and under the k-member to go to the front of the car and up between the fan and engine. it also shows the double barrel pipe that connects to the down pipe from the turbo on one end and the mini y-pipe on the other end where you can insert a high-flow catalytic converter.

next the air-to-air intercooler and associated piping was installed. i have the original intercooler that is angled. follow the hellion installation instructions for moving the appropriate wire harnesses and electrical box in the passenger side fender well. there are four mounting tabs on the intercooler. the rear two were used to secure the intercooler to the radiator support and the front two i opted to cut off to allow the power steering cooler to rotate up closer to the intercooler.  you can see the front two mounting tabs in the picture prior to them being trimmed. the intercooler piping was put in place, but not tightened down until later in the installation.

setup the turbo with the vacuum line fitting, oil drain fitting and oil feed fitting. make sure you use thread paste for the oil drain billet aluminum fitting. loosen the bolts on both the compressor and exhaust side of the turbo in order to properly clock it based on the instructions. 
 

these should remain loose while it is temporarily bolted up to the up-pipe. be sure you bolt up the turbo bracket to the passenger side valve cover and turbo, but do not tighten the bolts at this time. this will help with the proper clocking and alignment of the turbo. check the plugs on the fan to make sure they do not interfere with the turbo. you may need to make some adjustments and shift the turbo in order to clear the plugs.  i removed the lower electrical plug that is attached to the fan and positioned it out of the way. the plug on the top of the fan shroud should be between the compressor and center section of the turbo as seen in the picture with the white arrow. in my case, to be sure i had proper clearance i went a little farther and removed the fan and drilled out the mounting holes on both sides as seen in the following pictures to increase the clearance. this may not be required for every install, but i found that it helped with the overall alignment in my situation.

the down-pipe was then installed and mounted to the turbo. be sure the clamp and down-pipe are aligned correctly.  follow the instructions for the wastegate mounting. on the side that does not use a gasket, you may opt to use high temperature rtv. if you are planning on installing a boost controller at the same time as the turbo kit install or later date, i highly recommend installing the hose barb fitting and running a vacuum line from the additional port on the wastegate and tie wrap the vacuum line to a safe location. it is ok that the vacuum line is venting to the atmosphere. access to the wastegate is very tight and this could save time later on. during the install it does help to have the coolant reservoir removed to assist with extra space. after the wastegate is installed and tightened and the turbo is properly clocked, tighten a few of the bolts on the compressor and exhaust side of the turbo. loosen the down-pipe and remove the turbo. tighten remaining bolts that were loosened to clock turbo except for the two that will be tightened later for the bracket to the passenger side head. reinstall the turbo and use the provided gasket and put the nuts and bolts into the up-pipe hand tight, but do not tighten them until the down-pipe and the bolts for the reinforcement bracket to the passenger side valve cover have been started. tighten the downpipe to the turbo and be sure to check for proper alignment. then tighten the four bolts holding the turbo to the up-pipe and the reinforcement bracket bolts on the turbo and valve cover. finally, bolt up the double barrel exhaust pipe, high-flow cat or four-inch diameter straight pipe and shorty y-pipe. be sure to use the supplied u-clamp for the slip connection from the wastegate to the downpipe. finally, tighten all bolts and clamps on the exhaust side. the previous picture shows the underside of the car looking from the front to back.  you can see the crossover pipe, double barrel pipe, straight pipe and y-pipe back into the catback.

after all of the hot side (exhaust) piping was installed and tightened down, the filter, mass air meter and 4-inch intake tube were connected to the compressor inlet side of the turbo. at this time you can orientate all of the intercooler piping and tighten the clamps at the polished compressor-housing outlet side. also, tighten the clamps for the piping at the intercooler inlet that come from the polished compressor-housing side of the turbo. next, install the s-shaped intake tube in the throttle body coupler and coupler coming through the passenger side fender well. install the small silicone coupler on the race bypass blow off valve and position the blow off valve and install it on the s-shaped intake tube with the silicone coupler linking the blow off valve and 4-inch inlet pipe that has the maf and filter attached to it. once all of these parts are in the proper position, tighten the clamps for the s-shaped intake pipe, silicone coupler on the blow of valve/4-inch intake pipe and the hex set screws for the blow off valve. the intercooler outlet piping clamps can now be tightened down. be sure that both clamps are inside the engine bay at the passenger side fender well connection. the following picture is of the engine bay showing the piping in-place.

the results

to date the car has been put on the dyno twice.  both have been dynojets, however they have been at two different speed shops. the first shop the car was dyno�ed with the 0.81 a/r and the second shop it was dyno�ed with the 0.96 a/r.  the outside temps and humidity were different, so unfortunately i am unable to really compare the two exhaust housings.  however, from the knowledge of others and turbonetics, the larger exhaust housing would change the spool up time and should increase power and torque as well in the upper rpm ranges.  my experiences are that it takes approximately 200-300 rpm more to spool, which is hardly noticeable and it does hold power higher in the rpm range.  it appears to make more horsepower and hold it and appears to hold the torque a little longer with less of a drop off than with the 0.81 a/r exhaust housing.  the following graphs are from a dyno day we had at johnny lightning performance in feb. 06�.

the following was with 15# of boost.  the reason for the a/f reading looking wacky is that the sensor blew out of the tailpipe.

the following graph was with 18#:

the final graph is with 20.7#:

the car has not been pushed over this amount of boost on the dyno.  i do not feel the need to max out the turbo system for the sake of numbers.  my goal for the dyno is to determine the differences between modification changes and for fun with other car enthusiasts. the kit has made up to 847 rwhp in new mexico on another 03/04 cobra at approximately 25# of boost.

there are now multiple hellion 03/04 cobra�s running around the united states and so far none have had installation issues and have been basic bolt on kits for those with many years of mechanic experience and those with very minimal experience. with no cutting required, basic tools, customer service and the kits shipping within days of ordering, this kit is by far one of the best out on the market for proven performance, reliability and cost. it is very easy to duplicate the tuning and installation with this kit. my tuner is jon lund of lund racing and now has the same kit on his car. the best my car has gone is 10.49 @ 137.64 on 21.5# of boost.  the car weighs 3900# with driver. at that mph with a better 60-foot it should go 10.20�s to 10.30�s at that weight.

i am now in the process of learning how to launch and get out of the hole better with a turbo and manual transmission.  this is not an easy thing to do with a turbo car and manual transmission.  we are changing things around with the tune, 2-step and timing retard.

please contact myself (jason) with any questions you may have regarding purchase, installation or general questions about the kit and my experiences.

special thanks goes to sean martin (blk03svtcobra) for the assistance with writing this article.