my turbocharged ford 420 industrial

VTPSD · Aug 25, 2013

I bought this tractor a few weeks ago. Posted on here trying to figure out what model it is. Thanks to some knowledgable people on here i think it is a 1975 420. I have been sorting out all of its issues, and now that I got it working well and not leaking much of anything anymore I decided to add a turbocharger (mostly for fun).

The charger is from a saab turbo car. The compressor map looked about right for this engine, and i calculated it would make about 5 psi of boost at 2000 rpm. Which is exactly what it does. I just finished it up this morning and drove it 12 miles to a friends house and ran it on the harley rake all day long and then drove home. A good trial run for sure. It actually gets down the road better now, its very hilly around here and it will pull hills in 8th that it would not before. It also makes it just work a bit better in general. I am very pleased with it. It comes out of a lug much easier now where it would bog before, it spools up and pulls. Not dramatic, but noticeable. Fun weekend project and it makes all the right sounds now.

here are some pictures of the process from yesterday and today

all the parts to make the swap happen

ready for surgery

the space i have to work with

harvesting the flange

cleaned up

turbo adapter

test mount

timing cover with oil drain added

drain installed

i broke a fitting for the oil feed so i couldnt run it the way i wanted. Had to make do this straight fitting work, dont love how the line is routed, will redo later.

not loving this, have to re-order new hose ends.

cutting the stock opening bigger

fitting stack

and done, doesnt look half bad, actually.

the only issue i had all day was it got a bit hot and spit out a small amount of coolant after climbing the mountain all the way home. it is about a 2000 foot elevation climb so it works HARD to get back up home. It did this last time i had it on the road too. Just barley boils a bit, i throttled her down and get home and it wasnt really hot anymore. Im sure the turbo doenst help this, but it was doing it before as well. Coolant does appear to flow, but it is pretty brown and old looking. Might be time to have the radiator cleaned and change the thermostat. It did run all day long and didnt get hot, which was nice.

short clip of the sound, i think it sounds nice

creekbend · Aug 25, 2013

Enjoyed the pictures and video. Nice job.

grm61 · Aug 26, 2013

Nice work:thumbsup:

VTPSD · Aug 26, 2013

thanks! It was a fun little project. Going to add and EGT probe and maybe get brave and turn the fuel up just a bit.

90cummins · Aug 26, 2013

Nice neat job!
I also installed a Saab turbo on my Ford 1720 & it works awesome.
I turned up the fuel and can run about 10 psi boost, totally different tractor now.
Looking at the oil supply l have a question. Is the oil supply for the turbo filtered or pre-filter? It is very important that the oil supply is filtered.
I had to install a filter adaptor on mine because there was no filtered port to supply my turbo.
I've put a couple hundred hours on mine with no issues.
My tractor was originally rated at 28hp 23pto & under powered in my opinion; based on the change in performance I would guess it now is putting out 35hp or more.
Ducati996

VTPSD · Aug 26, 2013

90cummins said:
Nice neat job!
I also installed a Saab turbo on my Ford 1720 & it works awesome.
I turned up the fuel and can run about 10 psi boost, totally different tractor now.
Looking at the oil supply l have a question. Is the oil supply for the turbo filtered or pre-filter? It is very important that the oil supply is filtered.
I had to install a filter adaptor on mine because there was no filtered port to supply my turbo.
I've put a couple hundred hours on mine with no issues.
My tractor was originally rated at 28hp 23pto & under powered in my opinion; based on the change in performance I would guess it now is putting out 35hp or more.
Ducati996

thanks! Honestly, I am not sure, it appears to be downstream of the filter and I assumed it is filtered. Can't say for sure though. I am very pleased with mine so far, will be more pleased when I can get the cooling system sorted out.

VTPSD · Aug 26, 2013

i see that new radiators about about 250 shipped. I have never taken a radiator to a shop to be refurbed. How much does that usually run? Wondering which is the better option.

Dr Dave · Aug 26, 2013

Nice job! That is a very clean looking installation.

After addressing your cooling system, if it still runs warm, you could add an oil cooler, or increase the sump size of your oil pan.

Dave

VTPSD · Aug 26, 2013

Dr Dave said:
Nice job! That is a very clean looking installation.

After addressing your cooling system, if it still runs warm, you could add an oil cooler, or increase the sump size of your oil pan.

Dave

It barely runs warm now and the radiator looks like mud, so I am hopeful getting that straight will keep it cool. Really its only running on the road that got it hot, which I don't do very much of.

dieselcrawler · Aug 26, 2013

Nice work... hope to do the same to my lil 3005 when the warrenty runs out. I think I can get a tad more power outta the 1.3 liter yanmar motor.

Cord · Aug 26, 2013

Boy, that project looks familiar, just a bit bigger than mine. A good (emphasis good) radiator shop can recore your radiator very easily. In fact, they can even modify the radiator by adding additional rows or a different type core to increase the cooling capacity. The biggest problem I had with my turbo project (used a Seca turbo, which actually appears in a Google image search) was oil temperature. The temps would rise until the oil pressure would start to drop. I ended up having to add a oil cooler and that solved the problem. Oh, I also had some trouble sizing the return line correctly. I originally used a -4 return line and had to upsize it to a -6.

VTPSD · Aug 26, 2013

Cord said:
Boy, that project looks familiar, just a bit bigger than mine. A good (emphasis good) radiator shop can recore your radiator very easily. In fact, they can even modify the radiator by adding additional rows or a different type core to increase the cooling capacity. The biggest problem I had with my turbo project (used a Seca turbo, which actually appears in a Google image search) was oil temperature. The temps would rise until the oil pressure would start to drop. I ended up having to add a oil cooler and that solved the problem. Oh, I also had some trouble sizing the return line correctly. I originally used a -4 return line and had to upsize it to a -6.

It would be real nice to have added cores. I will call around and see what the locals can do. I have no monitoring of oil temps, pressure light stays off, thats all I know. I always use a -4 feed line and a -10 drain on turbo setups, might be overkill on the drain, but never been an issue for me.

dieselcrawler · Aug 26, 2013

I had oil drain line issues on my chevy mud truck 6.2 turbo project years ago... after nearly 10 years and a few of them as a daily driver... no issues. Started at 3/8" and ended up at 1/2" (= to AN -8)

duwem · Sep 3, 2013

Sweet.

I would consider adding some sort of a shield or stick on insulation material to the battery by the turbo hot side.

fordman81 · Sep 4, 2013

Man that sounds sweet ! You got to tell me more about were to get parts and what parts to get so i can do the same to my 3610 ford and how about some more vid's of that beast working ?

VTPSD · Sep 5, 2013

fordman81 said:
Man that sounds sweet ! You got to tell me more about were to get parts and what parts to get so i can do the same to my 3610 ford and how about some more vid's of that beast working ?

I could put together a complete parts list when I get a bit more time. There really isnt too much in the way of parts. The turbo I used is from a 1985 saab 900. I liked this turbo because the size is about right and it is fairly small and compact and oil cooled only. Most turbos (including most of the newer saab t3 turbos) are water and oil. I think you could get away with running on oil only and not connecting the water, but I wanted the simplicity of an oil only turbo. Ill write up a parts list when I get a bit more time.

420GLH · Oct 21, 2013

You can always add an in-line oil filter, I had one of these on a turbo car I took apart recently:

VTPSD · Feb 6, 2014

the turbo 420 has now taken over plow duty at my place. Here is a little video of it clearing out in front of my shop. Nothing too exciting, not working hard at all, but you can hear a little whistle.