nah, why don't you just spray both stages at once........

 

Anybody know what the Ford plastic intakes are made of? I.E. what type of plastic? I've been sitting here wondering if a feller couldn't heat up a 4.6 3v intake in an oven and stretch it a little wider, probably not wide enough for a 5.4 but could at least get a better outward angle on the runners and make some plates to fit it on a 5.4........

 

I'll be honest i dont see stretching a plastic intake being a very smart thing to do...The early ones that didnt have the crossover were prone to breaking already on the 2v's...so stretching the same material i'd avoid to be honest.

 

lol that might be one of the worst ideas ever ..... I mean if you could get it to work, more power to you, but I see this being a complete failure LOL. Like nate said, the plastic is prone to cracking under high-heat conditions so its probably not going to work. Ive been through 3 of the POS 99-00 manifolds ..... dont ask lol

 

Wow, worst ever huh? Nevermind the fact that all the cracking was due to issues with the coolant crossover, not the runners, and that every polymer material has a temperature at which it becomes malleable, or that I was only thinking of a slight change to get a better angle on the runners and then machine new IMRC delete plates to bring it out to 5.4 width.....yep I'm sure you know full well whether that would work or not....

Doesn't matter regardless, I was just out poking around under the truck and the 4.6 manifold is too tall in back, wouldn't fit under the cowl....

 

It also depends on the type of plastic. Not all become malleable w/ the addition of heat. It is also way too easy to alter the plastic's properties, making it weaker. If you wan to change the angle, you're better off cutting it and then expoxing it to have the right angle.

 

i know i have tried to powdercoat nonPI intakes by heating them up to 250 - 350 degrees so the powder would stick and when they get to hot they bubble. maybe that will help you some...

 

why ask if you're adamant about your decision and dont want to hear the responses?

 

Have any of you guys with the coolant mod had any issues with the heater not wanting to get warm? I pretty much rode home this morning freezing my ***** off. I think I'm gonna take the flow restrictor out of the heater hose.

 

I'm not adamant at all and was hoping for some actual information, and was just responding to someone laughing at "the worst idea ever"....

All I could find was thats its some kind of nylon blend, which may or may not soften when heated. The only reason the idea struck me is the 4.6 3v has much longer sweeping bends to the runners, a longer bend of course being more receptive to having its shape changed, and with a small outward tilt to the runners it might be feasible to machine new IMRC plates to put it on a 5.4. Like I said though, the idea came and went as there isn't room under my cowl anyway. I'm gonna just mill the crap out of a stock t.b. elbow and weld it to a billet adapter I created to put the HPS intake on a 2v truck (never bought the intake). The adaptor will work for this 3v motor after some..ahem...."changes"....

As far as cutting and epoxying I've seen that attempted extensively with no success, they never seem to hold together for long.

 

Don't want the tires blowing traction and I like having the option of just using the dry shot for stuff like passing and such. Still need to get a third nitrous solenoid for the purge kit.


Nylon IIRC. It's a thermoplastic so it does become soft under heat. The problem is getting the heat loading of the whole thing to be identical from point to point then the ability to stretch it is lost to the certainty that a tear will form, likely at one of the sharp angles. It's a great idea but a bad material to do it with. You could use a pressure feed and a vacuum chamber to expand the whole thing fairly evenly but the tearing problem still remains until the heating issue can be resolved. I think it's a non-starter.

It takes a little longer. I'll bet that your thermostat is a 160deg which could be part of the problem of it taking days to get warmed up. I used a 180deg which still takes about 10 minutes to get fully warm but it does do that consistently.

 

I didnt mean it to come off as harsh. I was just thinking about the possibly of it working and then took into account the material and how plastic is a PITA to work with once it has set the first time. If you can get it to work, then more power to you. But I dont see it really working under these conditions is all I was trying to say.

I kind of meant it as a good "hypothetical" idea, but 90+% chance it wont work for any duration of time. Sorry if I came off brash

 

No worries man, I'm sure my reply sounded more harsh than matter-of-fact as it was intended. My fingers don't always speak clearly...


R3d,
Just cause its fun to think about picture this....




IMRC plates off, cut ribbing underneath between runners and plenum, make a jig from plywood with a rectangle cut out so the plenum will drop through and a flat bar screwed down to the inside of each set of runners (opposite the injector hole). Now pick up the intake, move those bars out ~1/4" each side, heat the intake in an oven for even heating/expansion, and set it back down on the jig by hooking runners on one side and pulling it out over the other now 1/2" wider... Not completely far-fetched, right?

Folks gotta understand....I don't think quite normal....thats why I looked at my Mustang years back and said hmmm....I could just drop a 5.4 in here and machine up some adapter plates to plop this here intake right back on......

 

I've got a 180 and it warmed up fine till I put the intake on. The gauge shows its warming up fine. I drove home from work, about 10 minutes and it was about 32 last night, and the heater never warmed up. I just wonder if the coolant mod, along with the restrictor in the hose, is diverting that much away from the heater core.

 

brought home my engine last night. Going to drop it in tomorrow and have it running by the weekend.

 

has anyone made any leway on the 5.4 3v setups?

 

he's an engineering type guys... you have to remember only impossible problems are even interesting to people with such proclivities. He and I are cut from the same cloth on that front.

I like the jig idea and limiting the stretch to the runner ends. I think you'd need to heat it not much at all.. maybe 190-215deg and use a screw, spring and scissor to add load to it so it pushes really slow like. That way you'll just be bringing it barely to the point that the plastic begins acting like a fluid again and it'll flow to a naturally even surface and thickness. The cracking risk after it re-hardens is going to be increased but it may not really matter. Give-er a try man.

pull the restrictor from the heater hose and see if that helps.

sick... keep them pics coming.

Lots of guys have 3v 5.4's but for some reason we've not attracted many of them. The 2v and 4v guys are well represented though.

TurboX2 and I are hashing over the 3v thing now. I may still go that route down the road if the TF heads take too long to start shipping. The intake manifold is the big issue right now. I think Dan should ping Bob at HPS and see about making the 3v intake conversion from the 2v intake. 05+ cars will have a lot of modification to do to get their electronics set up but such life. I think the 99-04 cars with 3v 5.4 swaps are going to take off. 2v certainly has.

 

hi, im starting to throw a rod bearing in my current 110,000 mile 4.6 and have decided to go with the 5.4 and do what ford should have done from the get go. I really dont know a whole ton about this and could really use a ton of help. For starters i need to know specifically what models and years of trucks/vans i should be searching for at salvage yards. I want to get the best motor i can and have it installed for around $2,000 plus whatever ill make on the sale of the 4.6. I also will need to know what else is required: what hoods work, what intake, do i need adapters, etc. I basically need to know everything. Sorry in advance because im sure these r repeat questions, but i simply dont have the time to read through thousands of posts. Thanks.

 

anyone have their old PI truck intake with upper plenum they would be willing to send me? Just got my 5.4 in and found out it is a non pi setup....Good news is I have PI heads from my 4.6L....Bad news is I am out of time and money...

 

how hard would it be to polish my intake on my cobra after it comes back from mmr? i chose not to have them powdercoat it bc it takes an extra week but also you only get three colors red black or silver.

also what all is part of the egr system other than the egr valve that connects to the intake? i wanna know what all i can get rid of

 

you'll want a 2000-2003 if you need the heads to stay on it. If you're ok with swapping the heads out if needed then you can use 97-03. I recommend staying with the 2000's. Expedition and van engines should have the easiest to deal with front cover. Get your HPS intake now, they're cheap and rock solid and stupid easy to install. Figure out how much you want to spend on the project and we can get more detailed.

 

egr valve and 1 sensor that it connects to via vacuum line.

polishing it will take 15-20 hours to do a really bang up job on with a shitload of sanding rolls and then finally a polishing wheel. Note that polished surfaces don't reject heat well or evenly.

 

R3dn3ck, where are you at now w/ your build? I'm still only on page 55 of this thing (before you had the engine in your car) so I'm skipping to the end of this story. Or rather to the most recent edition.

I'm curious as to what changes you've made from the initial install, in between and then to now. As well as what your future plans.

I'm compiling more ?'s as I progress along so I'll save the remaining inquiries till I'm at least near page 200.

 

ok but there is what looks like two egr valves one on each side of the engine right under each coil pack with the same connections as the dpfe and they both have tubes running to them from the exhaust manifolds like the actual egr valve and the harnes that hooked up to them is the same one that came from the dpfe so i just thought i might be able to get rid of all that. if you dont get what im talkin about like i didnt explain it good which i probably didnt let me know and ill get a pic up and circle what im talkin about.

 

so any word on the long tubes yet?

 

As long as you get it turned off in the tune, you should be able to take all that off, but a picture would be great too.
I took my dpfe and the vaccum solenoid off, haven't taken the EGR valve itself off yet, still need to pick up a block off plate. But havent had any EGR codes.

 

the ones i made for testing are being dropped off tomarrow morning at FTP. he was ordering some stainless piping earlier today. he said he will make a jig for them so he can make multiple sets quickly after the first set.

 

Just finished night 1 of the install. We got the motor in, wiring harness done, tranny bolted up, oil in the motor, intake on, pulleys on. All thats left tomorrow is to drain the gas tank, replace the fuel filter, get a longer belt for the pulleys, and then exhaust.


BIG QUESTION THOUGH, how do you make the exhaust fit? I bought a midpipe that comes with a X portion, and 2 individual pieces that go up to the header on each side. Problem is with the deck height being what it is that the exhaust bends about a inch or two early and hits the undercarriage. Whats the best way to remedy this? we were thinking to hit it with a torch and heat the pipe up enough to bend it a little straighter?

 

Thats pretty much what I did with mine, the passenger side was the real pain. Its pretty much trial and error.

 

anyone got a set of the adapter plates laying around gathering dust....I really need to get the car on the road....