dunno... haven't tried it yet. It's really only going to be the basis of a tray I'll make myself in a few weeks.

I can't compete with TMD or Summit which is where I get my parts from. I did some looking in this month's MM&FF and noticed that 5.4L built long blocks are going for 7K... jeebus that's a lot. Glad I'm spending less and getting more.

 

thats a sexy photo r3dn3ck, 1700 bucks isnt bad at all

if i can get a verification on the lightning lower and the cobra blower thatd be awesome...the cobra blower has to have at least 3" more clearance for the hood...that may fit under a 2 1/2" cobra style hood. those used terminator blowers on ebay usually only run 500-700 bucks + intake and TB.
Im only gonna be looking at 6-8psi so thats not a bad setup...if it fits.

 

Anyone looking for blocks, cranks or other parts for their 5.4 might want to check this out.... http://www.karkraft.com/modular_parts.htm

 

thats where i was gonna get my block until i found it for 460 at 50resto.com
ill probably get the used crank at karkraft for 90 bucks though, and have it machined

 

2 questions guys.
1. With the engine in the car, how hard is it to swap the cams?
2. Due to the size, would I be able to use a Shaker scoop w/ a 03 Mach 1 hood and shaker assembly?

 

I'm not a pro or anything, and this is just going on what i've read and assume, but doing cams with the engine in the car is do-able and shouldn't be too difficult, however it's obviously easier to do them while the engine is out so you have more room to work with.

In regards to the shaker hood, I was thinking of doing a custom setup like that myself, I'm not too sure how much clearance the assembly has between the shaker and the top of the engine, if its got enough room to physically fit between the hood and taller engine then it should work in theory, though it may require custom mounting / shortened brackets. I'm sure someone else will chime in and correct me on this or provide more info.

 

The real mach1 hood and shaker stuff would need to be fitted to the 2V engine since mach's came with a 4V. I don't think that's the best or easiest way of doing that.

I'd probably check out shaker setup from CDC http://www.classicdesignconcepts.com...splay/460.html

That would still require some fitment over and above the normal install thanks to the clearance needs of the 5.4. It could possibly be easier with the Mach1 hood and the CDC shaker kit but I can't tell for sure.

As for cams, they're a PITA inside the car but not undoable in the least.. .just takes a while... It's much less of a PITA outside the car. If you're chaning springs too it's orders of magnitude harder no matter what.

 

Kar Kraft had a redesigned bracket that allows the use of the OEM piece. If space was really tight, I figure I can ditch the plenum and get a custom spacer/adapter and use a universal 4 barrel throttle body and use the original 69-70 shaker assembly w/ an 03 Mach 1 hood. However, this also depends how much space the adaptor takes up and whether it would fit the hood. I guess I'll see when I have it in there.
As for cams, do you think it would be worth it to save the $550 dollars so that the engine can be thrown in and swap them later or is it such a PITA that it would justify the cost of buying it before throwing the engine in?

 

I too am eager for the extra power, but I'm going to be patient and roll with my 4.6 until I have the engine completely built and prepped for install w/headers, K-member and coil-overs, so I can just do it all at the same time. IMO that would be the best, so the car doesn't have to sit while your doing one thing or another with the engine.

 

put the cams in before the engine. The 5.4 is a tight fit under the bonnet and will be difficult to impossible to remove the valve covers with it in the car besides... it's a genuine PITA to do under the hood anyway. Outside the car it's at least not bound by how much room there is.

 

1. yes the mach 1 shaker will work.
2. no the lightning lower and cobra upper blower will not work
3. they use 2 differant intercoolers (lightning and cobra) similar in design , but diferant in shape. so you have to use a lightning lower w/intercooler, bu the cobra blower wont fit on top of it.
4. no you cant use a lightning blower and change a cobra elbow onto it. differant mount locations.
5. i am in the process of working w/whipple on their lightning blower. its about 1/2" shoter in overall height. plus it exits to the side, just like the cobra, only diff. is it exits to the drivers side, where the cobra kit exits to the passenger side. i am not yet sure if you could swap the whipple elbows or not. but i am working on it.

however you can use a lightning lower and use a custom midplate and then a 96-98 cobra upper. that way you dont have to use the RR adapter plates. but if you go that route, when you pop the hood, someone will see the cobra intake then look at the heads and notice they are only 2V heads and get real curious.

Terry Johnson of Street Lethal Perf. in Eddingburg, PA has done this swap MANY times, N/A combos, Centri combos, and N2O...
724-964-8419 tell him Russell told you call
he can answer any question you might have

 

cool, thanks for clearin that up man

 

i'm just gonna go twin turbo.....

 

well I've been doing some shopping around and it looks like a good machine/balance/blueprint/assemble for my longblock is going to run $2K. That's about double what I was planning but not a deal killer.

how's everyone elses build progressing?

On other fronts, we got my cage welded down on the first 4 points, so no more just bolts. Next weekend we're supposed to be putting in door bars and a harness bar. And if I can get the steel we'll put in a nice x brace in the back and tie it into the rear shock tower brace. Later on we'll get to the halo and a-pillar bars.

 

I'm still waiting to save enough cash to start my rebuild/short block build up but I am tempted to buy the crank now from Kar Kraft since $90 for a used forged piece is a killer deal.

 

-r3dn3ck, post up some pics of the cage build. i'm working on one also. but i have all my motor parts and i'm gonna take the block to the machine shop to get cleaned and bored this weekend i hope.

 

so far it looks like a 4 point bolted and welded in... no diff than before. When we put the door bars and harness bar in this weekend I'll definitely take some pics.

 

I know from previous posts that shorty or custom long tubes are required to fit with the 5.4. Would the shorties be sufficient if I decided to go forced induction later on or should I be focusing on doing custom LTs? Where exactly are they binding or causing issues? Does anyone have pics indicating the clearance?

 

i have frpp shorties and there was about an inch of room between the headeras and the body. as for the midpipe, i had a BBK off-road x-pipe and all i did was spread them apart an inch before installing it.

 

When SaleenS330 was trying to put the LT's on it was hitting the steering shaft. he said that there needed to be a loop around the steering shaft in order to work but that it might still hit the shock tower and motor that way. He ended up using the FRPP shorty headers.

 

yeah... Saleen and I pinged back and forth a bit about that. No longtubes will work unless you custom bend and weld them. The only other exhaust that could be made to fit clean and not hit anything was the FRPP shorties and stock cast manifolds. If you use stock 5.4L cast manifolds then you'll have to grind down a bit on the passenger side (IIRC) to clear a lump off it.

 

Will an aftermarket steering shaft solve part of the problem?

 

as soon as i get my N/A setup going i'm gonna be making my turbo headers and i'll try to make some kind of funky long tubes ones also

 

bassman, no... an aftermarket shaft will only really solve the slop that's native to the stocker. It's placement is the problem more than it's design.

 

Hmm, just remove the steering shaft, who needs to steer their car using the steering wheel anyways? Just use your mind powers, so much easier and your headers will definitely clear then.

 

lurkers... ping in and tell us what is causing you to lurk around. Anyone else, post a question if you have one. Let's keep the momentum on the thread.

 

i'm waiting to get my block cleaned and bored. so i'm just powdercoating a bunch of parts before they go back on.

 

Glad I found this board. Decided today after having my Mustang for a month or so now to google search for Mustang boards. This topic interests me especially since I have found that 1500 or so does not yield you much at all with simple bolt ons. I have many sources for used engines so going to start pricing out the engine. I tried to read as far back as I could stand to get caught up on any details, but that is a LOT of reading

 

cliffs notes on the rest of the thread:

5.4 makes sick unbelievable torque and modest hp in 2v (big hp w 4v).
stock 5.4 rods are a little weak but good enough for NA (no nitrous) use.
motors are about 1000-1500 running and complete
install hassle is really minimal. It's almost a total bolt on.
Reichard Racing makes adapter plates for the intake. Get a set. 375 bucks.
exhuast needs minor modification to bolt up.

A built motor costs almost 7K no matter how you do it.

 

preach on brother.....








after already having a 5.4 for awhile now i can say it's totally worth it....