or that might work

 

I would think this would be an easier and MAYBE cheaper way than too build/wait for an intake...Just my .02 cents

 

Isn't that turbo kit built to also fit in the engine bay of the lightning? It might not work in the mustang. Just thought you might want to look into that as well.

 

Just to give an update. The heads came in so the 5.4 will be breathing alot better now!!

 

Sweeeeeeetttttt!!!! Can't wait to see you driving that thing again. Then we can head to the track before it gets to warm. :banana:

 

I know, i can't wait!

 

Just checking back in. Looks like everything is sailing along here. I've been too broke to buy my rods like I'd planned. So hopefully they'll come next month. In the mean time I've been installing some of my other mods.

Car now has a roll cage bolted in. Just a simple 4 point until next weekend when I add the door bars, harness bar and a couple braces. Even with just bolting it in I could feel a little more body rigidity and my front wheel comes just a hair higher off the ground than it did before when I pull out of my driveway.

Also welded in the Maximum Motorsports panhard bar. That removed all the wiggle from the back end. It's a lot easier to corner at the limit now without all the hopping and jittering. I got it with the aluminum bar which is light as sin but I don't know how durable. We'll see.

Those are what I call supporting mods for my 5.4 project. I didn't want all that extra tq to be wasted twisting the body and I reallly needed to get the PHB in, so now they're both done. Torque arm comes next but requires exhaust modifications so I need a whole weekend to tinker.

 

keep on a truckin'

 

what happen guys

 

Looks like nothing... we've all been chillin I guess.

How about a report from Saleens330 on his progress.

On the aftermarket front, I've started talks with people in the industry to try and solve the engine height issue via more radical means, so those of you that are complete really need to PM me with your email address so I can ask you a few questions and set you to task.

Basically what i need is measurements from the top of your upper plenum to the bottom of your hood (including adjustments for throttle wheels and such) so that I can find out if it's possible or not.

Right now we're looking at a very inexpensive way to lower the engine and tranny a tad to get the clearance we all need without having to do any really major work. To get those parts to market, I need your data.

I've researched a few ways of dropping the engine a half inch to 1.5". The upper end of the scale (pretty well 1" and up) is totally out of the question. Ford lowered the k-member already for the 96-04's and we just don't have any room left without it costing us handling and integration issues. I also need to know exactly how much clearance you have between the bottom of your oil pans and the k-member at 3 points: directly beneath and 45deg directly outboard of the edges of the oil pan (think the whole base and the edges) as a modified motor mount might also deliver the extra .25" or so that may be important. I also need pics of any installed 5.4L blocks with the steering rack in place so we can figure out what to do about that. (Yes I know it fits the same as a 4.6 at the bottom but I want to look anyway. Be sure of every point or don't be at all is my rule for this.)

Any help and all contributions to the knowledge base are welcome and encouraged. No quitters, this is getting serious and I'm hoping to forge an aftermarket push to the 5.4 that will stay with us forever.

you can pm me or email to cburnss at gmail dot com (yes, two esses)

 

Slow on the process here. The Patriot heads are on and the front timing cover. Should have it all done this weekend if the weather is good, but it's suppose to rain. i'm ready to see how it feels with the heads, it felt good before and without a tune, so it'll be freak'n sweet with the heads and tune.

 

how bout some progress pics?

keep us informed

 

I will post some pics very soon, hopefully the weather is nice.

 

well get off the puter now and get to work!!!!!!!!

just teasin' good luck

 

I wish!! If they wouldn't get me for AWOL, i would.

 

oh yea i forgot....

 

I took some pics but will have them posted on my cardomain tomorrow morning to see a few pics of the heads installed, it'll be on page 5 on the site. Will be done this weekend though if weather permits.

 

good deal

 

Now drop some XE268AH cams in it and watch the power go through the roof.

BTW, Do we have any cam experts in here?

 

CAMS are definitley in the future.

 

thats what i got in my car

 

I'm looking at the XE268's for my build but I need to be able to pass a sniffer test so I have to keep the grind on the conservative side... VT likes to bring more overlap from what I read on the grind numbers with LSA's in the 108 range. Comp uses about the same grind but their LSA's are closer to 113 and up.

chip... did you notice a major bump or just a noticable one after you put in the 268's?

 

i put it all together at once...i didnt do just do cams

 

and a blower... must be a poop scootin' machine. Imagine a 5.4 so equippped.

 

dont have the blower on.......YET!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Something i kept forgetting to post and don't know why but I did have to get a 97 expedition 5.4 timing cover so my power steering will bolt to the side. if i would have used the 03 timing cover, only two bolts would have worked, not all 4. Casting is F85E on the cover. They made two castings that i was told that will work 97-2001 timing covers will work. Not sure about the 99 and up mustang power steering pumps running into this problem but 98 and below will need a 97-01 cover. Just some important FYI stuff. Car should be done Saturday, just minor connectors, CAI, the rest of the front accessories and she's good to go. If it doesn't rain anymore.....

 

Saleen.. good info. Just the kind of stuff we're looking to get into the public domain.

I recall reading somewhere that only 3 of the power steering bolts are really necessary. The one that's a super-beyotch to get to isn't actually needed. Not like it makes a heck of a lot of difference but it's an hour we can all avoid wasting now.

Fortunately, I got my most recent 5.4 from a 2000 Expedition so I don't see any problems but I'll be checking the casting number as soon as I get home.

 

The F75E and F85E will work for the castings. I know on my set up if i would have used the 2L3E Casting (2003) cover, only two bolts would have worked, if it would have been 3 bolts that would have been fine. But i'm still not sure if i would had an 03 mustang steering pump, would it have worked on the 03 5.4?

Also in 2001 Ford added 18lbs of iron into the 5.4's in effort to improve problems with the previous 5.4's which shown a pronounced bore distortion, which created a cold-start engine knock until everything warms up and expands into place. But usually that didn't happen till it got alot of miles on the motor.

 

A little on/off topic here. As you can see by my name I have a 4V currently. Would I be correct in assuming I could swap in a 4V 5.4L with the wiring harness, maybe extend some wires, does anyone know if that's roughly the same degree of dificulty/simplicity, with the exception of cost effecientcy. Other than that, I love the 2V discussion. I prefer the improved look for 99 and wanted a 99-04 GT for a 650+ Kenne Bell project car that would be street legal with the exception of no cats. But with the added torque of a 5.4L? I'm a little torque crazy, and this would not be a daily driver, nor cost effective, but with the 97, especially being a convertible, a little more torque wouldn't hurt. I was thinking Kenne Bell kit at 9 PSI (+108HP/98lbs TQ at wheels). Either way I go, I don't hold a lot of faith in the T45, so a T5 and alum drive shaft would go in first.

Back to 2V. With the people talking 5.4 + Kenne Bell, since everything is compressed and their exceding the $2500 mark anyway, wouln't the 5.4 factory intake and Kenne Bell 5.4 kit (6 PSI rated) with a pulley change for added boost be safer if only slightly less efficient then a 4.6 manifold with RR adaptor plates? I just see it as one more leak waiting to happen in a forced induction situation, and with air compressed throughout the manifold anyway, you would just want bigger valves and cam grind to let it in the cylinder. For NA, however, I would definately take the plates until the Hardballr comes out.

 

you're kinda all over the place on that one, so I'll try to hit each point as well as possible.

A 4V iteration of the 5.4 is just as easy if you keep things sane and simple. Reichard makes 4V intake adapter plates which are a good solution since the cobra intakes aren't too bad to start with. That takes care of the budget build-up. You can easily find a 5.4 bottom end and a set of 4V plates from RR for under a grand. After that you'll spend some time finding timing covers and correct accessories and a hood.

If you want to add in a KB blower, it means you MUST put forged rods and should put forged pistons in it. Failure to do so assures you of a catastrophic self-disassembly of a con rod and swiss cheese-ing of your block. Compressing the air makes the intake a little less important if you use a stock cobra intake. Navigator intake could work too but there's custom work there that we've generally tried to avoid. A 2.4L KB on a 4V 5.4 at an unreasonable amount of boost will be able to pump out 650 but you'll have to go to a tranny like a TKO600 or Auto-swap and consider a possible 9" rear upgrade just to handle the power. T45 is a victim waiting to happen.

You don't want to get into valve work since we're really limited by the bore size on how much valve we can possibly use. In a 4V app that isn't even a consideration. An off the shelf Comp or VT grind is all that's required but custom grinds can help tune the delivery.

If you want to do the swap, just start working on it. It'll work on principle now you just have to do the work to make it work in practice. All the options of this plate and that cam and whatever blower are all options that we've found to make the swap possible and generally easy. THey're not all required or optimal solutions but they'll all solve a particular issue.

The Hardball'r is a neat looking intake. I've pushed hard for the 5.4 version of it and even provided a few bits of consultation with HPS on its manufacture to help that process along. It's HUGE plenum and modest runner length make it ideal for most of our purposes. Adding boost to it should be even more dramatic. Still it's a 2V proposition and is meant for NA and nitrous use to build the most useful power.

If you're in, go buy a block and start building. Come back often and report your progress and what you need. We'll help where we can and show you where to go for the rest.

I'm working with suspension parts makers to get the K-member down a bit and see if we can't get the 2v and 4v version to sit under a cobra R hood or small cowl no matter what intake is being used. We'll see how that turns out.