Has anyone purchased Holdener's book on building modular power? I scraped a few pages from the web and it looks like he opens up the tap on some neato tips and tricks.

I'm about to order myself a copy.

 

i've read the sean hyland one but not that one...

 

The early arrival of the 5.4l's torque curve is the reason in which i am almost dead set on building one instead of the 4.6l currently in my car, or even selling her in favor of an earlier push rod car or later 4v car.

Forbid me from even having the thought of joining my brother on the darker side in an LS1 car.

there is no doubt even a mild 5.4l would make easy work of his car, but it'll only end with him getting even faster himself. Ah, sibling rivalry. Not to mention my other brother currently about to say "FU" to the both of us with the fox body project he is planning.

The camaro, while much faster than my sn-95, does little in the way of impress me while driving it. Its quick, feels quick, but not very satisfactory. I've ridden in stock to wild term cobra's. The ones on the less extreme also aren't very pleasing from a pure "feeling" stand point. Even my latest ride in a friends 420rwhp 3v 4.6l was "ehhh."

I want an instant "oh holy sh**" feeling the moment i tap the throttle. and a war between me and the car for who is in control of who.

i've yet to ride in a 5.4l powered mustang, so i don't have a grasp yet of the feeling. i just don't want to build a car, and than not be satisfied by it once done.

 

i'll have to look into both in that case. where are they available at?

 

Hey guys, I'm still here - I thought we lost the board for a while.

I am still buying a house, but I am NOT selling my engine at the moment. I worked out a good deal with my realtor and the house should be funding the rest of my build on the car.

Anyhow, I started a build log on my car the other day over on my personal forum - you can check it out here.

http://www.whitemustangregistry.com/...AGT-t1625.html

 

I just called HPS about the 5.4l Hardbalr intake! I asked about availability and how it was going to be laid out. These guys are on top!
Bob Hardin was the guy I spoke with and this guy is straight up! He said maybe in about 3 months they could offer the 5.4l H'ballr if all goes well. That to me is music to my ears. I want my Mustang running and tuned NOW, but I will wait. I've waited 3 years, whats a couple of months.
Beside Now I have to sell the Holley S/C set-up I've been pc'ing together. Any Bites, let me know!

 

I may... let's chat. If it'll work for me I'll sell one of you my ported hardball'r and plates on the cheap. Bob and I had a nice long chat about the details of the design so he could make it work for us but minimize the time to market. I'm glad the turn time is so short... that's gunna be fuggin killer.

 

I would like to get my mustang going and the hardballr with the plates would be "OK", but my heads are NPI.
Thats more adaptors!
As far as the Holley S/C set up, I still need to line out a coupe of things to help the buyer get going. But in all I do want to sell it, and I'm really not trying to gain a profit from it. I just want to get my ride that I have built going. I'm not in persuit of HIGH nasty HP, just some good ol' hotroding fun.
The S/C was just another option, and if I did install, it would have been very moderate. Mostly bling factor. It's basicly another way of an intake.

 

Quick question... would the 5.4 fit (stock everything) under a cobra r hood? Just in the mean time till the new intake comes out. I was thinkin of goin with a pushrod motor but since this is so cheap it doesnt look so bad now. If I supercharged it later.. how much could it hold safely with the boost? Sorry if this question has been answered but there is so much to read. Thanks..

 

Also... say if I just bought the short block. Would everything off the 4.6 bolt right on?

 

you'll need the 5.4l timing cover, and timing components. other than that. 99% of the 4.6l stuff will work.

If 5-speed, you'll need an 8 bolt flywheel and clutch. auto, i'm not sure whats needed.

the stock 5.4l intake? not sure what hood will be needed for that. its pretty tall.

The short block will handle as much boost as the internals you put into it. if its stock cast, i wouldn't put much faith in the rods at any boost level.

hope that was of some help. any one correct or add to if i've missed.

 

redneck and myillwill have posted numerous parts lists of the essentials. if no better answers come, just do some page flipping. Trust me, you will find all the info you need in the past 89 pages.

 

I'm sure the Cobra R hood is fine since was made to hold a 4V 5.4 (though that engine was dropped 3/4"). Figure it this way: if a 5.4 can fit under the stock hood w/ just minimal cutting of the brace for the plenum area, a Cobra R being taller would be fine.

 

I was more thinking of selling the intake and plates to one of the other hippies doing the swap since you mentioned wanting the HPS 5.4 ball'r. Either option works for me. You may be able to get away with such a thing with correct application of silicone but I don't like that option cuz it's sloppy.

I don't know for sure that the R hood will clear but I'd bet it'll be pretty close. The 5.4 stock intake is giant tall and it'll kill the power band. For most people just getting everything lined up takes several months, which is longer than it's likely to be for the intake to come to market (at least in prototype form). A pushrod swap is not legal in many states for smog and it's kinda a bitch and way more expensive than it looks. There are K-member changes, all the harness becomes non-useful, etc.. For a 94-95 pushrod is king but after that swapping to a windsor becomes frightfully expensive and is normally relegated to full time race cars.

Putting boost on the stock rods is not my idea of a good thing. They routinely hold 400+rwhp in lightnings BUT I've seen too many NA 5.4's pop rods out the side of the block to think it was ever a good idea. Keep it at or under 8lbs and make sure your tune is 100% safe.

That route becomes expensive. The front cover itself can cost 200+, not to mention the timing chains and tensioners and arms and blah blah blah. You get the idea. Find a donor motor that's solid... preferably from a wrecked SUV. They see the least mileage and make good build candidates.

TMD (The Mustang Depot of Riverside, CA) has an Ebay store that lists nice H-beam rods with ARP 2000 cap screws for 319 bucks. Add a set of rod and main bearings for 200 more. Stock pistons are ok for low boost but forged are always better as you should know by now.

Like with any big mod like this, if you're going to do it you may as well take a little extra time and spend the extra where it's really going to count for longevity and overall power output. Ported heads and a built bottom end are a fantastic base to chase your power dreams with. Keep compression at 9.5:1 and you can have all the fun you want NA or FI.

 

Ok thanks alot. Yeah I realized going pushrod is pretty expensive. Glad I did the math first. I'll probably end up going with the 5.4 eventually. So all NA and when the intake comes out, you think the 5.4 could exceed 400rwhp?

 

not in 2v form. 3v or 4v hell yeah. I've seen it done.

 

What would you guys reccomend to clean the block ?

I had it decked, bored, and hot tanked so its pretty clean.

It still has a little sludge on the outside that I was going to hit with a wire brush and some soap and water before painting it.

Also if I look in a few of the holes I can see some buildup and dirt around the outside of the cyllinders (not inside where the pistons go, but the other side of the wall, deep down in the block) - how can I get that **** out ?

Also painting - I got 1200º paint, that should do the trick right ?

One last thing, freeze plugs. They look like they may have been replaced at the shop, I will have to check the paperwork. If not, where can I pick some up at ?

 

I use zippo lighter fluid and a wire brush and pipe cleaners, then dawn diswashing liquid to solvate the petro-chemicals. Give it a final wipe down with alcohol and a clean rag and look for grime. Repeat until clean. Paint only on a perfectly clean surface and thread bolts into the holes that could get paint in them or you'll have to chase them with taps (PITA). The crap in the cooling jackets... good luck. Post a pic and I'll have a better idea.

1200deg paint is pimpin. It'll be just fine. I like Ford powder blue for the block. Gives a neato look.

Freeze plugs are available at any auto parts store.

 

Thanks R3d.

I'm going with flat black just for simplicity.

I'll have to get a pic of the cooling jackets tonight, I'm hoping to put it on the stand. Stupid transmission alignment dowels are rusted/gunked in and I can't get them out to mount it on the stand.

Probably in the next week or two I'll order up the bearings and put this bad boy together. Then it can sit and wait for me to order the top end.

 

Do NOT FORGET to lightly coat all machined surfaces w/ oil to prevent flash rusting.

 

I joined the band wagon! except, I'm going turbo charged with a T63 from precision after blowing a rod out the side of my 4.6L in my 2003GT. If anyone wants to see the build up its on fordmuscle.com, I switched to this forum because there seems to be alot more people that have more expierence with the mod motors. I'm new to them but not to drag racing. Anyways my block is in the shop! parts so far are, 97 block, factory forged race prepped crank, h-beam rods, arp bolts and studs everywhere, probe dished pistons and 03 heads and 2002 F250 lower intake. My turbo is mounted near the tailshaft of the tranny but I plan on moving it up front when I install the 5.4.

 

would the 4.6 vortech supercharger bracket and supercharger swap over to the 5.4? I'd pretty much have to get a new set up right?

 

cdjnight- thats an interesting turbo placement. congrats on the fab work. is that a 4.6 of 5.4 in the pics?

 

R3d, check out my thread on my board. You can kinda see the areas I want to clean in the cooling jackets in the 2nd to last pic of post #6.

http://www.whitemustangregistry.com/...AGT-t1625.html

 

it's just scale. It's not hurting anyone.

If you've got a real hardon to get something resembling bare metal in there then CLR (available at most hardware stores) will dissolve any calcium or rust scale. Mix a little up and scrub with a brush on a stick. Rinse as directed.

 

Still, might as well prevent it from happening by doing something as simple as rubbing oil on all the machined surfaces.

 

words of the guru regarding lower engine bearings:
Boss 330
FM 153M main and FM 7250CH... None better.

Exactly the ones I got. They're the only H bearings that I could find for the modulars.

 

Scale ? A quick google tells me Scale = loose, flakey rust, am I right ?

It's mostly for piece of mind that I want it cleaned up, it may not be hurting anything but I know its there.

 

FM153 main

I'm assuming

FM7250CH is for the rods ?

Whats the cost on those ? I'll have to see if I can get them through my vendors for my shop.

 

Flash rust isn't really scally or lose. Just apears when you have bare metal w/o protection. For a pic of it: http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2001/02/projectFE/
Now, the total engine damage isn't due to flash rust but you can see what it looks like.