I'm going with a 10.5:1 compression MMR rotating assembly. Includes everything balanced for around $1600. Hope it'll do well on 93.

I plan on staying N/A and keeping things simple. Its a convertible and its my daily driver. If everything goes well here I plan on doing a 5.4l 4v swap on a 97 cobra that needs an engine rebuild anyway, but will most likely be going single turbo on that engine and turning it into a full drag style vehicle but thats 2+ years from now.

Might also spray a little on the N/A setup but we will see how that goes. Not a fan of nitrous.

 

I'm all for a 5.4 section at a car show. count me in...

 

Question, one of you might know. What VT cam is comparable to a Comp Cam 278?

 

Not only can we hit White Castle, but STL has some BADASS mustangs.

Missouri is my old stomping grounds, I'd gladly make that drive.

 

blitz... the 278 would be close to maybe a stage 3 but at that size cam you really should be going custom grind... I'd stop at the 270 in the comp line. In fact... I'd recommend staying with a VT stage 2 so you get the best scavenging.

 

so the vt stage 2 is the best one to go with?

 

sounds like a good idea, when will they be complete (the 2v one anyways)?

 

I'd have gone with those if they had a snowball's chance in hell of passing smog in california. They're a pretty stout grind and the fastest cars in the land run em. If you can, get a custom grind. Same price usually.

 

well who would i turn to , to get a custom grind and how will i know what to tell the dude? I'm clueless lol. o well

 

Hey Redneck I'm going to send you an email letting you know the current project I'm working on with the 5.4. I've already started my writeup. I'm just doing it in stages so I don't miss anything.

BTW the grind my cams have is 278/282 @ 113 LSA with .550/.550 lift. With my stage 3 P&P heads think this will work out fine? My engine builder said the combination on the 5.4 should be killer. But the other thing is I'm going to run it on my 4.6 in the meantime, should I have any issues on either setup with this combo?

 

Call up Comp, Crane, or Crower directly and they'll give you a rcommendation for the specs and you may be able to buy the custom ground cam from them. If not, Fox Lake Racing and Steen Racing are other places to ask for custom ground cams through the big three.

 

so where is this desktop dyno at???

 

hey redneck is there a guide yet on the 5.4 swap for a 2v 99-04?

 

here is the one from the magazine: http://forums.qwiksnake.com/faq.php?...em#faq_54_swap

 

Not working using any method to copy and paste...? Not sure why it truncated the URL like that.

AND

I think QwikSnake.com may be down as well?

 

i'll rescan it in tonite.

 

Groovy. That should be interesting. That looks a helluva lot like a xe278ah. If that's what it is, it's too big for an unmodified 4.6. There's likely to be PTV... we've heard lots about that with their fatter cams.

FYI... from what I can tell there's no street level benefit from going from 270's to 278's. The only difference in the power band is past 6000rpm and it's all still on the downslope anyway. VT stage 2's seem to be the thing, if you can pass smog where you're at with them.


On my laptop... it's an engine dyno simulation package. You can load up various engine combos and tinker with design points to come up with a rough idea of the capabilities of your parts selections before you pay for them.

If you want to check it out (and then buy a legit copy cuz you're not a crook) : Go find yourself a copy of utorrent and then go to torrent-finder.com or whatever site you like, find dyno2003 and download the .torrent file. Load the torrent file into utorrent and download the dyno app. It requires a fair amount of knowledge to make it spit out anything but nonsense but it's a handy tool for looking at power bands and such. Cam selection is something of a PITA with it... you should read up on cam theory first.


For the most part yeah... but not step by step yet that I know of. It's basically a motor swap pure and simple. There's like 5-6 modifications you need to do to make everything work over and above what you'd find in a chilton's book.

Exhaust: you'll need to spread the pipes apart a bit at the H. X's can be spread too but it's harder. Down tubes off the headers may need an inch or two of length added to them.

Hoses: 1 at the back passenger side won't quite fit right. It's going to be a parts store run. Enjoy. Nothing big but don't forget the little flow restrictor in the tube... must be transferred.

Hood: Stock 99-04 hoods will need some trimming at the back support to make clearance for the throttle wheel. Tall aftermarket plenums may interfere as well.

Oil pan: bolt up your 4.6 pan, spin the motor over a couple times with a wrench and see where it interferes. Grab a hammer and make it fit.

Oil pickup tube: use the one off your 4.6.

Getting the motor in is easiest from the bottom. Pre-assemble the motor to the k-member and you can slide the whole works in. Clearance will be tight. Have a couple friends on hand to help. Don't forget to square the k-member. MM has instructions on how to do that correctly in their K-member install guide.

If you need much more than that as a guide you should probably seek professional assistance. This is in fact a significant operation.

 

I had read that if the xe278ahs were degreed (retarded 5*) then there should be no PTV contact. Since I'm sticking with the stock boring on the 5.4L could I purchase pistons for the 5.4L that I could use on the 4.6 to clear the cams?

If not looks like the cams will be taking a seat on the sidelines as well as the heads. I just got a ridiculous deal on the cams with springs ($375) and could not pass it up. They look amazing had about 10k on them. Would really hate to have them sitting on the side for that long though...

 

dunno... never installed 278's. Read a bunch about people with contact issues though. Check with your installer. rebuilding your 4.6 to use the cams would be as costly as just putting them in your 5.4. Besides.. it's a lot of effort to install and remove and install all over again.

 

If I were to just use the stock bottom end from a 5.4L would running the 278s and MMR Stage 3 P&P heads be fine? I have a brand new 5.4L bareblock (using it for the big build up) but I could pick up a used shortblock and just strap the cams and heads on it with my current intake and some adapters and be fine while I build up the N/A beast. Any comments on this?

 

BTW I'd be using the entire stock bottom end with the 278s and Stage 3 Heads.

 

couldn't you have valve reliefs put in the new pistons for the 5.4?

 

i don't think they will be a contact issue with the 5.4 since the piston is further down in the bore... could be wrong though.

O and thank R3D ill look up that thing tonight.

 

Hi, I am new to the site and this thread regarding 5.4 swaps is what interested me. I have a 99 gt convertible that I plan to hopefully build up over the coming winter. Right now my options are 1. 5.4 swap 2. vortech kit 3. 3 valve 4.6 I do like the idea of n/a power so ideally I would like to pick option 1 or 3 but I do not know of the potential power. This will also be my first build up of any kind but I plan to do most of the work myself to also learn from it.

If I were to go with the 5.4 my plan is to build a shortblock with compression that is street friendly as this car is my daily driver. Other mods that I plan are vt stage 2 heads, comp 270 cam (will I be able to pass a emmision test?) p-51 intake with a 75mm throttle body. The car will also have underdrive pulleys, cold air, long tubes with a catted x/h.

The level of power I would like to make is around 350 hp to the wheels and 400 ft/lb to wheels revving to around 6500 rpm. Is this a achievable goal? Also what would the estimated 1/4 mile time be for this car on street tires and a suspension not set up for drag racing more handling (so far H&R race springs, bilstein struts and shocks, full length connectors and lower control arms will be next).

The part that I like about a 5.4 swap is the low end torque and also the fact that I can continue to buy bolt-ons and add to my car over the summer months and still use them on this combo, otherwise being a waste on the other two routes I was thinking of. I am also held back by many other people insisting on the 5.4 not being a whole lot more powerful than a 4.6, so basically I would appreciate feedback on what you guys think of these combo and how this car would fair against others such as ls1 camaro's and cobras( I dont race and this is not the purpose of the car, rather a fun street car but a comparision allows me to picture the feel of the end product)

Tyler

 

Correct, the 5.4 has PLENTY of clearance to run a very aggresive cam without worrying about the pistons.

Your combination is going to put you around 320rwhp/360rwtq naturally aspirated. You'll smoke all but heavily built LS1s, and 03/04 Cobras will give you a run for your money, but theyll look over going WTF when your pulling right alongside of them.

 

gtvert - the 5.4 i had before with a couple boltons(cai,70mmtb,plenum,frpp shorties,bbk x-pipe,ud pullies) i could pull away from a 99ish cobra with a cai and catback exhaust. so as a NA street DD, you will love the tq at low rpm's

 

i'm here, lurking still. just posting to let you guys know you haven't lost me. gathering thoughts and ideas, thats all.

 

wow..cant believe how popular this thread is...anyways to my question


do you guys think that it would be ideal to do a 5.4L 3v swap or just stick with the 4.6L 3v swap. from what i am understanding of the pages i read, all that needs to be done is a couple a modifications to the exhaust, hood, and oil routing.

 

ok well guys tell me what i'm gonna make

5.4 2v
Stock heads
VT stage 2 or custom cam..."somewhere around there"
upped compression... hopefully 11:1
Underdrives
Shorties
Prochamber
mac catback
T/f plenum
and either a 70 or 75 mm t/b.

ANy ideas what i'll make to the ground with an auto? thanks

 

With stock cams I'd say 315rwhp and 340rwtq? Its really not specific but youd get around that with the 11:1 compression, but I'd suggest porting the heads even if its a stage two port and polish, mostly to flow more air through the restrictive stock heads.