How to build a Stroker 5.0l

Here is my build ~ 4.6 to a 5.0 Forged Internals!
Started in November 2011 in our shop
Pre 5.0l build (Stock 4.6 Motor)

Saleen Supercharger 3.4 Pulley
3.73 Ford Racing Gears
Steeda CAI
Panhard Bars
Tokyio D Specs
SLP Line Lock
Flowmaster Axle Back
Kenne Bell Boost-a-pump
39lb injectors
SCT Handheld Tuner

This is a video of the car at the track before the build.
Northside Performance - 2006 Mustang GT - YouTube

Ok now that we got that outta the way. Here is my build.

New Parts:
127bren2 Cams
Forged Kellogg Crank
Forged Manley Rods
Forged CP Pistons
Pypes Headers and H pipe
BMR LCA and UCA and 3rd link (adjustable)
3.2 Pulley (40 Bucks )
One thing that isnt included in the kit from brenspeed is a 8 bolt flexplate, stock is 6 and the new crank is 8 bolt
Also head gaskets, head bolts, main bolts, etc, stock head bolts are one time use, but they are strong so you can order them again to save money
Main studs need to be changed, they are spendy but worth it.
The idea was to drop it out the bottom with the K member and Wheels Still attached.
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Drained all the fluids before disassembly, this took about a hour in its self along with disconnecting all the wires and taking the brake lines out. one of the hardest parts was the AC but we ended up draining that, and taking it out with the starter. Also taking out The AC.
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Driveshaft out now since we are taking the transmission with it, only way to get it disconnected from the motor

After double and triple checking everything was disconnected we raised the car to seperate it, very slowly and very carefully.

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we then used the cherry picker to seperate the K member from motor and Transmission
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Once we got the motor off the K-Member we then wiggled the Transmission off.
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Here is the Empty hole haha
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After that we got the Engine on the engine Stand
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From there we took off the stock manifold, some very dinky little things
Good ole 5R55 auto
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We then took off the heavy SOB saleen supercharger.
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Next came the Valve Covers…UGLY
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From there take off all the pullies, water pump so you can get the front timing cover off
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Then we went and took off the front timing cover
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We took a ton of pics of this for the timing in case we need to reference back…DO THAT trust me it helped us a ton
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Then Came the heads,
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Once the heads are off we had it looking like this
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We then flipped the motor and started working on the rods and pistons, make sure you number them and make sure you know whats top and forward when you pull them
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Once that’s out watch out don’t drop any bearings on the rods or when you take the crank out.
Now we cleaned her up –
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Ok now is where we kinda got lazy on the pictures
So from there we took it to the machine shop had him do a .0010 overbore for the pistons, he was a good friend of ours so he insisted on porting the heads so i figured might as well it cant hurt. Once we got the block and heads back we started to assemble the motor. There are a few very useful things when doing this, (note take out oil valley plugs and clean in there it is dirty!)
Rule 1 – CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN this thing needs to be like surgery because it will determine the longevity of your motor.
Rule 2 – Always take your time, think about how it should work, recall the disassemble.
Rule 3 – Double and Triple check everything, we had ours mocked up, and together and apart many times checking bearing clearances.
Rule 4 – keep everything oiled and lubed up every bearing every step of the installation needs assembly lube
Ok so here is a little advice, if you buy this kit you will notice the rods are very close to eachother, we lathed our rods out to about .0012 because we are using it for performance, this is knowledge from our engine builder, but if its just for street no need to do this. Also the bearing in the rod goes in the notches, if you notice the bearing doesn’t fill the rod, the wider gap side goes towards the crank to oil the side of the rod facing the crank, that’s how you know if you have the rods facing the right way and IT DOES MATTER! We used ARP for everything, the manly rods come with ARP bolts.
I went with the ARP Main Stud Bolt kit for the Caps on the Crank. I had a hard time finding these, talked to ARP personally and after getting them and checking them out I figured it would be helpful for future builders to know the ARP part number is 156-5901 for all 3 valves. Dont let the description on summit or any website fool you. These are the Right ones, they come with 20 bolts, all are the right ones trust me.

Ok now the biggest pain is the one time use side bolts for the cap. you need 10 of them and they are 9mm, well...they are 14 bucks a bolt from ford for one time use. if you dont feel like spending over 140 bucks for these i found a alternative. I work for Fastenal in the Corporate headquarters so i thought, wont be hard to find this bolt here since its basically a M9 and slap a .200 thick washer on it. I was wrong, very hard to find M9's so i went a step bigger to M10's, we bored out the cap, which isnt much your just taking the thread out and we threaded in M10 size. After about 30 mins of this we tried it out. THEY WORKED BETTER!!! they are thicker so that means more stronger, they actually had more thread going into the cap which was more stable. dont be fooled, they wont touch the Side Stud bolts since there is no barrier between the hole, it will fit perfect. The washer i used was a USS 3/8 washer. Total on 10 bolts and a box of 100 washers just in case since some arent the same thickness i spent a total of 14 bucks!!!!

Here is the Fastenal Part number for everyone. and its really simple dont be scared about messing up the caps, just have someone who knows how to drill and re thread do it and you will save big $$$ like i did!

Fastenal Part Number and Description:

0153988

M10-1.5 x 40mm DIN 933 Class 10.9 Zinc Cap Screw

M10-1.5 x 40mm DIN 933 Class 10.9 Zinc Cap Screw | Fastenal


I know its 40 mm trust me. I am right, save the money! its stronger and cheaper...10.9 are the highest grade bolts! 8.8 will work just as well if they only have them.
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I know its 40 mm trust me. I am right, save the money! its stronger and cheaper...10.9 are the highest grade bolts! 8.8 will work just as well if they only have them.
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Where the bolts go
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Here is the kit-
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Kellog Crank, CP pistons, Manly Rods
Kellog Crank rated to 1000hp
Here is assembling the rods and pistons – number these as well in case you need to take them out. Also file fit the rings for each bore by themselves, you want top piston ring to be .0020 and bottom to be .0026.
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Here are the slips that come with the kit that fit the rod and piston together
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We bagged them and numbered
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All together

All together
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Cams – 127Bren2 from Comp
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Now some Show Car stuff haha painted timing cover and valve covers and oil pan. USE ENGINE ENAMEL AND SAND WELL!!
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Used Vinyl on these, looks and works great
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ARP Bolts !!!
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Bolted and Torqued to the specs given
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One thing we did to keep the motor clean so nothing got in it was put a trash bag over it
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When we disassembled the heads we used a tackle box to keep everything in order and together I recommend this and get two one for each head and label the dividers so you know where to start.
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Lube everything really well when reassembling heads
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Put the gaskets on, part number is in picture
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Now I am sorry for speeding things up but we just went to town on the reassembling, the timing is hard and takes time but that’s why you took a ton of pictures and there are diagrams out here that can show you how to time them, The cams just fit and need some persuasion, I recommend a experienced mechanic for this. But finally after a ton of working and checking and double and triple checking here are the pics. Enjoy!
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Now have a few beers!
My dad was a great teacher, my Machinist/ good friend was a great help! To the Guys at Brenspeed, ARP and Sean Hylands book how to build a max performance 4.6 thank you a ton!
Ok here is the total for my build as in what it costed me, broken down mine didn’t include labor since its all ours, the Machinist Jamey didn’t charge us anything! He is a great friend.
Mods Cost My Cost
B302 Assembly 2,200.00 1800
Camshafts 700.00 650
Headers 600.00 600
X-Pipe 200.00 0
Flexplate 100.00 100
o2 Extension 35.00 35
Ford Head Bolts 130.00 70
Main Bolts 235.00 200
Side Bolts 200.00 10
Cam Bolts 40.00 40
Gaskets 260.00 70
Crank Bolts 40.00 10
Machining Block 180.00 0
Porting Heads 400.00 0
Freeze Plugs 8.00 8
Labor 55 Hours 3,850.00 0
Fluids 200.00 0
Total 9,378.00 3,593.00

This was done on the weekends by me and my dad when I was home from school took roughly 4 weekends to do.
Ended Dec. 31 2011!
Now that is All folks
I will be more then happy to answer any questions
Any Comments Appreciated!

Nice, I love well done build ups when they're a planned mod, not when you have to do it after a blown engine lol

Damn that is an impressive build!

Great build, please keep us posted on the dyno results and strip exploits with the new forged internals!

Great job with the pictures! That should be a very robust engine once it's broken in properly. I applaud you for doing it yourself!

How much boost do you plan to run through it? HP/TQ Goals? Upgrading the intercooler, pump and reservoir? Specs on the fuel system? Did you go with larger valves, better springs and if so, what are the specs? Did you replace the timing chain guides? So many more questions! LOL!

timing is the same,didnt replace valves, just opened it up and got very aggresivie in the intake pots. plan is 13 psi i have two lethal 340 w/ 80lb going to do e85, hp goals are humble, 500rwhp 475tq and im just not throwing out huge numbers to be judged on. intercooler was already upgraded

A $6000 dollar saving for doing it yourself is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! Nice pics and thank you so much for sharing!! Good luck and that Saleen blower is gorgeous!!!!

Nice. Set up

Very nice build. I just got through building a 383 stroker for a chevelle I am restoring. It REALLY feels good to complete a build by yourself rather than having someone do all the work for you. Looks great.

Couple of questions...

• I noticed you used ARP main studs. Did you check the clearance between your oil pickup tube and the bottom of the oil pan?
• Why not just use ARP's 156-5002 M9 main cap side bolts for the 4.6L 3V?

yea we had to trim the piece that holds the pump securely. They were a long time coming they were back ordered so i went with a cheaper alternative it worked great by the way.

Great write up

Yes sir very nice write up


Sent from your moms phone

Can't wait to see it in person. Nice job Tim.

Damn....nice build..