What does it cost to build a 3V to handle boost?

[2L8IWON]

I saw a thread n the Coyote section about building a motor for $2500 and it got me thinking, what does a 3V cost?

I've seen Aluminators for 8k and read threads of guys that spend thousands upon thousands on their motors. To be honest I've never priced a engine buld persoanlly.

Not looking for anything crazy here, not trying to hit 1000 rwhp or anything. Just looking for a nice, solid engine that can withstand some power. I have a stock 3V with 31k miles.

Thanks

Jesse

 

[05moneypit]

How much boost? The stock crank is good to around 600hp. I know guys that have just put good rods and pistons in the stock block and made good power with a SC as long as you keep the RPM's to reasonable limit. Rods and pistons will set you back about 1K.... lot of it depends on wether you are paying someone to do everything. You can build a decent 3V for $2500 if you do it yourself.

Lee

 

[BruceH]

Both of the motors I've built have reused the stock crank. AFAIK there isn't a hp limit because nobody has had one fail.

You can do rods and pistons, use a frpp head changing kit and frpp main bolt kit, new gaskets where needed and only have $1500 into it. Machining including balance, deck, mainline, bore, hone, and ring fitting shouldn't be over $1000.

There you go, reuse your stock crank and block and you have a built shortblock for under $2500. Lots of people will tell you it's the wrong way to do it but most can only repeat what they read on the interwebz and have no practical experience.

IMO the most important part is the machining. The rest is just assembly work. Follow these specs http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=159&viewfile=Engine.pdf and you should be fine. Keep in mind there are no guarantees with forced induction. I'm fairly certain there are more cases of "professionally" built motors failing than the garage projects some of us do.

Ford has already put the engineering and research into what a mod motor needs to survive with boost. Examples are the Terminator and GT500. I've followed those specs and parts as much as possible and not had any problems. That means I'm using Mahle 4032 pistons with a ptb clearance of .0015", stock bearing clearances, 5w-20 oil, tty hardware, and not torque plate honing. Most of the keyboard experts will tell me I'm wrong but my experiences and those of countless Terminator and GT500 owners prove otherwise.

If I was building a super high hp motor it would be done differently, more than likely I'd use a race shop to build the whole thing and use studs with oringed heads, forged or billet crank, 2618 pistons, etc.

The most my motor has made is 674rwhp and I don't plan to take it any higher. If I had not used arp2000 rod bolts I wouldn't take it that far.

My point is that it's not that hard to beef up your motor enough for higher hp street and sometimes strip use. If your plans are super high hp with lots of track time it's best to talk to those with that kind of experience to find out what will fail and what needs to be modified in order to live.

 

[stang7300]

Great post Bruce!...it's got me thinking now.

 

[Riptide]

All the other little upgrades add up. To me it always seemed like if you're going this far and pulling the engine you might as well buy an exhaust, get some cams, upgrade the clutch. Oh and then there's the fuel system that needs attention. And better upgrade the pump and heat exchanger while you're at it. Pulley and new belt system. Tuning on top of all that.

It's not that much relatively speaking to make the engine stronger but to build up the whole system to handle all the power you will want to make with it. Hope you got ten grand or more sitting around. lol

 

[fdjizm]

3v's hold 841whp! been proven!

 

[lethe]

3v's hold 841whp! been proven!

One of these days someone is going to think your serious haha.

 

[fdjizm]

One of these days someone is going to think your serious haha.

You missed the thread didn't you?

 

[NUTCASE]

3v's hold 841whp! been proven!

mine only handled 783whp and then it just started eating spark plugs and flux bearings, so I call BS on 841.

 

[lethe]

You missed the thread didn't you?

No i didn't miss it. What i meant is someone will take you seriously and think the motor will "live" with the much power on stock internals.

 

[2L8IWON]

Thanks Bruce, this is an excellent post and you make a very sensible and compelling argument.

Appreciate it

Jesse

Both of the motors I've built have reused the stock crank. AFAIK there isn't a hp limit because nobody has had one fail.

You can do rods and pistons, use a frpp head changing kit and frpp main bolt kit, new gaskets where needed and only have $1500 into it. Machining including balance, deck, mainline, bore, hone, and ring fitting shouldn't be over $1000.

There you go, reuse your stock crank and block and you have a built shortblock for under $2500. Lots of people will tell you it's the wrong way to do it but most can only repeat what they read on the interwebz and have no practical experience.

IMO the most important part is the machining. The rest is just assembly work. Follow these specs http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=159&viewfile=Engine.pdf and you should be fine. Keep in mind there are no guarantees with forced induction. I'm fairly certain there are more cases of "professionally" built motors failing than the garage projects some of us do.

Ford has already put the engineering and research into what a mod motor needs to survive with boost. Examples are the Terminator and GT500. I've followed those specs and parts as much as possible and not had any problems. That means I'm using Mahle 4032 pistons with a ptb clearance of .0015", stock bearing clearances, 5w-20 oil, tty hardware, and not torque plate honing. Most of the keyboard experts will tell me I'm wrong but my experiences and those of countless Terminator and GT500 owners prove otherwise.

If I was building a super high hp motor it would be done differently, more than likely I'd use a race shop to build the whole thing and use studs with oringed heads, forged or billet crank, 2618 pistons, etc.

The most my motor has made is 674rwhp and I don't plan to take it any higher. If I had not used arp2000 rod bolts I wouldn't take it that far.

My point is that it's not that hard to beef up your motor enough for higher hp street and sometimes strip use. If your plans are super high hp with lots of track time it's best to talk to those with that kind of experience to find out what will fail and what needs to be modified in order to live.

 

[striker 5]

bruce is the man .

 

[05moneypit]

Both of the motors I've built have reused the stock crank. AFAIK there isn't a hp limit because nobody has had one fail.

You can do rods and pistons, use a frpp head changing kit and frpp main bolt kit, new gaskets where needed and only have $1500 into it. Machining including balance, deck, mainline, bore, hone, and ring fitting shouldn't be over $1000.

There you go, reuse your stock crank and block and you have a built shortblock for under $2500. Lots of people will tell you it's the wrong way to do it but most can only repeat what they read on the interwebz and have no practical experience.

IMO the most important part is the machining. The rest is just assembly work. Follow these specs http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=159&viewfile=Engine.pdf and you should be fine. Keep in mind there are no guarantees with forced induction. I'm fairly certain there are more cases of "professionally" built motors failing than the garage projects some of us do.

Ford has already put the engineering and research into what a mod motor needs to survive with boost. Examples are the Terminator and GT500. I've followed those specs and parts as much as possible and not had any problems. That means I'm using Mahle 4032 pistons with a ptb clearance of .0015", stock bearing clearances, 5w-20 oil, tty hardware, and not torque plate honing. Most of the keyboard experts will tell me I'm wrong but my experiences and those of countless Terminator and GT500 owners prove otherwise.

If I was building a super high hp motor it would be done differently, more than likely I'd use a race shop to build the whole thing and use studs with oringed heads, forged or billet crank, 2618 pistons, etc.

The most my motor has made is 674rwhp and I don't plan to take it any higher. If I had not used arp2000 rod bolts I wouldn't take it that far.

My point is that it's not that hard to beef up your motor enough for higher hp street and sometimes strip use. If your plans are super high hp with lots of track time it's best to talk to those with that kind of experience to find out what will fail and what needs to be modified in order to live.

The epidimy of KISS....right there^^^^^

Why try to over think what Ford has already spent countless hours on.

 

[OneQwkStang]

I saw a thread n the Coyote section about building a motor for $2500 and it got me thinking, what does a 3V cost?

I've seen Aluminators for 8k and read threads of guys that spend thousands upon thousands on their motors. To be honest I've never priced a engine buld persoanlly.

Not looking for anything crazy here, not trying to hit 1000 rwhp or anything. Just looking for a nice, solid engine that can withstand some power. I have a stock 3V with 31k miles.

Thanks

Jesse

Depends on what kind of numbers you want and boost levels.....lots of stock 3 v running 500rwhp and less at 10 to 12 psi....tune is key.

 

[Sonicblue_s197]

Hink

I saw a thread n the Coyote section about building a motor for $2500 and it got me thinking, what does a 3V cost?

I've seen Aluminators for 8k and read threads of guys that spend thousands upon thousands on their motors. To be honest I've never priced a engine buld persoanlly.

Not looking for anything crazy here, not trying to hit 1000 rwhp or anything. Just looking for a nice, solid engine that can withstand some power. I have a stock 3V with 31k miles.

Thanks

Jesse

Well it depends really. If you plan on just beefing up the bottom end it shouldnt be too much. I just recently finished building my motor and it ran me somewhere around $10,000.
I didn't plan on it to get that pricey but I figured why its out Il do this and that and it added up really quick.