My 5.4L 3V N/A build thread

[spyder7724]

It started up today.......all is well. needs tuned badly but oil pressure is good and no leaks or any other goofy stuff.
haven't tried putting my hood on yet i doubt it fits.
will call JJ @ woodbine motorsports tomorrow for some dyno time and see what happens then.
here's some pics of everything put together. i couldn't get the wiring hareness inside the intake but i figure i'll make some covers for them that bolt to the valve covers and it should look alot better.

 

[MexGT]

a new engine deserves a new air filter too !

 

[470 GT/CS]

It started up today.......all is well. needs tuned badly but oil pressure is good and no leaks or any other goofy stuff.
haven't tried putting my hood on yet i doubt it fits.
will call JJ @ woodbine motorsports tomorrow for some dyno time and see what happens then.
here's some pics of everything put together. i couldn't get the wiring hareness inside the intake but i figure i'll make some covers for them that bolt to the valve covers and it should look alot better.

It looks nice besides the air filter being very dirty. Do you plan on putting a larger inlet tube or MAF on your car? On a high compression 5.4 3V with high flow heads and big cams I would think that a 90MM MAF CAI wouldn't provide sufficient airflow. It would be cool to see you test the Techco 100MM CAI or C&L Racer 95MM CAI on your car.

Either way, it is still an amazing build that people will be talking about for many years and will be inspired by to do a similar one of their own.

a new engine deserves a new air filter too !

+1

 

[US-1]

haven't tried putting my hood on yet i doubt it fits.

Wanna buy a Cervini's 4" cowl?

 

[ZmanM3]

Wanna buy a Cervini's 4" cowl?

How much are you selling it for?

 

[james432]

im going to be bulding a motor this winter man i dont know if i want to go this way i was going to do a 4.6 to 5.0 stroker..so everything bolts right up like trans??

 

[spyder7724]

Yes i will clean the air filter before the dyno i really was disappointed with the "high flow" steeda tube. it's a plastic POS that lost 2-3 mph over my home made CAI tube....lighter but i switched from the old style 80mm MAF and my home built tube to the 90mm maf and their tube and lost 2-3 mph. now i will say my car wasn't dyno'd with the 90mm unit and all i did was load in the value file but the a/f ratio's didn't seem to change much so i didn't figure it was worth a trip to the dyno for that. i thnk the 90mm should be enough but i'd like to make another tube...maybe sheetmetal to match everything else i'm also going to seal up the hood if it fits. didn't get a chance to try it on today but the car is going to JJ tomorrow so i'll give it a whirl.
as far as the trans goes it bolts up fine but you will want to either buy the PA flexplate if you're using the steel 5.4 crank (8 bolt) or simply use a cast 5.4 crank with a 6 bolt pattern so you can use the factory flexplate. i did save some money by using an 8 bolt flexplate from a 99-02 mustang (an aftermarket SFI version) but i had to change some stuff around and for the average person it might be a little too much to deal with.
on the hood hang on i'll let you know. i'm thinking of cutting my stock hood then using a cobra jet or boss 429 style scoop to cover it up if i have to.
i'd hate to cut up the rk hood.
i've got 15 gal. of E85 and the trailer is hooked up so i can take it over to Woodbine Motorsports.
I can't wait to really break this thing in.

 

[andyman]

you're not the only one!!!

 

[Matt D]

im pumped whoooooot 450hp plus

 

[470 GT/CS]

He's going to easily make 420rwhp, if you mean 450 HP as in rwhp, then I'm not so sure, but we'll find out soon.

 

[Matt D]

He's going to easily make 420rwhp, if you mean 450 HP as in rwhp, then I'm not so sure, but we'll find out soon.

im thinking 420-30 for sure at the wheels but if he made 450 then thats just amazing. Im hoping for 450 lets say that lol

 

[Blazing Saddles]

I doubt we'll see his true HP #'s with a 5500 stall converter. The real test will be at the track. I predict a 10.93 @ 124.5

 

[spyder7724]

I doubt we'll see his true HP #'s with a 5500 stall converter. The real test will be at the track. I predict a 10.93 @ 124.5

+1 on that.
haven't found anyone who can do a 5500 stall coverter but mine would flash to 4200rpm with the stock engine so it should gain another 500rpm or so with the new combo just from the added torque. this is the reason my car only dyno'd at 282rwhp (mustang dyno) 296rwhp(dynojet) with the stock engine and all the bolt-ons but still managed to run 114.7 mph at the track. using that it should have dyno'd about 320-340hp at the wheels.
i'd be happy if it dyno's over 400rwhp....honestly with no corrections or BS. at that point i'd feel confident with the right weather and track conditions i could run low low 11's or maybe high tens.
JJ has the car now and is going to setup a base tune for me so i can get a few miles on it before we head to the dyno. i'm hoping to get the car back next week. it will be tuned for E85 only as i don't see any reason why i would want to pay $6-7 a gallon for race gas all the time or change tunes and drain the tank etc. heck i bought 15gal of E85 for about $35 last night. I'll burn 15-18% more but it still doesn't add up to what race gas would cost. interesting note is that ford advertises about 30ft.lb. gain in torque using E85 in the new '09 f150's i guess they are just throwing more timing in it.
oh and the air filter actually wasn't that dirty. it's just the color of the steeda filter. it looks dirty compared to the breathers cause they have a paper element (brand new el cheapo mr. gasket breathers). I cleaned it anyway.
JJ (woodbine motorsports) has large air inlets for lightnings using the big t-b's and i'm going to try and talk him into making one for the s197's using a gt500 t-b. to my knowledge no one makes a CAI for the 3V's using the gt500 t-b yet.
also I got the hood on. i did have to cut some reliefs in the underside of the hood for the intake and t-b but they were minimal and the ram air should still function fine. it almost worked without touching it. i'll bet the stock hood would have cleared. the rk sport hood has less clearance than the stock hood due to the ram air ducting.
can't wait to get it back and drive it a bit. even running like shit it sounds pretty good.

 

[ZmanM3]

Haha, I had to cut a few reliefs into my RKS hood too. I'm still in the market for another one.

 

[spyder7724]

Haha, I had to cut a few reliefs into my RKS hood too. I'm still in the market for another one.

i remeber when i bought mine and was waiting for it to get delivered i read a post and someone was complaining about the fit and alignment. when i got mine i couldn't believe how nice it was. yeah it was a a little short but if you've ever worked with race fiberglass then you know that crap isn't even close. i like mine but i do wish it wasn't heavier than the stock hood

 

[ZmanM3]

i remeber when i bought mine and was waiting for it to get delivered i read a post and someone was complaining about the fit and alignment. when i got mine i couldn't believe how nice it was. yeah it was a a little short but if you've ever worked with race fiberglass then you know that crap isn't even close. i like mine but i do wish it wasn't heavier than the stock hood

I love mine and it fit great till the Saleen S/C with the BMR K-member. The Steeda CAI was a little high too and needed some relief. I think the next hood is going to be some type of cowl induction hood unless I get a deal on a Saleen hood.

 

[spyder7724]

I love mine and it fit great till the Saleen S/C with the BMR K-member. The Steeda CAI was a little high too and needed some relief. I think the next hood is going to be some type of cowl induction hood unless I get a deal on a Saleen hood.

i was thinking of no hood and using a plastic newspaper box as a scoop. i've seen it done a few times at the track

 

[ZmanM3]

haha, that would work for you but my car is a mostly street car that I like to race when I can. Its bad enough that I have to stop and tape over the hood scoop in the rain so it doesn't get the throttle body wiring wet as it is. I wonder how the dan gourney saleen hood would look on my car painted red and black.

 

[Matt D]

make a paper mashay hood

 

[470 GT/CS]

make a paper mashay hood

with a waterproof covering.