My 5.4L 3V N/A build thread

[spyder7724]

make a paper mashay hood

aluminum foil with glad press and seal for water proofing
i'm sure the import guys have some cool home built body work. i'd love to see what they are running.
anyway went over to JJ's and drove it today. still has some part throttle and tip-in stuff to work on but i got into a little....it pulls really strong from 4k up but i clicked it off at 6k since it's not tuned for WOT yet. he's got it idling nice now. changed a ton of stuff to get that straightened out. he's got more timing in now at idle so it's not as choppy but still sounds really good with a very noticeable lope. it wouldn't idle below 750rpms at all but i could care less what it sounds like at an idle. revs really quick too.
he's going to work on it some more this week and i'll get it back so i can put some miles on it before we go to the rollers.

oh and the solid lash adjusters definitely are not quiet!

 

[kleistang]

aluminum foil with glad press and seal for water proofing
i'm sure the import guys have some cool home built body work. i'd love to see what they are running.
anyway went over to JJ's and drove it today. still has some part throttle and tip-in stuff to work on but i got into a little....it pulls really strong from 4k up but i clicked it off at 6k since it's not tuned for WOT yet. he's got it idling nice now. changed a ton of stuff to get that straightened out. he's got more timing in now at idle so it's not as choppy but still sounds really good with a very noticeable lope. it wouldn't idle below 750rpms at all but i could care less what it sounds like at an idle. revs really quick too.
he's going to work on it some more this week and i'll get it back so i can put some miles on it before we go to the rollers.

oh and the solid lash adjusters definitely are not quiet!

Good to hear. post those dynosheets as soon as u can

 

[Matt D]

Good to hear. post those dynosheets as soon as u can

hell I want to hear this thing! post a video

 

[spyder7724]

hell I want to hear this thing! post a video

my wife broke the camera at the beach so it's in getting fixed if thats possible and my other digital camera doesn't do sound. i tried to do one with my phone but all you can hear is fuzz on that POS. once it's back from JJ's i'll get someone with a good camera to take some decent audio clips.
it's much less choppy now after he tuned on it some which i don't mind cause it gave me some vacuum for my brakes to actually work. i was a little surprised at how much noise the lash adjusters make but then again all my other cars that had solid lifters or solid rollers always had open headers so they probably aren't that bad i've just got to get used to them. once you rev it a little the noise goes immediately away.
as far as dyno sheets i have to get it back and drive it a little so we can work out all the driveability issues. then we can thrash a little. i figure 100miles should be sufficient for a break in.

 

[Matt D]

my wife broke the camera at the beach so it's in getting fixed if thats possible and my other digital camera doesn't do sound. i tried to do one with my phone but all you can hear is fuzz on that POS. once it's back from JJ's i'll get someone with a good camera to take some decent audio clips.
it's much less choppy now after he tuned on it some which i don't mind cause it gave me some vacuum for my brakes to actually work. i was a little surprised at how much noise the lash adjusters make but then again all my other cars that had solid lifters or solid rollers always had open headers so they probably aren't that bad i've just got to get used to them. once you rev it a little the noise goes immediately away.
as far as dyno sheets i have to get it back and drive it a little so we can work out all the driveability issues. then we can thrash a little. i figure 100miles should be sufficient for a break in.

do you still ahve your ABS? just a random question lol

 

[spyder7724]

do you still ahve your ABS? just a random question lol

yes the brakes are totally stock except for line locs. typical racer, i spent all my time trying to go qicker and didn't worry about stopping when i first started with the car i almost changed the brakes over to a drag setup just to get wheels but once i found out bogart made them i figured i'd try to do it with stock brakes. there's probably close to 100lbs. that could be lost switching to some wilwood's or aerospace front and rear brakes.

drove around a little yesterday....it feels pretty strong especially above 4500rpms. JJ told me to get a good tach. found out why. he set the rev limiter to 7000 right now and i was bouncing off it but the tach only read 6200-6500rpms. it was pulling strong when it hit the limiter too so we'll have to bump that up a bit i think. exhaust smells like propane or something when burning the E85.
need to drive it some more but today my e w-p wouldn't come on. i think the relay went out cause i bypassed it and the pump runs. i'll take care of that tomorrow and go have a little more fun.
next week maybe we can hit the dyno if all the little crap is strightened out.
anyone know where to get the ford valvespring compressor tool for 3V's cheap dealer told me $160 i borrowed one for the initial assembly but i'd like to have one handy so i can check\adjust my valves whenever i want.

 

[470 GT/CS]

yes the brakes are totally stock except for line locs. typical racer, i spent all my time trying to go qicker and didn't worry about stopping when i first started with the car i almost changed the brakes over to a drag setup just to get wheels but once i found out bogart made them i figured i'd try to do it with stock brakes. there's probably close to 100lbs. that could be lost switching to some wilwood's or aerospace front and rear brakes.

drove around a little yesterday....it feels pretty strong especially above 4500rpms. JJ told me to get a good tach. found out why. he set the rev limiter to 7000 right now and i was bouncing off it but the tach only read 6200-6500rpms. it was pulling strong when it hit the limiter too so we'll have to bump that up a bit i think. exhaust smells like propane or something when burning the E85.
need to drive it some more but today my e w-p wouldn't come on. i think the relay went out cause i bypassed it and the pump runs. i'll take care of that tomorrow and go have a little more fun.
next week maybe we can hit the dyno if all the little crap is strightened out.
anyone know where to get the ford valvespring compressor tool for 3V's cheap dealer told me $160 i borrowed one for the initial assembly but i'd like to have one handy so i can check\adjust my valves whenever i want.

The car sounds nice Ron, I can't wait to see some dyno numbers, track times, and a video.

Here's a link to the valve spring compressor for 155 .

https://fordspecialtools.com/Detail.aspx?id=767


Are you going to go to the N/A 3v shootout in Rockingham, North Carolina this November(the event is November 1st)?

 

[ZmanM3]

Sweet!

 

[spyder7724]

The car sounds nice Ron, I can't wait to see some dyno numbers, track times, and a video.

Here's a link to the valve spring compressor for 155 .

https://fordspecialtools.com/Detail.aspx?id=767


Are you going to go to the N/A 3v shootout in Rockingham, North Carolina this November(the event is November 1st)?

thanks i'll check it out.
i'm planning on going. i know they changed the classes around a bit so i hope i don't get stuck running against power adder guys just cause it's a 5.4 if i remember the rules were 334cid or less for the NA class so i just made it.
the electrical gremlin has me a bit confused but it's from my own making i guess. i ran a separate circuit so i could turn on the fan and w\p for quick cool downs and everything worked fine for 3 years. Now it seems to have a draw on the system somewhere or something is grounding out. when i turn the key to run position the fan instantly tries to come on and it blows the fuse immediately. i unhooked the separate circuit and the w\p works fine but i still need the fan+pump option (my car ran quicker with the fan running ) so i can get it cooled down quick. i replaced the relay and tried a bunch of different stuff but nothing made a difference. i'm now going to check the entire system from battery up to the fuse box. got to have that working for the dyno pulls.

 

[05yellowgt]

Ah the sweet smell of E85 exhaust fumes. It is a little to get used to but smells much more pleasant than straight gasoline without cats IMO. Out of curiosity how much experience does JJ have with tuning E85? It was pretty straight forward to switch my car over when it was n/a but little tweaks here and there made all the difference in getting the tune just right.

 

[spyder7724]

Ah the sweet smell of E85 exhaust fumes. It is a little to get used to but smells much more pleasant than straight gasoline without cats IMO. Out of curiosity how much experience does JJ have with tuning E85? It was pretty straight forward to switch my car over when it was n/a but little tweaks here and there made all the difference in getting the tune just right.

He's doing mostly Lightnings on E85. mine was the first mustang. mostly the switch is pretty straight forward but i had so many things i changed that we will be tuning on it for a while working out the small things. little hesitation here and there etc.
i'm hoping to get it to the dyno next week so we can setup some WOT stuff. it's really hard for me to keep my foot out of it while driving knowing the power is there. geez it does sound good though.

 

[05yellowgt]

It's good to hear that more and more tuners are getting experience with this stuff. There are a lot of upsides to E85.

 

[05yellowgt]

BTW what turned you onto the idea of trying E85 out?

 

[spyder7724]

BTW what turned you onto the idea of trying E85 out?

i read about it in hot rod magazine 10years ago and since we have always run methanol in our super gas\ comp cars i was itching to build a street car running alcohol. it just became available around here last year so i can now get a steady supply although now i find out it's not really consistant. my E85 i just bought is more like E75 but it's still better than pump gas and has more octane (98-102approx.)
it's actually the perfect street\moderate performance fuel. it allows for higher compression-more timingh with less detonation plus the engine runs cooler and it cost me $2.30 per gallon at the most expensive station around! ethanol isn't nearly as corrosive as methanol and all the late model cars are equipped with ethanol resistant fuel systems since our pump gas has at least 10% sour mash in it all the time now.
I have 12:1 compression and still run 35degrees of timing with a fuel that i bought at a chevron station for less than 87 octane gas. yes i will burn about 18-20% more but it still allowed me to build a streetable high compression engine without worries of overheating or having to detune the heck out it.
we still need to get mine on the dyno for proper tuning but right now the A\F ratios are stable and everything seems to be working just fine.
I'm dumping in some fruit punch flavored scent stuff so i don't have to smell the propane. i like the smell of methanol burning but this stuff is kind of annoying so i'll mask it.....wish i could get a fart flavored exhaust scent. now that would distract your competitor at the track

 

[andyman]

I'm dumping in some fruit punch flavored scent stuff so i don't have to smell the propane. i like the smell of methanol burning but this stuff is kind of annoying so i'll mask it.....wish i could get a fart flavored exhaust scent. now that would distract your competitor at the track

hahahaha now all the kids at the track are going to be huffing your exhaust

 

[SStang]

How much did you pay for the 5.4?

Thanks.

 

[SStang]

How did you pay the 5.4?

Thanks.

 

[Matt D]

any more pics or videos? I can't wait to see some et's

 

[MexGT]

Ron, do you have the weight of the complete 5.4 longblock compared the complete 4.6 longblock ?

 

[spyder7724]

Ron, do you have the weight of the complete 5.4 longblock compared the complete 4.6 longblock ?

sorry guys i was pretty busy and just didn't get a chance to respond but here goes:
-i bought a used 5.4 truck engine complete 104k miles for $800 and on the tear down it looked great for a work truck engine. they are a dime a dozen now. someone just gave me one this week. i guess they tried to change plugs and broke one then instead of getting the tool to extract the shank they just shoved it down and installed the new plug. uh yeah people are that stupid but the block is fine as well as the crank but it does need one piston and a head but heck it's free.

-weight unknown but i can tell you my soft front springs are bottomed out so it's at least 150lbs. heavier than the stock 4.6 i just got a set of 250# springs so that should cure the problem of no suspension travel.

- after pulling the valve covers to check the lash adjustment i found out why they were so loud. they were loose...not just a little but really loose. i did some checking and it seems they aren't exactly machined\designed correctly. the body it about .020" short which causes the lock nut portion to rub on the head. they actually made a chamfer in the head and nearly clearanced themselves but it caused them to unloosen. i'll install some shims underneath them to raise them up a bit and give them one more shot. if they still don't hold adjustment after that i'll try to return them and get a set of non-adjustable jesel solid lifters instead. i can't use a stock hydraulic adjuster cause the cams are ground for the solid stuff or else i probably would just switch now to get some run time on the engine.
my advise is if thinking of the solid stuff go with the non adjustable ones that use shims. it's impossible to adjust them in the head anyway so i could have avoided this issue but i was told they were adjustable when installed. oh well at least i caught it before any damage was done.