blueoval85

ok. i'll make it as short as possible. I bought this car with a rod knocking. 98gt convertible, 5 speed. I've always been a 302 guy for years, so going on that background, I thought no big deal, just put new bearings in it, it'll be good to go. boy was I wrong. hello modular motor. this is the first time i've ever put a wrench on a 4.6 mod. what i've learned so far is, to put a rod bearing in it, has snowballed into complete engine rebuild. lucky me. the bearing stacked. so it got one rod too. I was hoping to repair this engine without taking the heads off. not with that rod screwed up. so it needs a crank and a rod. to get this part out. I now have a bare block on my engine stand. LOL. oh well, the car has 163K miles on it. might as well freshen the motor up while its all the way apart. this is why i'm hear to ask you mod motor experts. what all should I do to this thing? I'm not looking for hot rod or mods. just put it back together stock, I think. I maaaaayyy do a p.i. head swap if I can get some cheap. I would like the extra power there, I just can't sink a ton of money into this engine. it's just gonna be for cruising. while i'm disassembling this thing, i can see the obvious parts to replace. water pump, timing chain guides, surface the flywheel, pilot bearing, plug wires don't look to hot.should I get new timing chains also? tensioners? what about oil pump? even tho this engine is OHC I see it still has hydraulic lifters, that's pretty cool. I like why they are there. should they be replaced? what about cam followers? sorry if these seem like dumb questions to you guys, i'm just and old school pushrod motor guy. forced to give in to new school technology. I do like the mod motor, its a bad *** engine. i've just never worked on one before.. and advice is much appreciated..

98blackgtinsc

im building a 99 gt motor as we speak, it had a blown piston i was going to replace just that like you with the bearing, YA no way!!! lol, all the bolts are torque to yeild so theres a good amount of money right there, all new gaskets and machine work. its gunna be more than you think, i was planning on spending the $70 on a new oem piston and that has turned into about $5500, with all forged internals, stage 2 cams, longtubes, stage 2 heads, all ARP fasteners, full exhaust, and a lot more. so dont get pulled into the "wellI have it apart so i should just buy this too" game it sux lol. at minimum, i would replace the tentioners, chains, guides, bearings, gaskets, and get the cylinder walls honed. but good luck

blueoval85

man, no bites on this post? i guess not, as i'm learning, the answer to rebuilding a 4.6 mod is, " it's a bitch! and expensive as hell." I guess ya'll just wanted to let me find out on my own. well, aparently NO one in alabama can get main and rod bolts for this motor, and only the stealership can get piston rings. ford wants 300 bucks for stock rings. and 30bucks for a stock battery tray. I declined their offer on the rings. i'll have to bite it for the batt tray(bolts rusted and broke on mine). so the only damn person I can find with rod bolts for this thing is sean hyland motorsports. so I just ordered rod bolts, main bolts, all bearings and rings from him. 330bucks. not too bad I suppose. just 149 for file-fit plasma moly rings. yea, that may chew up the cylinder walls some, but at least they will be sealing like hell while their doing it.

RODS.??? my research reviels that 02-up p.i. motors have slightly more heavy duty rods in them. a little thicker, a little heavier. I have 7 good 98 rods, a little lighter. anyone have 1 96-98 stock rod they could part with? that doesn't need to be surfaced? I ordered standard size bearings.

contentsunderpressur

I see you must be from Alabama. Well, I am too and my engine comes out Monday with 8 good rods being replaced with some forged H-beam rods. They're coming out of a 03 GT but should work just fine in your 98. I'll have 8 good rods and pistons and a set of PI heads for sale next week if your interested. I figure since your in Alabama then shipping shouldn't be that much. Let me know something.