Hey everyone. So my Mustang is goin through some issues right now. I got a knock goin on in the engine. Think it's a bad lifter or a rod and piston assembly. Anyways, I have had all kinds of issues with this car since I bought it so I'm to the point where I'm looking at doing a full engine rebuild.

With that rebuild I want to get the engine to around 400HP crank naturally aspirated. What do you guys suggest as the best brands out there and websites to get parts from. I've looked at a ton of places but I wanted to get some opinions from those who have been through this before.

 

If I was going to do this, I would start off with a non pi shortblock from a 96-98 car. You will have a bumped compression from this.

Unless you plan to get over 450 wheel hp(about 520 crank hp) you dont need any forged parts, so stock parts are acceptable.

your going to need 340 wheel ho to meet your goal of 400 crank hp, for that your going to need:

TF heads(in this case I would use the 33cc heads to bump compression even more)
A good set of stage 2 cams(stage 3 will give more gains but piston notching and drivability will be crap)
And I would put on a set of long tubes.
Fuel injectors and maybe a new fuel pump

Iv seen reports of people getting 350 RWHP with trick flow heads and stage 2 cams and bolt ons through an automatic. SO that being said you should be around 360+ with this setup. and it should be fairly cheap to do considering the heads/cams will be the most expensive part.

 

Well Long tubes are something I'm gonna want to stay away from. They are illegal in California.

 

so dont put em on..lol

your not going to be able to build your motor for that much power n e ways then. ull fail smog for sure.

 

actually excuse me. I forgot a minor detail.

Lets just say what if smog wasn't an issue, this would be an ideal setup?

 

well if smog isnt n issue you can get a passing mark with lts also..

but u dunno if i would call ti ideal for a daily driver.. id rather just supercharge it. but it would be a pretty strong set up

 

Mmkay. I got another question. I've heard a lot of opinions on

3.73 gear ratios v 4.1's What do you think is better for more "daily" driving/autocrossing use.

 

depending on your power level an course 4.10s could be better. I personally love 4.10s, but I did find sometimes that I was rowing the boat to much at autocross events. sometimes I wish I had 3.55s so I wouldnt have to take it out of 2nd.

 

So is it safe to say then 3.73's would be a happy medium?

 

eh for autocross.. its really a toss up. it just depends on what course they set up. I think 4.10s are fine for DD cars.