Simon1

Thanks Bruce. If I were to do it all over again I probably would have gotten the same block and increased the displacement to 298.

I think if all of those items were replaced with parts that weighed less, he could save well over 100lbs. The difference between the iron and aluminum is around 75lbs anyways.

Even with the KB blower (100lbs) and all it's contents, big 18" wheels(50lbs?), iron block (75 ish) and the sway bar (25lbs), I can get the front tires to lift an inch or so on a 1.60 60'.

siggyfreud

When I broke my 5.0 in, I was running the same 4 lb pulley as before. I stayed out of boost for the first 500 miles. I can definitely say the stroker motor felt a LOT more torquey than the 4.6 did outside of boost, even with the lower compression ratio.

I think if you ended up going to the 5.3 forged for reliability sake, you'd still be pleased with the low end grunt that it would have over the 4.6.

Build for the future .

Blue10

I would love to do a lot of that, but need to keep this simple for the sake of time and money. Only want to change the shortblock, happy with anything over 425 peak HP, don't want 500 peak HP or higher.

And you're right...the 100 lbs difference I was thinking of was iron vs. aluminum for the 5.4L short block.

Blue10

Any suggestions how I would research that? Tried the Mustang Forms search, but didn't find anything there.

Blue10

There's hopefully a new house and a kid in my future, so by the time I do bigger brakes, wheels, and tires, the short block is going to be pushing my $$$ limits.

BruceH

http://www.modularfords.com/forums/s...rom-Ford-cheap

http://www.modularfords.com/forums/s...=1#post1503509

Those are a few turned up from google. I'm sure you could find more. I haven't found any first hand knowledge. Good luck with your project.

BruceH

Any changes in thinking after research? Reading your post almost makes me wish I would of went with an iron 3.700" block with standard stroke. I could of done it for the same money as my 4.6 and the weight penalty wouldn't of been that big a deal. At any rate I'm getting enough out of my little 281 cubic inch motor to move my 3960 pound (with me) car pretty quickly.

I hope you update this thread when you decide on what to go with. It makes for interesting reading.

Blue10

Yes! I've already found enough folks with enough different opionions that I've decided I need to find a trustworthy, experienced engine builder to help me...I'm not smart enough to figure this all out myself.

THANKS!

retfr8flyr

If you want to keep it simple and don't want more than 425 rwhp why don't you just get the Roush upgrade kit from JDM. This kit includes a new pulley, idler pulley, CAI, a new JDM tune and will produce 430 rwhp. At this power you don't really need a forged shortblock the stock setup will handle this power level just fine.


Earl

One Love

I have 42,000 miles on my car and I have been running 10lbs since new. I have never had any issuses at 500rwhp. I run 91 octane in Socal. I run my car to redline all the time. Shift the **** out of it also.

Put a whipple on it and get a tune from Justin Starky and forget about it. I plan to put 100,000+ on my car before I go forged.