jmiyake

Hi all you experts,

I am looking for a basic cost breakdown for a high performance engine rebuild to help me budget this. I am not very skilled mechanically, or well equiped, so info on shops would be welcome. I live in San Jose, Ca. Also kit and approach suggestions welcome.

5.0 stock mustang GT, I want to go naturally aspirated. (Looking for a nice road machine, not a racer, though they are cool and all. ) I haven't had a rebuild before so I am really needing some basic info here.

Thanks all,
Jame

Buzzstang

we just had a 306 built with a b303 cam and it cost aroud 2000 dollars. that was including having my heads done. they even assembled it so all i had to do was drop it in. simple enough. we went with a 306 because it was the safest way to go, the cam was just right. i could get in the car and drive it to where ever and not worry about it. and yes it wil still turn heads.

horatio102

Heh.
I went 306, balanced, f303 cam, 8.5:1 forged rebuild kit, edelbrock heads, motorsport 75mm maf/30lb injector kit, mac cai, power + upper/lower, edelbrock 70mm TB, adj. fuel pressure regulator, and some other stuff. With high compression pistons it would have put out about 400hp, but with the lower compression pistons it's only going to be around 350 (my guess, dyno time on tuesday). But with low compression it's built for forced induction and somewhere in the neighborhood of 500+ hp safely.

It ran me closer to $6k, but I could have saved quite a bit by using hypereutectic pistons instead of forged, and nearly another thousand by doing the R&R myself. But I don't have the facilities to yank an engine out and I didn't want to deal with fluids.

If you just want a street machine with decent power, I'd suggest getting the .030" overbore to clean it up (306cid), high compression rebuild kit, good heads (AFR 165 or edelbrock performer), and a nice cam to give it a bit of cackle. I think the f303 might be a bit too much for the stock computer as every now and again it'll stall at idle, but the b303 or e303 would be a nice addition.
You should be able to get that done for under $3500 parts and labor. Perhaps even less. I think my heads cost me $699 for the pair (which is why I went with edelbrock instead of afr).
Here's how mine would have broken down if I did it like that:
$800 - remove and reinstall engine
$600 - engine assembly
$700 - aluminum heads
$200 - camshaft (the B and E are cheaper than the F)
$150 - rotating assembly balance
$400 - (rough guess) master rebuild kit

It also includes before/after dyno runs, tuning on the dyno (in my case, since I added a fuel pressure regulator and it needed adjustment), all of the little crap that needs to be replaced (throw out and pilot bearings, etc.), and they painted the block Ford blue and bead blasted and painted the valve covers silver.

Mustang88LXKid

you can rebuild engines yourself like I did, a lot cheaper, I just read alot of books and I figured out how to build HiPo engines, like on my dads 351W we turned to a 406 Stroker! Its not as hard and you can save around 1000 dollars!

vfast

horatio..I'd say your set up is 290-325 please let me know when you get the numbers

JYIJAKE... I have build well over 350 engine in my years...it's what you feel like paying 1 thing you rebuilt it and for some odd reason it goes south you have nothing on the other hand if you look haRD you can get a nice engine with a warranty and will put you mind at ease some what and be reasonable

horatio102

Well shutting it down at 5000 rpm it did 260hp/284 ft-lbs at the tires, which is somewhere around 300-310/325-340 at the crank. My baseline before the work was 206 at the tires, but I've now got heavy 17" wheels/tires on it now instead of the stupid-small 14" that were on it, causing more drivetrain loss.

I'll pop back in Tuesday night after it goes back in when it's more broken in and when the H-pipe gets replaced (huge dents on the bottom from somebody landing on something).

vfast

horatio..why do you need a dyno?*L* I was close huh? how many miles on the injectors?

Buzzstang

nice set up!

horatio102

Dyno slips don't lie. <img border="0" src=smileys/smiley1.gif border="0">

At the time of that pull there was about 300 miles on the engine, and nothing on the maf/cai/injectors, so the computer hadn't learned anything yet.

Now I've got another 800+ miles on it, and today I'm adding 400 more.

Wish I'd win the lotto so I could drop the blower in.

Buzzstang

dont we all. i just have to buy the first ticket.