Future Supercharger purchase
 

Been doing a lot of reading on this topic. I read that it's safe to make 440rwhp on a stock engine, so my goal is to get somewhere over 400 but not quite 440 rwhp. This car is most likely not going to be my dd anymore as well.
I can't decide which s/c to get. I was looking at the stage ii procharger or one of the vortech HO models with the aftercooler.

So I would assume to get over the 400 mark I would need to run 10psi?
Which s/c do a lot of people run who make 400+rwhp?
The s/c's that include an intercooler, do they fit behind a stock bumper or is modification needed?
Is an intercooler needed to break 400?
Also I stupidly have 4.10's, so would i need to change them to 3.73 or can you run 4.10? Everyone seems to say 3.73 are needed for any kind of FI.
Lastly, would it be possible to get one of the vortech
models AM sells which says it will make around 370 (hp? or rwhp?), then in the future get blower cams to bump me over the 400? The stage II PC or vortech HO cost around 5k whereas the other vorrechs are around 3500-4000.

I bought a Vortech V2 SI trim non intercooled locally used. Its being installed right now so I couldnt tell you my numbers just yet but I pieced everything together and it cost me around $2500. If I were you I would try to find a good used one because it will be pretty much just as reliable as new but alot cheaper.
Also you can get 400RWHP with pretty much any blower, it just depends on what you want.
You dont NEED an intercooler but its recommended because you'll get heat soak without one and lose power.

What's so stupid about having 410's? A lot of people will tell you that the 373's is the prefered gear but unless you plan on going to the track everyweek the 410's will be okay. The biggest complaint about having 410's (along with a S/C) is that when you go to a 1/4 mile track ,you run out of gear and end up having to go into 5th gear (to remedy this just get a taller tire). If you were going with a roots, or even a twin screw S/C, that would be a different story. Those S/C's (Eaton, Whipple, KB) make instant boost, so alot of guys tend to stay with stock gears because with anything bigger you're left at the light spinning and like they all say if you're spinning, well you know the rest. As far as the AM S/C if you want it right now, then that would be ok. If you could wait a month or two you can piece one together like mentioned before and save yourself 1,000-1500 bucks. I will spend right at around 2100 bucks for a intercooled Supercharger setup. If I'm way off on this guys let me know..

-intercooler isnt NEEDED to make 400rwhp, its needed to make 400rwhp and keep your car from blowing up. 400 is not out of the question non intercooled, but it likely will not last long especially if u live somewhere real hot.

-440rwhp is not safe reguardless of what you have read. ford rated the stock rods to 475 crank horsepower. people blow their motors all the time at, over, and even below 400rwhp. if you aren't willing to blow a motor, don't supercharge it. not trying to scare you but i hate seeing people post "this power level is safe for your car" because they CANNOT tell you with any certainty what is safe. your car boosted could last a day, a week, a month, or a decade no one can tell you.

-400rwhp is achievable with any decent blower. procharger, vortech, kenne bell, paxton, even an eaton swap, etc...

-there is usually some minor cutting/grinding to get the IC and all the piping in, depends on the intercooler though not all of them are the same some bolt on and require very little cutting.

-gearing depends on several things and most importantly the DRIVER and what YOU want/prefer. just go ahead and install the blower, take it out and see how you like 4:10's. if they are way too much drop down to 3:73's or maybe even 3:55's. thats stupid to worry about your gears now when you havent even driven the car. there are tons of people with 4:10's and blowers on their cars here. you may want to drop down but you won't know till you can test it. why waste money dropping to 3:73's before you even have the blower on your car just to find out maybe you wanted 4:10's after all...?

-a vortech or any other blower with boltons and a good tune will get you to 400rwhp or more, you don't need cams to break 400rwhp. but you say your building an engine, so i would put blower cams in the new engine reguardless but i wouldnt waste the money installing them in your stock motor just to swap it out in a few months.

i wasn't sure. It just seemed everyone said 3.73 with FI. I thought about piecing together a system but i wasn't sure about buying a used head unit. Also is the intercooler specific to the mustang or is it a generic one and where did you get it.

Hey like was said eailier I would try the 410's with the S/C. See how it feels to you and then you can go from there. You can look on corral.net and there are guys on there selling intercooled S/C's for like 2800 bucks. I bought a CX racing intercooler from a guy on this site that upgraded to a Procharger 3 core intercooler. Cost 75 bucks. I bought the required piping from CX racing for 110 bucks. Total 185 bucks. It can be done but it takes time. I've been doing this build up since mid May and just about complete. Good luck on which ever way you decide to go.

Thanks for all the info. And honestly, Im nit willing to blow my motor. Maybe I shouldn't be trying to s/c then. I just saw those power numbers on a sticky post in the 4.6L section.

ND...don't forget that Tune has alot to do with it too. If I were you I would first establish whether this is going to continue as a DD car or a "weekend warrior". I agree w/ soldier and mutilation above with keeping the 4.10s until you try them out with a supercharger. Don't shy away because of being afraid to blow the motor. You can always go with a V2 S or SQ Trim Vortech and run a conservative pulley with a good tune and still tear up the streets and not be in danger of blowing it. I don't think the guys above were trying to scare you about blowing the motor, you just have to have realistic goals on the stock shortblock/rods/pistons/etc etc. I'm planning on a very similar, if not identical, build as Soldier this winter....

Also, maybe you should contact the guy on here with the green procharged mustang (sorry I cannot think of his username) and I believe hes at approx 140k miles w/ 40k of them supercharged and I'm pretty sure I recently read that procharged GT is running better than ever.

If it were me i'd drop to 3.73's and do a Kenne Bell. I've driven a couple of Vortech/Procharger gt's, and 1 Kenne Bell gt, and there was no comparison IMHO. They all made similar power (within 30 hp or so) but the twin screw was just so much more fun.

right now it's my dd and I try and drive it as little as possible as it is. But as soon as I can, I'm getting another car and that won't be my dd anymore.
But I was planning on gettng the pro charger or a v3 so I wouldn't have to tap the oil pan