What would YOU do for an engine build in my situation?

Thatblack03

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What would you do in this situation for an engine build?

This is my first build and the goals have changed and do change as time passes, sometimes due to my ignorance, other times due to deals I find online and my impulse to change everything when I'm knee deep.

That being said, the original goal was a BUDGET boosted 650whp, pump 93 fuel, non-pi iron block build with 3v heads. I was gonna be running the stock 3v intake, Comp cams, and the fuel system from the car it's going in, an 03 gt. I'd began buying parts for the romeo iron block when I came across a steal of a deal for a nemak block. Fast forward and I've also found a super cool and rare intake that I bought a few months ago.

So, before I spend another dime, I need some insight. I need a plan.....

I still need ALOT and I'm not sure what direction to take. Being my first build, I'd bought pistons of stock bore thinking I'd just do a dingle berry hone and slap it together and go. Bad idea obviously, and now I have some shiny paper weights because even a slight hone would likely ruin my piston to wall clearance. A slight hone wouldnt work in my opinion though, there are vertical scratches and with it being on the stand for months, its likely rusted from moisture.

I'd also bought gen 2 coyote rods that I won't be using now that my budget is out the window. I'd prefer safety more than budget now anyway since I have already wasted so much on the romeo block itself and the romeo specific ARP hardware and King XP bearings.

I guess now the goal is a proper build making 650whp on 93 but with the ability to go 800whp safely on e85. One big thing I want is a safe but high rev limit of 8500rpm, which won't be cheap but will be sooo worth it to me. Yes, I know it'll be far out of it's power band and so on, but it's what I want. The limiting factor in my opinion will be head flow.

The MMR intake I've bought will flow great, the custom turbo (if I do go turbo) manifolds I'm gonna make will flow great aswell. As for heads, I'm planning on going Livernois or MHS CNC ported heads with the bigger steel valves. I'm also gonna be using the Jesel followers and lash adjusters which are supposedly rated at 9k rpm. For cams, I'm going with Comp 127650s. I've heard these cams have so much lift, they actually break the stock followers pretty often, so the Jesels will be good here. Not sure about springs, I'm likely gonna go with Comp 26125-24 .650 lift beehives.

Now for the block itself, I'm thinking I want to stroke it instead of a built 4.6 displacement. I really want to build a high revving NA 11.0:1 compression monster, but realistically I'd never see over 450whp best case scenario. So that leaves me stumped on what to do with this build.

I have nothing as far as rotating assembly goes since I'm not using stock 6 bolt crank or the rods and pistons I bought. As I said, the pistons probably wont fit after a good hone and the rods just don't seem like the right choice. Better to have the added insurance the manley H beams would bring over stock gen 2 yote rods.

Right now, I'm looking at the MMR 5.0 stroker kit with maybe 10.2:1 compression, .020 over pistons with big cam valve reliefs. Just wondering what you guys think. Comes with Manley H beams, Manley pistons of choice, and Manley Forged 8 bolt crank with bearings.

Will the stroke ACTUALLY cause piston wear due to the piston exiting the bore on the downstroke? Is the piston speed gonna be detrimental at that stroke with the rpm I'm gonna turn? Would that compression level be okay for a healthy performing engine that's out of boost while also taking boost safely? Should I do the 4.75 stroker kit? If you've pieced together a build, what did you do? Not looking to have 20k into parts alone on this build, but I want it to be done right for the power level.

I'm in the process of learning HP Tuners currently and do plan on tuning myself, so I'm open to suggestions on the ecu I should be using too. Thinking I'm gonna eventually go ms3 pro as of now. I have only dipped my toes in on researching tuning though, so I'm not even sure HP Tuners can tune that ecu. The first start and tune will be on the stock 03 gt ecu. It will run a 3v fine but I do want to upgrade before I push much power. With the 03 ecu not being able to detect knock, that scares me a bit.

Any help is appreciated and I'm sorry for such a long winded post. I just had to lay out my goals for the build and why I want to "buy once, cry once" this time around rather than throwing the wallet at the internet and hoping I buy the right stuff only to change the plan later on.

One other thing, if anyone has a tune file they wouldn't mind sharing, I'd love to check it out to help learn. I'd specifically like a stock 3v gt tune and one with bolt ons to compare them. I'd also LOVE to have a tune file from a boosted gt making close to my goal above.
 

AHaze

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That RPM level is gonna get expensive. The 4.6 is already a small bore/long stroke engine. I personally wouldn't add more stroke if I was dead set on a screaming redline. The stock ECU isn't going to allow that much RPM so you're effectively going to be doing everything you would need to engine swap the car anyway.
I know this isn't what you want to hear but I would ditch the 4.6 and start over with an F-150 Coyote motor. 8500 RPM is probably still not realistic but maybe 8k is possible and you can make 600+ whp with nothing but boost and a better oil pump. From there, add cams, ported heads, rods, pistons, e85 etc. until you're happy.
 

Thatblack03

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That RPM level is gonna get expensive. The 4.6 is already a small bore/long stroke engine. I personally wouldn't add more stroke if I was dead set on a screaming redline. The stock ECU isn't going to allow that much RPM so you're effectively going to be doing everything you would need to engine swap the car anyway.
I know this isn't what you want to hear but I would ditch the 4.6 and start over with an F-150 Coyote motor. 8500 RPM is probably still not realistic but maybe 8k is possible and you can make 600+ whp with nothing but boost and a better oil pump. From there, add cams, ported heads, rods, pistons, e85 etc. until you're happy.

Yeah, I do understand that rpm with an even bigger stroke will be a bit iffy at best. But that's why I'm posting here and asking for help/advice. Do you happen to know the stroke of a coyote? I see them running 8k alot on YT and TikTok, so if I can mirror that rotating assembly without such a big bore, I'd be good for a while.

As far as the coyote swap, it'll happen in the future but not to this car. The 3v sounds insane with cams and the 4.6 has a special spot in my heart, so that's what will be going in my 03 gt. Plus I'm already a few thousand in on this 3v project.

We one to the forum from FL.

Post some pics of your Mustang.

My car isn't post worthy yet to be honest. Peeling paint and just terrible looking currently.
 

JC SSP

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FYI my 87’ 5.0 went through Hurricane Andrew back in the 90’s. Has the same paint, dents and scratches. It has 486HP and tuns 11:50’s on motor. Post it, you will get better responses. Way to many possers on the internet…
 

Thatblack03

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FYI my 87’ 5.0 went through Hurricane Andrew back in the 90’s. Has the same paint, dents and scratches. It has 486HP and tuns 11:50’s on motor. Post it, you will get better responses. Way to many possers on the internet…

Sometimes I wish I'd been a poser, would've been alot cheaper lol. But since you asked, I'll post a Pic or two. You've probably seen it posted on FB in a couple groups, been gathering parts and getting a plan on the build for months now. I've asked as much as possible everywhere I could to help me get the best bang for buck.


The old Npi iron block I bought for 300
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Immediately broke a bolt ear off due to having incorrect bolt size
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Found this on my way home from Tennessee and had to grab it in the company truck. Only paid 300!
Screenshot_20240701_162812_Gallery.jpg


Then I was super lucky and found this MMR intake for 1200 on ebay. Talked the guy down to 800 and had to get it!
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These are pics of the car it's going in.
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I've since bought a new daily (08 v6 s197) and I'm now getting more serious about the build. Was daily driving the gt while trying to accumulate parts and form a plan.
 

Thatblack03

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Safe 8,500 RPM with a three valve? Not gonna happen.

That's why I'm paying for the best of the best 3v followers and lash adjusters. That means absolutely zero and they could easily be worse than stock, but Jesel is a big name for rocker arms and so on.
 
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Juice

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How long do you want this monster to live?

Based on what Im readimg so far, its not going to be very long. You have big goal, but you are asking very basic questions. Im not trying to put you down, Im trying to save you $$$$$.

I would not consider honing and new pistons for such a build. Pick the block you want to use, buy pistons, have a machine shop bore the block and fit the pistons. Tell the shop what you are building. Get the rotating assembly balanced.
Do you have tools and know how to measure all clearences when assembling the shortblock?

So you think you can learn HP tuners on a 600 hp combo? Dont learn on this, BUY a tune from Lito.

Im guessing you will not be keeping VCT and locking the cams. You could run that off the 02 pcm. Using the 3v pcm you will need to deal with PATS.

Lower your max rpm target. There are calculators out there you can put in bore & stroke to calculate piston speed and safe redline for a combo. (9k aint it)
 

Thatblack03

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How long do you want this monster to live?

Based on what Im readimg so far, its not going to be very long. You have big goal, but you are asking very basic questions. Im not trying to put you down, Im trying to save you $$$$$.

I would not consider honing and new pistons for such a build. Pick the block you want to use, buy pistons, have a machine shop bore the block and fit the pistons. Tell the shop what you are building. Get the rotating assembly balanced.
Do you have tools and know how to measure all clearences when assembling the shortblock?

So you think you can learn HP tuners on a 600 hp combo? Dont learn on this, BUY a tune from Lito.

Im guessing you will not be keeping VCT and locking the cams. You could run that off the 02 pcm. Using the 3v pcm you will need to deal with PATS.

Lower your max rpm target. There are calculators out there you can put in bore & stroke to calculate piston speed and safe redline for a combo. (9k aint it)

Ideally, 30k miles would be a realistic goal for 650whp.

And I'm only asking for advice on what to use, I'm no engine builder but I have been soaking in every bit of knowledge I can in preparation. I really want to do this right and do plan on measuring everything and taking note. I still need to order alot of tools but I am gonna be getting the right tool for the job on everything.

I will be looking more into clearances when that boat arrives. I'm probably gonna stick to a looser piston to wall clearance and ring gap, as I was told "it's better to need a bigger catch can than a bigger trash can". For the crank and rod bearings, I still need to learn more about what clearance I'd want. I know I want minimal end play of the crank itself, but at what point does bearing clearance become an issue? There's obviously a line between stability at high rpm and higher power levels with tighter clearance vs reliability and forgiveness that comes with a looser clearance.

For the block, I plan on having it decked and bored, then I'm gonna bring it home and measure for the correct bearings and begin deburring all edges. May port out some of the oil/coolant passages too.

And yeah, kinda stupid to assume I could tune with zero experience, but find me a better way to learn than trial and error on your own vehicle. Only dyno tuners around me are the guys that tune mostly chevrolet platforms and turning torque management off and/or adding more advance/retard timing at idle is their idea of a tune. Technically it is, but they are the guys that try to make as much money as possible, so they won't tune for drivability and power if they can get away with it.

Lee Blankenship is within 3 hours of me and he's THE mustang tuner from what I hear. Seen his stuff all over YT and TikTok but he's mainly a cobra guy. I'd give him a shout later on after I have the need for real power and when break in is done and rings are seated good enough for it.

As far as VCT goes, that's gonna be locked out. I might try the 6.8 v10 3v cam gears since they didn't have VCT and see if that'd be a better option though. Lockouts are tried and true, but still room for play/wear in the phasers I'm sure.
 
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Midlife Crises

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followers and lash adjusters
My experience with solid lifters and hi rpm’s is on a different engine platform but I learned it is labor intensive. Even with screw in studs, guide plates, stud girdles and lock nuts adjusting the valve lash was necessary after a hard run. Turn the rpm’s down and use hydraulic lash adjusters. Your oil pump is your friend.
 

Thatblack03

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For 650 RWHP you're gonna need about 15 lbs of boost. My 2009 Bullitt had 653RWHP. I had a stroked 5.0 long block, stage 3 Livernois heads, GT500 fuel system and a VMP tuned blower. Tons of other stuff as well, was over $70k all in.

Here's Justin working on my tune.


That is a beautiful car! Love that blower sound. What did you do for rods, pistons, and crank?


I'm assuming a huge chunk of that 70k was labor cost? Hopefully I won't be anywhere near that doing everything myself.



My experience with solid lifters and hi rpm’s is on a different engine platform but I learned it is labor intensive. Even with screw in studs, guide plates, stud girdles and lock nuts adjusting the valve lash was necessary after a hard run. Turn the rpm’s down and use hydraulic lash adjusters. Your oil pump is your friend.

Hmm, I didn't know that. I'll look into it, I definitely don't wanna be under the valve covers every other day.

One thing about the oil pump, I was reading last night that you have to be very careful choosing the right pump for your build. I'd always though you wanted a high pressure pump, but guess not. The pressure comes from resistance and you don't want that. What you really need is high volume and lower pressure pump to be able to correctly feed the heads. Thought that was interesting.
 

Thatblack03

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Also, just checked my email and Jesel got back to me. There is no rpm or spring rate limits on the followers. Surely there is an actual breaking point, but it must be very high. They're 139 usd each and their lash adjusters are 58 each.

He said there would be a 3-4 week build time on them and they do warranty against defects. They're also fully rebuildable!
 
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yote0

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It's 2024. Why are you going for a 3V build on a 2V car? Makes no sense from any angle. If it was a factory 3V car then maybe. Coyote swap makes the most sense. This almost like a troll post it's so ridiculous.
 

Thatblack03

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It's 2024. Why are you going for a 3V build on a 2V car? Makes no sense from any angle. If it was a factory 3V car then maybe. Coyote swap makes the most sense. This almost like a troll post it's so ridiculous.

If ya don't like it or can't contribute any meaningful info to help with the build, keep scrolling. I get it, it's no secret that it'd be easier on the wallet to go coyote over any mod motor when going for a high horsepower build. That's such an outdated way of looking at things though. I'm building the car the way I want it, which is a 3v swap. I love the sound of these cammed and they look alot better to me. They also perform almost as good as the 4v mod motors. Obviously the heads flow better on a 4v, but it's still fairly close.

I'm not taking anything away from the coyote platform, I've already mentioned I'll be doing a coyote build later on for a different car. I just don't want it right now. I'm not ready to build my sohc setup in all reality, I darn sure don't wanna fool with installing, timing, and tuning 4 cams right now.

If something goes wrong with this 3v, I have an iron block to build in its place. Something beyond that, I can find another Nemak block for a few hundred fairly quick. With a coyote, one screw up and I'm out ALOT of money.
 

skwerl

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If ya don't like it or can't contribute any meaningful info to help with the build, keep scrolling. I get it, it's no secret that it'd be easier on the wallet to go coyote over any mod motor when going for a high horsepower build. That's such an outdated way of looking at things though. I'm building the car the way I want it, which is a 3v swap. I love the sound of these cammed and they look alot better to me. They also perform almost as good as the 4v mod motors. Obviously the heads flow better on a 4v, but it's still fairly close.

....
Not even close! The 4.6 3v was only rated at 300hp at the crank and there is very little support available for it any more. The 5.0 4v is over 400hp which is a 33% increase in power. In what world is that 'almost as good' or 'fairly close'?

I felt like a damn fool when the 5.0 4v came out in 2011 right after I had dumped tens of thousands into my 2009 Bullitt. The stock 5.0 was faster than my 3v right after I put the first blower on it!
 

Thatblack03

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Not even close! The 4.6 3v was only rated at 300hp at the crank and there is very little support available for it any more. The 5.0 4v is over 400hp which is a 33% increase in power. In what world is that 'almost as good' or 'fairly close'?

I felt like a damn fool when the 5.0 4v came out in 2011 right after I had dumped tens of thousands into my 2009 Bullitt. The stock 5.0 was faster than my 3v right after I put the first blower on it!

I was comparing it to the 4.6 4v. When someone says "4v" , they're usually talking about a mod motor. Coyote is technically a mod motor, but not really.

Anyways, this is how the 3v lines up against the NA 4v mod motors according to Wikipedia

05 - 09 Mustang GT = 300hp / 320lb-ft

93 - 98 Mark VIII = 280hp / 285lb-ft
03 - 05 Aviator = 302hp / 300lb-ft
96 - 98 Cobra = 305hp / 300lb-ft
99 - 01 Cobra = 320hp / 317lb-ft
04 Mach1 = 310hp / 335lb-ft

I mean, it is pretty close. Only reason the 3v performs so good in comparison is more modern tuning and vct plays a big role.

As far as aftermarket goes, there are definitely fewer options for valvetrain stuff aside from cams. Very lacking when it comes to intakes too. Only 3 or 4 aside from the one-off manifolds and limited runs from MMR and similar shops. So you are right, smaller market, but not non-existent.

Had I been comparing the 3v to any generation coyote, I'd have been wrong.
 
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Thatblack03

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For anyone interested in the build, I have decided on a crank. Thanks to another member commenting on another post pointing out the max safe rpm of each stroke available (assuming 5,000ft per min is a safe piston speed).

I'm gonna go with the MMR 4.75 crank. It's affordable and comes with a high volume oil pump and Clevite bearings. Still need to decide on what piston/bore/compression and rods to run. Description for the crank says I must run their 4.75 pistons, but I assume that's only because they balanced the crank to their weight? Gotta call them anyways to ask if I can get a billet gear with the oil pump, so I'll ask them about that then.
 

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