Engine Where To Go With This Motor

[Clean89pony]

Ok, new member here. Just picked up a very clean 89 gt. the guy had done quite a bit to get started. The car has 3.73s, tremec with a 600hp rated clutch etc. the motor...not sure about what to do. That's my question. It's got a m6007x302,crate engine in it. The motor is apparently a 306 with forged pistons and 9:1 compression. Gt40x heads and an E cam. Been out of building anything for ages and never got way into it. The car will be driven often and I'm on A little by little kind of budget. They put a Holley Systemax upper n lower on it with a 70mm throttle body and a larger MAF. It surges horribly and all over the place. But it's scheduled for the dyno in 2 weeks. Which all the surging issues have been looked at vacuum, iac, tips etc. only thing left is the tune. So...now that I rambled, the QUESTION is...what would you do to this thing to put some more power down? It runs decent other than idle. But I'd like more out of it. Thanks in advance! Any help is MUCH appreciated

 

[A5literMan]

Did you run the codes? Please post them if you could. As far as what you want out of the motor goes...are you looking for more power in general? Does it run strong/clean through rpms? Basically the gt40x-e303 combo is a mediocre combo. The e cam is an outdated design that has a fairly small power range(I'm running one myself). The x heads are mediocre also. Plenty of better designs if you're looking to swap parts.

 

[84Ttop]

My vote is to run the Surging Idle Checklist, that combo will not cause a surge and a dyno tune is not likely to fix the surge either.

As far as increasing performance, cam and heads would be the next item to change but that would be silly given the fact that you already have aluminum heads and a cam. Basically it is what it is at this point and without major changes you'll be looking at 340 or so HP in my opinion

 

[jrichker]

You guys with idle/stall problems could save a lot of time chasing your tails if you would go through the Surging Idle Checklist. Over 50 different people contributed information to it. The first two posts have all the fixes, and steps through the how to find and fix your idle problems without spending a lot of time and money. I continue to update it as more people post fixes or ask questions. You can post questions to that sticky and have your name and idle problem recognized. The guys with original problems and fixes get their posts added to the main fix.

It's free, I don't get anything for the use of it except knowing I helped a fellow Mustang enthusiast with his car. At last check, it had more than 159,000 hits, which indicates it does help fix idle problems quickly and inexpensively.

 

[84Ttop]

@Clean89pony ^This is where you should start for sure

 

[Clean89pony]

Ill go through it. So, I can get a scanner for this car at autozone or Wal-Mart to read the codes?

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

If your engine hasn't been tuned then there likely is more HP in your combo yet to be discovered. If you're still not happy after your tune then your best bet is to talk to @84Ttop about some boost!

Do the Surging Idle list like stated above and follow the directions, don't skip around.

 

[Clean89pony]

I know the people that had the car sold it because he couldnt figure it out. And he bought a newer 5.0. The thing that throws me off most is its VERY inconsistent. Sometimes, start it up...surges instantly. By almost 1000rpms. Then, the next time you stop, it idles a bit high but not much surge, then like last night...hit a drive through...900rpm idle the entire time I was there even through the huge line. Pull in the drive at home..surges and stalls. Smh...checklist here I come. Probably shouldnt take someone elses word for it on what they checked. And yes, FoxMustangLvr, I would love a little more hp out of it. Not sure if it would handle much boost and if so..what the nest route would be.

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

You should assume the seller is a liar and double check all that he said he did to try to fix the problem. Back yard mechanics often mess things up, , mismatch parts, poor reassembly, get frustrated and then sell the project for a loss and will say just about anything to get rid of it.

How long have you had it? Post a pic of the engine bay?

Get it running right first. I'd leave the heads alone and maybe replace the cam with a better cam or a custom grind type. A supercharger is good and reliable bolt on HP and down time, if your good mechanically, could be as little as a weekend and you could net an additional 100 HP to the wheels depending on the setup. @84Ttop is a genius with that stuff so I'll stop talking and he can take the floor on that topic if you're at all interested in it.

 

[Clean89pony]

At work and dont have super detailed pics of the bay. But heres what i have

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

I see a couple things (assuming this picture is current and is how you're running your engine).

1) Where is your oil filler neck?
2) the black hose that connects to the top of your throttle body (TB), right where your blue BBK rubber coupling attaches, is supposed to connect to a barbed fitting on the oil filler neck. It's part of the PCV system. Where does this hose go to? Do you have a PCV valve?
3) There are two missing lines on your EGR spacer, picture is likely not current or else you'd be spitting coolant everywhere.

I'll wait for a current picture before any more input is given.

 

[Clean89pony]

Pic IS current. Ill take up close pics tonight. I wondered about those lines but they look to be basically clamped off. I havent touched a THING since last week when I bought ths car. Thanks for the help btw guys

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

Ok, then the coolant lines on your heater tube must be blocked off. Do you know if your EGR is functional? If not then you should fix it. If the hot gases are being fed into your EGR spacer then YOU NEED the EGR spacer coolant lines hooked up. The recirculated air from your engine is hotter than your coolant. Without the coolant lines the recirculated air will heat up your incoming air into the engine.

If you have a PCV valve you need that black tube hooked up to the top of your TB from your valve cover (normally hooked up to your oil filler neck). Pressure builds up inside your engine and sometimes oil comes with it and that tube redirects the oil into your intake and into the combustion chamber to be burned off. If you do not have a PCV valve then you need valve cover breathers on each VC directed to a catch can.

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

Here is a picture showing the factory way of routing the EGR coolant lines and the valve cover to TB tube. This is a random picture I found on the internet so disregard the red lines.

If your oil filler neck is on the driver side and the neck is closer to the back side of the engine (closer to the firewall) then the P.O. simply installed the VC on the wrong side. I recommend switching them.

 

[84Ttop]

@Clean89pony after you get the surging figured out, I would post pone your dyno tune until after you decide on boost or staying n/a. If you are going the boosted route you will wind up tuning the car a second time and cost your self more money overall. With your setup you can reliably expect 400+rwhp with the right supercharged combination and we can point you down that road whenever you are ready

 

[Clean89pony]

Awesome stuff. Ill look and probably take detailed pics when I get home to see options and what direction I need to go. Thanks again

 

[Clean89pony]

Heres some pics. Let me know how much I am screwed lol.

 

[Clean89pony]

 

[Clean89pony]

 

[Clean89pony]