331 stroker soon, but for now?

Mywhite94 · Feb 22, 2006

Been skimming the boards here for quite a while now, dont post much, but I dont often see a point where someone's question isnt answered by one of the regulars, so i dont see a need to My question is this; Ive been budgeting for a 331 stroker short block from CHP , being as my motor has near 130k on it, and im not entirely certain how it was treated before i came by the car at about 110, besides, I miss my old 390, cubic inches are addicting.

Been saving for the short block for a while now, as Id like to have a solid foundation that i can trust before i start slappin parts on it, but I grow impatient. I was planning AFR 185's, an FTI cam, and have been debating the Performer RPM/RPM 2. ( suggestions on which intake, maybe with some pro's and cons, would be great too )

But my real question is, Im tired of the stock motor, what could i go ahead and throw onto it that would also be something I could keep for the 331? dont want to compromise the 331, but unless im mistaken those intakes, and especially the heads, would be too much for my mostly stock 302 . Just wanted to do something to give myself a little more fun in the meantime. Have at it guys

R.J. · Feb 22, 2006

I am in the EXACT same situation, and here is what I decided to do:
First off I did my cobra intake before I made these plans. I really want to go S/C331, AFR 185 and FTI with a RPM II. Now I am tired of my motor and on top of that I just got it dynoed and it only made 207/254.
I talked to my local engine builder and he said with my power goals of 450-500 RWHP, TFS Twisted Wedge will be fine. It took alot of talking but, he is right. You have to know your goals before you decide on parts! The best part is I can run the TFS's now, on my stock block.
SO my carry over purcheses will be TFS Twisted wedge heads, Magnum 1.6 stud mount roller rockers, TFS push rods and new ford motorsport lifters.
I am undecided about a cam (crane 2030) just to make this setup a little more fun and it is only another $200, even if I sell it when I build the new motor. I got my cobra intake cheap, on ebay, so I can just sell that also when I build my motor.
If you were not thinking this seriously ($) about carry over mods than just look at my sig for every thing except the heads and cam. Good luck

94GTLaserRC · Feb 22, 2006

Since you want a SB, and you dont have heads, you could go that route now and leave the cam for the SB.

For the intake, You could do it now, but ONLY if you do the heads...dont do the intake ONLY....it would work optimally with your current and planned setups both.

With new heads and your future mods, the RPM II would be a nice choice.

Otherwise, I would just continue to save some $$ so you can do your planned setup in its entirety the right way....

Also for now, clean it up, polish some parts, tighten things up, etc.

Good Luck
RC

95snoozer · Feb 22, 2006

If you are going to retain the stock cam until the 347 comes, slap some afr 185s on it already. I have seen people go this route that now have 347s

you should be able to make 265-285 with the stock cam and 185s depending on mods

if you can, you can retard the cam and it will pull higher. In this e case, run the intake,

The rpm 2 is a great shoice for the 331 and will make the most power out of the box.

if you do the heads you WIlLL need an intake so go with the rpm2 for now, or grab something cheap in the mean time because the stock intake with heads will only show a 10 hp gain. its like breathing through a straw

ProKiller · Feb 22, 2006

well i can make your intake option pretty easy. unless your buying used, there is no RPM anymore. Edelbrock has discontinued the RPM and only produces the RPM 2.

as far as your other questions. If you have the money, get the AFRs now and some kind of intake. with that, i'm sure it will make a u somewhat happy. But remember the supporting hardware that u will need also, before u go buying stuff. Throttle body, mass air and injectors are what you need to do it right, not to mention a tune. you prolly won't NEED mass air/injectors, but it allow u to get the most out of the combo. a throttle body is a must though.

Mywhite94 · Feb 22, 2006

Thanks for the replies, makes my options a lot broader than i had thought. And of course id not forgotten the supporting mods, just hadnt mentioned those as i had assumed them to be a given. Thanks again folks, looks like the intake/185s might be on their way then

1slow95 · Feb 22, 2006

When I was in this same position a while back, I was told the 185's would not work with stock pistons...Is that only for larger cams, so they will work with the stock cam?

R.J. · Feb 22, 2006

I was also told 185's would not work with stock pistons!! Maybe with stock cam and 1.6 rockers?

Green 94 5.0 · Feb 22, 2006

the afr 185's and rpm 2 are way too free flowing for a n/a stock compression, stock cam 302. i gaurantee you wont be very impressed with the result until you get the 331 shortblock. when i had my n/a 302, i slapped a set of trickflow twisted wedge heads that had extensive porting on the car with a ported gt40 tubular intake. the car actually felt slower. it had no balls at all until nearly 4k on the tach. i will tell you this from experience though, VibrantRedGT just did a CHP 347, 10.0:1 comp, afr 185's, holley systemax, and a comp cam .533/.544 114lsa, and let me tell you. i was impressed. the torque was amazing and it pulled hard all the way to 6k+. my suggestion for the intake is to look at the holley systemax. the ports in the lower were almost a perfect match to the ports on the head. the rpm would have needed to be ported a decent amount to match. maybe that is different with the rpm 2 though. good luck with it.

Green 94 5.0 · Feb 22, 2006

by the way.....this is right out of the instructions that came with my 185's:

COMPRESSION RATIO AND PISTON TO VALVE CLEARANCE MUST BE CHECKED BEFORE ASSEMBLY. PART NUMBERS #1420, #1422, #1490 & #1492 WITH 2.020 VALVES USUALLY WILL NOT FIT A PISTON WITHOUT VALVE NOTCHES HAVING PROPER RELIEFS.

NOTE: 1986 5.0L MUST HAVE PISTONS NOTCHED FOR CLEARANCE.

the emissions legal 185's are part #1420 by the way.....hope that provides some insight on your fitment question.

Mywhite94 · Feb 22, 2006

I would of course have checked p/v clearance before i put this all together, but its nice to know now what id have found out halfway into it. Looks like its just supporting mods and patience again Oh well, itll all pay off in the end

95snoozer · Feb 22, 2006

i find it funny that the people who have never seen the combo or raced it are telling someone how it will be.

there are people on corral making more than descent power with a stock cam and 185s. it is not too much head because their torque is great, 320+

My friend had these heads with a stock cam before his high comp 347 went in. Unfortunately he has a kinda weak cam with his 347 but it still runs mid 11s n/a

his car was trapping 104 ish with the stock cam and the 185s

of course check p/v clearance

an explorer upper with a gt40 lower would be cheap and work great.

another thing you can go ahead and do are your 1 3/4 LTs

Green 94 5.0 · Feb 22, 2006

i was just giving my opinion based on personal experience with somewhat comparable flowing parts. i may be completely wrong. only doing it will actually tell. it just seems like a waste to spend all the money on gaskets and all the labor that will go into installing it twice. especially when there is a chance that it wont make the power he is hoping for. again, just my $.02

331 stroker soon, but for now?

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