Changed my mind again on heads & blower, but still researching blocks...

[Back2Mustangs]

I'm thinking I want an aluminum block for my GT to lighten the front end. My concern is in some of the posts I've read while searching this forum about the Aluminum blocks causing increased under-hood temps and iron blocks making more horsepower.... Car is a 96 GT and I want to stick with the non-PI heads for weight savings and ease of install, and the Kenne Bell 1.7 seems to respond well to those heads anyways. So the block is my main focus right now.

Should I buy a new iron 4.6 block or find a Teksid block for my blower application?

I'm swapping k-member and a-arms in the front, and am even thinking about 14 inch brakes so I can dump the hydra-boost and go manual steering & brakes. I want as much weight out of the front of the car as possible so if the weight savings of the block will acheive more than the HP gain of the iron block I'll still go with the Teksid block. Any hard numbers and facts are always appreciated. Especially any tips on identifying a Teksid block if I didn't see what car it came out of...

 

[jasonh_86]

All that stuff... and you're going to stay with NPI heads?


Not sure why they'd weigh any less than PI's.... Just go with a good set of heads as well, you can thank me later

 

[ab 281 gt]

I want to know if aluminum blocks are weaker than an iron block.

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

the teksid block is good for 1000+ hp so you should be ok

 

[Back2Mustangs]

All that stuff... and you're going to stay with NPI heads?


Not sure why they'd weigh any less than PI's.... Just go with a good set of heads as well, you can thank me later

I was going to forget about the blower and do FR500 4V heads all NA, but I decided I didn't want to go looking for all the other parts and wiring... and since I'd have to replace the intake, fuel-pump, injectors etc anyways, I opted to go ahead and get the blower. The Kenne Bell likes the Non-PI heads so I didn't see any reason to drop another $1,500.00 for different 2V heads - seemed like a waste. I don't know how much more the 4V heads weigh than the Non-PI's. If someone can find that data for me and it's not much heavier then I may still go ahead with the FR500 heads as well as the blower. I can live with 500-600 RWHP in this car though. I'm not looking for 700-800. While it would be nice , I just want to keep this ride somewhat streetable and something I can drive more than a few times a month so I'd like to get close to 600 at the wheels...or at least over 550. I think I can do that with the Non-PI heads and the KB 1.7(now the 2.1) from the reading I've been doing.

 

[stangGT97]

As was said, the Teksid aluminum block handles well over 1000hp... and it will save you over 50lbs of weight in the front end. I don't know about the underhood temperatures, but aluminum does transfer heat better than steel so that would explain it. Just make sure you have a cooling system thats up to snuff with the rest of the car. If you keep your NPI heads, I would suggest first pulling them, sending them off to Steen racing and having them ported and have the hardware upgraded. I would also choose a good set of blower cams... trust me, you do not want to keep the stock NPI cams, those will be a major bottleneck for your KB set up. With ported NPIs and blower cams, you will be able to put down some good numbers...

 

[Back2Mustangs]

If you keep your NPI heads, I would suggest first pulling them, sending them off to Steen racing and having them ported and have the hardware upgraded. I would also choose a good set of blower cams... trust me, you do not want to keep the stock NPI cams, those will be a major bottleneck for your KB set up. With ported NPIs and blower cams, you will be able to put down some good numbers...

Oh no doubt about it. The heads are coming off the stock block, being stripped and rebuilt with all new valvetrain and blower cams. I just don't want to spend anymore $'s on PI castings or 4Valve when what I have will work just fine and give me the numbers I want.

 

[Back2Mustangs]

As far as the heat issue goes, the cooling system will be completely replaced while the motor is out, so no worries there, and the headers will be heat-wrapped.

I have always heard that Iron blocks make more horsepower than Aluminum, but I guess if the Teksid is good enough for Ferrari then I shouldn't worry, eh?

 

[stangGT97]

Definitely don't worry about the stuff you've heard about aluminum blocks... if I had money to do an engine build, that would be the first thing I would purchase. It looks like you know exactly where you're going with this project, awesome Keep us updated.

 

[BLK_ROUSH]

I'm so confused .... yea easy enough but...

I want an aluminum block for my GT to lighten the front end.

Aluminum blocks causing increased under-hood temps and iron blocks making more horsepower

I want to stick with the non-PI heads for weight savings and ease of install, and the Kenne Bell 1.7 seems to respond well to those heads

I was going to forget about the blower and do FR500 4V heads all NA

I can live with 500-600 RWHP in this car though.

I think I can do that with the Non-PI heads and the KB 1.7(now the 2.1) from the reading I've been doing

The heads are coming off the stock block, being stripped and rebuilt with all new valvetrain and blower cams. I just don't want to spend anymore $'s on PI castings or 4Valve when what I have will work just fine and give me the numbers I want.

I would love to see the threads for these conclusions. I've never been exposed to this information.

 

[65nProgress]

I'm so confused .... yea easy enough but...








I would love to see the threads for these conclusions. I've never been exposed to this information.

I'll go down the list and try to give some supporting data for each quote...

1) Fact: A bare aluminum block is somewhere between 80-100 lbs lighter than a bare iron block. Mustangs are a bit heavy in the front... you want a car to handle better you try to get as close to 50/50 front/rear as you can.

2a) I've only just started seeing info about the aluminum blocks raising under-hood temps over in the SVT forum, but no facts to support it. If you think about it, aluminum heat-sinks are used to dissipate heat on things like amplifiers, coils, PC chips, etc. Rumor is that the aluminum block allows more heat to escape from the motor into the engine bay(I guess just like a heat-sink)

2b) Fact: Iron blocks typically have less harmonic vibrations than aluminum blocks which robs the motor of its max horsepower potential.

3) Fact: (Assembled with cams and valvetrain) 4V Heads = 65+ lbs each, PI Heads = 46 lbs each, NPI Heads = 50 lbs each. So my heads weigh considerably less than the 4V heads.

4) Fact: The Ford Mustang FR500 had 4-valve head castings that can be purchased from Ford for $800.00 a head as part no.s M-6049-T46 & M-6050-T46

5 & 6) The tech-articles and dyno charts on Kenne Bell's website prove that the Non-PI heads with blower cams are easily capable of over 600HP at the flywheel with only the 9 lbs pulley on the 1.7L

7) I wouldn't waste time buying any head that wasn't ported and worked to the max. If I'm going to spend $'s on anything I want the best...so I don't want to spend $1,300.00 on PI head castings if I don't need to because my heads will do what I want. And if I spent even more for 4-Valve head castings, everything else goes up in price for valvetrain, cams, and all of the other things like computer and wiring harnesses, ignition and so on for the 4-Valve swap.

If I've left anything out I'm sure the experts will chime in and correct any of my data or fill in the blanks.

 

[Back2Mustangs]

65nProgress isn't me >: (

Well it looks like my friend (65nProgress) was using my PC and forgot to log out when he finished so my post shows up under his member name.