No Matt. Don't take it to the dyno just to see how much HP/TQ it's making... Take it to the dyno to get a A/F measurement.
Uncle Meat said:
I did say if he needed piece of mind get the car dynoed. The reason I said the thing about the power is there are not many places to get the car dynoed in our area that have a wideband available.
Uncle Meat said:
First off... how in the hell can you hear any pinging from your car when it's running a 2.8 pulley, a Bassani O/R X-Pipe and a Bassani cat-back exhaust? Is your ear THAT GOOD? I know when I mash the throttle on my Cobra I can't hear anything but blower whine and exhaust. No way I could hear pinging if it were to happen.
Uncle Meat said:
I have super hearing abilities.
Uncle Meat said:
As for the pistons... Anyone who's ever owned an 03/04 would know the pistons are not really the weak point, it's the piston-to-wall clearance that's the problem. Ford/SVT set these engines up so tight the pistons will actually expand under extended hard use which results in scarring of the cylinders and skirts.
Uncle Meat said:
Why is it the pistons are the first thing to go even under mild lean conditions? Including the skirts cracking off of them. How come these same problems do not seem to occur when the pistons are replaced with better ones such as probe, Cp, or any other quality piston?
Uncle Meat said:
Look. My car currently is, and always has been dyno tuned by James at RWTD. His tunes are top notch and are usually spot on, but even James himself will tell you to get the car checked on a wide band equipped dyno just to make absolutely sure! reading the plugs is a good indicator as to what's happening within the combustion chamber, but is by NO MEANS a 100% way of determining whether detonation has or is occurring.
Uncle Meat said:
I have to agree that I do not know 100% what the a/f ratio is by looking at the plugs. Wideband o2 sensors have not been around as long as boost, you said yourself that the plugs were a good indicator of whats happening in the combustion chamber, so what did people do before widebands? They looked at the damn plugs! Now I guess that doesn't work anymore. If the engine was experiencing a lean condition the affects would have shown themselves after 30,000 miles dont you think? Oh wait, the detonation could be so slight that after 25,000 miles on the same plugs there was absolutely no signs of detonation or a lean condition on them. I dont think so.
Uncle Meat said:
It doesn't cost a gozillion dollars to perform a pull on a dyno. Plus who said anything about squeezing an extra 15 horses out of the car? Did you ever think some of us are just a little more concerned about our rides than you were?
Uncle Meat said:
I said it costs a gozillion dollars for a dyno tune not a pull on a dyno. I took meticulous care of the car when I owned it, only the best fluids and such from day 1 which is why I had James tune it as I believe he is the best. If I was not concerned about the car I could have done much more to it to push the envelope but I did not want to break anything, including half shafts, let alone melting a piston. The only thing I did not do is run the car on a dyno to check the a/f. I was very cautios with the car for a long time and I checked the plugs monthly for damage or even if the gap was off. The car is fine.
Uncle Meat said:
I say take it to the dyno and make a pull or two just to ENSURE the A/F ratio is where it's supposed to be. Can't put a price on peace of mind...
U.M.
The only thing I did not do is run the car on a dyno to check the a/f. I was very cautios with the car for a long time and I checked the plugs monthly for damage or even if the gap was off. The car is fine.
I don't doubt the car is fine. But saying what you have about caring so much for the car, I would think the first thing you would have done is get the car dynoed after changing to the 2.8. I too use James, but he even admits that his tunes are only close, not right on. He asks you to datalog some WOT pulls on the street or dyno so he can tweak the tune in. If the tune IS off, I can almost bet that it is off on the fat/safe side.
And to address you comments about the pistons, like UM said, it all has to do with the .001 PTW clearance that ford used to get rid of the famous modular cold "piston rattle". The pistons are infact teflon coated forged pieces. Not the best but better then the 2v crap. The skirts and lands fail do to heat expansion under long WOT runs, when they expand and literally "fuse" themselves to the cylinder wall. If you were to rebuild the stock block with a slightly larger bore, I bet you would see far fewer failures.
So yes, there are a few of us in here that really "know" the terminator.
Look. My car currently is, and always has been dyno tuned by James at RWTD. His tunes are top notch and are usually spot on, but even James himself will tell you to get the car checked on a wide band equipped dyno just to make absolutely sure!
U.M.
another RWTD customer here and like UM said James always tells you to get the a/f check just to make sure since every car is different. These motors are not cheap so a hundred $$$ of so just to see if your safe is worth it to me.
I hear what everyone is saying and when I get a chance I will go get dynoed just to be sure. I've been real good friends with jwaknbeef for a long time now and all he has ever owned is mustangs, so I have no doubt in my mind that he knows what he's talking about. And, thanks for explaining to everyone about the modifications you did to the car, because I know a little about these cars, but not that much. I just know that the car is awesome and I was real lucky to be able to take over. And, when I do get Dynoed I'm coming pick you up Jonny that way you can tell them what we need to know.