Thanks for the quick reply. I did forget to mention the intent on my build ha. I would like to have it so I could drive it around during the summers. It’s stored during the winter and colder seasons here in Canada. Only plays in the warm weather haha. I’m not looking to go the drag way. though I may take it maybe once just for the fun of it after the build is finished. What would be a realistic price tag to get those 500-600 numbers because I haven’t set a budget right yet. Didn’t think about it I was just going to go until I got the right set up that I felt comfortable with. The body, and frame of the car is good I’m just focusing on drivetrain and power right now, and work my way around as I go.
A realistic number for an engine built that stout and built right would be between $8-10k usd......If you plan on mostly cruising in the summers in Canada building a ridiculously quick off the line vehicle wouldnt be too efficient even with that TKO500 as I would of went with the TKO600 with the 2.87 1st gear and .64 overdrive and build an engine that has way more torque than hp....
In a high torque engine thats gonna be a stickshift I use nothing less than shaft mounted rocker arms...............
Youre gonna find that with that 3.27 1st gear ratio your car is gonna be a quick short shifting vehicle...My 410w with TKO600 w/ 2.87 1st and .64 overdrive has so much torque I shift from 1st to 4th in less than 100ft and do it shifting at 3000-3500 with the 3.55's and detroit locker my engine doesnt bog down,,,,,
It doesnt take high lift cams and double springs to do it either...Alls it takes is a camshaft with under 220 duration then put some 1.7 rocker arms to increase the lift.
Im also running Edelbrock E-Street heads with the small valves too and my intake manifold is designed to enhance torque by 40ftlbs on a bone stock 351w but between the dyno data with carb at break-in and the EFI w/ Edelbrock intake #3881 on a chassis dyno at 5200 my engine is making 59ftlbs more torque ...LOL.
With the .64 overdrive my engine revs out in 5th gear @ 1900rpm's and cruises on the highway around 65mph.........
A properly built street engine will still put a smile on your face when you plant your foot but be more realistic for the roads and not raise an eyebrow with the local fuzz too...........I have a 4 speed muncie in a 69 olds with a 454 chevy that has a .600" lift solid lifter camshaft with 11:1 compression with a 125hp shot of laughing gas and if you dont put it in the sweetspot every shift it would load up pretty badly...Needless to say the car sits more than its driven because Ive gotten so many tickets in it its ridiculous getting tickets for speed contests or speed prudent and improper tickets because the camshaft and the 4:10 rear has the engine screaming 4500-5500 rpm's every shift to keep it in the zone....LOL
Good Luck with your choice and make a build thread too so all can keep abreast of the progress too,...
Pay lots of attention to how to properly align a TKO up to a fresh build then space the slave cylinder correctly aswell as get the driveline angle right....Improperly aligning the bellhousing centerline will cause harsh vibrations and putting the wrong amount of slave cylinder spacers will cause too much excessive pressure plate pressure on the clutch disc or poor gear engagement if too loose........
I like the Robb Mc offset dowels...They have a locking screw that locks the dowel in so it wont come out when its time to change the clutch and will save you time from having to realign the bellhousing again...
Industry standard is .010" but Tremec recommends .005" TIR.........Mine was almost perfect after installing .007" offset dowels............
I find going with 3/8" of space is better than what they recommend as a minimum which is 1/8" because I found out the hard way that the clutch and pressure plate expands a lil more than 1/8" and with 1/8" of space thermal expansion bypasses that and causes the clutch to slip under heavy acceleration causing your engine to peak high really fast possibly floating the lifters and the valves......
In a Mustang the TKO is higher than a T5 so if you dont cut and raise the trans/driveshaft tunnel you'll have the trans at too much downward angle at the rear and that will cause the TKO to shift sloppy and notchy especially if you run solid motor mounts that are a tad higher too...
Tremec has a driveline angle finder app in google playstore..It turns your phone into an inclinometer to get the driveline within specs...It takes trans angle..driveshaft and pinion angle all into consideration and lets you know if your good or bad...
Another good piece of advice is to break-in and dyno test the engine before doing the alignment check as you have to spin the engine over many many times which knocks the ridges off the honejob making the break-in of the rings not fully effective at getting a proper seal during break-in and dyno testing........
I also have a method to adjusting hydraulic lifter preload without guessing if you're on the base circle correctly and have been using the method since seeing it in a Super Chevy Mag I think back in 1983.....Someone made a vid using a sbc but i posted the pairs for ford...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIfZmC_KwGg&t=1s
Take care and have fun..