New Member, Project Underway

[Duc_Stang_95]

Ok here again lol. For a well built 331-347 run at least a 185cc head. I prefer the new tfs 11r comp ported 205 heads. They have topend valvetrain components with 2.08x1.60 valves and can support up to 650hp n/a. Run a custom hyd roller cam(for the street if racing and want 7k rpm go solid roller) compression around 10:1,good rods&crank,tfs r intake(or comparable),90mm tb and mas,42#inj,at least a 255lph pump,long tube headers,good ign system and a dyno tune. Easily capable of 400+rwhp. The 170cc tfs heads and topend kit are fine for a milder build. With a 331 you can still make 350 or better at the wheels with that kit. The difference between the two would be around .7-1.0+sec in the same car(depending on the extent of the eng build,driver ability,etc) tons of tfs topend kit Strokers running around. If you want more than that it just takes more research,time, and of course $$

Thanks! Looks like I'm gonna stick with the kit then... 350 at the wheels is plenty for my needs! Better yet, it probably means high 300s at the crank, which is great bragging material for whatever that's worth. I'll add a 70mm TB, BBK long tube headers, shorty H-pipe, and the flowmaster 44 cat-back I currently have on the V6. Plus a shiny new built T5.

 

[A5literMan]

Thanks! Looks like I'm gonna stick with the kit then... 350 at the wheels is plenty for my needs! Better yet, it probably means high 300s at the crank, which is great bragging material for whatever that's worth. I'll add a 70mm TB, BBK long tube headers, shorty H-pipe, and the flowmaster 44 cat-back I currently have on the V6. Plus a shiny new built T5.

Fwiw make sure the t5 is built with the proper upgrades to withstand the new found power. They can/will break if it's just a stock style rebuild. The 331 build making 350 at the wheels will need around 10:1cr,75mm tb,proper mas,tune,long tube headers,etc. the stage 1 cam is a little mild for it also. You could sell it and put in a custom if you want to go to that extreme. 350 might be a little on the high side of the estimate with that cam. But for a fun street dd quality build you'll probably be happy. It's just an estimate.

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

Fwiw make sure the t5 is built with the proper upgrades to withstand the new found power. They can/will break if it's just a stock style rebuild. The 331 build making 350 at the wheels will need around 10:1cr,75mm tb,proper mas,tune,long tube headers,etc. the stage 1 cam is a little mild for it also. You could sell it and put in a custom if you want to go to that extreme. 350 might be a little on the high side of the estimate with that cam. But for a fun street dd quality build you'll probably be happy. It's just an estimate.

Oh, I'm definitely going to get a reinforced T5... I've already taken care of the rear end, and since I'm more concerned with having fun than posting 1/4 mile times, I want the weakest point of my drive train to be the friction between my tires and the road. Do you have a favorite cam you'd recommend? Also, I thought the 75mm TB was mostly for boost...

 

[A5literMan]

Oh, I'm definitely going to get a reinforced T5... I've already taken care of the rear end, and since I'm more concerned with having fun than posting 1/4 mile times, I want the weakest point of my drive train to be the friction between my tires and the road. Do you have a favorite cam you'd recommend? Also, I thought the 75mm TB was mostly for boost...

Do a web search for Flow Tech Inductions(FTI). They make custom grind cams. A lot of satisfied customers. A custom costs a little more but they tend to give a little more driveability and power. Make sure you have your car details ie the heads,intake,piston brand,trans,rear gears,and what you want out of the combination (ie dd,drag racing,or whatever) etc. There are other custom cam makers that make good products. They all need the same info for them to make the best match. If for example you buy the kit you could sell the tfs cam and spend roughly another 100$ for the custom. It's worth it to me but it might not be for you. Idk. I think a lot of us think more about our bench racing numbers more than how our cars actually perform

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

I think a lot of us think more about our bench racing numbers more than how our cars actually perform

Ohhhh, yeah. That kind of talk is rampant on motorcycle forums.

 

[A5literMan]

Also as far as the 70vs75mm tb goes it has nothing to do with better for n/a or blower or blah. If your engine can move x amount of air you don't want to choke it down in the intake track. You want it all to match as close as possible and in this instance it's better to error on the "big" side a little than "small" side(either can be bad)

 

[1968stang]

Welcome. Nice looking stang

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

send me your number and I send pics of it tonight when I get home

Number sent. Check private messages. I can probably do an after-work pickup some time this coming week.

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

Welcome. Nice looking stang

Thanks! My feelings were starting to get hurt ever since I got a thumbs-down from a bunch of teenagers in their mom's Mazda 3 hatchback the other week.

 

[Bullitt347]

You want it all to match as close as possible and in this instance it's better to error on the "big" side a little than "small" side(either can be bad)

Always err on the side of BIG. you cannot have too big of a throttle body, the biggest throttle body that you can use will not and can not cause a negative result in how the engine operates from idle to redline and anywhere in between. The same can be said of the cylinder heads. Always err to the big side. This way you only buy them once and gives you room to grow. A 205 or even 225 SBF head can be made to work flawlessly with a 302 cid motor on pump gas, let alone one with more displacement. This has been done countless times with great effect.

 

[Bullitt347]

By the way.....I have a 70mm Accufab throttle body on my otherwise stockish 01' 3.8L V-6 Mustang with no issues at all.

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

Now that I suppose I've proven I'm serious about this project (paint, bodywork, rear end, suspension etc), my grandfather wants to help me out with the engine. This is great (he was originally one of the biggest nay-sayers) since he's a professional mechanic and has a ton of experience building older small-block Chevrolets. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much of the information/advice he's giving me still holds true...

For example, his copy of "How to Rebuild Your Small-Block Chevy" (copyright 1978) states not to exceed 8.5-9.0:1 compression due to "limitations of pump gasoline." He was stating the same thing to me (I'm planning on 10:1), yet I know full well that the Coyote 5.0 runs 11:1 and my Ducati 848 quite happily burns 93 octane at 12:1 with no knocks, pings, etc (plus the newer "Evo" model has higher-dome pistons and 13.2:1 CR). He'll also tell me in one breathe that he wouldn't build a 331 stroker due to slow revs, yet the Chevrolet 327 (same 3.25" stroke and nearly identical 4" bore) was "one of the best stoplight-to-stoplight engines ever built." GAH!

I suppose this isn't really a question, I just had to vent. On the bright side, now I've got access to ridge-reamers, crank-pullers, and all kinds of tools I didn't know existed, should I need them.

 

[A5literMan]

Now that I suppose I've proven I'm serious about this project (paint, bodywork, rear end, suspension etc), my grandfather wants to help me out with the engine. This is great (he was originally one of the biggest nay-sayers) since he's a professional mechanic and has a ton of experience building older small-block Chevrolets. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much of the information/advice he's giving me still holds true...

For example, his copy of "How to Rebuild Your Small-Block Chevy" (copyright 1978) states not to exceed 8.5-9.0:1 compression due to "limitations of pump gasoline." He was stating the same thing to me (I'm planning on 10:1), yet I know full well that the Coyote 5.0 runs 11:1 and my Ducati 848 quite happily burns 93 octane at 12:1 with no knocks, pings, etc (plus the newer "Evo" model has higher-dome pistons and 13.2:1 CR). He'll also tell me in one breathe that he wouldn't build a 331 stroker due to slow revs, yet the Chevrolet 327 (same 3.25" stroke and nearly identical 4" bore) was "one of the best stoplight-to-stoplight engines ever built." GAH!

I suppose this isn't really a question, I just had to vent. On the bright side, now I've got access to ridge-reamers, crank-pullers, and all kinds of tools I didn't know existed, should I need them.

Hogwash on 8.5-9.0 cr on anything(unless it's seeing boost). Aluminum heads allow at least an extra 1.0-1.5cr over that without any problems. I even ran an old 331 Chevy with domed pistons(11:1cr) on 93 oct with a solid mech lifter cam without a problem. Believe me I understand your "pain" with the old generation. My dad and uncles are stuck in the late 60s-early70s about cars. And are all Chevy fanatics(I'm the black sheep ford guy) they don't realize how different everything is in the "high performance" fuel injection era. Hopefully he knows how to degree a cam,assembly a shortblock,adj valvetrain,etc and you can show him how well a built ford can run! That 331/347 will rev plenty quick and make real good power. If you always plan on not adding forced induction keep the compression above 9.5:1 and under 11:1(if built right plenty have gone above 11:1 but that's a different conversation) good luck with your build

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

My dad and uncles are stuck in the late 60s-early70s about cars. And are all Chevy fanatics(I'm the black sheep ford guy) they don't realize how different everything is in the "high performance" fuel injection era. Hopefully he knows how to degree a cam,assembly a shortblock,adj valvetrain,etc and you can show him how well a built ford can run!

In my family it's Chevy, Chevy, Chevy... or occasionally Ford with a Chevy in it. I'm a black sheep because I'm the first and only motorcycle enthusiast in my family. Usually it's "you're going to get yourself kilt (sic)" or "they make those with 4 wheels now, you know!" Now that I'm also into cars I'm still an outcast due to the Ford thing. Oh well.

Here are some pics of cars owned by my grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-uncle. This is by no means all of them, but just some of the most interesting. You could say I come from a bit of a car family. I'm not really into the OLD old ones like the model Ts or Model A...

 

[A5literMan]

Nice collection! My family is all about 55-57 Chevys. 3 uncles and they each have 1. The oldest one is having frame on restoration except they're adding a 450 hp 355 installed with a 5 speed. My best friend has a big collection of Chevys with the coolest one(IMO) being a 66 chevelle with a 540 bbc. I like old classic stuff but give me something cool and old with some badass motivation and I'm ecstatic. Lol

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

I've got a slight problem. Last weekend when I had my car on the lift to re-tighten the steering shaft, I took a good look at the rear end and noticed that the brake line on my v6 goes into the vent on the passenger side of the axle, not to a hose in the center like on the GT (and the setup currently in my basement awaiting install). Does anyone know of a quick work-around for this? I want to keep my new axle as-is since I already spent good money on the steel/teflon center hose, and bending all the new brake lines to fit properly was a right pain in the ass. Everything besides the brake line looks like a straight-up bolt off, bolt on replacement. Can I easily modify the lines going to the rear of the car to mate up with the flexible hose on the differential and tie in with a banjo bolt like on the GT?

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

Thanks to Billy being super cool, I now have an engine and stand for $100! It almost killed us lifting it, but now thanks to a little help from a local's front-end loader it's safely in my buddy's steel building awaiting tear-down. I like the valve covers and I'll probably try to reuse them if there's enough clearance.

 

[A5literMan]

Awesome! Congrats on that buy. Good luck on your build

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

Awesome! Congrats on that buy. Good luck on your build

Thanks (again). I'm in deep now, and I don't even have my rear axle installed yet. This should keep me busy through spring/summer and hopefully by the time I start grad school (if I get in) I should have an engine and transmission ready for swap.

 

[Duc_Stang_95]

Got it torn down this afternoon thanks to a snow day on base. Only trouble was 2 pistons don't want to slide out due to a bit of rust on the cylinder walls. Rather than force it I think I'll let the machine shop handle that problem.