Pokageek's Pain thread. 351 stroker (414c.i.) swap PROBLEMS.

Good Luck Keith, let me know how it goes....

The oil pan issue was resolved by cutting out the front bung and rewelding the bung lower on the pan, slightly out of the way of that MONSTER ASS sway bar..lol plan on this with a Canton pan....

If anyone needs a NIB EFI 5.8 Victor Lower I have an extra that is not needed, I'll make you a deal.
 
Rick, I am gonna need that lower, loll. First dibs!! :)

Final Report. Rick put the restricted upper intake on my car so that I could pass emissions with the pvc and stay within my budget. I did not realize how much that pp upper and lower ROBBED my rwhp BUT at least everyone agrees including SGS that we know what is KILLING my rwhp by at least 80rwhp.

The car is maxing rwhp at 4700rpm :rlaugh: it is hitting 332rwhp and 415rwtq. These numbers are alot lower that they will be when I put the proper intake on it after emissions.

EVEN so, and you guys know how picky I am...this car is like driving a shotgun. It has soo much power down low that even though I am at essentially 400total HP and 500total TQ...this think ROCKS!! Fly's!!! SCREAMS!!!! :nice: :nice: I have learned that it is not peak but TOTAL HP across the band that only a large motor or PA can give that makes a car great to drive and fast.

The cam Rick picked out does not BUCK under 2k rpm!! I can't IMAGINE what adding at least 80rwhp and more TQ will do?? :shrug: I am honestly, seriously thinking that I don't even need it!!! :jaw:

Oh, and the squeaking pulley?? Turned out to be a belt that was too big... Now fixed. So last part is to put on high flow cats, my new tires, better intake pipe, and MAYBE the other intake.
 
I’m not sure the whole story with your pulleys but for people wanting to do the swap I wouldn’t let that part scare you. There are the S351’s and the 95 Cobra R’s that came with the 351 and used Factory Ford pulleys and didn’t have any problems. The only issue I ever had was having the lower Vortech pulley machined because of the ATI damper I’m using. The Vortech damper pulley fits different than stock pulleys so it had to be machined on the back side to move it closer to the engine, then it lined up perfect. It took less than 5 min on a lathe.

On sway bar issue, I just bought another S351 that is all stock N/A and stock K member and the sway bar fits fine. It also fits fine on my first one which has a Griggs k-member and I have had 2 different aftermarket oil pan's. Saleen also uses a much bigger sway bar than stock. I have no idea what he did different to make things fit??:shrug:

My new one has the stock hood, and nothing hits the battery tray either.

I haven’t had to go through all this but Saleen did and for anyone doing the swap finding out what he did might be the ticket to a no hassle conversion. :D
 
"I just bought another S351 that is all stock N/A..."

Canton oil pan hits.

On the pulleys, the balancer threw the whole equasion off. and my idler went bad at the same time.... and my belt was too long. Like that wsn't enough to deal with . :nonono:

But thats over now. :) :banana:
 
I will have to look closely at the sway bar. So you had to use spacers to lower it down? Now I want to see what Saleen did to make things fit.!!

Interesting on the pan....my first pan was a Canton and I had no problems. This was with a Griggs K member.
 
Yes. The stock bar did not fit at all. Blackvert had the same problem and one other person on this thread. Rick mentioned my monster sway bar,; yes it was big but it curved out of the way MUCH better than the stocker allowing the pan to clear.
 
as it turns out, my stock sway bar did end up fitting; my mechanic shortened the end links which pushed the front part out causing it to fit around the pan. i still wanted to use the other one i got (that looked like keith's) because it is much beefier, but it did not fit, so it is just sitting there in my mechanic's shop. i don't think i will be able to return it because it is probably all dinged up.

it is for a 94/95 though, so if anyone wants it, give me a holler
 
Ok latest..I put converters on the car for emissions testing. Rick said it would kill my HP. It did. I guess between the wrong intake PLUS converters...I have TOO much low end TQ now and not enough HP. She's choked out.

Sheesh... I like no more stink smell and quieter but the converters rattle on top of killing the power. They are new but not bullet and must be shightly hitting the underside or the car is ratttling the heat shield.
 
Reporting back. New intake will be installed next Saturday!

I dont care about the stink anymore, lol.

Trans..well, 1st 2nd, 3rd are noisey because they are built tougher to withstand heavy power...I have to live withit. .. but I did pull up the carpeting and insulate..much quieter!

THE SQQUeeeaaaakkkk or screeeeeeech sound? Turned out to be my chrome plated EGR from accufab. It wouldn't seal right with the bolts. You must have shorter bolts or use studs. When I replaced it with the fox egr delete (and tightened good) it is gone. Also, now that the air flow isnt screwed up, the car doesnt hesistate.
 
Well my intake is not here yet but Rick seems to think it will be in by this week. I cant wait to install the power pipe he made for me too.

Out of nowhere, my idle is up and down at random so I am trying to figure that out now. Will run codes at a friends shop when it stops raining cuz I refuse to drive it in this crappy weather and get crap all over it.
 
Clutch chatter update. Aparently higher performance clutches ch-a-t-t-e-r as a normal circumstance. Having a more powerful engine is great but be prepared that some niceties of the quiet and friendly factory stuff go way.
 
Latest update. Came out tonight and my car was smoking on warmup. When switching to a edel victor intake, you go to a non-pcv system - just breathers - so it does not burn off the excess oil in the intake.

As a result it coats the engine bay a bit (ever so lightly) as I can see the vapor coming out of the breathers. It is getting on my header wrap and then smoking so I guess I'll take off the header wrap. :shrug:

Items to finish this week:

Cobra SS brake lines going on
Steeda rear sway, panhard bar, 3.55 gears, 255 z tires, battle bxes and fog lights going in.

Then taking it up for a tune at sgs automotive after i get 500 miles on the rear then DONE.:flag:

ps.s I will report back my dyno numbers. The pro-comp heads may be holding the car back but we will find out...
 
Ok. My new power numbers SUCK. :notnice: After all of this My powerband moved wider to max at roughly 5200 instead of 4600 and bumped like 10rwhp squeezing every ounce out of it at the dyno.

That's right, my 414c.i. is putting out what an average 351 combo should at roughly 352rwhp/415rwtq. :notnice: Yes the car is quick but I can feel the missing TQ and HP. My builder is promising to look at it as he said he's got 331's pumping out more. After all the time and energy put into this I am disappointed. I was expecting at least a 1 to 1 ratio like my 306 combo went and really at least 400 rwhp. I am hoping we can figure out why and before the weather gets nice. I will report back when we get results. We think the heads may be particular to a specific rocker arm. I decided not to go with AFR heads to cut costs and my builder complied but still he said it should be putting out much more. :damnit: :cry: :owned:

on a side note I took my car to RNH Motorsports and they did an excellent job on my drivetrain and rear modification. If you are in MD or PA do not take you car anywhere but RNH Motorsports for chassis or rear gear mods. The last guy I took my car to butchered it and I had no way of knowing until they explained it. The panhard bar makes noise as it transmits rear axle noise to the chassis (being bolted to it). This is normal. The car squats down and plants the tires better though. Noticibely. I really don't drive it hard thought so I haven't had a good test yet.
 
sorry to hear about it. i am having problems of m own. the damn sway bar is hitting the oil pan again after going back to stock springs. and now i have another coolant leak. is there any way you can find out exactly which sway bar you have?

i am getting sick enough of this that i may just yank this motor and go back to a stock 302 with all the emissions stuff and then sell the thing.