Progress Thread SoFlo5-0 builds a 5.7 (347, that is)

CarMichael Angelo said:

I had a 10'whip CB antenna on the quarter panel of a 69 mach 1. There will never be a picture of that atrocity posted anywhere.
THAT would something to be "ashamed" of as long as nobody had to see it.
Having a MII with something similar would be reason to change your identity, and go into hiding.

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Hey, it was the 70s. CB radios were ubiquitous - and not every CBer was a "10-4 there good buddy' stereotype yahoo.

a91what said:

Uh why... Just grab an explorer longblock add cam of choice and turbo.. more power than the 347 at a lower cost.

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That would be a decent choice if I was looking for max power/lowest cost, but there's more to this build than that. I was originally just going to do a HIC (headers, intake, cam) and call it a day, but the thought occurred to me: When am I gonna get a better opportunity to build another Ford smallblock - something I hadn't done since the late 90s? My oldest son and I had a blast asssembling a 351W from the bare block and stuffing it into my '66 Fastback. The opportunity to do the same with the 91's motor was too hard to resist. Stroking it was a no-brainerif we were going to strip it to the block - so there you have it. It's not a MAX-POWER build by any stretch of the imagination. More of a father/son project

Mustang5L5 said:

Nice project.

How is the Ranger for towing? I'd like to get a truck and am weighing the Ranger vs F150 right now. I'd like to be able to tow my fox.

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The Ranger is a STUD as a tow rig. It pulled the Mustang and a U-Haul trailer with power to spare. I've towed the Mustang or a Focus race car back and forth from FL to SC a few times now and I'm more than impressed.

MustangIIMatt said:

I still use a CB when I go off-road in the 4Runner. They're great out in the wild yonder.

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Cool. A lot of people do the same. I got my HAM ticket some years back, so I also roll with a 2 Meter rig. You can see the antenna mounted on the rear door in the picture where I'm towing the Fox.

LILCBRA said:

Ok, back on track! Let's let everyone live and let live.....

Whatcha doing to the 347? I know it's not just gonna be a rotating assembly upgrade and leave everything else alone. We all know that's not how it works....

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Oh, I might have a few goodies purchased already....

Ooooops. Never mind.

Bzammitt said:

Nice!! I have Trickflow heads & intake manifold on my 347.

2CAD4D0A-7512-4642-9937-395F55EA9549.jpeg

• Bzammitt
• May 7, 2021

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Very Nice! Like the look of the black upper. How does she run with those goodies?

Finally, some progress and pictures to share. The 347 Project is proceeding nicely and is much further along than these pictures I'm sharing today tend to indicate, but I'll get caught up soon enough.



Got the block back from the machine shop (finally )and gave it a good washing. Opened up the oil journals and used a rifle bore brush to clean them out a few times. A good blow-dry from my air compressor and a few hours of So. Florida sunshine (after applying WD-40 to the machined surfaces) for a final drying. I decided to paint the block black and did just that after some very time-consuming masking. I think it turned out pretty well.

I enlisted the wife to help me lift the block and slide its attached mount into the engine stand in the shade of the carport where it was a downright brisk 85 degrees with 78% humidity. This might explain why I decided to move the whole engine assembly indoors to the seldom-used, but blissfully cool Florida Room. Now, you Floridians know what a Florida Room is but for the uninitiated, it's a fairly large room with a low wall and wall to wall windows, usually found in the back of the house. I set up shop in there and started the build that afternoon.

Main journal bearings were all a hair under .0020 - which is in spec. Rod bearings were about the same - probably .0018", so I went ahead and began the laborious job of gapping 16 piston rings and checking all the others. Having done that, for the first time, used a anodized Al piston ring compressor to get the pistons into their new homes. It worked like a charm. I'll never use the 'allen key adjustable metal hand-cutting band type' again. The cam is a Comp Cams XE274HR. Pistons are Mahle forged flat top Twisted Wedge models with forged rods and a SCAT 9000 crank.