The End Is Here

Three50won · Apr 8, 2015

But regardless, we aren't gonna agree on this. Your idea of a rebuild coming in at under $1K consists of things that I personally would not be comfortable with even on a strict budget. I'd rather spend more money and do it over the course of a few months than do the build you're talking about. Or I'd just buy a used engine for $600 or less and install that. If you're gonna rebuild it, as far as I'm concerned, do it right, don't cut corners, don't skimp out, don't reuse parts that should be replaced...that is how I feel. It won't be less than $1K doing it my way but I would rather have something I'm comfortable with. What you or others are comfortable with is your thing.

Three50won · Apr 9, 2015

sneaky98gt said:
You really gonna make me do this, dude?

Ok, you asked for it.

CONNECTING ROD for 2012 Ford Mustang|CR3Z-6200-A Part number CR3Z-6200-A. $21.95 each, or $175.60.

Strike 1.

F.S. Stock 03-04 Cobra rods/pistons

FS: forged 04 cobra pistons

03,04 Cobra Pistons $100 plus shipping

Just from a couple minutes of searching. I bought mine from a local Mustang performance shop. They build folks' perfectly running Cobra motors, and the internals often get tossed in the trash. Got mine for $50. And I had a couple other folks looking to sell for around $50 back when I was looking. I have looked for a half hour now, but I cannot find my receipt for those pistons.

Regardless, this one is harder to prove since we're talking used parts, and some folks get deals while others don't. So I'll let you off without a strike here. In doing my google search earlier, I saw an easy dozen sets for $150-$200 asking price (although didn't see many/any sold above that). So we'll go with your number of $200.

What gaskets?

The intake manifold ones for $22.79? More Information for FEL-PRO MS921213

The timing cover ones for $17.61? More Information for FEL-PRO TCS458692

The oil pan one for $19.95? More Information for FEL-PRO OS30725R

The rear main for $9.05? More Information for FEL-PRO BS40620

The headgasket and exhaust manifold ones for $90.20? (which includes new head bolts) HEAD CHANGING KIT 2V

And I seriously can't think of any more. That's a total of $159.60.

Strike 2.

King CR868SI - OEM Replacement Rod Bearing Set for Ford 4.6L / 5.4L Engines $39.99

King MB5280SI - OEM Replacement Main Bearing Set for Ford 4.6L / 5.4L Windsor $54.99

Strike 3.

And before you come back and say "Oh, those aren't quality ones", go find me a single example of them failing. There's a many a single digit cars around here running King OEM bearings with 0 issues for years and hundreds of passes. The guy who ported my blower said he has put these in dozens of 600+ horsepower Cobras without a single failure. My 500 rwhp car now has about 100 passes and more than 10,000 HARD miles on these bearings with no issues.

Remember, we're only talking a 600 horsepower motor build here. Also remember that an 03 Cobra doesn't have any special, high performance type of bearing, and they easily make 600+.

Correct (for a change). But did you miss the part about ARP stuff not being needed until well past 600 rwhp? Since I'm sure you don't believe me, here it is straight from the mouth of one of the most knowledgeable people to ever touch a 4.6: When To Use ARP Bolts and Studs

I personally have never heard or read about someone breaking OEM hardware at any power level. Other things break well before they do.

I'll come back to this later.

Such as? I listed all of it earlier. All of the bolts are reusable except the head, main, rod, and crank bolt(s).

I have laid it all out right here in front of you on exactly how I did exactly that. If you simply refuse to believe what I'm showing you, then our conversation is over, as it's clear you're not willing accept that you're wrong.

I budgeted $50 for that in my total earlier. Last I checked, a 5 quart jug of oil is about $25, a filter is about $5, and 2 gallons of antifreeze is around $10 per ($50 total).

Ok, back to the machine shop pricing. I actually went and dug this receipt up just to post it up here. Here ya go.

$300 for 3 angle valve job (which was $175 by itself), installing valve guides, polishing crank, honing cylinders, hot tanking parts, and resurfacing the heads. Allison's Machine Shop in Asheboro, NC. Their phone number is at the top, call them up and get a quote if you still don't believe me.

And if that's not enough, look up and call Loop Road Auto Parts in Garner, NC. That's the other machine shop I was talking about with very similar prices that's closer by.

I seriously don't know how to prove it to you any more.

So, as a recap with updated numbers from this post.

- Boss 302 rods: $175.60
- 03 Cobra pistons: $200
- King bearings: $94.98
- Gaskets and headbolts: $159.60
- Total Seal rings: $119.99 (Total Seal CR8264-5 - 4.6/5.4 Plasma Moly Piston Ring Set 1.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm, 3.552" Bore
- OEM main bolts: $35.00 (OEM Ford Main Bolts
- ARP crank bolt: $29.99 (ARP 156-2501- 4.6L / 5.4L Modular Harmonic Balancer Bolt 12-Point
- Machine shop work: $105
- Fluids: $50

All to a total of $970.16.

This is, quite literally, exactly how I built my motor, except I only paid $50 for the pistons. Plus or minus a few bucks here or there on price changes from a year ago, I have around $825 in my motor. Call it an even $1000 by the time I buy the tools I was talking about earlier, and the few bucks in shipping for some of this stuff.

Seriously dude, I understand that YOU might have paid $2000 to build a motor, and that YOU aren't capable of shopping around for deals on parts, or for machine shops that don't have "performance" in their name that don't rip you off on machining services. But that doesn't mean that everyone isn't. So the next time you say "that's not possible to do for that much money" or "xxxx parts are AT LEAST $yyyy" maybe consider the possibility that you don't know everything.

And to be crystal clear, this isn't anything personal or me trying to be an a$$hole. But if there's one pet peave of mine with online forums, it's people spewing untrue or blatantly false information. That misinformation has the potential to cause some innocent reader who doesn't know any better a lot of money or time, or even worse, they go and spread the misinformation even further. So I never mean, or take, anything personal with online forums, but I cannot stand bull****, and I will not hesitate to call it out.

One last thing. I do feel obligated to thank you for posting the info and link on Boss 302 rods being soo cheap. I actually had no idea they costed that little. I was actually prepared to pay about $450 for a set. So thanks man, I appreciate that. You saved me a significant amount of money and that actually swayed me towards doing another aluminum 4.6 build. And to be completely honest, I should have thanked you sooner but I was pissed off. I still disagree with you about the rest of the argument, but being mature about it, the price you showed me does swing the price of a build (a build I would do anyway) much closer to $1K. I'm thinking my build will be around $1300-$1500 now. So thanks again, I appreciate it. Back to the argument now...

The End Is Here

Three50won

Three50won

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