weakest link

G

goinbigger

New Member

Apr 11, 2005

15

0

0

May 30, 2005

#1

• May 30, 2005

• #1

I recently picked up a 91 GT and have never worked with these cars before. What is the weakest link in the motor when adding power? I know the blocks suck, but do they usually go before anything else?

Thanks

 

M

Matts89LX5.0

Founding Member

Nov 1, 2002

1,314

0

36

Long Island, NY

May 30, 2005

#2

• May 30, 2005

• #2

blocks aren't that bad to tell you the truth....torque boxes are the weakest links

 

super302

I'd do anything for free Bapples

May 29, 2004

2,878

1

0

Davenport, IA

May 30, 2005

#3

• May 30, 2005

• #3

t-5 (the 5spd transmission) is known to go south real quick when adding power...not always, but usually

 

glenn95gt

Founding Member

Oct 15, 2001

420

0

0

Bay Area, California

May 30, 2005

#4

• May 30, 2005

• #4

what are your plans?

 

G

goinbigger

New Member

Apr 11, 2005

15

0

0

May 30, 2005

#5

• May 30, 2005

• #5

Right now I'm just going to do suspension, no use making gobs of power when you can't use it. Learned that lesson before. But eventually I want it to run 10's. Anything quicker than that and I'm going to start with a different car. That and gas prices are too damn high to start adding gears and such.
I guess what I'm asking is what inside the motor tends to be weak. From what I understand the pistons are already forged correct? So I'm guessing the rods would normally be pretty weak in comparison? Can you get away with throwing on a set of ARP rod bolts and outlast the limitations of the block or will they snap well before that? I know a local guy was running 10.40's on a farily stock motor with suspension and spraying it. Which would probably be right about where I would be happy with it. I was in the middle of building an LS1 camaro when it got totaled and now I have to start the research all over again.

Thanks for the help.

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

31,179

33

129

May 30, 2005

#6

• May 30, 2005

• #6

goinbigger said:

That and gas prices are too damn high to start adding gears and such.

Click to expand...

Gears are one of the best ways to improve times and dont affect gas milage that much. It sounds like you are planning on adding enough power to make use of numerically lower ratios than what a lot of street driven stangs run, but I am not sure if you are gonna do mods as you go, or all at once (with consideration to having to change gear ratios later). you WILL want gears of some sort practically no matter how fast you plan on going, IMHO.

good luck.

 

speedtrip

Member

May 22, 2005

93

5

9

Jerkwater, U.S.A

May 30, 2005

#7

• May 30, 2005

• #7

My 87 coupe had no issues until i added 125 hp nitrous. Not long after install i had one wheel peel and a broken valve spring retainer had to replace head. Thats it nothing else has broken super reliable bought it in 1994. Im only running 12.4 at 113 on nittos. So you may have more issues running 10 something. Im sure someone in the 10's will have some more input.

 

G

goinbigger

New Member

Apr 11, 2005

15

0

0

May 30, 2005

#8

• May 30, 2005

• #8

Oh yes, gears will eventually go in, just not right now. I'm going to be driving it for a while and the way gas prices are they are going to stay for a bit. This will all be over a period of time. I Have 4 vehicles I'm working on now. This one, a toyota pickup with a 355/th-350/np205 t-case/38's, yada yada, and a 93 z71 on 38.5" boggers I'm building a 383 stroker for right now. The otehr one is a 96 GMC but I'm selling that one in a few weeks. So I don't have the time or the money to do it all at once. Having mud toys things break all the time so I spend a lot of money and time on those also.
So does everyone think the rods will hold up with some good bolts or are those going to need a change also?

Thanks for the inputs so far guys I appreciate it.

 

G

goinbigger

New Member

Apr 11, 2005

15

0

0

Jun 2, 2005

#9

• Jun 2, 2005

• #9

Any more ideas as to if just the new rod bolts will work or do I need to change out the rods all together?

 

Q

QBstang87

Founding Member

Jun 14, 2002

547

0

0

Montgomery Village, Maryland

Jun 2, 2005

#10

• Jun 2, 2005

• #10

im running stock rods and crank at over 500 hp to the wheels...i'm ok. i know another dude running very high rpm's with stock rods as well. high as in like 8-9 k or so...maybe not the best thing in the world but its workin for us for the time being.

 

G

goinbigger

New Member

Apr 11, 2005

15

0

0

Jun 2, 2005

#11

• Jun 2, 2005

• #11

LOL, wow, so I guess they aren't that flimsy after all! Cool, that's kind of what I was looking for. Thanks.

 

Stang8URMPRT

Active Member

Dec 28, 2003

1,100

1

38

Daytona Beach, FL

Jun 2, 2005

#12

• Jun 2, 2005

• #12

The pistons, rods, and crank will handle more power then the block will. Don't worry about the rotating assembly. Forged anything inside a stock block is wasting your money. People that have forged rods or crank in their car will say otherwise, but they are just upset they spent WAY too much money on a 5.0 with a stock block.