I've got a 99 f-150 with the 5.4 and 4r70w. 120,000 miles. last weekend go some water in the oil and determined bused head gasket. so decided to go all the way. my tranny has been shifting hard from 1st to 2nd and when it down shifts to pass so i am in the process of pulling everything out. i will get the engine overhauled while i'm down there any ideas on what should go back in the engine or tranny. i am planning on cams, headers, electric fan and a procharger. any suggestions as how to prepare my engine for that or any other mods that would seem resonable. i have a 73 bronco that i'll be driving so the project can take months if nessecary. any take on this would be much help.

 

sounds like a fun project.
hope you can find an air and fuel management system for those cams. Dont forget about the updated head gaskets. you may want to resurch farther with the intruduction of those cams to you set up.

 

If you are going to supercharge, you will definitely want forged rods and pistons, ARP bolts throughout, a larger fuel pump, bigger injectors, larger throttle body and MAF, etc.

As long as you have the heads off, you might want to port them to match the intake and exhaust gaskets. Also, take a close look at the spark plug threads. There is one cylinder that has a very small # of threads that you might want to have an insert placed into while you have it apart.

You will also want to investigate a "heavy duty" build on your 4R70W. It will need some help to live with the additional torque & horsepower a supercharged engine will develop.

Sounds like you will have a good running beast when you are finished. Don't forget to keep us updated with your progress...

 

Do i have to have forged rods and pistons? Is there a boost limit on stock compression and castiron. will i beneifit that much by running forged? how much boost can i run safetly either way?

thanks.

 

The amount of boost you can safely run really depends on how safe your tune is. I.E. - your air/fuel ratio. With the cast pistons you're probably not gonna want to run much more than 8 psi of boost, which should be plenty for what you're looking to gain. You just need to keep a real good eye on your fuel pressure and make sure it's not pinging. Although if you're gonna be tearing into the motor and rebuilding/replacing parts you might as well go with forged stuff while you're there. It beats having a cast piston fly apart and take out a head or put a gash in a cylinder wall.

If you were just gonna be bolting a blower on the stock motor I would say stick with the cast stuff and just play it safe, but you're better off with the forged.

 

ok i pulled the heads last nigh and looks like a warped head so i'll needed to get them shaved. that will increase my compression, not what i want if i am going to bolt on a procharger correct? But i can't seem to find low compression forged pistons does anyone know where. and if i should bother. will the increase in compression be a problem? overall the engine looks good after 120K still has the crosshatching in the cylinder wall so a bore doesn't look necessary.