Project Built 5.4
 

Well i have been wanting to build this motor for a while and another spark plug blew out. I have something else to drive for right now, So instead of doing the easy thing and just getting another insert put in i figured i might as well just pull the motor and build it. It was kinda slow and had 170000 miles on it any way. lol

I figured you guys can help me out, i read built 5.4's thread and a few others and they really seem to know what they're doing.

motor is a 97 5.4

the plan is:

bored .020 over
manley forged pistons and rods
trick flow twisted wedge heads (the kit with the cams and everything)
still trying to decide wether or not to have the crank worked
long tube headers with full dual exhaust
and a whole bunch of other stuff that costs way to much money lol

i'm planning on staying N/A for now and then maybe later on i'll get a supercharger and swap to blower cams.

[IMG]http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/DSC00320.jpg[/IMG]

motor back from machine shop
bored .02 over

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/DSC00326.jpg

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/DSC00323.jpg

crank polished and
manley forged pistons .02 over 18 cc dish

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/DSC00328.jpg

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/DSC00327.jpg

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/DSC00258.jpg

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/DSC00257.jpg

got some stuff cleaned up and painted

just ordered bearings, gasket set, and some other little stuff.

now i just have to order rods, oil pump and whatever else i'm forgetting and i can get the short block together.

then its on to trying to save 3000 for those heads lol

im trying to decide whether or not to have the crank lightened/knife edged?
does anybody think it would be worth it?

are you going to be spinning it over 6,000 rpms?




didn't think so, but anyway what is teh mahcinist going ot charge you to knife endge it and re-balance it??

no i wasnt planning on it. Do you think i would see any noticable power gain from having it done, even though im not spinning real high rpm's?

the machine shop i had the block done at doesnt knife edge cranks so i might call some other shops on monday just to see how much they want to do it.

once it's done you'll have to rebalance it

Nice. Any Idea or hopes of what it will put down on the dyno? I wanna see those heads. Wish I had that much room in my garage.

ya im really curious about the heads too.

i havent seen a whole lot of people on here running them but they are supposed to out flow a set of ported 2 valve heads by quite a bit so we'll see.

not really sure what to expect hp wise

and the garage is no where near big enough when its full of bikes, parents cars, mower and everything else. lol

Nice build man, just curious as to how much the machine shop charged? Are you setting up the rotating assembly and heads yourself?

Those are some sweeeet looking slugs (all 8 of them.) Couldn't help but notice all the toys you have. Nice garage. Not a Chevy fan, but I'd take a white Corvette any day of the week.

the machine shop wasnt to bad at all 385 for

bore .020 over to pistons
hone
clean block
freeze plugs
polish crank
and whatever it is that they had to do to the moly rings

and yes im building the motor.

nice man. i want the time and money to do the same. well be waiting to see how it turns out. :beers:

thanks. i have been wanting to do this for a while and finally had an excuse to do it............kinda lol

would the heads that came off the motor be worth anything? They would have to have another insert put in. actually it would probably be best to do all of them.

They are non PI heads and i really have no idea what they would be worth.

progress?? keep the pics comin!

not a whole lot of progress. birthdays and a dentist visit killed the pay check. I did get a few of the parts i ordered though.

I tore apart the dodge motor that came out of my other truck this weekend and the thing is wierd. I guess it is three times as old as me though.

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...6-13-10012.jpg

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...6-13-10014.jpg

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...6-13-10018.jpg

Unless you are building for some race class and looking for every last hp, no. The stock forged crank is already a sweet piece, and if you start removing material it will just make the balance job that much harder and more expensive. You are going to balance it, right?

yes i called a machine shop today and they are going to balance everything down to .5 grams once i get my rods.

okay so i ordered some more parts today.

This isnt going to matter for a while, but what would be the best thing to do about the tranny later on.

it is an e40d with a shift kit right now and i'm just wondering what i should replace it with when the time comes.

How much power can a factory E40D handle. I looked around on the internet a little bit and i couldnt really find any built transmissions, just remanufactured ones. I dont know a whole lot about trannys or what swaps in and what doesnt so hopefully some one can help me out.

they are the one that led to the 4r100 and can be built to handle somepower

The trans depends on the power you intend to run through it.
Discussed here:https://www.f150online.com/forums/su...nsmission.html

I'm with wade. You have all the cool toys. Nice vette and bike!

Just a quick question for you about your pistons? How did you decide on what dish to get for those. I am planning on building like you staying n/a and later adding a lightning top end or something. Thanks Looking good by the way!

I am using the ones with an 18cc dish.
with a 38 cc combustion chamber it gives me right around 9.4:1 compression ratio.

you will have to figure out which heads you are using and what size combustion chamber they have before you can figure out what the compression ratio will be. PI and non PI heads are different. I'm using trick flow's.

. If you want to supercharge it later on you dont want the compression ratio to high.
10:1 is probably the highest i would go and i think 9:1 is stock.

i think this site is actually for motorcycles but it should work the same
http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/compstaticcalc.html

Awesome. Thanks man. I plan on just using PI heads and putting cams in. Your engine is looking good so far by the way.

got a few more parts today

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...0build/052.jpg

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...0build/050.jpg

hey five0merc i seen in your sig that your doing a zf swap. how hard is that to do? all i really know is you need a body lift because it is so big.

so i ran in to a problem.

i was putting my crank in and the 3rd main cap doesnt fit over the main stud on one side. i pulled all the main studs out and tried each one and none of them fit through the hole. the stud fits untill it gets to the bottom of the threads and then it wont go any further.

i ordered them through JLP and the box says 4.6 4 valve but it thought they would be the same as the 5.4
has anyone else ever had this problem before?

Is that the hole that had the bolt for the oil pickup?? Good luck with your bolt issue. And just looking and trying to find a zf right now. I know body lift or redoing the tunnel but I think the body lift will be easier. Once I get that since my truck is no longer my dd I will be putting it up there and going through and trying it out. I know you need to run the zf6 clutch as well. If you don't mind where you ordering most your parts from?

Are you installing the cap backwards? All the bolt hole threads were chased?

JMC

moly rings are for N/a motors the moly coating burns off with the high temps of nitrous and F/I motors. FYI its something i learned the rings you want are total seal. i paid 180 for a set of rings

half a gram damn that is a very high tolerance

4v iron or aluminum? 4v iron block from the 03/04 cobras were 4 bolt the aluminums were 6 bolt

no im not putting it on backwards and all the threads were chased but it was the actual main cap that the stud wouldnt fit through.

For some reason there was a lip about halfway down the hole the stud goes through on the cap. all the other holes were fine though.

its fixed now so it doesnt matter i just thought it was weird.

I have never heard of that before, what kind of rings are the total seal then?

the manley file fit ones i bought were 125, and the paper they came with had all the gaps listed for forced induction, nitrous, alcohol, N/A etc.

And about the .5 grams that is what the machinist wanted to do. He does good work and knows what he is doing.

He built my friends 2.0L accura motor and it makes 700 horsepower, and he drives it everyday. I hate imports but that much power out of a 2.0L is nuts.

Yea I agree. That is some horsepower for a 4 cylinder. I am helping a friend build a 2.0 for his eclipse. Not a fan of imports either but I like working on cars so I figure it won't hurt to learn about them either. I need to find a good machinist out here that wouldn't mind doing that with my rotating assembly. Glad you got the main cap figured out.

anyone have any suggestions on getting the crank double keyed. The most boost this motor will probably ever see is fifteen pounds or so. I have heard of them ripping out before but i think thats only in extremely high horse engines.

The machine shop is closed right now so i cant talk to him today to see what he thinks, but I am taking the motor there on friday to be balanced

Well he finally got smart and parted it out to buy a pro street 71 nova not to long ago. lol

so i'm getting my trick flow heads pretty soon and i want your guys opinion.

there are the normal trick flow heads that are $2000

and then there is a ported version

CNC Port 4.6/5.4 to Stage 4, Hot Tank and Disassembly, Remove and Reinstall Seats, Blend Valve Job, 7* Pair of Valve Locks, Ductile Iron Valve Seats, Competition Multi-Angle Valve Job, Mill heads to Customer Specs, Flow Intake and Exhaust Ports, Heads Cleaned, Set Spring Pressure, Installed Height, and Coil Bind, Manley SS 1.450 36.8mm Exhaust Valves ; Manley NexTex Springs and Steel Retainers 1.94 Custom Intake Valve, New Bronze intake and exhaust guides New Ford Viton Seals
$3000





Normal Trick flow #'s
Lift. Int. Exh.
0.100 61.3. 54.0
0.200 130.3 107.5
0.300 182.5 154.9
0.400 225.8 188.8
0.500 249.2 205.0
0.550 258.6 208.6
0.600 265.7 211.7

Ported Trick flow numbers
Lift. Int. Exh.
0.100" 64.4. 56.7
0.200" 134.2 108.0
0.300" 199.3 153.0
0.400" 247.8 188.1
0.500" 280.1 221.0
0.550" 291.9 229.2
0.600" 297.1 236.7

do you think it is worth the extra thousand dollars for the ported version? These heads are already expensive.

and what would the HP difference be between the two for N/A and supercharged?