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Engine build up question

1K views 23 replies 9 participants last post by  94 Daily Driven 4.6L 
#1 ·
OK guy's and girl's I have a question I am looking into getting a new motor for the Tbird, but what I want to do is have a Vortech supercharge 6 psi or right around there and have a 75 shot of Nos ( I am not much of a Nos fan I just want it for the looks I will only use it a few times a year).

So will I need a complete forge engine or can I get away with just a stock Explorer engine?

If I have to go the Forged root what is a good price for a VT or a Renagade forge engine? and can someone give me a phone #'s to call :confused: . I would like to keep it under 7 to 8K but if I have to I can go higher.
 
#2 ·
What are your goals? Buying NOS for the looks is not a serious plan nor is it worth the expense. If you want to pose then just buy one of those NOS subwoofers and call it a day. Now if you daily drive your car and can stick to 6lbs on the blower I'm sure you will get sufficient life from the explorer motor if you have a good tune but there are no gaurantees. So this brings us back to what do you really want to accomplish and make a plan from there. For me a fun daily driver was all I wanted and I had no intentions of making over 300 HP so an explorer motor and an SVO was all I needed. I currently have 60K on the explorer with 30K of it blown. When it eventially dies I will go buy another one for $1000 but I am betting on it going the distance because I decided my goal and I'm not pushing the boundaries. If you do this haphazzardly without a clear plan it will cost you double.
 
#3 ·
I'll add my .02 also:

Before you decide on a route to go with an engine build up (or anything else for that matter), it is always a good idea to realistically define the actual intended use of the vehicle. There is a huge difference between building a daily driven car vs. one that is street/strip vs. road racing, vs. drag racing.... etc.

With that said: IMHO an Explorer engine with a 6 psi Vortech should be a reliable and long term setup. BUT when you throw nitrous in on top of the boost, I would say you’re on the verge of grenading the engine unless you have a very, very good EEC tune. A boost tune and a boost + nitrous tune are quite different.

The problem with the OEM hyper pistons is that they have a nasty habit of breaking a ring land with any type of detonation. And most power adders (boost and nitrous) greatly increase the chance of detonation.

Anyway, just my .02. :thumbsup:
 
#4 ·
My bird is my fun car for the summer and then it's stored for the winter.

OK this is my plan or what I am looking for.

What I am looking for is 275 - 300hp at the rear wheels with room to increase if wanted. I do want to put a bullitt intake with port and polished heads. This car will be in some local car shows so I want the engine to look nice and perform even better at the stripe.

Right now I am working on bracing the unibody and getting my SC seat redone. My next step is the engine and trans

The Nos is for when I go to the drag, but I am not a average drag stripe person and only go 3-4 time a year so I do want the extra punch if I need it. But that is something that I can add later.
 
#5 ·
If your car is a show car I can see the want for the non-functionla nitrous setup. If its just to impress your friends I say put the money elsewhere. If you think that you will get away with an 8K budget for a blower, forged block, nitrous, tuning, fuel system mods and all the other misc crap you should sit down with a calculator and do some math. It wont happen if you want it done right.

If you can afford the forged block I say play with the one you have now and test its durability. :) With the right tune a Vorteched 4.6 SHOULD last a long time at 6psi; but with boost and hyperpathetic pistons you run a risk. If you add nitrous to an already volatile equasion you run even more of a risk. You could last a few days or a few years, automotive russian roulette. You should have some kind of back up plan.

Once you go forged, IF you do it the RIGHT WAY, you shouldnt have a problem with nitrous and a blower.

Do your homework and dont go running blindly. Know your goals and try not to change as you go.

Good luck.
 
#7 ·
Well AEDM8 I was looking at the route also but I really want a Vortech on there even if I can't but one one right away in the long run I will have one on there. The open problem I have is I am not a engine person at all, give me a wiring diagagram and I can fix any electrical problem in my car I can also do some minor repairs on the car, but when it comes to engines I am lost :(. I have a friend that said he would install the engine for me and get it running.

So if I go with a Explore engine put a Bullitt intake & a set of ported and polished heads and keep the vortech at 6psi. I should be OK but in the danger area of blowing the motor.

Now that you guy's have been telling me I will most likely leave out the Nos.

I thought that I read thats it's very hard to get a N/A up to 300hp at the rear wheels or did I read that wrong?
 
#8 ·
Are we talking fwhp or rwhp here? 300 fwhp won't be very difficult N/A, but 300 rwhp is going to be a little tougher, since you'll have to make around 330-350 fwhp (If I'm wrong in thinking this, let me know.) If you're looking for 300 fwhp, I'd say drop in a DOHC with bolt-ons, since they're already around 280 fwhp.
 
#9 ·
I understand where you are coming from wanting a blower and from what I understand a vortech install isn't too dificult the hardest part being the oil return line. That said the SVo install was as easy as swapping an intake manifold (which in realit is all you are doing it's one piece) my install took 8 hours including dropping the tank to install a new fuel pump. If you can troubleshoot wiring you have the right reasoning skills to install a blower. There is plenty oof experience here to guide you through whatever type you decide on.
 
#10 ·
SloMo228 : Yes I want 300 rwhp that is my goal.

Timb: I did look at the SVO blower but did like it because if I ever want to intercool it it would be a B@tch to do I would think. But yes I was looking in that direction also.
 
#12 ·
What are you putting down for #'s at the rear wheels? Do you have ported heads and would that make anymore HP?
 
#13 ·
Anytime you can add airflow (the majority of the time) you will be able to increase your power levels. I think with ported heads, aggressive cams, and either the svo blower or the bullit intake/high compression, you would be very close to 300 rwhp.

Joe
 
#14 ·
whitecoug: If I get the agressive cam's that would make my car idle really rough correct?
 
#15 ·
Somewhat. I havnt heard any that are really rough, more like choppy.

From what Ive seen 300 rwhp NA isnt that hard to get, you just need to know what your doing and be willing to drop a little change. ;)

If you have your heart set on a blower you could stay with an Explorer engine. Strapping a blower to a stock PI engine will net you around 300rwhp. If you add ported heads, cams and a bullit intake you could be topping out near 360-380 depending on who does the work, if you keep the 6psi pulley, what cams you go with and what else you have done. (exhaust, fuel system ect)

You could go a long time with a safe tune and a 6psi pulley. What will kill your engine quickly is if you get greedy by adding a smaller pulley; dont say it wont happen. Boost is addictive, is some is good more must be better.

Have a back up plan if your not forged. I cant stress this enough.

**So are you doing the work or are you having a shop do it? Kiss your 6-8 grand goodbye quickly if you are not doing it.
 
#16 ·
AEDM8: Thanks for that info.

What it looks like I will just do is start the Engine out as a N/A with ported heads and a Bullitt intake, then next year add the blower or keep it N/A and just put in better cam's.

The heads will be done by renagde and I know that it will cost me around $2000 to have it done.

If I keep the engine N/A with port heads and Bullitt intake will I still have to upgrade the fuel pump and injecters?

Yes I will have a shop that I know will install the engine and get it running for me. I don't have the equipment to install the engine.
 
#17 ·
If you have the stock fuel pump, it may not be a bad idea to toss a new one in either a 190 or 255 for cheap insurance. It's only about $100, and you never know when the stock one will crap out on you. When I swapped heads, I put in a 255. And upgraded to 24# injectors, which may be a bit overkill, but oh well. If you're shooting for 300 right after the install, you may want to upgrade to 24's just to be safe (I think that is where the stock 19's kind of piddle out)

As for the cams, do a little research. There are some agressive cams that you may have vacuum problems with, and your brakes won't work quite as well. If you go with cams like that, you may need a 'vacuum booster' (can't think of the correct name right off). But there are also some agressive cams that you won't have vacuum issues with.

As far as choosing between n/a and the blower, if you are for sure going to stay n/a, you might want to have a little more compression, but if you decide to slap a blower on later...keep the compression the stock level (on an explorer motor) or a little lower if you've got a built one.

Joe
 
#19 ·
Red-Dragon said:
What are you putting down for #'s at the rear wheels? Do you have ported heads and would that make anymore HP?
Couldn't tell you since it's never been on a dyno. 1/4 miles times would suggest 250 at the wheels but I think with head work and maybe custom cams 300 is possible
 
#20 ·
im having the same problem...my engine just died and i need to replace it.... i could either go with the 99 or up mustang gt....an explorer engine which i dont udnerstand how it gets its power or a brand new crate...please post i need help
 
#21 ·
I have a really stupid question,


say you have a 75k mile 4.6 2v built to 300 bhp i.e, best cams, gutted the crappy stock y exhaust, pistons, the whole 9 yards. Then you add a 6 psi blower to the engine. How much life does your engine have left? And how much power are you gonna receive in the end?
 
#22 ·
Let me pull out my crystal ball...........
Answer is there is no way to know how long it will last you. 6psi is probably going to add 60- 75 at the crank
 
#23 ·
IF your bottom end is strong yet, and IF you have a safe tune, and IF you don't get greedy with the boost on the stock bottom end, and IF a lot of other things...it MIGHT last until the motor hits 200K or it may last 5K miles. Putting boost on the stock internals of a 4.6 is risky. Some people have luck with it like timb and some don't. I personally feel I am one who would not have the luck. So no boost until a motor's built. ANYTIME you add a power adder to your car, you run the rick of blowing something up. Whether it be 6 psi, 9 psi, 75 shot of nitrous, etc, etc. Just the name of the game.
 
#24 ·
Here's the deal with high mileage and boost (IMHO) oil, oil, oil. We all know that the valve stem seal have a tendency to start leaking with high mileage (althought 97 not as bad as 91 - 95's). And ANY oil introduced into the combustion chamber increases the tendency to ping. Then add boost on top of that and you're looking a potentially busted ring lands. :beek:

But if you're not burning any oil (i.e. maybe about 1/2 quart every 3K miles) you would probably be ok. But that just a "guess". :D

So a "good" tune for a new engine (with tight oil seals), may not cut it with an engine with a lot of miles. But with that said, 75K isn't really a lot with these engines... :thumbsup:
 
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