The following chronicles the first phase of a journey to 400 (flywheel) HP and 400 ft-lbs of torque. The first phase constitutes a healthy engine build up. We start with a 340 HP Ford long block (Ford Racing Products M-6007-XE3). This foundation is a brand new 302 cu. in. production block which has been enhanced with high performance parts: the the E303 cam and X303 heads.
Phase two (next year) will add a supercharger: 8 PSI Kenne Bell Blowzilla. This will put us over the 400 HP mark, but, more importantly, being a screw (as opposed to centrifugal) type supercharger, peak torque will be below 5000 RPM. Hopefully, this will translate to longevity of the engine and more fun on the street.
The engine arrives and is unloaded from Justin's truck. 11 Jan 03
Here it is brought into the garage for the first time. 11 Jan 03
The engine is back on the pallet it originally came on. Saul checks that the mounting bolts for the engine stand are correct. 12 Jan 03
The engine on the stand ready for more performance parts. 12 Jan 03
Where is that 7/16" socket? 12 Jan 03
The shop crane stored away until the swap. 12 Jan 03
The following updated 04 Jun 03
Here we have bolted up the headers. This is a view of the exhaust port on the Ford GT-40X heads, and here is a view of the intake port.
This is the intake manifold gasket laid on the head. Here we perform the port blend with a Dremel tool. This is what one of the ports looked like before, and this is what the same port looked like after. I am hoping for 10-15 HP from this effort. And this is what a different port looked like after washing the aluminum dust off the entire manifold.
This is the stock bottom end looks like. To strengthen it, in prepartion for the blower, we've added a Canton main girdle. You can see it in action here. (Warning: 7.4 MB QuickTime AVI).
Finally, Saul covers it all up with a Canton 7 qt. oil pan. Here is the "complete" engine essentially ready for the swap. We only need to install the accessories from the old motor.
This is the "before" picture of the engine bay. Is it strange that one would want to replace all this perfectly good hardware?
The following updated 23 Aug 03
The old engine is finally removed (warning: 6.1 MB QuickTime AVI). We are nearly half done with this "one weekend" project. Here is the empty engine bay.
The following updated 01 Sep 03
At the last minute, we decide not to use the GT-40X heads already installed in the engine. Instead, we opt for a lower performance but more econonmical head. Nevertheless, we did manage to wash the entire engine bay (compare to the "engine bay" link from 23 Aug 03). We then proceded to clean the greasy engine parts. Only a true friend would sit on a hot sidewalk in the blistering 105 degree heat and wash filthy parts in an old baby bath tub while his alleged friend snaps shameless photos.
We finally install the new engine. Here it is ready to be lowered into the engine bay. With a bit of adjustment to the wiring harness, the engine fits in. It was a tight fit with the Canton racing oil pan making it necessary to temporarily remove the left motor mount until the engine was lowered sufficiently. Nevertheless, it was finally bolted in.
The transmission is back in. And a new 190 lph fuel pump has been added. It's time to do a little work on the top end. Or, perhaps we'll just play a tune? (warning: 6.5 MB QuickTime AVI).
(Most of the following has been done for some time now. I am only now getting to updating the web page.)
To withstand the intense Arizona heat, and to replace the worn and leaky factory radiator, we install one from Fluidyne. Compare the difference in thickness. Here it is mounted in the car.
In October, the supercharger arrived from Kenne Bell. This is what I found to be the easiest method to trial fit the supercharger by oneself. There was a great deal of trouble with clearance problems with the aftermarket fuel pressure regulator. This turned out to be a project itself (read more).
The supercharger is finally mounted. Next, a bracket is fabricated to mount the ignition coil. Kenne Bell provided a braket for the coil to replace the stock engine removal bracket, but, the location shown above was cleaner. We also installed a Kenne Bell cool air intake which mounts a 12 inch K+N filter in the fender well. Also shown in this image is the 90 mm MAF meter, also from Kenne Bell.
Since large amounts of torque are expected with the stock driveline, a driveshaft loop is installed. To install the loop, it is necessary to remove the seats. So, it is the perfect time to have your son clean the seats!
To get the PCM to work properly with the 42 lb injectors, it is necessary to modify the tables in the engine computer. A Kenne Bell chip was chosen for this. (More on this adventure later--it still is not resolved.)
We are nearly ready to start the engine. Here we prime the oil pump before the initial start. Then we push the car out of the garage. The first crank is captured here (warning: 3.1 MB WMV).
Since the Kenne Bell program wasn't exactly correct, a trip to the local dyno tuning facility (www.streetflight.com) was necessary. On the dyno, a mild tune is programmed into a new chip to allow a safe break in of the engine. Later, a full thrashing and tune at the same facility will be performed.