Completed Project My 98 super charged EX

Mice? those things are soooo destructive.
Sorry to hear the w/m is working so amazingly well.
I'm truly amazed with your results with it. Lets hope it wasn't the final tweak that lifted your heads.

It gets a bit overwhelming when you start fighting too many battles at once.

Explorer

I did the combustion gas in the coolant test, the fluid stayed blue.
There still may be a problem though, I will have to keep an eye on it.
I took it out for a WOT blast since I now have the biggest nozzle that came with the Snow water meth kit. I ran the same 6 degree advance tune as I ran the last time and no detonation. I rechecked the coolant level and it was right where I had left it. Maybe I am being paranoid. It looks like I may be on day shift for the next 4 weeks. If I can get a Friday or Tuesday night where it doesn't rain I will be at the track once again stretching the limits of what this truck has been through.

16 psi?

Is your max boost still at 16 psi with the W/M injection? Since the fluid is injected after the MAF sensor the PCM doesn't realize that the density of the intake charge has increased and doesn't compensate for it. Water is basically incompressible. I wonder how much the combustion chamber pressure increases as the W/M injection increases. I suspect you are approaching (or possibly have exceeded) the limits of the stock engine. One of the Mustang forum members rebuilt his engine with SSM Stage 2 heads, Manley rods and pistons, and ARP head studs and has put over 40K miles of reliable operation on the odometer to date running 14 psi of boost (342RWHP, 347RWTQ).

Edit: see the following link for his build in good detail: My New 4.0 SOHC Build

boost

Still 16 lbs.
I was wondering about the cylinder pressure too.
I am also wondering if it will hold up till the end of this racing season. lol.
I followed that thread on the mustang with the 4.0 sohc build while it was happening. Good stuff there.

Track Time

I am still waiting on some track time.
I am off tomorrow and it will probably rain again. lol.
I have been beating on the truck some more and no signs of any overheating or head gaskets problems. I have ordered a set of ARP head studs for the future. According to Jegs they should ship out after the 29th of October.

Kit 253-3701?

Did you order ARP kit 253-3701? Do you know if it includes the 6 point or the 12 point nuts? Do you plan to use Locktite when installing the studs? Is that the same ARP kit that Super Six Motorsports sells for $475 and Tom Morana sells for $480?

Arp

Yes, 253-3701
I believe they are 12 point nuts. (if so I will only be using a Snap-On socket)
locktite on the nuts, no. I will be using the ARP lubricant that comes with the set.
I don't know if that is the same kit.

Edit:
I ordered these from Jegs since they had a quicker shipping date than Summit.
I would not purchase ARP head studs from eBay since there are FAKE or Imitation ARP studs out there.

Modular Motorsports

Thanks to "Nice Pony" and "Rampant Racing" from mustangcollective.com, I now know about Modular Motorsports in California.
Modular Motorsports has a piston and rod kit for the 4.0 SOHC for $1,300.00
Part number 661040, states it is available in any bore sizes and any compression ratio and will handle 1,200 HP.

Modular Motorsports
http://www.modularmotorsportsracing.com/

Nice Pony's build thread
http://mustangcollective.com/showthread.php?t=35934

Rampant Racing's build thread
http://mustangcollective.com/showthread.php?t=38079

ARP lubricant

I thought the ARP lubricant was for the nut threads on the stud. For the block threads on the stud Locktite is used for a permanent installation or thread sealant is used if the stud prevents loss of engine coolant.

MMR kit

I notice that according to the kit description the head studs/nuts are not included but the price still seems fairly reasonable.

So, while the valve covers are off, what about the cams? I'd think you could find something in a slightly higher lift, 'square' lobe? Maybe squeeze a bit more air in and out of those hard working cylinders. Hehehe. Great news that you have not lifted a head. I'm so impressed with that motor.

Arp

2000StreetRod said:

I thought the ARP lubricant was for the nut threads on the stud. For the block threads on the stud Locktite is used for a permanent installation or thread sealant is used if the stud prevents loss of engine coolant.

Click to expand...

Whoops, I misread your question.
I plan to use sealant on the studs where they go into the block. The lube will be used on the nuts. lol.

Cams

Dono said:

So, while the valve covers are off, what about the cams? I'd think you could find something in a slightly higher lift, 'square' lobe? Maybe squeeze a bit more air in and out of those hard working cylinders. Hehehe. Great news that you have not lifted a head. I'm so impressed with that motor.

Click to expand...

My main concerns with cams are that I need to pass inspection, I don't want to sacrifice any street-ability(I.E. low vacuum to brake booster or rough idle), and that no one makes affordable ones yet that I know of.

I keep forgetting about inspections.
Here we only need to have a vehicle inspected to license it after a sale/purchase.

I never really looked at the cost of cams. Scratch the cam idea, it was a bad one.

Cams

Not really a bad idea,
They can give some good horse power improvements. I may do them someday after all. I just need more time to research and maybe find someone using them and see what the side effects are.

Tuning and Datalogging

I have been experimenting with different devices for datalogging. In the process I discovered some interesting things. I wanted to put it all down because I wont remember it later if I don't.
I suffer from CRS, cant remember stuff.
Here is the posts
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3349811&posted=1#post3349811

Making Coolant

My truck is making coolant again. lol.
I was at Atco tuning with this water methanol stuff and kept watching the coolant reservoir level get higher and higher after each run.
I only got 4 runs in but it was enough to see what was going on with the water methanol and timing. I was able to get 10 degrees of advance with out any signs of detonation. 12 degrees set the knock sensor off.
I just wish I could have done more tuning because I wanted to see if it would still take 10 degrees after correcting the A/F mixture which richened up some.
After that I would have liked to test out the water meth tune vs no water meth to see if there was a difference.
My first run was 13.716 with 6 degrees advance from the non water meth tune
My second was 13.415 with 8 degrees. 100.23 miles per hour.
My third was 13.470 with 10 degrees 99.91 mph
My fourth was 13.365 with 12 degrees 100.82 mph
Keep in mind that the temperature was dropping as time went by.
I know there is more to have with this truck, but now I have to work on keeping the combustion pressure in the cylinders. lol.

Wow! .2 secs from only 2 degrees of timing... well and the meth kit. There didn't seem to be much improvement from pushing for the extra 2 - 4 degrees at 10 and 12.

1/4 mile times

I would not try to analyze anything from this data as far as 1/4 mile times, I just posted it to keep track of it.
The temps were dropping as time went by and my shift points were all over the place since I have not finished tuning the trans functions.
The only thing this data really shows is how much timing I was able to advance without any knock sensor activity with the water methanol.
I read somewhere that water methanol may give the possibility to advance the timing 10 degrees. I looked all over the internet for results but did not see much useful data. So I was able to advance 10 degrees but my A/F mixture was richer so the readings may be skewed because of that.
I will try again after installing head studs to see if after getting the mixture back to 11.3 if I can still advance timing 10 degrees with the water methanol.
Then I will try the water methanol vs non water meth tunes to see if there is really an increase in Horse power or torque.

screen shot

Here is a screen shot of the 10 degree timing adavance (above the non W/M tune)
purple is the tps
brown is the rpm
pink is the knock sensor showing no change
Yellow is the spark timing at 17 degrees advance at WOT, it was around 7 at the race at MapleGrove in 80 degree temperature.
I should also state I saw 17 lbs of boost on the gauge. Probably due to higher pressure from W/M injection in the intake.