Building a Monster...

[AaronE19]

hello all-
in about a year, my little '93 sport will be retired from its daily driving duties. no ill will toward my mean teal machine, but it'll be creeping up on 200k by then and I'm sick of forking over $$ to keep it on the road. fear not, however, just because I won't be driving it to work doesn't mean that I'm letting it go. instead, she'll become my little project vehicle for the next few years until I've successfully built a screaming machine that'll turn the quarter in under 14 and hit sixty in under 6.

soooo, what I need from you very informed people is your feedback and insight on my little plan as I begin to acquire parts. here's what I have in mind:

I'm sticking with the 4.0L OHV, just because I have some sentimental attachment to it and I think it'd cause more people's eyes to bug out when I put up the numbers I'm talking about from only 245cid.

Block:
-overbored and stroked (I really need help with this one, since I'm not sure how much displacement to add)

-(to go along with #1) forged pistons & connecting rods, most likely from Vanir.

-underdrive pulleys if I can find them

Valvetrain:
-either a complete head rebuild... ported, polished, 3-angle valves, all the necessary components like springs, roller rocker arms, pushrods, lifters. OR new heads entirely, if I can find something that'll meet my needs (ideas??)

-and of course, a camshaft that could easily be confused with a crank

Intake:
-for starters, a modified hood with some cool-ass scoops since I want to fab a ram air setup (and make it look mean).

-a new lower intake manifold if I can find one (again, ideas??) ported and polished upper and lower if not, unless someone can come up with another alternative. I really think that this area will become a serious restriction unless I can come up with something here.

-TB, adjustable MAS, yadda, yadda...

Exhaust:
-Ceramic coated JBA's moving the air off the block, but not much past there. I'll just remove the spare and give some mechanic a migrane having to figure out how to run straight pipes through that mess.

Fuel Delivery:
-high flow fuel pump
-adjustable FPR
-matched injectors (30lb/hr is a nice, round number )
-custom Superchip program

Drivetrain:
-new trans, probably a BW T5, but I'm open to suggestions here too.

-B&M shifter (haven't looked real hard yet)

-4.10 or 4.11 rear end (not sure if I want full-posi or not)

-might want to put new axels on to handle the extra load... suggestions?

-probably re-balance the driveshaft while I'm signing away my life savings

Suspension:
-sway bars, bushings, etc.


basically, everything from Vanir's website and then some. ideas? suggestions? certificates documenting my unstable mental condition? bear in mind, I am only in the planning stages and all this will in all likelihood take me at least two years of shadetreeing (and three wives) before it's up and growling... but everyone needs a little spice in life, right? my labor of love begins...

sorry about the length of this post, but I'd really appreciate any input y'all can offer. and of course, when it's all buttoned down I'll come back at you with dyno numbers.

thanks-

Aaron

 

[Troll]

you have the right idea. go with a over bore piston kit with stock lenght rods. make ever things new dont reuse parts that have a lot of wear and tear. get the heads ported and have the lower intake ported to match. you need a cam made for what you need either a blower/nos or all motor.get a bbk TB, new mass air, and injectors. get a t5 converson kit a stock mustang T5 will be strong enuf in stock form. you dont realy need a new shifter. stock axles with new posi will be strong enuf but you should replace all the bearings in the rear housing.

 

[SteveVB]

Bored and stroked !! Wooo Hooo!!

Max bore on the 4 oh is .040. Stroking means custom rods, pistons, and $$$

World products at one point was looking into making some heads, might want to give them a call to see whats up. If not then late model stock heads with bigger 1.8+ and 1.4+ valves installed and complete port& bowl work are the answer. The heads are the limiter it seems, the lower intake would need some port matching, but thats about it.

4.0 performance had some roller rockers listed, Com Cams, Cam Craft for the cams.

When I do it again I woill use the total seal Zero gap rings- my mistake this time. Seems like a good idea I missed.

I would design the intake carefully, the MAS,TB,Fuel injectors and chip all need to work together- not as easy as it sounds.

Find a good machinist - most i spoke with about a 4.0 didnt know much.

Sven Pruitt (vanir tech) has a book out on the 60* V-6 covers from the 2.6 up to the 4.0 its a bit dated- earlyu 90's - but the basics are there. Only real drawback is that it doesnt cover the EFI system very well- well not really at all, just in passing.

JAY on this site has done some work to his 4.0 with some impressive #'s

Have fun keep us posted

 

[AaronE19]

Thanks Steve and Troll,

Steve:
good call on the importance of intake coordination... I've been told by Chris @ smartyparts that you can get ahold of adjustable MAS's and fuel pressure regulators, but I'm not sure about the TB. it'll take some looking, I'm sure. as for the custom chip program, what kind of info should I have ready for them? I don't think that just telling them "well, it's over bored and ported and polished... yadda, yadda" will do me any good in the end. it seems like I'd need to have before/after numbers for everything under the sun so that they get it right. that's not really a problem, the chip will be the last thing I do so I'm sure I'll know more about that motor than they want to hear. but what numbers do you think I should pay particular attention to? that way, I can ask the parts manufacturers at the time of purchase and not have to run around looking for stuff.

finding a machinist I can trust will be another problem. I live in a small upper Michigan town and there are auto parts places around that do rebuild work, but that's about it. I don't think I could in good conscience turn my fledgling Frankenstein of an Explorer over to someone who hadn't done work like that a million times before. I'm sure I'll end up pulling the motor and carting it somewhere else, since the machine work is all I plan to have someone else do. while I'm on the subject, what about porting/polishing the exhaust? or would this be fruitless because all headers are going to be designed to fit the factory openings?

Troll:
good call on the trans & rear end rebuild, I was thinking mustang T5 all the way. my rear end has been making noise for a while now and that's what made me think of replacing the axles, I don't actually know what's wrong back there. it's not like I'll be turning 400 ponies, but I don't exactly plan to take it easy on the tires when all this is finished. the reason for the shifter is that my truck is an automatic currently, and I don't want any stinking rev limiter getting in my way. is there a better way to go about this?


great stuff, guys. keep it coming

thanks-

Aaron

 

[AaronE19]

hey, one other thing (if you can believe it), what about ignition upgrades? I know the stock coil is plenty powerful for just about all combinations of bolt-on mods, but what I'm planning is something more, uh, substantial. ideas?

thanks again

Aaron