[MunchE]

I have had my new Cougar for a couple of years now. About a year ago the stockish engine in it took a dump.

The car basically has an entire engine in pieces sitting here in my house. It's been a project that neither me nor my dad have the time or the ability to take on (assembling the whole engine and swapping it) and we finally found a shop nearby that's going to do the whole shebang for ~$1000. Which is worth it to make sure the job is done right, imo. I'd rather have it done and move on to projects on the car I CAN handle myself.

Today I took an inventory of parts before I send it over, and I figure I'll share because it's fun to nerd out about this stuff:

Brand Notes
MILODON Milodon Oil Pan kit w/ windage tray, pickup
MSD MSD Ignition Control 6A
MSD MSD Street/Strip Pro Billet Dist w/ Vacuum Advance
Fel-Pro Oil Pan Gaskets
Edelbrock Intake Gaskets
Fel-Pro Exhaust Gaskets
Fel-Pro Valve Cover Gaskets
Fel-Pro R.A.C.E Set 1969 351W
Fel-Pro Head Gasket
Melling High Volume Oil Pump w/ Hardened pump shaft
Melling Oil Pump Screen
Comp Cams Ford 351W Pushrod
ARP 12 pt accessory kit
March Underdrive Pulley Kit
Edelbrock Chrome High Volume Water Pump
Prothane Urethane Motor Mounts
Crane Energizer Rocker Arms 1.6 Ratio w/ 3/8” studs
Comp Cams Magnum 280H Hydraulic Flat Tappet Cam/Lifters (.512/.512 lift 230/230 dur 110 lsa)
Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap Intake Manifold
Demon 750CFM Speed Demon – Vac Secondary – Electric Choke
Airflow Research AFR185CC heads, 58CC chambers

Short Block
351 2 Bolt Block
Hi-Nodular Cast 4.00” stroker Crank (408 ci total displacement)
5140 Forged I Beam Rods 6.200” long w/ ARP 7/16 Bolts
Total Seal Max Moly Rings
Clevite Tri-Metal Main @ Rods bearings
Probe Forged Pistons 19.3cc Dish
Externally Balanced Flexplate and Damper

I am expecting about [email protected] RPM, [email protected] RPM. 411tq @ 2500 and it only drops below 400 at 6000rpm, per the engine simulators I've run. I have looked at similar builds that have lower end parts and put out more power than I am hoping for, so I think my figures could potentially grow with good tuning. This should be perfect for my somewhat heavy car (3600-3700 lbs) with an auto on the street.

What I am still unsure about is how I am going to cool this beast. I have looked at BeCool etc. and they want a mint for their radiator/cooling setups. I was hoping to see some similar combos/setups. I was thinking the stock radiator, maybe recored with a good shroud and an electric puller fan should work, but anyone else have any suggestions/ideas?

This build has taken a ton of thought and planning and I am finally satisfied that I have a nice solid combination that will never need any major changes. I had to scrap the 800CFM double pumper I got from the swap meet when I determined it was likely too big for my needs.

Anywho, feel free to comment or advise me on this. I am going to be dropping it off in about a week to get the engine swap started.

It also occured to me that the 2.5" dual exhaust w/ x-pipe and Spintech Mufflers, Hooker Comp headers might not breath well enough for the new motor. Should this be OK or will I be choking it by not going to 3"? I'd like to reuse the old exhaust to save $$ if at all possible.

Thanks guys!

 

[Neal]

Jason,
Your 69's stock radiator should be a 24". That is about as big as you can get into that Cougar without cutting the rad support. Any Mustang 24" rad with the right cooling outlets will drop into your Cougar easily, so you have plenty of options.
I think your 2.5" exhaust will be fine, especially if it has mandrel bends. Unless you intend to drag race it the power bump by going to 3" isn't going to be worth the cost IMHO.

 

[My427stang]

Looks like a good combo, once you get it running, I'd adjust the mechanical advance curve to come it much quicker, MSD delivers with a very slow curve, but other than that I think that will make a great street car

 

[dacofa]

Personally I'd get that quote in writing. $1000 sounds like a cheap way to get you in the door then jack up the price. At $75 per hr. it doesn't take long to use up $1000. Especially if they run into problems and they will.

 

[allenman85]

Bad cam choice. Poor carb choice but ok as a starter carb. The rest looks good.

 

[My427stang]

I dont agree, that cam works great especially with a good set of heads, just a little older tech, and the carb is fine for a street carb, any more would be overkill.

 

[allenman85]

On 2006-03-17 16:38, My427stang wrote:
I dont agree, that cam works great especially with a good set of heads, just a little older tech, and the carb is fine for a street carb, any more would be overkill.

Based on actual dyno figures? Please publish.

 

[Blue Fastback]

$1000 does sound cheap. I hope Gomer Pile isnt putting this togther for that price. As far as the radiator, I would talk to your local radiator shops about rebuilding your radiator and using a high efficenct core in it. The HEC has fatter tubes and more cooling fins per inch then a standard radiator. Dont get the ones that are sold out of a magizine or a Couger catalog.. They claim the readiators are a high efficeny bought are not. Been there done that.

 

[1 Bad 88 GT]

That cam is small for a stroked Windsor and won't take advantage of the added head flow. Your 750 Demon will actually outflow that 800DP you had, so ditching it really didn't change anything. Besides an 800DP is exactly what a street 408 would want. Also what was the thought process behind the 58cc chambers and the dished pistons? Why not use a FT piston and a larger chamber? It would provide a much better quench area and combustion would take place in the chamber and not down in the piston.



Also does the $1000 include the cost of balancing the rotating assembly and the mallory metal?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 1 Bad 88 GT on 3/19/06 9:31am ]</font>

 

[My427stang]

No Allenman, based on experience in street driven vehicles, I dont drive a dyno

Although there are plenty of options with cams, any advice is useless without knowing intended RPM range and use of the vehicle, which isnt listed there, but you can sorta derive it from the pile of parts and budhet.

Quite often people get wrapped around the axle on every last HP and forget that the stuff was pretty good when it came out, and even more often "this is the best" translates to "everything else is bad" which is isnt the case. In addition, upgrading to more power almost always means more money. A low .500's lift 110 LSA cam is a pretty nice trade off on a budget, and a great way to make a nice running motor on a budget.

Its pretty well matched combo IMHO, unfortunately he wont be taking full advantage of the high-lift flow of the heads with the low .500's lift of the 280H grind, but the low-lift benefits of those heads should benefit the motor greatly. Some guys tend to forget that low lift transition and the ability to start filling the cylinder early is as important as overall flow.

The "good thing" is that the early Comp series are very easy on valve train, you cant say that about the new quick ramp designs and that cam should also pull decent vacuum for a street car.

So, no dyno, and it is a bit mild, but IMO its still a decent street setup.

***On edit, I do run that grind in a 399 inch FE motor, it wont pull hard past 5700, but it also doesnt run a modern head design like the Windsor does. It does however, and has since the 80's, pull real hard midrange. It all depends what he is running for a gear and where he want to make power


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: My427stang on 3/19/06 9:42am ]</font>

 

[MunchE]

My car is running a 3.77 gear and I am hoping to make power below 6k. With this combo I am expecting peak power at ~5500 rpm. I'm sure there are ways to carve more power out of the build but the RPMs would keep climbing, as would the cost and the wear on everything else. I don't have the $$$ to build a solid 600hp motor/trans/rear, stuff starts getting a lot more expensive when you break out past the 500hp level. A lot of guys just want the highest peak power they can get but I am hoping to get a nice flat powerband that's fun to drive at 3000 RPM too. I weighed a lot of information and opinions when I selected my cam, and I think some people will be surprised when I get some actual numbers out of the car.

Besides, if I decide I want to change out my cam later, it's not particularly expensive or difficult. Just because I'm not maxing out the 185s doesn't mean they won't give me a power gain over, say, the Edelbrocks. I'd much rather have room to grow anyways. Plus some people will say, oh a stroker? You better have AFR225s on there or you're choking it! If other people were building my engine I think it'd have cost me a good 10k more by now.

The advice on cooling and exhaust is appreciated. Planning on sticking with the 2.5" for now, but def. putting 3" with some coated super comps on my Xmas list. I'll see about upgrading the stock radiator, those aluminum guys are wayyyy pricey.

Priority now is getting it in and running and then replacing the FMX w/ a C6.