Camdcad

So i've had my 04 V for ~6 months now. Car has been an absolute blast to own, and faster then any of the mustangs i've built. As of right now, she's got long tube headers, high flow cats, and a corsa exhaust. Sounds bloody amazing.

But other then that she's pretty well stock. I'm fixing to order the hurst short shifter (made for the camaro, but i've read it can be installed, still deciding whether to go with it or the Katech.

My next step is option one, build the engine. Option 2 is boost the engine.

Option one is my prefered choice, because this car had a maggy on it before i bought it, and that engine blew, so it was replaced with a low mileage vette engine. Who knows what that means.

My plan is a 382 stroker, tea or ai heads (has 243 castings now, will see about shipping them out and having them done), nice cam (will be a blower cam, so it wont be optimum for high hp n/a, fast 102 intake/tb, those kinds of options. Then over the next year i'll buy procharger pieces to build a d1 kit. Have also been considering a single turbo as well though, so im not sure.

Option 2, buy a d1 and begin fabbing it up, run the engine as is and hope it holds out another year or so then build the engine. Or fab up a turbo kit for her now.

Im figuring either ways going to cost 5,000+. My last built car was a 2001 Mustang GT that i built a stroked 4.6 in to, built it for boost, then never boosted it because i ended up having a couple kids. Sold it off long ago, now its time to build another fun toy.

Rear end will grenade im sure, even though when i bought it they said it had the "upgraded rear" but not sure how to tell if thats accurate or not. I know its got the Hotchkis sway bars on it. But i've already got my eyes on an 8.8 irs rear that i can snag up cheap (thats the nice thing about having ford buddies!! they're all running the 8.8s and know where a good deals at!)

Input??

serik21

Im myself going with option 2. And I can tell you its closer to 6k. But I should have the final numbers in about 2 months.

Camdcad

Are you going D1SC? or what kind of F/I are you slapping on yours?

serik21

D1sc. Corvette bracket. Reverse rotation

MN_V

iTrader: (5)

Outright power doesn't necessarily destroy the diffs it's abuse and wheelhop from what I have seen. Both of the twin turbo guys in 800hp range ran the stock diff for thousands of miles, although yes I think they both upgraded eventually.

If you have the money for it I would go boost. I don't think anyone ever regrets boosting unless they blow the engine. So just be conservative until it's built for more ;-)

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

Id do an 8.8 for starters and then heres where you have to make up your mind. You can recoupe a couple grand reselling the motor thats in it and put that towards a forged bottom end. After that you can start prepping the car with the supporting mods its gonna need for boost like a good clutch, fuel system, good mounts throughout.

Camdcad

clutch/drive train will all be built while motor is out being built. I realize i can sell my stock ls6 to recoupe some of the cost of building, but my plan is to build the motor thats in the car.

Parking the car for a while wont be a problem, i live 5 houses away from my business.

is anyone still currently putting out a 2.9L whipple kit for our car? or can i look for one for a vette/f-body/goat?

my buddies 03 cobra has a 2.3 whipple and i absolutely love that car. I didnt realize it was even an option for my car or the procharger wouldnt have been originally considered.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

I think its actually more cost efficient to buy a shortblock already done. Some sponsors on this site offer some killer deals on really nice engines. Just my .02.

As far as a whipple there arent any that I know of still offereing a bolt on kit. I know some are attempting to make the eforce tvs 2300 kit however. A nice bottom end and that would be a great combo for a street car.

Camdcad

Really, thats interesting to hear that its more efficient to go that route. But i guess when you figure in that you can then sell your short block off to recoupe some of that money i could understand it.

I'll go start looking into built short blocks, and preference as to where to look? (im going to go search right now, so dont feel obligated to link anything unless you feel like it )

Im still wet behind the ears when it comes to LS builds, have had my fair share of ford builds though. I will be placing my orders starting jan 1 and hope to have it done by march 1 ish.

punishmentcycle

iTrader: (6)

383 rotating assy's go for about 2 grand.. machining about 7-800..and your free labor is the route id go. i feel more accomplished by building my motors rather than buy them but thats just me.

your current motor is prolly fine so boosting now wont be a problem unless you like to push the limits... all about how long you can bare to have the car down that would be the deciding factor

Camdcad

After reading and reading and reading i think i've decided that i'm going to go ahead and order Heads/Cam/Intake now, and see how she reacts at that point. Then look at ordering a forged 383 block later down the road.

I'm shooting for ~440-460 rwhp while still at 347 ci, then shooting for 500-525 rwhp when stroked.

Right now im leaning towards the AFR 230's with 62CC chamber, with a fast 102 intake/tb, and a tick cam. Obviously i'll have to run some sort of rocker, whether they're the ls7's or yellterra, or comp, im still reading. I'll also be replacing oil pump, push rods, timing chain, ect.