Posts: 1719
Joined: 1/8/2005 From: Port Monmouth, New Jersey Status: offline
Word for the Wise. If you bulid your motor. Spend some extra money and get some REALLY good exhaust gaskets and header bolts. It is such a pain in the ass if one blows out. Don't use the ford racing ones where it two for each bank. They sucked big ones.
_____________________________
01 PI Motor- VT stage 1 cams, Accufab Plenum and Throttle body, Spec Stage 1, BBK Shortie Headers, Bassani Catted X pipe Borla Side Exit Exhaust, Spintech Subframes, Steeda Underdrive pullies, Ford Racing 4.10s, MGW Blue STS, 292 hp 316 torque
I have to disagree. I amusing the ford racing gaskets and they are great. I was using the studs and they worked great. I got bored and pulled the studs and switched to bolts and they still work great.
no shop would ever do it like that. i've read many articles on this as well as personal exp. and you dont just drop a cam on the lash adjusters and let the bolts compress the valve springs. maybe it works that way for you but it can be misleading
No shops huh? You must not have very much experience with these mod motors. I have built 6 in the last 2 years that all made over 500rwhp. This one was my personal one. If I didn't feel it was safe to do I wouldn't have done it to the other engines I built for people and I deff wouldn't have done it with my engine. I don't think it was misleading at all. It is a very acceptable way to install cams espeacially for the do it yourselfer at home that doesnt want to pay $80 for a special tool to compress the springs to get the followers in.
sorry oxford! im man enough to admit it when im wrong. it just seemed to easy to score a cam journal or crack the girdle. that article convinced me as well. it took so damn long using that pos tool anyway. thanks for proving me wrong....really!
this is a great how-to. i know some first-timers out there may be a bit overwhelmed by the thought of building your own engine, but it really ISN'T that hard. the most important thing is taking your time and making sure you do everything right. double and triple check your work, cause you'd hate to get the engine in the car and realize you forgot to torque something down right. here's my suggestion for someone who doesn't have experience building engines... go to a junk yard and find an old chevy or ford with a V8 engine and take the motor home with you. take it apart, put it back together, just see how everything goes together. of course the pushrod engines and modular engines are a bit different (overhead cams vs in-block cam with lifters, pushrods, and rocker arms), but the principles of engine building are still the same, and it's better to make a mistake on a junkyard engine than on your Mustang's engine. once you've torn down and rebuilt an older pushrod engine, building a modular engine will be a lot easier. my least-favorite part of building an engine has always been installing the cam... you have to be careful not to knick up the cam bearings and cam lobes too bad, cause an unsteady hand can do some damage when you're working that thing in there. but the modular engines with the overhead cam are a breeze. if you're still hesitant, there are some good books out there that you can buy that have more detailed pictures.
Honestly I just did it myself but with the motor still in the car. Oxfordgt helped me out the whole way. It''s really not hard if you have some what of a mechanical knowlege. The easiest thing I can say was putting the heads on the block. The hardest was the valve covers since there is no room with the motor in the car.
no kidding i had to pull the valve covers on my cobra and i had to disconnect the A/C hose just to get the PS one off and back on
_____________________________
1996 Mustang Cobra|Its on Pimp My Ride| we'll see what they do with it.|
i want to do a pi swap on my 98 and i was wondering are those little holes on the cam gears are those the ''''timing marks'''' because im pretty confident tht with a haynes manual i can do the swap myself but i am just worryed about messing up the timing
Printable Version
RE: HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN ENGINE 56K beware - 
