It's time for an engine rebuild

[adamal87]

Dam you guys! All this talk about boring out the old tank that needs work anyway, has me thinking. Got my 2000 expy held hostige in the shop wheighing out the options of buying a rebuilt head, new head, or slightly upgraded performance head that can handle the future mods I have in mind. Machine shop said my core is no good so there goes the idea of trying to save the origional. The estemate is already just over 3grand. Would love to hear some ideas for this situation, I know you guys got them.

 

[dj_mindframe_99]

well with cash for clunkers it took away many of the good 5.4 motors. However, many rebuild-able blocks still exist. your easiest option is to just get another 5.4 and then decide where you want to spend your money, you can get flat top pistons and up the compression ratio closer to 10.1, you can have the block bored over .020 -.030, you can also have "hotter" cams installed. (that is to say camshafts that have a longer duration keeping the intake valve open, a deepening in the opening of the exhaust valve, AND the over-lapping of the two valves open/close cycle so that as the exhaust is being sucked out, the intake valve is just opening so it creates a vacuum that helps to suck in the fuel little better-stronger-faster.) more fuel/air in + more exhaust out = more power.

you could also have bench work done. that means opening up the heads' intake and exhust ports, smoothing the intake runners, the air passages, and widening the oil return and top end delivery holes, more lubrication means less friction, means more power.

There's also superchargers to consider....and nitrous for that matter. (wet or dry shots)
dry shot kits are fairly inexpensive, fairly easy to install and do deliver a fair bit of push button performance. but not as compared to 8-11 lbs of boost you can get from a super-charger. plus that sound.......mmmmmmm

My advice is to steer clear of a v-10 swap as the only stories I've personally heard are that on the less green side of the fence. I didn't really ask any further ""whys" after that.

now depending on how you spend your money and how much of the work your do yourself, you can easily get one of these 5.4's to pump out 400hp no sweat. I would bet with a light bore (.020) mild cam upgrade, cold air intake, gotts mod, exhaust, tuner, and E-fans would probably put you close to 400hp at the flywheel. not to shabby.

but the choices these days are truly infinite, if you REALLY wanted to put money into it..buy a Saleen S7 supercar engine, but I doubt that would be practical in an Expy. but sure fun.

so sit back get some ideas and run with them, the best ideas are the silliest.

 

[jacks3am]

Naturally aspirated 400hp is not going to be very cost effective, your best bet with these ford v8's is to throw a supercharger on it.

 

[rburch]

Naturally aspirated 400hp is not going to be very cost effective, your best bet with these ford v8's is to throw a supercharger on it.

+1! These tritons arent known for NA power! Ill put it this way, its not an LS! The weak link is the connecting rods!

Best advice i can give you is to pick Toms brain!

 

[dj_mindframe_99]

well it has been a few months but I finally have the $6,000 I need to put into this rebuild.
I am going with a shop local to town, I've had a few conversations with the owner, and seen his shop/equipment. I am confident he can perform the job.

So here's the plan, If the block is scrap...get a donor.

take the block, line hone and bore it, check it, make it right, the usual. nothing special.
same to be said for crank and caps. crank will be balanced, caps checked, replaced if needed.
Now when goes to bore the cylinders, he's going to use a deck plate. that will allow him to recreate the "out-of-line" that happens when the head in torqued down, and he was all very technical about the whole thing, but basically it's just the better way to go about boring a cylinder these days.
pistons will likely stay as stock, unless he can find a set for the same price that adds better compression. (which is a million to one shot I guess.) time to start surfing craigslist.
he will also take the heads and grind some of the air passages to be a little smoother flowing and less restrictive....nothing super just making stock...better. taking away burrs, hard angle turns, things like that. I don't think it will go as far as port matching or anything.
he also has a machine that will cut the valve seats to a tighter tolerance than traditional grinding wheels. he explained it to me like this;
there's two angles on each valve seat, when using the grinding wheels like it's been done forever before, it's not terribly perfect and no two are ever the same. but with this machine he described as being super great and equally expensive. it makes them all the same, and perfect every time. which I guess is good. (His main focus is cylinder heads.)
I have decided to go with Comp Cams 102100 cam, it is the most mild upgrade that can be made, which is perfect for me and where I'm going with the truck, Stock..but better.
he also suggested we change the valve springs while we're at it. It helps gets the most out of the cam upgrade, and it's a "might as well" since we're in there.
I will also talk to him about putting threads in the spark plug holes so I never have to worry about blow-out.

other than that, no special changes are being made.
I'll have E-3 plugs changed in, have the engine filled with synthetic oil, and get my electric fans put on.

I welcome any comments, questions, or suggestions. as this will be the only time I have the engine open, now's the time to make changes.

 

[squidnut]

DJ, here we are a couple months down the way. I assume it is done now. How is the motor work performing? I am looking at doing a mod to my 97 EB 5.4 if the motor says the hell with it and your info looks like what I would want. Will do all the work except machining myself to save some bucks. I do however like to learn what works and what doesnt as opposed to putting it all together to find I have to take it all back apart. Thanks for the info before it sounds great.

 

[dj_mindframe_99]

not done yet.

I have no time constraints with this truck. my machinist was made aware the rule is if someone comes in with cash in hand with a rush job that he takes that money and puts it right in his pocket.

as such with the holidays right around the corner, I am still waiting for the call on the finished heads, rotating assembly, and painted parts. Then I'll be able to snap some more pictures for you guys and give a nice update after I talk to Greg, the person rebuilding my engine.

And welcome to the forum.

 

[dj_mindframe_99]

hi guys, we are narrowing down to completion....but at what speed?

I know that my rotating assembly has come back from being balanced and is installed into the block. I also know that over the last two weeks my heads have been getting their necessary attention. once he's finished I will be back with some pictures. But this was a "no rush" build from the start. And I sure hope my patience will be rewarded.

and remember once the engine rebuild is completed it still has to go to the garage to get re-installed, and I have those other items I'm fixing I told everyone about earlier, the starter, the firewall mounted solenoid, the electric fans etc etc. Give me another few months and hopefully I can unleash this monster on the world...or least a few yards.

 

[1997SCEBFEX]

Thanks for sharing on your rebuild/power.

Mine too was a "no rush & take your time", but since I didn't have an extra vehicle, the 2 weeks @ a time for the rental cars got to be old.

43 days from start to finish @ $2995 plus accessories ($3992 total) + a three-year original owner warranty.

Still chugging along as my DD

 

[hwy73]

Post pictures of where the "upgraded pushrods" mentioned in post #6 got installed.