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Help with a 92 GT N/A build!

Foxtrot92

New Member
Hi guys, I'm new here but in my time of snooping around the forum I see a lot of decent people on here. So maybe everyone could give me some help.

For some background I'm an amateur mechanic (about 2 years professionally- I'm 20 years old). I've been a car fanatic since before I can remember. And Mustang runs deep in my bloodline. So naturally as soon as it was possible I scooped up a 92 GT :)

The one area of knowledge I'm lacking in is high performance. And of course it's also the area I wish to become a guru in lol. I will honestly and openly admit I don't know much about lift, duration, what goes best with what and so on and so forth. But I will be building this baby myself in my garage.

My grandfather owns a machine shop so once I get the block pulled the plan is to bore to 347. 3.73 gears and LSD are already installed and I wish to keep them, as I plan to have this as a beasty street car/show car. After being punched out I'm really not sure where to go. I picked up a Trick Flow "Track Heat" intake and plenum and 3/8 spacers along with a 75mm throttle body. I plan to simply run a CAI with a chip and 75 shot.

I guess the next question is, where do I get pistons and rings? Which ones do I get? What heads? What cam? (Would really prefer a big cam for a lobey sound). What rocker arm setup?

I've done a lot of research and looked at a lot of different setups and combinations of top end stuff but I just honestly have no idea what's going to provide me with the best results without killing me. (Bankrupt is fine. But I atleast want to survive when the old lady sees how broke I am (;

Thanks so much to anyone and everyone who's willing to lend some knowledge to a young guy trying to get into the game. I look forward to hearing what anyone has to offer :)
 

mustanggarage

Active Member
first of all a few things. I am an amateur as well, but I have built a few engines over the years. the first thing is if you are planning a stroker build, you can bore the engine to .030 but then you need a stroker kit, new crankshaft and rods because your cid is made more by increasing the stroke than increasing the bore. I am sure you know that already. I am a big fan of scat strokers, but there are other kits out there. I recommend you look at either chp or fordstrokers.com to look at stroker kits. I would recommend forged pistons and rods. forged crank is not necessary on a stock block. as far as heads I am a big fan of AFR 185 heads with the upgraded spring package. but trick flow also makes a nice head. the next question you need to determine is what compression ratio you are looking for. 9.5:1 is a decent cr for pump gas. if you want to use forced induction you will want lower compression. if you intend to stay naturally aspirated a bit higher compression and 91 octane fuel will give you more power. I am not real versed on nitrous applications so I can't help you there. once you have pretty much all the components selected for your engine go to comp cams website. Give them all the information you can including elevation where you live, and the plans for the vehicle, street strip, all out race etc. they can help you select a cam. or you can look into a custom cam. I got my custom cam through ford strokers.

hope that helps a bit. if you have any other questions I can answer I will do my best. you might want to look at my build thread as I went through a lot of this in my build.
 

Blown347

Moderator
Staff member
Yes for your rotating assembly save the headache and buy a complete kit. As mentioned I am partial to both CHP and fordstrokers as well.

For a cam, contact Ed curtis at flowtech induction. He will build you a custom cam with your goals in mind for just a little more then an off the shelf piece. Well worth the money. As far as heads, any of the big names will do what you want. A 185cc or bigger and take your pick. I am partial to edelbrock but trick flow and AFR both make great pieces. AFRs new designs like their 205cc head are great. Just decide on what heads you want to run before you order your cam. (Should be the last piece you order.) obviously a 205cc AFR or a 210 edelbrock Victor jr will give you a bit more power then a renegade 185 but your street motor isn't going to outflow any 185 head, and you will get more low end torque with smaller intake runners, which is more fun in a street motor.

I love eagle forged rods and cranks, they are on the pricey side for stroker kits but for longevity's sake it's good insurance that your motor will last a long long time. Give CHP or fordstrokers a call and they will hook you up with the ride assembly for your needs.


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Blown347

Moderator
Staff member
One other note, most aftermarket Pistons will need to be fly cut if you decide to run trick flow twisted wedge heads. The AFRs, edelbrock and high ports won't need it so keep that in mind in your head selection


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Foxtrot92

New Member
and I am definitely looking to stay N/A and run pump gas so the higher compression ration will be my route. looking at the fordstrokers kits, if I'm not mistaken, they do not come with rings. bummer ):
 

mustanggarage

Active Member
I bought a complete unassembled long block from them it came with wiseco pistons and rings. also If you have not built a lot of engines ford strokers has a website that has a lot of videos that show a lot of information and tips for building engines. it is a pay site. but I think if you buy your stroker kit from them they will authorize a one year membership for you. they did for me.
 

Foxtrot92

New Member
ok great. now with the kit, I have the option of flat and dished pistons. are there pros/cons to the dish option with my setup? and on a side note I do plan to go with the ARP rod bolts and the forged crank
 

Blown347

Moderator
Staff member
Dished pistons are made to lower your compression ratio for boost applications. Go with flat tops


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mustanggarage

Active Member
You need to determine what compression ratio you are wanting, then you use the proper piston, either domed, dished or flat in relation to the combustion chamber of the head you choose. either 58,61, 64, 68 or whatever to get that ratio. if you go to chp's website and look at their stroker shortblocks they have a graph that tells you what your compression will be. Here is the one for a flat top 347 kit. obviously different kits with different rod lengths etc. will vary so you need to look at the kit you are getting.


Part Number Cylinder Head Volume
58.0cc 61.0cc 64.0cc 68.0cc
P3471F-030 10.67 10.29 9.93 9.50


so with a flat top (-4cc) piston in their 347 kit you have a 10.67:1 compression ratio with a 58 cc head, 10.29:1 with a 61 cc head, etc. they also have graphs for domed and dished pistons.


http://www.coasthigh.com/Ford-347-short-blocks-s/1263.htm


basically you need to determine your needs and what type fuel you want. and any future expansion. I chose a dished piston which gave me about a 9.3:1 compression ratio. this will allow me to run 87 octane fuel with no detonation and if I choose to supercharge it later I will still be safe. if you run higher than about 10.5:1 you have to be careful with your timing and I would recommend 91 octane fuel. but a higher compression will give you more horsepower. the difference is not huge but it is there.


Also as I said above the forged crank is nice but is really an unnecessary expense with a stock block because the stock block will fail before a standard crank will. having said that their is certainly nothing wrong with a forged crank and I never think buying the best parts you can afford is a bad idea, but you could spend that money somewhere else if you chose too, and still be safe, again I am no expert but that is what I learned when I researched my build. JMO
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Foxtrot92

New Member
okay so I'm looking at bare vic jr. heads on top of the fordstrokers kit. the vic jr. heads are 61cc so I'll run flat top pistons and 91 octane (no plans for forced induction, only nitrous). And I've decided on the bare heads so that I have my option on the valvetrain setup with a custom grind cam. Does all of this sound pretty good so far? I'm feeling much more confident with the build thanks to you guys. Thanks again
 

mustanggarage

Active Member
with the 347 you also have to notch the cylinder skirts and clearance the block in a couple places to clear the rod ends. I have not done that part. that's why I bought the block pre-machined. I am sure your grandfather will know all about that.
 

Foxtrot92

New Member
So my aftermarket 347 rotating assembly should work with the stock T5 tranny with no problems correct? I won't have to use a modified flywheel? I already have a stage 2 clutch and lightweight flywheel
 

mustanggarage

Active Member
actually stroker kits are almost always sold with a 28 oz imbalance. you can get them neutrally balanced, however stock 5.0 engines are all 50 oz imbalance. so you will need a flywheel and a harmonic balancer. unless you can get your flywheel rebalanced. I just bought the right ones from ford strokers and had them balance everything so I knew it would all work,
 

Blown347

Moderator
Staff member
So my aftermarket 347 rotating assembly should work with the stock T5 tranny with no problems correct? I won't have to use a modified flywheel? I already have a stage 2 clutch and lightweight flywheel
As stated above you will need a new flywheel and balancer. It will bolt to the Trans but you better start saving because the t-5 will almost definitely give under the new found torque eventually. Obviously driving habits will dictate how long it lasts. I'd recommend an astro performance a-5 gear set when it does. Awesome parts and it will be bulletproof after that.


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