PONDERING THE LIFE OF A 4.6 2V ENGINE....

jrscobra

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As I sit and wonder about what to do with this 2004 GT Mustang Convertible, I cant decide on whether I want to search for someone to build a 2v engine for me with a few upgrades or just go with a new long block and throw on a few bolt ons ( pulleys, TB, Plenum, Gears, blah blah blah).. The car will be a weekend car for my wife, so I dont see any real need to build it too much, but then again, I wonder if cams and forged internals arent a bad idea.....

New Edge Gt's dont exactly bring big bucks, so I dont want to coyote swap it. It would be a waste of the power given my wife will be driving it. She thinks her 1.5 Ecoboost is powerful!

No matter what, I plan on starting with a new Long Block. Powertrain Products fixes the spark plug issue and keeps things proper in their reman process from what I've read. Should I have performance parts added before dropping it in? Leave it alone and throw on the bolt ons and let the wife eat dust of other vehicles?

Another factor is not putting so much into a car that you'll never get it back out of the car. With that said, this 2004 GT Mustang Convertible was purchased right! So, I can throw in a few extra bucks and make this happen without breaking the value bank.

If I go with a stock block, I'd add the Triax Shifter, Lowering springs, pulleys, TB and plenum, cold air intake, 4.10 gears, exhaust (catted due to laws) and then just appearance products. It seems that would make it a decent weekend vehicle....

What would you do with a budget of $5k roughly? The current motor is knocking and not worthy of consideration....
 

Need 04 Wine

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If you are not going to boost it, just rebuild and be done. Hard to get good power N/A..

But ya gears and suspension and better shifting are never a bad way to go.
 

Turkey_Lurker03

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Simple - used cold air intake, change/delete mufflers and used short shifter. Let the motor knock until it blows if it even does. Let wifey drive piss out of it, and save a lot of dough.

If she loves the hobby and the car, keep it for parts and get another new edge already modifed or upgrade things as they break. Makes you appreciate mods even more!


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nxhappy

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that was my first real car project. Vortech, custom front mount cooler, all the BS, she made 420 whp. for the 2V you NEED boost to make good power. Otherwise, you might as well sell it and start with a 5.0
 

2000GTSTANG

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Find a used low mileage take out from a newer Grand Marquis or Crown Vic. They are cheap and 04+ will have 8 thread heads. Gears and a short throw will be your best bet for a fun DD.
 

StrayBullitt

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Gears, Long tubes, Exhaust, Stage 2 Cams, Tune and maybe a TB/Plenum combo. Would
Be a fun car on a budget. I’m on the same boat, got a blown motor GT for cheap. Kinda want to do a 5.4 swap.


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GodStang

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Gears, Long tubes, Exhaust, Stage 2 Cams, Tune and maybe a TB/Plenum combo. Would
Be a fun car on a budget. I’m on the same boat, got a blown motor GT for cheap. Kinda want to do a 5.4 swap.


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I have a 5.4L 2V just collecting dust. I was getting ready to drop it in my 01 Mustang GT but sold the car. That is always a fun cheap build for a bit of torque.
 

jaxbusa

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First, I would double check the problem with the first motor to make sure you’re not throwing money away. Then, if the motor is bad, I would consider a junkyard motor and spend the money on suspension. If you think your wife will share the car with you I would do rods, forged pistons, increase the compression and get the heads ported. I would still use the stock cams. This way she gets a car that sounds and idles like stock but with more power. I would then get a 150 shot of nitrous to play with.


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CV355

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$5k and a mod motor? I wouldn't rebuild it. Been there, done that, HUGE waste of money unless you plan on putting down more than $450hp. I'd find a used Kenne Bell 2.1l kit, toss it on there, get a tune, and have a blast. Worst case if your current motor is a lost cause, you can pick up a used 4.6l 2v for $300 these days.

Those mod motors just don't make squat for power N/A, so as others pointed out you'd wind up with a slow but built motor.
 

StrayBullitt

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I have a 5.4L 2V just collecting dust. I was getting ready to drop it in my 01 Mustang GT but sold the car. That is always a fun cheap build for a bit of torque.

Damn I'd offer to take it off your hands if you weren't clear across the country.

So What were your plans for it. . ?


Those mod motors just don't make squat for power N/A, so as others pointed out you'd wind up with a slow but built motor.

They certainly don't make Coyote numbers, but you can still make decent steam for what the car is. Take 2-300 lbs off the car, get it 300 rwhp, you can still have fun with it for not a lot of $ imo.

My buddy made 299 rwhp on Trick flow stage 1 cams + bolt ons on a PI swapped car, gutted it out ect. I thought that car ripped for what it was and sounded killer.
 

CV355

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They certainly don't make Coyote numbers, but you can still make decent steam for what the car is. Take 2-300 lbs off the car, get it 300 rwhp, you can still have fun with it for not a lot of $ imo.

My buddy made 299 rwhp on Trick flow stage 1 cams + bolt ons on a PI swapped car, gutted it out ect. I thought that car ripped for what it was and sounded killer.

Sn95s are far lighter than the S197 and S550 platforms, so that certainly helps. Believe me, I had an absolute BLAST with my stock 4.6l 2v with the KB 2.1 IC kit @ 9psi, 4.10's and a full exhaust. I did some major weight reduction on the car too and it was a rocket. But like with most things, money only goes so far before you hit a point of diminishing returns. Had I just done a built 4.6l with the TFS heads, better brakes, and left the car alone, I'd still have it to this day. It was that good of a car.

I know several people that spent a lot of money making a high-hp N/A mod motor, and as impressive as they were, it just wasn't cost effective.

But yeah, I definitely don't want anyone thinking I'm knocking SN95s. I miss the hell out of mine.
 

GodStang

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Damn I'd offer to take it off your hands if you weren't clear across the country.

So What were your plans for it. . ?




They certainly don't make Coyote numbers, but you can still make decent steam for what the car is. Take 2-300 lbs off the car, get it 300 rwhp, you can still have fun with it for not a lot of $ imo.

My buddy made 299 rwhp on Trick flow stage 1 cams + bolt ons on a PI swapped car, gutted it out ect. I thought that car ripped for what it was and sounded killer.


The plans were to home port and polish heads, ported intake, cams, and then the normal other bolt ons then add an On3.
 

IronSnake

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It's funny, I'm going through that right now. Couple things to touch on:

1) Body style/Chassis wise, if the car is very clean and well kept, hang on to it for a few more years. The amount of 99-04 GT/Cobra/Mach/Bullitt cars are definitely going down. They're getting butchered, worn slap out, or junked. I don't see very many 99-04 cars let alone V8 cars nowadays. So while they may seem prolific, they definitely aren't. And a well kept one in a market like that will only rise in value as nostalgia for the generation that was of age gets older and seeks them out (A La Foxbody). Foxes aren't exactly peak performance like the 99-04 cars, but people are driven to them for many many other reasons.

For me, it was the nostalgia, size, sound, and style of the car. It was more me than an 11+ car.

2) I've always said the 2v, despite being anemic, is one of the best work horse motors (read: not performance) Ford ever put out. Considering how many vehicles it ended up in, and how many are still out there pushing 10+ year vehicles around the road at 200K+ miles, they're pretty durable. I had a 99 F150 with 360k miles on the original PI motor. Ran really strong too, didn't use oil, and overall won me over when I was anti-2v/modular.

Performance wise, sans boost is a bad idea. You can run well with cams, longtubes, and other stuff. It'll surprise a lot of people. But it won't be fast or have that gut punch 400+ hp has.

It all depends on your goals. If you want relevant fast (read: very fast), you're in the wrong engine dept. If you want fun fast, throw a blower on a late model 2v w/ 8 thread heads and leave it be.

Good luck
 

jrscobra

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Well, I guess Im going to stick to the 4.6 2v. Add the pulleys, CAI, gears, lowering springs, and we'll let my wife look fast. I see no reason to pump up a car that she's going to drive on sunny days for fun. She wont race it. It'll sound good, be fun from light to light and be dependable. Thanks for the input. I'll save the go fast stuff for my next vehicle.
 

RedVenom48

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Long block a PI 4.6 2V if/when the current engine lets go, find some cams with a little chop and headers for a mean sound and call it good.

Agree, next major money dump should be saved for a better performance platform.
 

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