Build Thread

[stradt03]

a STONG word of advise!

If you do not do this you will regret it....

get arp 2000 head studs and make damn sure you torque to 100+ ft lbs.

also I would get the main caps machined for a dowel.

my car made the main caps walk and damaged the block. also the heads leaked coolant into the cylinders and caused detonation!

here are some pics of a very expensive loss..

So I've done a bunch of digging and reading and research on the whole cap walking phenomenon and I have a few questions, hopefully someone can address them.

1) I've looked at both 03/04 Cobra blocks and 5.4 Iron shortblocks and they all appear to be 2 bolt mains. Why is it that engines built utilizing these blocks have survived 1000rwhp builds with big boost and rarely have cap walk issues?

2) Those that have had the cap walk issues, did you have any detonation that could have led to the walk? I could definitely see how detonation in a high-revving, high-horsepower engine could beat up the bearings resulting in cap walk.

3) How is it that companies like MMR that offer Boss based stroker short blocks (5.3L) report no issues with cap walk or sealing issues? What are they doing that others are not? Maybe Mark from MMR can step in and address this one.

 

[Nightmare302]

So I've done a bunch of digging and reading and research on the whole cap walking phenomenon and I have a few questions, hopefully someone can address them.

1) I've looked at both 03/04 Cobra blocks and 5.4 Iron shortblocks and they all appear to be 2 bolt mains. Why is it that engines built utilizing these blocks have survived 1000rwhp builds with big boost and rarely have cap walk issues?

2) Those that have had the cap walk issues, did you have any detonation that could have led to the walk? I could definitely see how detonation in a high-revving, high-horsepower engine could beat up the bearings resulting in cap walk.

3) How is it that companies like MMR that offer Boss based stroker short blocks (5.3L) report no issues with cap walk or sealing issues? What are they doing that others are not? Maybe Mark from MMR can step in and address this one.

Like I previously said a huge issue is coolant leaking out of the poor sealing head and causing detonation, the detonation the causes the really bad walk. With that being said, all 2 bolt mains will have SOME type of cap walk when you get up to that 1000+rwhp mark. Most boss blocks are never subjected to the level of power you are wanting to make, thus why you don't see as many failures. Livernois suggested to go to a sleeved teksid when I spoke to them about making over 1krwhp for the cap walk reason. My opinion is, just keep a tune that sticks it at like 700-800rwhp for just driving around. Keep your big boy tune for when you know you plan to go out and lay the smack down. Just keep the heads torqued down, and keep from beating on it non stop at high RPMs and I don't think you will have much of an issue.

 

[xsellr8]

Beautiful car. Clean build. Lots of great parts!

 

[stradt03]

Won't be many updates for the next month or so. Wifey and I are heading to Greece for a few weeks to celebrate our 5th Anniversary :-D

 

[Givens]

Looks good, should be a monster when your done

 

[stradt03]

Still waiting on the engine so I decided to POR-15 and undercoat the underneath of the car and grind out some surface rust on the radiator support. The rust wasn't too bad for a 15 year old car that lived in Michigan for 8 years.

Also started working on the fuel system.

 

[BoostedByV]

sick build !!!

 

[WMD]

Way to go!

 

[stradt03]

Way to go!

Only following your lead!!

My custom built alternator and wiring upgrade showed up today. It looks fantastic!

Also got my intake piping powdercoated and test fitted.

 

[svt4me38]

Looking great!

 

[stradt03]

Got some good news today, the engine should be finished tomorrow :-D

 

[stradt03]

Stage 3 port and polish on the heads, upgraded springs and retainers.

I'll be picking the engine up next weekend and hopefully putting it in soon after.

 

[WMD]

OOOOOO
Cant wait to see how it turns out!

 

[stradt03]

Had some issues with a secondary tensioner but it should be buttoned up tomorrow. I'll be picking it up on Friday.

 

[stradt03]

 

[killspray]

Winning

 

[stradt03]

My harness was a bit beat up and looking worn so I picked up a brand new Mach 1 harness and put that in this morning. Unfortunately, the shop gave me lower intake gaskets for 99-04 Trickflow heads so I'm dead in the water for a few days while I wait on the right gaskets to show up.

I'm putting in a return style fuel system with new dedicated feed and return lines. Can I remove these two hoses? (The one in my hand (fuel feed line) and the one between my pinky and ring finger.

 

[WMD]

The feed line can go.
Other line looks like the line for the charcoal canister ( the line that always makes you hands black). It can go too, but make sure your tuner knows you have no more charcoal evap. the tune will have to be adjusted for it.
Looks like you have an MMR oil pan. Keep a good eye on speed bumps, those oil pans hang REAL LOW.
Love the car and your attention to detail.

 

[stradt03]

The feed line can go.
Other line looks like the line for the charcoal canister ( the line that always makes you hands black). It can go too, but make sure your tuner knows you have no more charcoal evap. the tune will have to be adjusted for it.
Looks like you have an MMR oil pan. Keep a good eye on speed bumps, those oil pans hang REAL LOW.
Love the car and your attention to detail.

LOL I know exactly what line you are talking about! I hate getting anywhere near that line. It is an MMR pan but it actually sits level with the MM K member.

 

[Max97COBRAtkd]

Awesome build man!!! Fastlane has always taken care of me and Caleb did an amazing job tuning my single turbo cobra.

As for that MMR oil pan, I have one too... it is currently leaking from the rear. I'm going to have to drop the k member a bit to get it sealed, guess I'm going to have to use a lot more RTV this time :fm: