How risky to buy a whipple’d 350 - preowned?

[biminiLX]

Yes, NA tuned E85 will be around 500rwhp.
I’ve driven one NA and even driving it HARD on track you can tell on the street with a sticky tire 750rwhp area would be the sweet spot.
Never had I driven a stock tired Mustang and have traction be a non issue.
I love my built 2014, but to me, the perfect street car would be a boosted GT350 around 800rwhp. Can’t beat the Recaros, IRS, comfort, tech, 8250rpm, etc
-J

 

[07 Black Beauty]

I would love to boost my R but not until I'm ready to build the motor or at least upgrade the oil pump gears and a few other items

 

[biminiLX]

I would love to boost my R but not until I'm ready to build the motor or at least upgrade the oil pump gears and a few other items

Why do you say that?
They don’t need a ton of boost and are proving pretty darn reliable at the 750-800rwhp range.
If you’re worried about the crank or OPGs, why not go Hellion TT?
-J

 

[07 Black Beauty]

Why do you say that?
They don’t need a ton of boost and are proving pretty darn reliable at the 750-800rwhp range.
If you’re worried about the crank or OPGs, why not go Hellion TT?
-J

Funny you mention the hellion kit, I was just looking @ Palm Beach Dynos package for the hellion kit.

 

[biminiLX]

Funny you mention the hellion kit, I was just looking @ Palm Beach Dynos package for the hellion kit.

It’s an attractive deal from a proven pair of shops that actually has experience with this platform.
I haven’t looked at pricing, but I’m pretty sure I’d go with a Hellion sleeper kit on E85 and not touch anything else.
-J

 

[07 Black Beauty]

It’s an attractive deal from a proven pair of shops that actually has experience with this platform.
I haven’t looked at pricing, but I’m pretty sure I’d go with a Hellion sleeper kit on E85 and not touch anything else.
-J

The sleeper kit starts @ $7k, which pretty comparable to the Whipple kit.

 

[HiTechRedneck]

From experience...
First comes the blower, then boost addiction starts, then come the pulleys and more boost and on and on. Next you need chasis work and drag radials!
Then an "inspection hole" ventilates the block.
Next comes $$$$$
Ill be happy with long tubes, x pipe, cold air and a good dyno tune!

 

[biminiLX]

From experience...
First comes the blower, then boost addiction starts, then come the pulleys and more boost and on and on. Next you need chasis work and drag radials!
Then an "inspection hole" ventilates the block.
Next comes $$$$$
Ill be happy with long tubes, x pipe, cold air and a good dyno tune!

While this is true, it’s better to set goals for the specific car and try and keep the build on the rails.
The GT350 isn’t the best starting point for a drag build but damn can they make huge power with boost!
-J

 

[ANGREY]

Not sure why these myths still persist. Literally hundreds of blown GT350's out there now both on pump and E making great power with same reliability as the Gen3 coyote (which also has 12:1 compression).

The clutch is the first liability so if you're gonna be concerned about anything, it's the clutch. The OPG's were always a liability (especially if you're anyone who likes to bounce off the limiter) with or without a blower.

The trans is solid as long as you don't go with any sort of wheel/tire changes, you won't be able to get enough traction and unless you just totally abuse it (like drop the clutch from the top rope all the time) you'll generally spin so often and so much the trans will hold up just fine. Swap the rear brakes and some bigger profile tires that grip and flex and now it's another story.

Like all modern Fords, the cylinder coatings are paper thin (literally) so I highly recommend NOT treating your 350 like a daily grocery getter (blown or otherwise). Let the motor warm completely before driving as the pistons need time to warm and expand so they're not bouncing around inside the cylinders like a bowling ball at elevated rpm and piston speeds.

If you're going to go more than moderate boost, I highly recommend changing the valve springs (at least the intakes) and upgrading/refreshing the valve seals.

 

[Klaus]

You guys are going to end up costing me a significant chunk of cash. I am now looking at Hellion sleeper kits.

 

[MG0h3]

You guys are going to end up costing me a significant chunk of cash. I am now looking at Hellion sleeper kits.

Turbo Hellcat? Or for the 500?


“You’re full of $#!+”
Joe Biden

svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[Klaus]

Turbo Hellcat? Or for the 500?


“You’re full of $#!+”
Joe Biden

svtperformance.com mobile app

looking at gt350s now.

 

[PhoenixM3]

looking at gt350s now.

Do it!

 

[biminiLX]

Do it!

Contemplating boosted R?
-J

 

[PhoenixM3]

Contemplating boosted R?
-J

No. Gears and driver mod first.

 

[HiTechRedneck]

While this is true, it’s better to set goals for the specific car and try and keep the build on the rails.
The GT350 isn’t the best starting point for a drag build but damn can they make huge power with boost!
-J

I have to agree that this is really not a straight line vehicle! I really can't imagine adding a blower on a motor with this high compression! It will have to severely limit the amount of boost that you could run safely. Having built fuel funny car motors in the 60's (YES I AM OLD!) we would only run about 8 to 1 compression. When I built my F150 Harley truck I knew a lot of guys with HD's and Lightnings that grenaded motors because they went overboard on boost. You really have to consider a multitude of things on a blower motor! Compression, pistons and rings, valve springs, crankshaft, mains etc. to do it right. In other words, pull the motor and prepare to drop some serious cash if you want it to live! Oh, and then there is the drive train!!!

 

[biminiLX]

Very understandable to have concern boosting a 12:1 motor, however, with new technology, TiVCT, modern EFI and fuels like E85, the 12:1 motors make a ton of power on lower 9-10# boost pressure.
12:1 and 10# is like 8:1 on 20# and many have been doing well thankfully.
-J

 

[ANGREY]

I have to agree that this is really not a straight line vehicle! I really can't imagine adding a blower on a motor with this high compression! It will have to severely limit the amount of boost that you could run safely. Having built fuel funny car motors in the 60's (YES I AM OLD!) we would only run about 8 to 1 compression. When I built my F150 Harley truck I knew a lot of guys with HD's and Lightnings that grenaded motors because they went overboard on boost. You really have to consider a multitude of things on a blower motor! Compression, pistons and rings, valve springs, crankshaft, mains etc. to do it right. In other words, pull the motor and prepare to drop some serious cash if you want it to live! Oh, and then there is the drive train!!!

The old limitations and metrics aren't as big of a concern anymore.

Firstly, you don't NEED crazy boost to get a 5.2/5.0 motor to make more power than the chassis can realistically use anymore. The days of having to run 20 psi of boost to get tons of power and torque are gone.

The motor (5.2) already starts very high flowing, so if you cram 15 psi of boost (and double the output) you're talking about 1000 rwhp. These motors can easily make 800 rwhp barely breaking double digit boost levels. That's because the heads, cams, exhaust, intake side are already high flowing and the motors aren't the old "set the timing and forget it" there's a multitude of sensors and adjustments the motor makes to get optimal power and torque at all/most conditions (rpm/throttle position, etc).

With E-85, 12:1 compression isn't just "safe" anymore, it's actually preferable. 12:1 is a huge liability on anything more than moderate boost WITH PUMP 93, just given how inconsistent the quality of gasoline can be. one bad batch of fuel and boom. With E-85, it allows more resistance to preignition and detonation, allows more timing (aka more power) and the user can actually monitor/confirm it's quality with simple vial testing. (unlike 93 where you either roll the dice or add octane booster to every tank). E85 is a dedicated pump as well so you don't have to worry about the last person filling up on 87 and getting the first bit of low quality fuel until it starts pumping 93.

These cars (on E-85) respond to boosting REALLY well up to at least 12 psi before any real concern kicks on. There's plenty of safety features in the tuning and ECM management of the motor with fuel/spark/timing.

The crank is the crank is the crank. Virtually no one pays $5k for a billet crank and outside of that, nearly every boosted car I've seen in the past 30 years uses the same standard forged OEM cranks. My first built motor (modular 5.4) had billet race everything and....a forged OEM crank. Billet cranks are out there, but they're wildly expensive and custom. The forged cranks are good for anything most mortals can throw at them.

Like I said earlier, with 19" wheels and 30 or 35 profile street radials, the driveline becomes less of a liability (except for the clutch) because you'll spin the wheels before you snap the gears or shafts. Throw on some 15" DR's with enough sidewall to flex and actually grip and now all that torque is going SOMEWHERE and the stock drivetrain WILL break somewhere.

So in summary, replace the OPG's/Sprocket, run E-85, test for good quality and let it rip. Plenty of GT350's with blown setups running around at 700-850 rwhp doing just great. With a 12% drivetrain loss that's 850-970 horsepower at the crank.

Outside of 1/2 mile racing and roll racing, that's way more power than anyone can use on a GT350 chassis. It just becomes a fun power rocket on roller skates.

 

[Klaus]

The old limitations and metrics aren't as big of a concern anymore.

Firstly, you don't NEED crazy boost to get a 5.2/5.0 motor to make more power than the chassis can realistically use anymore. The days of having to run 20 psi of boost to get tons of power and torque are gone.

The motor (5.2) already starts very high flowing, so if you cram 15 psi of boost (and double the output) you're talking about 1000 rwhp. These motors can easily make 800 rwhp barely breaking double digit boost levels. That's because the heads, cams, exhaust, intake side are already high flowing and the motors aren't the old "set the timing and forget it" there's a multitude of sensors and adjustments the motor makes to get optimal power and torque at all/most conditions (rpm/throttle position, etc).

With E-85, 12:1 compression isn't just "safe" anymore, it's actually preferable. 12:1 is a huge liability on anything more than moderate boost WITH PUMP 93, just given how inconsistent the quality of gasoline can be. one bad batch of fuel and boom. With E-85, it allows more resistance to preignition and detonation, allows more timing (aka more power) and the user can actually monitor/confirm it's quality with simple vial testing. (unlike 93 where you either roll the dice or add octane booster to every tank). E85 is a dedicated pump as well so you don't have to worry about the last person filling up on 87 and getting the first bit of low quality fuel until it starts pumping 93.

These cars (on E-85) respond to boosting REALLY well up to at least 12 psi before any real concern kicks on. There's plenty of safety features in the tuning and ECM management of the motor with fuel/spark/timing.

The crank is the crank is the crank. Virtually no one pays $5k for a billet crank and outside of that, nearly every boosted car I've seen in the past 30 years uses the same standard forged OEM cranks. My first built motor (modular 5.4) had billet race everything and....a forged OEM crank. Billet cranks are out there, but they're wildly expensive and custom. The forged cranks are good for anything most mortals can throw at them.

Like I said earlier, with 19" wheels and 30 or 35 profile street radials, the driveline becomes less of a liability (except for the clutch) because you'll spin the wheels before you snap the gears or shafts. Throw on some 15" DR's with enough sidewall to flex and actually grip and now all that torque is going SOMEWHERE and the stock drivetrain WILL break somewhere.

So in summary, replace the OPG's/Sprocket, run E-85, test for good quality and let it rip. Plenty of GT350's with blown setups running around at 700-850 rwhp doing just great. With a 12% drivetrain loss that's 850-970 horsepower at the crank.

Outside of 1/2 mile racing and roll racing, that's way more power than anyone can use on a GT350 chassis. It just becomes a fun power rocket on roller skates.

Lots of smart stuff here. Not to mention that there is plenty of track record of guys running boost on stock gen 1/2/3 coyotes running 11:1 (gen 1/2) and 12:1 (gen 3)

 

[biminiLX]

Yep, what those 2 guys said
I’ve yet to experience a boosted GT350 but after driving a 9.5:1 version of the 5.2 boosted at 12psi on pump 93 with an Eaton 2650 TVS today, plus seeing an 11.5:1 5.2 with a Whipple 3.0 at 22psi on E85; I’m sold on it.
If you have to have a manual trans instead of a DCT, I’d highly recommend trying to get a ride in a boosted GT350.
-J