New Engine, maybe from a 14 Gt500

Cobra(ed) Up

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Guys,
Do you think the voodoo can be swapped out for something with a bit more hp/tq. Maybe a trinity motor or a predator?
 

MG0h3

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I would never do that. Honestly the car should probably be left NA.

Why pay the premium and then all that money to that big of a mod. Be way better off to start with the 500.

If you have to, throw a blower on it.


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AustinSN

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I would supercharge the engine way before I attempted an engine swap. Especially considering the voodoo can make a ton of power and the weight of the trinity is sort of high.
 

ANGREY

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The answer to your questions is YES and YES.

The real question is whether or not it would be painful, costly and/or worth it. Ford, like all manufacturers has a nasty habit of swapping out parts every other year, even the ones that aren't noteworthy. Evereyone who ever started an engine "swap" on a modern Ford regretted it terribly at some point in the process.
 

ANGREY

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I would supercharge the engine way before I attempted an engine swap. Especially considering the voodoo can make a ton of power and the weight of the trinity is sort of high.

Absolutely. Even if you subscribe to the boogie man myth that the voodoo can't handle a blower, it would be cheaper and better to simply swap out the voodoo internals with better rotating components (and even lower the compression for boost), maybe even a cross plane crank, than to try to swap engines.
 

biminiLX

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Funny I always thought the GT350 would be killer with a 5.8 GT500 engine. Ford could have saved a lot of waiting and just made the next GT500 by doing that.
Obviously easier just to supercharge the 5.2 but it still won’t be a torque monster like the 5.8. They are both modular based so other that the hood, a swap is doable.
I will be building a backdraft racing Cobra kit car for my wife with a 5.2 Voodoo and have a spare 2014 GT500 engine. If you are serious and would want to consider trading, PM me.
-J
 

ANGREY

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Any swap is "doable" it's simply a matter of how much pain and cost. Ford is like everyone else nowadays and loves to swap small parts out every couple of years, locations, etc. Unless you have a donor car, the cost can quickly escalate and it's frustrating to stand there looking at all the small components that don't fit or work just right only to be forced with the decision to spend the money to buy new OEM replacements or to jury rig/southern engineer something.

I've done two "swaps" and both were much more painful than I'd anticipated going into it. Simple things like mounting locations, mounting orientations, screw/bracket/flange orientations can add up to big parts costs.
 

ANGREY

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As far as one being a torque monster and the other not, a 5.2 liter with a positive displacement blower will roast the tires in any gear and virtually any speed. So unless you tub the car out in the back, I'm not sure that too much torque with one setup is going to be appreciably different than too much torque with another setup. Both are going to make more torque than the chassis can handle. The difference being that the bigger block is just going to be more weight in the front. From the dyno sheets I've seen, a blown voodoo makes like 500+ ft-lbs of torque at like 3k rpms all the way to redline.

Unless you're just wanting that unique factor, my advice would be to sink the money into hogging out the cylinder heads to drop the compression or swapping the internals and doing a dished piston to lower it a bit. You'd be much better off to make the voodoo bullet proof than swap out blocks. And for any unique factor points you get for running a 5.4 or a 5.8, you're going to lose a ton of uniqueness in the exhaust note. If having a 5.4/5.8 is crucial, why not just throw money into a 500 and upgrade the suspension components and widen it out to be a comparable handling car to the 350?
 

biminiLX

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In my opinion it’s that if one preferred the styling, interior and driving dynamics (suspension/IRS) of the GT350 they would consider upgrading the power—universally the largest complaint of the GT350 being lack of torque/power.
I totally agree adding a blower to the GT350 makes the most sense, but a blown 5.8 is more proven for boost. The blown 5.2s seem to be holding up, but 12:1 compression scares many off and there just aren’t that many blown 350s yet.
-J
 

Cobra(ed) Up

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Absolutely. Even if you subscribe to the boogie man myth that the voodoo can't handle a blower, it would be cheaper and better to simply swap out the voodoo internals with better rotating components (and even lower the compression for boost), maybe even a cross plane crank, than to try to swap engines.

I may be interested in doing an internals swap, then. From the reading I have been doing, flat plane motors (not just Ford) in general have vibration issues and F/I accents those issues.
 

ANGREY

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I may be interested in doing an internals swap, then. From the reading I have been doing, flat plane motors (not just Ford) in general have vibration issues and F/I accents those issues.

I don't think it's a balance or an NVH issue.

For one, I think there was a bad rumor that spread and a lot of people just parroted it, that flat plane crank motors, particularly the voodoo can't "handle" boost.

There's SOME truth to this in that a 12:1 compression engine isn't exactly the best setup for boost, at least not as much as most people are accustomed to running. This reminds me of the vettes back in the day that would pop if you tried to run more than 6-8 psi on them in all but comfortable climate conditions.

I had a 5.4 motor (sister/back up) engine from MMR that made 1500+ hp and it was setup at 8.8:1 compression for high boost when they set it up for die hard power.

Hennessey lowers the compression on their 350. It's a better setup to safely handle anything more than a few psi to lower it from the 12:1 compression.

The second issue that's legit is the torque on the snout. I'd be hesitant to crank on the serpentine with a small pulley.

But those issues aside, I see no reason why someone couldn't run the largest pulley, have the heads ported to lower the compression or even better, swap the forged aluminum pistons for something stronger (with a slight dish to lower the comp).

The voodoo already flows really REALLY well, so it's not like you have to add a ton of boost to get good power.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to run more than 750 or 800 rwhp which is going to be WAY more than the chassis/drivetrain/rear can handle. Even at those power levels, the pioneers of these blower 350s were seeing clutch slip and were running DSS and aftermarket upgraded halfshafts.

The tranny isn't exactly setup to be as beefy and capable as the T56 on purpose (weight savings) so even if you upgrade the clutch and the shafts, you run the risk that under the right hook you're overwhelming the 3160.

These cars are just NOT setup or meant to be drag monsters and so a high hp/torque 350 would simply be a roll race monster or a half mile car.

I've been considering doing a blower at the end of my warranty but I absolutely understand what I'm giving up. The car will be more difficult to drive on a track and in any sort of "technical" tracks, might even be slower and less forgiving. I've also conceded that in order to make it safe and bullet proof, I'm probably going to have to upgrade the clutch and shafts to go along with the additional torque.

All that being said, I think you're much better off to start off with a 500 and make it turn better or start off with a 350 and give it some more ballz. But trying to basterdize the two is going to be MORE expensive and INFINTELY more of a headache.
 

Cobra(ed) Up

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I am bit surprised that no one is really talking about these mods more in details in the forums. I have seen a few more power builds on other sites. I guess the new plan is to wait until the ADMs go away and buy a new Gt500.
 

ANGREY

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I am bit surprised that no one is really talking about these mods more in details in the forums. I have seen a few more power builds on other sites. I guess the new plan is to wait until the ADMs go away and buy a new Gt500.

I think it's a number of reasons.

1) The 350 as a starter/donor vehicle is MUCH more expensive than just a run of the mill GT. You're already narrowed down to the number of owners willing to completely go off in a different direction because for a lot of people, the cost of the 350 is a significant investment.

2) The 350 is a purpose built car. I think a lot of people just decide there's better routes to make a "muscle" car or a strip car than modding a 350.

3) A modified 350 becomes a tweener. The car won't be a competitive or formidable strip car (at least not for what you throw into it). A modified 350 will be "okay" as a strip car and less driveable as a track car.

What it will be is an awesome street (roll) racing car, but most of the guys who sunk this much money into a track focused car aren't really interested in that.

The more I drive the car, the more I'm convinced I'm just gonna leave it alone and not add a blower.
 

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