351 EFI build discussion

[Eck]

Hey that engine looks familiar. You don't need any of the studs. The brackets bolt to the heads. Some of the studs are an odd length that you won't find bolts in.

Thinking about it more, I was thinking about studded lower intake bolts. I used the front 2 to attach my coil pack mount. I think the studded bolts on the timing chain cover were originally used for wire loom connectors if I remember correctly (so not needed).

[JGZ]

Who's engine is it?

[ZOSO]

Are you referring to this picture?


It's on the tech write up on CB: http://classicbroncos.com/tech/explorer ... conversion

You can buy an aftermarket timing chain cover at any parts store. Finding one at a junk yard that doesn't have a bolt rusted out in it may be a challenge.

You can also buy kits for the bolts too: http://m.summitracing.com/parts/arp-454-1504

Ok so what about the 4 bottom ones for the timing cover and the top center behind the water pump?

[Viperwolf1]

Who's engine is it?

That's the 5.0 in my '74.

[JGZ]

How you like those afr's

[Viperwolf1]

How you like those afr's

They are nice. They may eventually find themselves on my 351w.

[JGZ]

How you like those afr's

They are nice. They may eventually find themselves on my 351w.

If you had your choice,would you run the 185' s over the 165's on the 351?

[Viperwolf1]

How you like those afr's

They are nice. They may eventually find themselves on my 351w.

If you had your choice,would you run the 185' s over the 165's on the 351?

Probably not with the current setup.

[JGZ]

If you had your choice,would you run the 185' s over the 165's on the 351?[/quote]

Probably not with the current setup.[/quote]
Care to expand on that?

[Viperwolf1]

The engine was built to maximize low end torque. The 165's would help there and would also add some to upper range horsepower. I think the 185's would take away some from the low end.

[ZOSO]

If you had your choice,would you run the 185' s over the 165's on the 351?

Probably not with the current setup.[/quote]
Care to expand on that?[/quote]

If you are going to keep it mild with a small cam and not a lot of compression you will want the 165's. If you are going to go 408+ and 10:1+ and a big cam then 185's or bigger are better yet.

With that being said I have a call into AFR to see what they have to say. messing around in desktop dyno I dont see any gains by going to the 185's.

[JGZ]

Let me know what they tell you ZOSO.

[Rox Crusher]

It's all above the bar! Dropped it off last week, I need to get the rebalanced Explorer harmonic balancer to him so the internals can be balanced. That's a lot of balancing, ha. We also talked compression and overall drivability. I need to grab his contact info and I'll post it up.

How is it going with yours ?

Wondering if you are having good luck with your guy ?

[Kinder]

Holiday hang up, hope to be picking it up soon, if it's good I'll post up.

[ZOSO]

Let me know what they tell you ZOSO.

Got a call back from AFR. They said for my needs in a low end engine build the AFR 165's would be a perfect match. Another thing I asked about was valve springs. Since Im keeping the flat tappet cam I can't run the factory supplied valve springs. With that being said if you call AFR and order directly from them they will swap out to the correct valve springs for no charge. Since it would be a "custom" order it would take 3 weeks to build and ship.

[Rox Crusher]

Dropped mine off at MPG today.

He said to expect it back at the end of February.

Gives me some time to get harness going.

[Rox Crusher]

Picked mine up today.

I would highly recommend getting a detailed written estimate before authorizing the work.

[akaFrankCastle]

Picked mine up today.

I would highly recommend getting a detailed written estimate before authorizing the work.

Little bit of sticker shock?

[Kinder]

Yikes, I don't want to hear that. I hope to be grabbing TGB's soon and though it was a different builder I hope that I have a good experience.

[Justin]

Yeah, what Scott talked about on the phone and what his written estimate came out to was fairly different. I'm sure he's a good technician, but I haven't been impressed with his people skills.

[Eck]

I will say he was very off putting at first, but I was adamant to discuss cost on every decision phone call and my final bill was in line with the notes I kept. He was also very patient with me and was helpful.

Not to say my experience was flawless as there were a couple times that he said he'd be there for me to drop something off and then wouldn't be. Overall, I think he does good work but could use some business acumen for sure.

[crawlercreations]

I called today about some head work on my 460 I'm building. Sounded good on the phone but was booked out until the end of April. I'll be using another machine shop he recommended. Even they're 3-4 weeks out for simple head work but I liked them at least as much on the phone as I liked mpg.

[Justin]

He's planning to have my block till April as well. Not a big deal as I plan to drive my rig all summer then do the swap and EFI.

[akaFrankCastle]

Not a big deal as I plan to drive my rig all summer...

Has anyone told your fabricator of this plan?

[Justin]

He's slow, but progress continues.

[Rox Crusher]

I don't think he was trying to pull a fast one.......I just think his lack of appreciation for details was the culprit.

Still, I was expecting a price lower than the "on the high end" price we talked about. Glad I had an extra 700 bones laying around.

The good thing is that we ended up at 9.4:1 for compression ratio.

[Justin]

Sweet! What heads are you running?

[Rox Crusher]

Sweet! What heads are you running?

Some really expensive GT40P heads
- 100 for the heads
- 600 bucks for machining (to get the 9.4)

- should have went with AFR ?

[Justin]

Ouch. I though about having my gt40s milled, but not for that price. I'd go stroker first.

[Rox Crusher]

To be fair about it.......there was 75 +/- to remove and heli-coil a broken bolt in one of the heads