Project-97

joe65

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yeah man! i'm with you. I like your process! My 03 Mach1 was right at 286rwhp and it was lots of fun to drive, so it should be cool! I think lots of people tend to get caught up in the gotta have 500 hp min these days and really unless your racing for money and trophies, who cares? Even at stock 220 hp to the wheels its just fun to drive these things. I appreciate here that most guys are building their own stuff. So much cooler to me!
 

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yeah man! i'm with you. I like your process! My 03 Mach1 was right at 286rwhp and it was lots of fun to drive, so it should be cool! I think lots of people tend to get caught up in the gotta have 500 hp min these days and really unless your racing for money and trophies, who cares? Even at stock 220 hp to the wheels its just fun to drive these things. I appreciate here that most guys are building their own stuff. So much cooler to me!
I know exactly when you mean, a 275-300rwhp car weighing in at 3,100 lbs. will be a quick little fart :D. Not fast but quick, and thats all I'm after.
I know you know what the V8 GTS models were, well 96 was the only 2V and last year of the GTS completely, but in 97 the changed the "GTS" moniker to what they called a "248A" package. It's the same exact car as a GTS except for the rear spoiler on the trunk. Some came with an automatic trans, but they had to be ordered that way, and the rest obviously had the T45 trans. I did a search on my GT "248A" package, and only 485 were made exactly like mine. Now think about how rare that is, and Ford only made what...:eek:500 Cobra R's in 2000, all in red! By #'s standpoint, my car is more rare than the Cobra R:p, but we all know mine isnt worth that lol. I just think it's sweet to have something #'ed so low in production scale. One guy thought it was a V8 transplaned into a V6 car, but he's sorta correct:D. I'm going to try and break the 3K pound scale, I would be stoked if it was 2,999 lbs. She's worthy of keeping, and the only thing thats been faithful to me in my life lol, O yeah, my mom.. Gotta show love for your MUM! :D
 

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Nothing like some good news to report!:). Okay, today was hopefully going to be the last degree day of the passenger side camshaft, and I'm now sitting at 107.25* ICL. I was shooting for a 107, but I'm good here, and we're talking to have to move another .002.25" -.003" on the camshaft gear.
So I will tell you how I got here. As you have read through my last post, I had (2) .024"-.025" feeler gauge shims on each side of the camshaft keyway, with my crank gear set at 0* straight up. With the adjustments made I came out to a 111.5* ICL. Thats no where good enough, I wanted 107. So by doing a little math, my .025" shim was worth 4.25-4.5*. I disassembled everything, and took out the shim to the left of the keyway, and reinstalled it to the right of the keyway. Giving a total of .048"-.050" shimmed.20200519_161233.jpg 20200519_161636.jpg 20200519_161728.jpg I like to put 1 shim in at a time, 1 further than the other until I get them both in, and slightly tap with a tiny hammer. It makes for an easier installation. I re-assembled everything, and began the degree process over again. My @.050" points was 139.5 and 75 = 214.5 ÷ 2 = 107.25* ICL. The 107.25* shows that my math per camahaft degree was right on.
Now, this camshaft was designed at 110 ICL/113 ECL. My new CL for the exhaust will now be 110.25* ECL. This will give such a good midrange bump for NPI. Both the NPI and PI respond really well to the 106 to 108ICL, so I'm in the middle feeling very comfortable right where I'm at. These show my .050" points.20200519_172510.jpg 20200519_172517.jpg 20200519_172226.jpg 20200519_172243.jpg
I still have to degree the driver side camshaft, but we know that 107.25* turns over great in the old girl.
So remember, when you think you have to move the cam gear a bunch to gain 1* degree, you can revert back to this post;).
 

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I received my crower retainers in the mail last night, and I want to give a report of what I see so far. I've been trying to make room to gain clearance for the valve seal to retainer. Well, with the factory retainers, the keepers set up in the retainer a whopping:eek: .045", while the crower retainers give an overall better clearance all around for the coil bind and the keepers distance the set up in the retainer, which is only .015"! Exactly what ive been looking for:D. An extra .030" of clearance, now just think, i only had .002"-.004" of clearance with the factory retainers, now I have a total of .032"-.034". I can live with that, and just to put that in perspective, Cushman Motorsports has only .013" clearance with the .550" NPI cams, so thats another .020" over that!;). Anything is possible when you put your mind to it! I never want to hear the words "I can't run a true .550" in a unmodified NPI head" again. Just use the crower +.060"! BOOM.:cool:20200520_073947.jpg 20200520_074024.jpg
Look at the new install height, 1.635", and they weight half of the stockers! There made from chromoly. If anyone needs the part # 87025-16, and the titanium version is 87025T-16. Back to the garage:D.15899754500894531933022083309914.jpg
 

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I ended up taking my NPI heads off due to the fact I'm going back with my original setup of my PI heads. I know:D make up your mind lol, but I want to port my NPI'S fully, weld the water passage on the rear passenger side head to accept the PI intake gasket so I wont worry of any leaks coming to light. There's been many successful PI intake swaps on NPI heads, but at this time, especially with me wanting a ported NPI head its best to use the PI's at this time. The NPI heads will eventually go on top of the Teksid when there fully modified for any type of camshaft. I wont give up on the NPI's;).
Anyway, I took the heads off and began cleaning the piston tops and gasket mating surfaces. Inside the block was a set of Speed Pro H591CP .50mm slugs that are 3.571" bore, +.020" bore, and as you can see from the pics, the cross hatches are still very visible after the 45 to 50K miles its been ran.
I'm very pleased to say the components and the overall manner in which this engine was remanufactured was top notch. Down the road I would be very happy to purchase another engine from ATK, thumbs up!:)15902097043866387855254521101063.jpg 15902103538458942808195484618810.jpg
 
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OLD H2S

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The NPI heads work great! Came in on the dyne about 5 Hp less than the PI, But I got 40 hours of porting on each type so..
 

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I ended up Spending many hours in the garage yesterday, I've been busy getting the final cleanup done on the NPI block so I can do the final degree process with the PI heads and my camshafts. All the surfaces, cylinders, and the pistons look exceptionally good, and I'm glad to see the cross hatches still in the bores all the way down through the full stroke of the piston.:D. The valley of the block had some paint to come off due to where the coolant seeped out of the rubber hose. I took some paint stripper, and grease/wax remover to prep it, then did 2 coats of high heat etching primer. I will do a couple of coats of high heat black paint after the allowed time for primer cure to set up. Isn't she purdy!:rolleyes:20200523_181201.jpg Here you can see the piston at TDC with a .015"-.016" down in bore clearance. Next time around I want thise puppies about .010" above the deck to get that nice squish everyone wants.;) We will have to wait for that on the next build.
20200523_151112.jpg A good shot at the PI's Cumbustion chambers that I done myself with some neat handy work, and not to bad for the first time doing it. The pic really doesn't do it justice of how I made the different transitions between the heart sections of the chamber. I would've loved to have polished them up, but there quite smooth where there at. Each chamber measured at 45cc's, thats 2-3cc's more than stock. The change to a greater CC # is also due to .045" took off from the face of the intake valve margin as you can visable see here.20200523_185942.jpg
It was getting late last night and I had been in the garage all day so it was time to cleanup, and some food time. Before I left I did get the passenger side head tourqued down so I can get some degree measurements and PTVC. Molding clay was applied to the piston for the valve to imprint it, then measurements are taken of the indention with a caliper. The intake valve hits the lower right hand portion of the piston when contact occurs. Always be safe and check if you're advancing the camshafts beyond the recommended centerlines of the camshaft designer. These cams are designed with a 110ICL, I will be advancing them+2* to a 108ICL, and this is to give the engine a little midrange improvement.;) I hope everyone is being safe and having a great holiday weekend.20200523_194743.jpg
 

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The NPI heads work great! Came in on the dyne about 5 Hp less than the PI, But I got 40 hours of porting on each type so..
Yes sir! I completely understand how many hours goes into these heads when good work is performed properly. The PI's were my initial setup, so I'm not going to change what I've worked hard on. I have plans for the NPI's on the next run of the mill, but I'm stoked just to see the progress ive made so far, and I really enjoy doing it. She is coming along nicely.
 

BigBore96

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Good work. A ton to read but looks like you got a bunch figured out. Keeping the NPI dream alive

Are you planning on pinning your adjustable crank gears together?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

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