347 in a fox mustang

sinister audio · Post by **sinister audio** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 10:57 am

Has anyone ever drove or rode in a mustang with a 347 stroker the fox body style? I have a 91 GT hatch with a pretty worn out motor and i was thinking about making a 347 for it. I would probaly do a turbo/dual turbo setup with it so i would like to see about 500 hp with FI and still be streetable, right now I have a 5speed that i put in there because it had an auto before and im sure that will tear the tranny out soon so i would have to upgrade that after the motor sometime. I rebuilt my posi in the rear end but it has extremly high gears 2.73 but if i did switch those out it would be to nothing lower than 3.40s cause i still want to drive it down the highway. I already did the 5bolt swap on the front and rear.

The suspension is going to be beefed up quite a bit because most of the stuff is around 15 years old so its not in the best shape. i would like to do an inch or 2 lowering and make it a corning machine that can still take off pretty good with out getting squirly when i romp on it. I have 17"s front and rear and i think ill probaly keep it at that because it still has some side wall for taking off and great for cornering.

The tranny when it blows apart will probaly be replaced with a new 6 speed with a few upgrades to that can stay together when it gets traction. Ill sometime have to up grade the brakes but that can be later on. i got slotted rotors up front and drums in the rear and it stops pretty good ride now well actually really really good right now but when your up around a 100 and above you have to feather the brakes for a little while if you have to stop or you can get them smoking really easy.

So do you guys think this would be a pretty decent setup or do you think some stuff would clash or do you think its not a very good setup at all. I kinda want it a great street car that is a mix between autocross and still dragable. itll do 140 now so im not to worried about having a higher top speed i just want to be able to get there faster and take corners alot better too. and dont worry ill throw some super 40s/30s on there too so itll have a mean sound and would be very mean to go along with it.

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 11:31 am

heehee!! i want to post so bad on this but cant cause someone is coming in the door........

sinister audio · Post by **sinister audio** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 11:33 am

ill save you a spot for this smoker.

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:50 pm

i have to state right now that the 79-93 mustangs kick ass! for me it is the 79-85 models because i love carbs...

the 347 is a great setup with this setup look strongly at your cam specs and get one that stays open slightly longer and with slightly more lift on the exhaust side, i dont know what heads your going to run or what headers but 5 litres typically benefit from this cam setup due to restrictive heads unless you have an aftermarket with a pretty good port job. definitely consider o- ringing the heads also if you are going with forced induction as there just isnt enough clamping force with the stock head bolt arrangement. ( a small block chev has nearly twice the head bolts that a small block ford does)

definitely consider stepping up to 1.7 ratio roller rockers and do whatever you can to strengthen the bottom end, studs, girdle and no matter what anyone tells you on the 302 high volume is better than high pressure when it comes to the oil pump.

as far as suspension goes kenne brown in indy makes some real nice suspension kits, watch tire size in the rear if you lower it, i have seen 17" cobra wheels on a 347 stang with a lowered suspension rub the tire on the lip of the wheel well opening on take off and do some serious tire damage. adjustable control arms, subframe connectors and poly bushings along with a driveshaft safety loop should be a staple of any good undercarriage.

now that being said i seriously dont like turbos or any sort of forced induction. motors should run on their own merit in my opinion but if i had to do something based on what you want i would either supercharge it or go naturally aspirated. the last mustang i was in with a 347 and a 5 sp. had 3:73's and was set up for nitrous and without the bottle it would pull like there was no tommorow. the last one i built was a 306 set up for drag racing and the guy who owns it is running 11.90's with no power adder.

sinister audio · Post by **sinister audio** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:09 pm

ya its gonna have everything done to the motor that i can, and i think i want to go with the turbo(s) to keep it more street able and keep it F.I. and i dont want to much power (ya right) but i still want to be able to drive it on the streets and not have to throw a 9" in the back my ranchero already has that i have to keep them differnt. and i also dont want to do a big block in there because they are very cramped and a 460 adds alot of pounds. heads would probaly be trick flow twisted wedge and with a pro port job. i was thinking high volume too for the oil pump. i was thinking about making it muscle car style jacked in the rear but i dont think that its this cars style.

My ranchero has a 460 under the hood and it shakes its ass really high up and thats its style. 15x10 slotted mags in the rear with 275 60 hercules h/p 4000 with the white lettering (of course) and 14x8's in the front with 245 50's. that will be getting a top loader here pretty soon and it needs a locker or something cause when the tranny isnt slipping the tire is spinning way way too easy.

ill try to get a pic of my mustang here pretty soon so you can see what it looks like right now. i think youll love it. its blue matelic with the platinum 2tone. it also has the svo style hood and 17"s and blacked out windows.

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:46 pm

dude that top loader will kick butt in that ranchero. you gonna put a hydraulic clutch in it or linkage?

on the mustang, ive had turbo cars before and they are great in a race if you can get the turbo spooled up without breaking but for sheer ass stoming torque they arent that great and at high speed are really not there as the boost dies off. maybe a 351 windsor, with the right bore and stroke big cubes are available and most of your 302 parts will work. efi manifolds are available for it because they basically use the same upper as the 302 they just have a taller deck height and therefore require a wider lower manifold. i think you can get up to 435 in a 351 block pretty easily. and as far as the rear end goes a guy that comes into our shop has a mustang that dynoed at pauls high performance automotive (if your a ford guy you should know these guys, they are one of the countrys best ford engine builders) anyway it was over 600 hp and he still runs an 8.8. there is a lot available for the 8.8 which is cool because all the old lincolns in the scrap yards have been stripped of their 9's by now. at least around here, espescially the versailles as they had the disc brake rear...

sinister audio · Post by **sinister audio** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:56 pm

havent decided on the linkage im thinking ill go with linkage but i will have to make every piece but i could always go with a hydralic out of like a 90 f350 with a 460 and just make the bell housing fit the top loader. i already have the top loader its the big spline out of a 70 ranchero with a big block. its got 300 something hp i dont know for sure really but its in that area but torque is way up there that thing with the tranny in good condition would almost lift 1 wheel off the ground and i would always set the idle really really low like 400 then when i would pull up to a stop sign it would shift into neutral because it wasnt pumping enough then i could just blurp the throttle and squel them but im sure that didnt help the tranny any. my ranchero needs to be restored its sporting a nice 70's coat of brown paint but its sexy im pretty sure the stones made the song brown sugar just for that car.

sinister audio · Post by **sinister audio** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:57 pm

my dad has a salvage yard and last tiem i counted he had ruffly 22 9" rears and 4 with disc brack set up, im gonna rob one for the ranch.

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:10 pm

sinister audio wrote:my dad has a salvage yard and last tiem i counted he had ruffly 22 9" rears and 4 with disc brack set up, im gonna rob one for the ranch.

dang!!!!!!!!!!! that makes you the luckiest sob i know..... does he have a header panel(?) for an 86 crx dont know if thats what its called but its the piece just around the headlights that goes from one side to the other

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:56 pm

If you do a turbo, take a look at these articles, they go in pretty good depth and will give you an idea of what to expect if you do it right:
http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/98518/
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/42798/

You can swap to 3.55 gears without a big fuel mileage penalty at all. The engine won't struggle as much up hills, passing, accelerating in general, mileage overall doesn't take a big hit, in some cases it is actually better depending on how you drive.

IDK, you've got a tough decision. The sleeper 500hp turbo car, or the really loud, lopey cammed car with low gearing to show off in.