Yeah, I might be on crack, but what about a buildup on a 2v Ford Modular?

Ford put a ton of these things in Crown Vics, Mustangs, Trucks, etc.  A shortblock can be had pretty cheap and even though aftermarket parts require a home equity loan you don't always need to sell your soul to the aftermarket to realize decent numbers.

A PI headswap on a stock '96-98 Mustang shortblock yields roughly 10:1 compression and these motors love nitrous. (Well, the plastic intake doesn't but they're pretty cheap.)

I had a '98 GT with a bone stock shortblock, box stock PI heads, stock PI cams, and a stock PI intake that made 248rwhp and 306rwtq.  Thats with stock log-style stock manifolds, through cats, 15 degrees of base timing, running pig rich on stock tune (10.5:1  A/F), and pump gas.

I know those numbers aren't impressive to the 350 Chevy crowd, but its only 281 cubic inches and its different. With a set of 4.10s and no other mods this was good for mid 13s at 102 on street tires with no compromises.  Just roll up to the track, drop rear tire pressure down a little, make some runs and head home.  No weight reduction, no suspension mods, nothing.  Again I know this isn't that quick to most, but it was a nice college budget combination, especially considering all the parts put together cost less than $2000. (Yes Freiburger, thats ALL the costs put together, including fluids, gaskets, etc.) That price figure includes $400 that I wasted on a catted h-pipe when I should have just bought a cheap, used offroad H on Ebay.

With a set of 8.5" E/T Drags and a total disregard for the stock Traction-Lok I'm confident this combo would have been knocking on the 12-second zone's door in the right air.  I was just too chicken.  Not bad considering that these cars were dismissed as 15-second pigs when they were new and Hot Rod/5.0 Mustang could barely get their SVO equipped '96 project car out of the 14's in the late '90s.  The modular community has come a long way since then.

The big bucks 4.6 crowd makes 300+rwhp with ported heads, Bullitt intakes, longtubes, cams, and a good tune.  Due to the wide range of factory modular parts available some interesting combinations have been assembled.  4V blocks with PI heads yield even higher compression and upwards of 320rwhp have been recognized N/A without any crazy mods.

I know these motors and the vehicles that they are found in might be a little new for you guys but alot of these guys are going fast on the cheap.  There are several guys going 12's with bolt-ons and slicks in 99+ GTs.  Isn't cheap what CC is all about?

Build it, spray it, then blow it up or something (stock plastic lower intakes become shrapnel bombs REAL fast).  I just think it would be funny to see overhead cams in CC.

/End shameless plug of Modular Mustang Community.
Open to comments, suggestions, flames, etc.

Some of us Ford folk have been asking for more Modular coverage for a while now.   All we get is silence from CC and jibber-jabber from the LSx/SBC crowd.

Thanks for joining the chorus but don't get your hopes up.

Being the owner of a 92 Crown vic Police interceptor, I'd be all for it.  

I guess from the editorial side those engines seem like huge bucks for low power.  However, they are available in a million cars that are getting cheaper by the day. And they can't really be too much worse bang for the buck than the 350 TPI we're messing with. Well, maybe a little.

Would you guys want a carbureted one? Or just EFI upgrades?
DF

At this point any Modular coverage would be awesome, but 99.9% of the Modular projects you'd see in real life would be EFI setups.

Up until recently there were no off-the-shelf carbureted intakes available for these engines.  I know that there are one or two available for 4V motors and they were allegedly developing a 2V carb intake but I'm not sure if it has hit the market yet.

The stock EEC-V is usually adequate up through 300+rwhp N/A, requiring only an Autologic chip for tuning purposes and maybe to correct a driveability issue or two.

Running a wet shot through the motor would produce big numbers while allowing for the retention of the stock injectors and fuel system (save for the pump) keeping costs low.

For a first article, if you guys ever decided to do one, I'd suggest a buildup centering around nitrous, as you'd get a good balance between power output and cost to build.  If you come right out with an full-bore naturally aspirated 2v Modular buildup you'd probably catch some flack from the super low-buck guys who see alot of cash being spent on headwork and cams for a relatively "low" power output.

Thanks for even reading this.

Great points!

I think many readers would like to see a carbed 4.6.   But I agree most Car Crafters building the Modular for street/strip will keep EFI (certainly those in states with IM inspections!).

http://www.powerheads.com/46.html has a deal which might be economical enough to interest CC. 

I agree that readers would like to see N20.   Most of the really quick 2Vs are power adder cars (many in the 10s).

I'd like to see someone actually do a story on the 2V-to-4V head swap, instead of just repeating the conventional wisdom that it's too involved.   Kar Kraft (not to be confused with CC) has some decent (not screamin') deals on some of the parts necessary. http://www.karkraft.com/modular_parts.htm

We've already had an extended thread about how cool a CV Police Interceptor project could be, so no need to repeat it here.

And CC already knows what Dr511scj REALLY, REALLY WANTS (http://www.turbocalculator.com/custom.html), but I think a bitchin cover shot would be a huge, polished 6-71 or 8-71 perched atop a 5.4 Lightning or a DOHC 'plant  (I don't know if CC could bring this in on a Wal-Mart stocker-sized budget, though)

Ya know, the 5.4 fits easily in my crown vic, and will soon be hittin the street. That with my 3.55 gears and some tuning to be done, this should be pretty interesting.  

Carb . . . EFI . . . Hilborn . . . hand-pump-bug-sprayer . . . we'll take whatever Modular stories we can get (unless they're just "hate" pieces)!

Somebody at Primedia will need to blow the lid off of the 2V-to-3V swap eventually, as well.  Inquiring minds will want to know.

Check out the latest issue of PHR's Engine Masters. Richard Holdener tests a ported PI 2V with a pair of Comp Cams, plastic intake and long-tube headers that pumps out 400+ hp.  And that's without any spray!  

Yeah mofo!!!  

"Somebody at Primedia will need to blow the lid off of the 2V-to-3V swap eventually, as well. Inquiring minds will want to know."

With the price starting to come down on the late 90's GTs they're becoming more attractive. My only gripe with them is the 2 valve heads; if someone figured out a 2->3 valve head swap I may have to go out and get one. With the new three valve heads in all those trucks there's going to be a lot of accessible 3V cores in a few years...

On a related note, do you know if someone has documented a 4 valve swap? I've gotten conflicting messages on the difficulty and cost involved.

Joe

Allit takes is a call to VT Racing Engines here in Lansing, Michigan. They are a leader in hipo 4.6 and 5.4 v8's.  

I think the hot head will be available when somebody reputable (AFR, Brodix, World, Dart, Edelbrock . . . .) steps up with an aftermarket casting.  Now I suspect it will be a 3V SOHC instead of a 2V, unless some sanctioning body starts a 2V-only class.

Now if somebody in the aftermarket developed a 4V conversion package at a reasonable price . . . . 

I don't doubt that they're a good shop but they're across the country and I try to do everything I can on my own. If I eat nothing but ramen noodles I can afford basic machine work at the shop across town and assemble the engine in a buddy's garage. Working with a shop across the country isn't in the budget quite yet.

Congrats on your 5.4 swap by the way.

Joe

They could be very helpful informationally tho