SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
It happens all the time. Yet, we still get to the point most of the time, we just take the scenic route.
Stock block limitations
- Thread starter Foosie
- Start date
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luigisho
SHO Member
GotGrip?
Conversation Ruiner
Or just enough?
I'm not gonna lie...I'm not an SUV fan...I kinda hate them. But. I have to admit...if I HAD to own and drive an SUV...itd be yours. Its bad ass.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
His Xsport or a GMC Typhoon. They are very similar.....GMC was ahead of their time.
Ecoboost_xsport
SHO Member
You don't even know how bad I wanted one of those back in the day. Lol. They are hard to find these days...
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SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
I still want one really bad. I will settle for a 86 for 87 GN however.
The original comfort cruiser/stupid fast sleeper. My old neighbor had one. They were rated 270-280 hp in their day...completely laughable, lol. I rode in it and drove it plenty of times. I'm quite certain that car was 300 whp, it could hang with my vette easy. Pulled nice, roasted the tires for days. He eventually sold it...around 2007, I think, got 22K for it. It was very clean.
luigisho
SHO Member
Old school turbo buicks! 1976
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Old school turbo buicks! 1976
Yeah buddy. I havent seen one of those in a long time.
skyshadow07
On a mission to get below 4000lbs
I loathe the "buy something different" argument. it's just an extension of the "I can't buy it, it can't be done" ideology. Get your hands dirty boys, build something. That response as well as the response I'm about to give seems to be the broken record of WR with this platform. My response is this.. I'm not saying strip your car to a rattle can. I'm saying look into lighter materials. The drive shaft still has not bee addressed. Fiber glass is light as ****, if done right sometimes as light as wet CF. There is even a 25lb (supposedly, I'll weigh it once it arrives) hood available that no one wants. Build titanium exhaust from DP back. Converting from dual exhaust to single. Lithium battery. lighter wheels... None of these take away comfort.
Of all my WR mods, the only ones I can think of that will take away comfort are the bucket seats I installed a few months back and the sunroof plug.
Of all my WR mods, the only ones I can think of that will take away comfort are the bucket seats I installed a few months back and the sunroof plug.
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skyshadow07
On a mission to get below 4000lbs
That is totally common place here. We will start a thread about red and end on blue.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
I agree with you and I would be on board 100 percent if the setup was correct on this car. This platform will only go as fast as the aftermarket will permit. Unless you spend another 15k to swap this car to RWD (which will be awesome) you are limited by the trans and RDU to go really fast at a sustainable rate.
I started out on the same path as you. I was looking for the fastest and quickest EB SHO, however when I started really looking into it, I realized it wasn't feasible nor economical for ME. I don't want to strip any weight out of my car. I only want to make more power. However, when I knocked the trans out of my car and it cost me $4800, that literally took all the money for my upgraded turbos, both fuel pumps, and stand alone nitrous kit.
I realized the trans will be a problem going forward. The capabilities of this engine when upgraded kills these trans..period. There is ZERO aftermarket upgrades for them. Hopefully when BPD gets his SHO back together with the trans procurement he is working on, it works. I hope it is economical for others as well. Jordan makes great power and his trans is living because his SHO is a tin can now.
For the price I paid for the new project, if I add cams and a bigger pump....$1800 total....I can get the IS into the 10's full weight, without really stretching it's legs, and it will be a monster roll car. I can still enjoy my street light to street light brawler SHO, while getting my back massaged, taint cooled, and listening to whatever tickles my fancy while I smack down 98 percent of the cars that line up next to me.
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This.
shoblock
SHO Member
Sorry I'm late to the party, but it's spring in ohio and I've been going non-stop outside.
There are numerous versions of the Ford 3.5l block that began it's public life in 2006. In 2011, I became the resident engineer in Cleveland for the Alabama foundry that produces all of these blocks. At that time, I had a 1998 Cobra that had blocks and heads cast in that same foundry under a different owner. (Teksid) In 2013, the block(s) went through some major overhauls, but the best improvements to our FWD versions came in late 2015 when Ford went to fine thread main bearing bolts. All blocks also received this improvement as it would have been impossible to keep fine and coarse threads separated in the plant. That is the block you want if your going to build a FRONT WHEEL DRIVE car using forged components. The rear drive F150 and 3.7l Mustang motors DO NOT FIT in front wheel drive cars.
The Ford GT block is the best example of a 3.5l rear drive, but those blocks are hand selected at the engine plant, then deep-dove at Roush subsidies for defects like porosity and wall thicknesses, to name two. About 80% of these blocks made it through the whole process into a Ford GT...yet, it's basically the same block a '16 and up F150 uses.
Sitting in daily meetings, I'm an expert on things that can go wrong with any 3.5l block. In my 8 years, (retired now) heard all of them from dealer returns throughout the country. IMO, the rod bolts can have limits, though it was almost always proved that failures were due to initial defects, and happened with less than 10,ooo miles. Turbo motors rarely failed due to the long block. It was more likely a head issue when a turbo motor was returned. (valve failure)
I bought a '15 SHO, and still love driving it. 13.0 flat ET is all I was looking for in my 'fast couch', and with over 83,000 GH tuned miles, I doubt the car will ever fail me.
1. Change the oil, 2. Don't hammer it when it's cold, 3. Use the best gas you can find, 4. Don't let Livernois near it.
IMO, if you want to go reliably into the tens on a daily, look elsewhere. Mustang comes to mind.
Shoblock
There are numerous versions of the Ford 3.5l block that began it's public life in 2006. In 2011, I became the resident engineer in Cleveland for the Alabama foundry that produces all of these blocks. At that time, I had a 1998 Cobra that had blocks and heads cast in that same foundry under a different owner. (Teksid) In 2013, the block(s) went through some major overhauls, but the best improvements to our FWD versions came in late 2015 when Ford went to fine thread main bearing bolts. All blocks also received this improvement as it would have been impossible to keep fine and coarse threads separated in the plant. That is the block you want if your going to build a FRONT WHEEL DRIVE car using forged components. The rear drive F150 and 3.7l Mustang motors DO NOT FIT in front wheel drive cars.
The Ford GT block is the best example of a 3.5l rear drive, but those blocks are hand selected at the engine plant, then deep-dove at Roush subsidies for defects like porosity and wall thicknesses, to name two. About 80% of these blocks made it through the whole process into a Ford GT...yet, it's basically the same block a '16 and up F150 uses.
Sitting in daily meetings, I'm an expert on things that can go wrong with any 3.5l block. In my 8 years, (retired now) heard all of them from dealer returns throughout the country. IMO, the rod bolts can have limits, though it was almost always proved that failures were due to initial defects, and happened with less than 10,ooo miles. Turbo motors rarely failed due to the long block. It was more likely a head issue when a turbo motor was returned. (valve failure)
I bought a '15 SHO, and still love driving it. 13.0 flat ET is all I was looking for in my 'fast couch', and with over 83,000 GH tuned miles, I doubt the car will ever fail me.
1. Change the oil, 2. Don't hammer it when it's cold, 3. Use the best gas you can find, 4. Don't let Livernois near it.
IMO, if you want to go reliably into the tens on a daily, look elsewhere. Mustang comes to mind.
Shoblock
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Thank you sir. Your insight and knowledge is alway appreciated.
High on Ethanol
Just Ain't Care
shoblock
SHO Member
In 15'/16', Ford changed over to the 'RFF' block for the rear drive. They still maintained the old '35R' block for the new twin-turbo Transit van. (these are plant buzzwords instantly recognized in-house by all concerned salaried folks) Rear drive owners cannot swap heads from these two versions.
For us SHO people, I believe the heads and head components, including cams, will interchange throughout the years, though there are peripheral sensors that must be swapped. Others on this forum have done the diligence and published their findings on successful swaps, but the easiest way to find out about your particular years is to ask and/or research these pages. In 2013, valve covers went from aluminum to black plastic, and the internal venting changed, requiring keeping the old or adding the new to your particular situation. Cam and crank sensors were also involved. We have some brilliant mechanics on this site who can help with those. The factory I came from only thinks about current product, and removing the 'old' part numbers to avoid making' hybrids', an engine with a mixture of obsolete and current parts. Hybrids can shut down an assembly line making 2000+ engines per day. (Yup. 2000+, about $60k+ per hour loss to the company) !!!!!!
Shoblock
Ecoboost_xsport
SHO Member
This is the kind of insider info I love hearing about. It goes along way for this of us who ARE interested in "hybrids", lol. I am definitely keeping you on speed dial if I have any questions of this nature, lol. Thank you and feel free to share any other tidbit of information, however mundane, with us.
Might even be a cool post/write-up listing model year engines/chassis and when/what was changed within those years...
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