408 Stroker

[bditty50]

After watching this video: YouTube - 408w Mustang In Car Pulls And Street Burnouts
I'm really thinking about building a 408 for my next coupe. This car just has unlimited power and runs 11s. I'm wondering if I should build it to be able to accept a small amount of boost for later or just go n/a and be happy. I wondering how reliable one of these motors would be and how much gas it would suck down sounds idiotic for a muscle car but, its going to be a what 6.68 liter car lol. I was thinking about going with a new boss 351 block.

 

[DeVus1]

A car is as reliable as you build and maintain it. As for gas mileage, well, don't expect more than 14 mi/gal in the city.

 

[Rookie71]

I run a dart blocked 427W in my coupe, I have put just over a 1000 miles on it, but haven't checked what my gas mileage is yet. Other than a distributor issue which has nothing to do with the actual motor, it hasn't had a problem yet. Not sure how much you are planning to drive it, but I don't think I would want to drive it every day in traffic. You could probably build a 408 with a fairly thick head gasket at 10.1:1 compression and either do boost with meth or go with a thicker head gasket and drop compression to the 9.6:1 range for boost.

Personally, and I'm doing this now, I would invest in a good set of heads/intake/solid roller/and a FAST system and get in the 550rwhp range and then put a small shot (150ish) of nitrous on it for whenever.

I have driven it 40 miles each way to the track 3 times in 90+ degree heat and made 5 runs each time without a hicup. I have had a lot of trouble getting any traction at more than idle, but it has ran easy 11s with a best of 11.83@121 so far.

 

[S&B]

after you build blower cars dream about turbos and spend all your money doing stupid chit, you realize that a N/A 408/427 you name the CI is a far better street strip monster than any 30psi boosted pain. You might not put down 1khp on the dyno but your car isn;t stuck in the garage all the time with some problem or issue.

this car in the video looks like a dream

 

[1991notchbackLX]

That car has a build thread on turbomustangs.com (even though it's n/a)... absolute perfection.

 

[bditty50]

do you have a link to the thread?

 

[Cobra912]

after you build blower cars dream about turbos and spend all your money doing stupid chit, you realize that a N/A 408/427 you name the CI is a far better street strip monster than any 30psi boosted pain. You might not put down 1khp on the dyno but your car isn;t stuck in the garage all the time with some problem or issue.

this car in the video looks like a dream

yep totally true. if I were to do it all over again it would be a N/A 408!

 

[lancec2c30]

He also has a bit of a build thread over at SVT performance, I'll see if I can dig it up.

EDIT: Here it is, a summary of his car with lots of pictures.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...9/628182-my-408-93-coupe-build-pics-info.html

 

[1991notchbackLX]

here's his turbomustangs build thread...

My 93 408 N/A Coupe, Build Pics, Info & Video

 

[blackened88lx]

Twisty mountain roads 6" away from a guardrail is a very good place to film a 408 on street tires.

 

[1991notchbackLX]

Twisty mountain roads 6" away from a guardrail is a very good place to film a 408 on street tires.

Haha, I thought the same thing! I was on the edge of my seat every time the guy stabbed the throttle, my car only makes ~300 horsepower but the coupes are so light in the back that the rear end wants to swing around on you. Fun, but I wouldn't do it on a road like that.

 

[S&B]

you need to put a 200lb system back there it helps with the traction

 

[bditty50]

Whats a good compression level for a motor? Something thats going to put out a lot of power but, still have options for boost maybe? Should I go with an aftermarket block or are oem blocks strong enough?

 

[1991notchbackLX]

you need to put a 200lb system back there it helps with the traction

meh, not my thing

 

[TweekedGT]

I have a Dart BLock 408 as well and with only 8.85:1 compression, a 507 lift cam with 220 duration, she is almost in the 11's. Low 12.1's at 5400ft elevation. I'm seriously thinking of staying N/A over boost, actually quite certain now. Bore it out to a 434 and see ya. The torque is ridiculous now. I don't use it as a DD though.

 

[bditty50]

so do you think 9:1 Would be great for power and good for torque still?

 

[bditty50]

I don't compression so high that it shoots oil out of the dipstick and causes vacuum problems.