Block Options

[BlackSmith]

I would like to know which Ford Stock Block & Crank can handle 800-1000HP regularly, if none exsist than just say so. I'm asking because, I would like to build one for a Student Project while I'm going to school & would like to stay away from doing a LS Swap into my Fox Body. The car would be a Street/Strip Car, but mostly Strip. I don't mind if the car would be hard to drive or ride in. I've been searching online for a few months and I can't get or find a Simple Answer to my question.

 

[f8tlfiveo]

69 351w I was gonna build looked like the one to handle about 700 if built right.. Got the block but decided not to move forward. A stock 302 block is gonna be on the verge of splitting at 500. If you want crazy power it's gonna cost you lots of $

 

[a91what]

I have watched a stock 302 block with a balanced rotating assembly and stud girdle make passes down the strip with well over 600 hp.
Turbocharged and giggle gas.
But the car is strip only.

 

[NIKwoaC]

Supposedly any year 351 block can live at 700, and I've seen claims of 800+.

Your only other Windsor-based option for those power levels would be going aftermarket (Dart or Boss).

I'm curious- what are your plans for the car, and why do you seem to think that an LS is your only other option?

 

[BlackSmith]

Supposedly any year 351 block can live at 700, and I've seen claims of 800+.

Your only other Windsor-based option for those power levels would be going aftermarket (Dart or Boss).

I'm curious- what are your plans for the car, and why do you seem to think that an LS is your only other option?

The LS Blocks & Cranks can easily handle that kind of power. The cranks can handle upwards of 1000+ HP & the Iron Blocks are pretty stong as well without having to reinforce the block with girdles or aftermarket bolts or studs. And they make Easy & Cheap Power compared to our Ford Blocks, but price isn't what's holding me back. It's Stock Block & Crank Strength at those Power Levels.

My plans for the car are Street/Mostly Strip use, but my ultimate goal which is going to be years down the road would be to get it to crack 1000+ HP, but as I'm typing this now I guess my only option is to go aftermarket for what I want.

 

[NIKwoaC]

I think by the time you crack 4 digit power numbers with either engine family, the difference in cost between either going with an LS or going with a aftermarket Windsor block is going to be negligible. Those kind of numbers don't come cheap, regardless of what path you take.

Good luck, let us know what you do!

 

[BlackSmith]

I've gone with a LQ4, came across a deal I couldn't pass up. Sorry to the Hardcore Ford guys. I see it as a Best of Both Worlds. Great looks of the Fox Body with the "Cheap/Easy Power of the LS Blocks." I'll start a thread once I start the Swap and Engine Build.

 

[ViperPunk]

I will read in for sure!

 

[madspeed]

Ive been out of the scene for a while, whats a LQ4?

Sent from my rooted, rommed Galaxy Nexus....

 

[Noobz347]

Your HP output is directly proportional to the amount of money you spend. I work with as many Chevy guys as I do with Ford and have at least, some idea of what it takes to get a LTX to 700 HP range. "Cheap" would not be a word I would use to describe one.

 

[88LX5.Oh]

The LS Blocks & Cranks can easily handle that kind of power. The cranks can handle upwards of 1000+ HP & the Iron Blocks are pretty stong as well without having to reinforce the block with girdles or aftermarket bolts or studs. And they make Easy & Cheap Power compared to our Ford Blocks, but price isn't what's holding me back. It's Stock Block & Crank Strength at those Power Levels.

My plans for the car are Street/Mostly Strip use, but my ultimate goal which is going to be years down the road would be to get it to crack 1000+ HP, but as I'm typing this now I guess my only option is to go aftermarket for what I want.

The words "iron block" and "LS" don't go together. You're thinking LT. The LS engines are aluminum blocks.

 

[NIKwoaC]

The words "iron block" and "LS" don't go together. You're thinking LT. The LS engines are aluminum blocks.

That's not true; there are iron LS blocks, and they are supposed to be able to support big power, or so I'm told.

 

[88LX5.Oh]

But those aren't factory as OP was stating. Those are aftermarket "Cast Iron LS series" blocks. You can get them through Summit.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-150105/

"The LS engine design has incredible potential, but once you start bolting on big superchargers, an aluminum block just can't contain all that power. These Summit iron LS blocks have all the same potential, but the cast iron construction is capable of withstanding high horsepower applications..."

 

[Maryland Stang]

From what I understand any of the Ford Modular blocks can do it.

 

[88LX5.Oh]

What would be nice is to somehow get your hands on an '03-'04 Cobra block. IIRC they're cast iron and not aluminum. They're ridiculously strong.

 

[NIKwoaC]

But those aren't factory as OP was stating. Those are aftermarket "Cast Iron LS series" blocks. You can get them through Summit.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-150105/

"The LS engine design has incredible potential, but once you start bolting on big superchargers, an aluminum block just can't contain all that power. These Summit iron LS blocks have all the same potential, but the cast iron construction is capable of withstanding high horsepower applications..."

Come on man, spend a little more time on Google.

Typically, in car applications the blocks were aluminum and in trucks they were iron. There are a few exceptions to this, but suffice to say there are a lot of factory-stock-OEM-whatever-you-want-to-call-it iron LS blocks.

The engine blocks were cast in aluminum for car applications, and iron for most truck applications (notable exceptions include the Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS, Chevrolet SSR and a limited run of Chevrolet/GMC Extended Cab Standard Box Z71 Trucks).

The General Motors engine family commonly called the LS series debuted in the then-new1997 model year C5 Corvette as the all aluminum LS1 V8. General Motors called it the Gen III small-block V8 and a year later (the 1998 model year), the LS1 replaced the LT1 small-block in Camaros and Firebirds, which was followed by the iron-block version of the Gen III V8 appearing in the full size trucks and SUVs.

http://www.gmhightechperformance.co...9_ls4_ls7_ls9_lsa_engine_history/viewall.html

So yes, stock iron block LS engines definitely exist.

 

[Bullitt95]

I would like to know which Ford Stock Block & Crank can handle 800-1000HP regularly

The only factory Ford block I can think of that'll handle 1000hp is the Italian-built Teksid aluminium block that was used in the '96-'98 Mustang Cobra 4.6 engine.

 

[srtthis]

What would be nice is to somehow get your hands on an '03-'04 Cobra block. IIRC they're cast iron and not aluminum. They're ridiculously strong.

the early aluminum blocks are stronger and lighter then the iron blocks. john mahovits makes roughly 3000 last i heard on a stock taskid block

if an aftermarket block is an option..
fontana aluminum
dart CGI
RDI aluminum

can all go north of 2500

 

[BlackSmith]

I haven't been on here in a LONG TIME. I have now started the LSx Swap. I hope to have it all done around early to mid August. I'll get a thread going on here with LOTS of pictures. On a side note, I will do a 351W Fox build after the dust on this thing has settled. I go to S.A.M. so all the machine work will be done myself. Sorry if I didn't mention that in my earlier post about making "cheap" power with a LSx Block.