Forced Induction 93 with HCI. Getting ready to supercharge. Anything I should upgrade internally first?

Gunmonkey

Active Member
Apr 16, 2016
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South Florida
Sort of an immediate gratification leading to a long term goal question:

I have a 93 5.0 with Trick Flow HCI, but otherwise stock internals. Currently around 130K legit miles (not one of those guys who claims 30k just because the 5 digit odometer rolled over, lol), and the pistons and everything else is in great shape. Car hasn't been run hard or abused, and it's my daily driver several days a week. Last dyno it made exactly 300 rwhp and 333 torque. I'm getting ready to put a Vortech V3Si on it. So, is there anything I should upgrade inside the current block )...or should I just seal it up good with new gaskets and freeze plugs, install/tune the SC, and run it like it is? I know the stock block will be the weakest link in this combo. That's the immediate gratification part.

The long term goal (while I'm driving the previously mentioned setup) is to get something along the lines of a Dart block that I won't have to worry about splitting, and slowly start acquiring better crank, forged pistons, etc to build a much stronger motor. I figure this will take me a year and a half, maybe 2. Then once I have all the parts for the second build, I plan to pull the motor, swap everything I can from the current motor onto the built one, and run that without worrying about splitting the block.

Thanks!
 
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Hi Gunmonkey. Pics?! I see you're in South Florida. Any chance you're close to @wiseguyk ?

Unless you've already torn down the motor, you should just install the blower and run it. Your head-gaskets may become your weak link, but that's not really terrible, as they're a fuse in case your tune is too aggressive or something goes wrong and you detonate. Do you know which HGs are on the car after your HCI swap?

That's a badass blower! It won't have to work too hard. If you intercool the car, you should be capable of pushing the block to its limit on pump gas, assuming your compression is reasonable. The nice thing is that you'll get there at pretty low boost. Say 10 psi.

Honestly, do not bother going back into the block. The consensus is pretty strong that girdles and forged components are all a waste inside of the stock block.

As for your future plans, instead of piecing everything together (as I did) and then going through a build process, since you have the time to watch the market, I'd suggest finding an already built dart short or long block. Then, go through the motor to check everything out, unless you've seen it running well. You're likely to save significant time, money, and stress that way.
 
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Oh dude! I remember you now. Where ya been? Love that beautiful notch, even though I'm a hatch guy myself, yours really looks amazing!

https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/thot-a-work-in-progress.901553/#post-9091644

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Thanks! Been busy and don't post much on forums. The motor is open now because it had some odd coolant leaks I couldn't find, and also wanted to fix a leaking rear main. Heads are off as well to check and see if they weren't warped, because I popped a coolant hose and overheated it fast awhile back. The coolant leaks weren't from a blown head gasket, and the heads are fine. So I'm going to have the shop check everything and replace all the original gaskets etc before putting it back together, then install the SC and tune it. Yep, scouting for an already built motor is a good idea too. I'm just wary of buying anything used, so for my peace of mind I'd kind of like to just start with new parts without any questionable history.
 
and I agree that putting beefy internals in the stock block is kind of a waste of time, as they aren't going to save the block if something goes sketchy. That's why I was leaning toward just new gaskets and freeze plugs and put everything back together the way it was before
 
Couple of ways to go on the gaskets. 9333pt1 graphites are very popular. They work better with a normal "rough" surface than MLS gaskets. MLS gaskets on the other hand won't blow out, but they require an extremely smooth surface. Not popping is a good thing in very high boost/power applications, but that's not going to be your application. If you still wanna go for the MLS ones, they're made by cometic and felpro. Both are high quality.