DeTomaso Mailing List: February 99, Message #140

Mike:

The post did not say anything about pump gas.  And, as I said before,
that was in full race trim.  Maybe he included the forced induction in
his "detuning" for the street.  I don't know.

Maybe I misunderstood, I can admit that.  But you have to admit that a
serious shop, experienced in building multi-cam race motors for top
competition, could create 600 HP out of the normally aspirated motor
in full race trim. 

I once asked John Coletti if the 4.6 could be bored for more cubes and
he said he didn't think so.  So stroking may be the only alternative
on this motor.  

I thought the 5.4 was a truck motor, so wouldn't a longer stroke not
be good?  I thought trucks like short stroke motors.

S. Black




---MikeLDrew@aol.com wrote:
>
> Scott wrote:
> 
> >He reported that the shop had no problem getting 600 HP out of the
> motor without changing displacement.  They tuned it down for the
> street and he said he had 450-500HP.  He was also going to either
> turbo or supercharge the motor.
> 
> >>>Oh yeah, sure.  There's LOTS of people running around getting 600
> horsepower out of 260 cubic inch normally aspirated motors on pump
gas.  Of
> course, just to make it easier to drive, they mellow it out and tune
it to
> produce just 500 hp out of 260 cubic inches.  Happens every day!
> 
> Dude, what are you smoking? :>)  Now, Neil's got several 4.6 powered
cars, and
> at least one of them has a supercharger (come to think of it, I
think the
> other might be twin turbo), and then those numbers enter the realm of
> possibility.  But by the time you've built and installed such a
motor, kiss
> $30K goodbye.  Each.
> 
> And God help you if anything goes even slightly out of adjustment! 
You're
> screwed!
> 
> FWIW, there is one 4.6 Liter DOHC car in PCNC, in a GT5-S.  The
fellow was
> told it would cost about $11K to install, but when he picked up the
car from
> the vendor, the bill was for something like $16K, and the job wasn't
completely finished.  (Interior and trim modifications needed to be
carried out on his own.)  And his direct tests have proven that his
car is now SLOWER than it was with his BONE STOCK 351 (don't remember
if it was a Windsor or a low-compression Cleveland.)
> 
> Yeah, it's smooth and gets great gas mileage.  BFD.  And no, he is
not a happy camper. :<(
> 
> I was seduced by the notion of a 4.6 years ago, and in fact didn't
really spend any money rebuilding my 351C since I intended to
'upgrade' to the 4.6
> somewhere down the road.  But after reading in the completely jaded
pro-Ford publications (i.e. Mustang magazines) that the engine is
basically un-modify-
> able, and that the aftermarket is NOT going to support it with speed
parts 'cause there's no point, I've since changed my mind.  I guess
the fundamental limitation is the size of the combustion chamber
> (small.)  Reports of valve breakage, top end failures, who knows
what else?
> 
> Now, the 5.4 motor seems to have much more potential, although I
seem to recall that it's nothing but a stroked 4.6 (i.e. same problem
with the small heads.)  Anybody know more about those suckers?
> 
> Mike

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