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been thinking for a while about what my plans for the mustang will be and i THINK i have an idea for what i want now. i think i am going to drive it just as i am now until the engine dies then ill store it for a while and save up some cash, once i have enough im thinking about getting the block bored out to something a little bigger and aim for something like 347ci. now i know i cant bore out a block in my garage, at least not successfully, but would it be possible to build the rest of the engine up there? ive never built/torn down an engine before but ive got a fair understanding of what is involved with it, but if im looking to make between 300-400hp am i being really stupid building it myself? id hate to put a whole pile of coin into it and then it just blows up or something. if i want to get 300-400hp out of a 5.0L block (bored out to w/e) +heads cam and intake / supercharger (not sure which im looking to do yet) plus whatever other minor bolt on mods needed to make that power, how much am i looking at spending roughly just to buy the parts? how much would i pay for labor to get an engine built up by a reputable shop? (i know itl be around 5000+) and ya am i stupid for even considering building it up in my garage? i kinda wanna do it just to be able to say i did it and to kinda get a better feel for whats under my hood.

lasty if i want to run nitrous, is a blower better/worse to run with nitrous than heads/cam/intake, im just thinking ahead because i know if i put at least 5k into the engine i will be drag racing it, and ill probably want to improve my time after a while for as cheap as possible.

so your saying my garage would be too dusty/dirty? i have a mustang service manual with all the specs for torque, capacities, and all that good stuff. something i dont think about either is if i do it, i will have to get quite abit of tools, so ill have to see where i am financially then.

also the gas is killing me on the mustang so im looking at buying a new car, which isnt cheap either, at the moment im looking at the focus and the rabbit. the civic costs too much to get the options i want, any others out there that arnt a kia or something like that?

the mustang is a 89 with a 88 engine so its already fuel injected. with a new car i will be getting about double the mileage i get now so thats why im considering it.

as for doing a engine in the garage, the garage is relatively clean and like if seen in auto shops, put a clean rag over any open part of the engine and whatnot to keep dust and everything out of it when your not doing work on it, simple enough.

on a side note i finally got up the courage to "test" my limited slip (up till now ive only squeeled the wheels abit) and i must say, it was fun! and when i looked in my mirror i was happy to see that amazingly even with 300000km's on the rear end that it put down 2 solid lines of rubber! ive got some winter tires on the 2 left over 4 banger rims which i have no use for so im trying to find someone with a camera that can hook up to the computer after so i can get a video of it, ill be sure to post it here.

nice random rubber on the road! love it!

somehow when i did mine i was able to keep her straight, the other times ive tried doing smaller ones and i would always launch to the side abit, idunno if im just getting better or i was doing it wrong before haha but ya

went for an e-test today, passed everything half of the limit, or better except for the hydrocarbon ppm at the 40km/h part it was at 66 and the limit was 66, i was lucky!

to get a 347 you will need a stroker kit...you wont bore it to a 347. with all the parts for that and a supercharger kit you should be aiming for more around the 8-10k mark.

As long as the valve covers say 302, the block says 302, and the owner says 302, they're not going to take it apart to find it;s a 332 or a 347. biggrin

I think my insurance people still think my truck has a 300 in it. sweatdrop

the valve covers dont say a thing, and if i made it a 347 i wouldnt want it to show like it was a 347 to begin with, that way at the track no one can tell from looking under the hood what its making, at least not very accurately. im definately a fan of keeping things looking relatively stock under the hood, and i would never street race/speed excessively on the street, so i dont have to worry too much about wrecking it. as for the stroker, how much more power if i kept the rest stock would i be making over stock? i believe its making 225hp at the crank stock, but i dont know of any unmodified 347's out there lol

if i made it a 347 it would be getting a trickflow top end performance kit dealy, with the intake, heads, cam and all the gaskets as well as other little goodies i believe such as roller rockers, unless im thinking of another comapny. at the moment it has stock headers, and a stock h-pipe. once i get the engine done it will get BBK equal length shorties or possibly longtubes with a matching h/x pipe. i have flowmaster mufflers already and would probably stick with those. depending on how much money i have at the time a supercharger will be considered most likely, i think procharger or vortech. im hoping that with that combo i would put down around 400hp to the wheels with a good tune and if everything (properly sized injectors and mass air meter and whatnot) is done correctly. i asked and to do such a project just to the engine will run me around 10 grand, depending on how it all go's just for parts. i would probably get a machine shop to do the boring and other more precise stuff but then do a fair bit myself if i can to try and save a buck. as long as i follow the intructions and dont rush or anything and keep it clean and have a basic knowledge of the engine itself i think i should be able to do it relatively easily (hope so). thanks for the help, hopefully i can do this in a few years!