Voodoo 5.2 block for a DIY A52XS

[pufferfish]

Manley stuff came in today. I weighed them verses the stock boss stuff. Boss rod, piston, wrist pin and piston rings are 1121 grams. The Manley counterpart is 1152 grams. 31 grams or 1.1oz...the weight of a letter to grandma is the difference! The gt350 block should easily be better than 8.8oz lighter than the Boss block, so I think its safe to say the eingine assembly will shed mass while increasing displacement. Can't wait to get the block here!

 

[F.D. Sako]

Not unless grandma wants some pictures! haha

Great to see you're on track to fixing the engine up real quick.
I really hope you don't encounter any roadblocks, because I want to see you at Superfest!

 

[pufferfish]

i will be at superfest regardless, but it would be more fun with the stang for sure! i have an appointment at rev auto for tuning on 4/14...3 weeks from today. i have a machine shop lined up to balance the rotating assembly, so once i get my crank, i can get that ball rolling. the steps need to be like clockwork, but its doable.

 

[pufferfish]

Block and crank showed up today!!
First, let me add the photos of the rods and pistons...

STOCK BOSS:


MANLEY 5.2:


As you can see, a 31 gram adder per hole for a fully forged big bore. Not bad at all!

The real kicker is the block. I knew it would be lighter, but surprised to lose this much...




Yeah, the Voodoo block weighs 13lbs LESS!

So, I will be adding power, adding strength in both the rotating assembly and the block and losing nearly 13lbs off the front of the car! And when comparing the same parts in a 5.0L, the cost adder is $1000. Compelling? I think so!

 

[pufferfish]

...and I just found the failure point of my original engine...the main oil galley plug is MIA. I was comparing blocks to insert the dowels and plugs into the new block and noticed that the small press-in plug just below the water pump pocket was missing. Well, that explains the obvious oil starvation on the mains. Sucks it was ruined by that, but I am a bit relieved.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Is it possible to convert from a press in plug to taped and screw in pipe plug??

 

[captdistraction]

where is this plug you speak of? I don't remember seeing that plug before. Is it behind the oil pump?

edit: disregard, I believe its above the pump's large stud, about 1-1/2" at 2oclock. I see a press-in fitting on mine, and I assume that otherwise it would spill oil back behind the cover. though doesn't that also feed up to the passenger head?

 

[pufferfish]

Yup, that's the one. I am looking into tapping, but I am concerned about introducing metal chips into the oil galley and I don't have a fancy block cleaner. I have to assume that since I can't find any other recreation of someone else's blowing out, that it doesn't happen often. Risk metal shavings or risk another plug blowout...hmmm...

 

[TMSBOSS]

Can you pin the stock plug to the block??

 

[pufferfish]

i don't like the idea of machining anything into the block, but i think i have a solution...and a better explanation of why it did what it did. i discovered that the timing cover has a winglet that covers this galley hole. so, the plug never was ejected. it could only push out until it hit the cover, but that was enough to relieve pressure. it must have fallen out unnoticed when i disassembled it? there is a sizeable gap of 5/16" between the plug and the cover. so, my plan is to make a spacer that will fill the gap between the plug and the timing cover, effectively preventing it from blowing out again. this galley has a larger rear plug that has a similar arrangement behind the rear crank seal cover, so i will make 2 spacers.

on another note, the rotating assembly went out this morning to be balanced. the shop is booked solid, so they may not be able to get it back to me this week. its most likely going to be next week. time is ticking away...

 

[TMSBOSS]

Curious how much the short block will cost. Parts, balancing/blue printing.

I usually build my own after machining and balancing.

 

[pufferfish]

I am not real sure what the retail price would be, as I get discounts on Ford and Manley. But i can tell you that I have $4258 into it plus another $240 for balancing. It ended up costing more than $4k because although Ford lists a production and FRPP part number for the block and crank, only the higher priced FRPP parts were in stock (figures). So, I had to spend nearly $500 more. If I was able to wait, it would have been that much less.

It should also be noted for reference, that I purchased parts that would not be included in a "short block", such as the oil pump, pilot bearing, head gaskets and bolts, updated cam covers and dipstick and the main seals.

 

[TMSBOSS]

That is an attractive price.

I get most Ford parts at 1% over cost. Manley I pay retail.

Looks like I could build a short block with a Moroso pan for around $5k. Very tempting.

CJ cams and intake system?? all together about $8k with extras like Long tubes and a tune.

Anxious to see your dyno numbers.

 

[pufferfish]

if i had the ability to go back in time, i would have had my stock cams reground to cj specs or maybe a little more on the comp cams side. cj and comp are both heavy. it added around 3lbs per stick on top of my engine and the free revving suffered a bit too. i had actually started to look into regrinds recently, but couldn't find anyone who does them...then this happened and took priority. JPC used to offer RGR regrinds, but i can't seem to find them anymore. I called once and talked to a voicemail box, but nobody called me back.

 

[2012Boss302]

...and I just found the failure point of my original engine...the main oil galley plug is MIA. I was comparing blocks to insert the dowels and plugs into the new block and noticed that the small press-in plug just below the water pump pocket was missing. Well, that explains the obvious oil starvation on the mains. Sucks it was ruined by that, but I am a bit relieved.

Do you have pictures of this plug ????

 

[pufferfish]

the little plug on the lower left of the water pump bore

 

[pufferfish]

by the way, there are a couple of differences to be noted in the voodoo block vs the coyote block.

first, the piston cooling nozzle port locations are now drilled on an angle through the block side of the main bearings (see pic below). so they are fed directly from the main bearings. there is a tapped M8 of some unknown fine pitch thread with a smaller through hole. Ford has no part number for the nozzles, so I can only guess that they look like a basketball pump tip? I wasn't planning on using jets, but now i definitely can't. I tried an M8x1.0 set screw and its not quite right. Gets in a few threads and starts to bind. Its either M8x0.8 or M8x0.75, but I can't find set screws in those thread sizes, so I am scratching my head.

Second, there are ribs cast intocrankcase ceiling. you can see it in the bisected oval holes in the pic below. the coyote block has clear oval holes. i read there was some strengthening ribs in the voodoo block, but didn't know where they were. now i know!

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Not M8x1.25? That is the most common M8 thread I know of.

 

[pufferfish]

nope. super fine thread. but i retract my earlier statement. i was just cleaning up and found a little bag-o-hardware in the box that the crank came in. lookie what we have here!



those are the piston cooling jets and a plug. now, what the plug is for, i still don't know. and why they put this in a different box than the block is beyond me. but, it looks like i will be sporting cooling jets for this build. now i kind of wish Manley had a 12:1 piston option on the shelf.

 

[captdistraction]

I may have to go down this road whenever motor #4 or #5 or whatever the hell I'm on now predictably gives up the goose. Keep the info coming!