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Building and Blueprinting a Road Race Motor (mini-build thread)

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captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
CaptBlownMotors here:

Having gone through every type of motor you can put in a road race car (Factory, Custom shop built, Ford Performance) and had lots of trouble over the years, I thought it would be a good exercise to walk through blueprinting and properly building up a motor for road racing.

After blowing up a motor spectacularly in early 2018 (and still inexplicably - to me at least), I bought a used 2011 motor from @steveespo to keep me racing through the season. That turned out to be the right call as the car made every single race after that without issue! It wasn't quite as powerful as the motor replaced, but the reliability paid off big in the end.

Now that the dust has settled, I'm building a motor to meet the Super Touring 2 classing limits and bring the car a bit closer to the competition (which is faster mustangs, a GTR, corvettes, oh my). I've partnered with a local shop to do the work (operated by someone who has built for almost every racing series that needs gasoline engines to compete). Their experience and attention to detail had sold me, as I had used them to measure out all my old equipment from the aluminator I had broken in February.

After cleaning up and going through the parts, we made the determination that only two parts could be used from the old engine for anything new: the Manley H beam rods (after cleanup work, they're not perfectly round even when brand new), and the oil-squirter blockoff plates.

Given that, I turned to my sources for Ford Service and Ford Performance Parts and ordered the following: https://1drv.ms/x/s!AlYNJ_4Or1Yc5pZdvMxhEGiAAH8PUw?e=6P5eNg (Parts List), Image below:

1590858882522.png

Some of this stuff ended up being unused like the head bolts (replaced by the head stud kit as we needed to install, then reinstall heads or cylinder torque plates a few times for blueprinting and machining operations). Same with oil pan bolts, main bolts from the hardware kit (and the bolts that come with the block, etc).

More to come.
 
Last edited:

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
CaptBlownMotors here:

Having gone through every type of motor you can put in a road race car (Factory, Custom shop built, Ford Performance) and had lots of trouble over the years, I thought it would be a good exercise to walk through blueprinting and properly building up a motor for road racing.

After blowing up a motor spectacularly in early 2018 (and still inexplicably - to me at least), I bought a used 2011 motor from @steveespo to keep me racing through the season. That turned out to be the right call as the car made every single race after that without issue! It wasn't quite as powerful as the motor replaced, but the reliability paid off big in the end.

Now that the dust has settled, I'm building a motor to meet the Super Touring 2 classing limits and bring the car a bit closer to the competition (which is faster mustangs, a GTR, corvettes, oh my). I've partnered with a local shop to do the work (operated by someone who has built for almost every racing series that needs gasoline engines to compete). Their experience and attention to detail had sold me, as I had used them to measure out all my old equipment from the aluminator I had broken in February.

After cleaning up and going through the parts, we made the determination that only two parts could be used from the old engine for anything new: the Manley H beam rods (after cleanup work, they're not perfectly round even when brand new), and the oil-squirter blockoff plates.

Given that, I turned to my sources for Ford Service and Ford Performance Parts and ordered the following:

View attachment 6080

Some of this stuff ended up being unused like the head bolts (replaced by the head stud kit as we needed to install, then reinstall heads or cylinder torque plates a few times for blueprinting and machining operations). Same with oil pan bolts, main bolts from the hardware kit (and the bolts that come with the block, etc).

More to come.
Great info! Will be paying close attention!!

Sent from my SM-G900M using Tapatalk
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
Sweet!! Looking forward of the result.

Just a question though, why not the 5.2 block to get some extra torque?

They continue to have cylinder wall issues. I didn’t want the extra hassle, and I had scored a set of brand new boss 302 heads allowing me to use the wide variety of traditional coyote options vs the only 5.2 options (like the heads, cams and timing systems)

I’ll go more into that shortly but this will be built to the limits of the class with reliability in mind.


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898
544
Would you mind posting target clearances as well as measured clearances as the build progresses? After you posted about the large variation in clearances in your motor, I looked up the Aluminator specs and was surprised at how much the clearances are allowed to vary.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
Absolutely. I’ll have a whole section on how we measured everything and what steps were used to remediate it.

For example, there’s a few parts off of the list here but I had to buy two sets of pistons as this virgin block from ford was too out of tolerance for stock 3.630” size pistons from mahle. So never assembled but we are having to go up 0.010”

Goal for this post is to get into the real meat and detail of all aspects of the build and “why it matters”.


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Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,156
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Wishing you continued success in 2019. You've earned it.
 
How far was the 2011 block out of spec? Just curious how it held up.

Good luck with your build.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
How far was the 2011 block out of spec? Just curious how it held up.

Good luck with your build.

That motor is still together and somewhat unrelated. It’s being relegated to spare duty, it may get some refresh for timing chains and tensioners.


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Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
That reinforces my thinking that you should put them back in your build. I don't think there's any piston coating or ring composition that negates the heat transfer issue. I also believe it's why squirters made their way back into the Gen 2 and later Gen 1 Coyotes.

I know *many* disagree, but I think they're essential for a build with longevity in mind and not the typical 'I need to make as much power as possible' from the drag race crowd. Even as former drag racer, I'd take the squirters on any engine that wasn't torn down on a daily/event basis.

I'm not saying they're mandatory by any means. Nor am I even suggesting it was a part in any of your previous engine failures. Just saying I would put them in if I were in your position at this moment.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
That reinforces my thinking that you should put them back in your build. I don't think there's any piston coating or ring composition that negates the heat transfer issue. I also believe it's why squirters made their way back into the Gen 2 and later Gen 1 Coyotes.

I know *many* disagree, but I think they're essential for a build with longevity in mind and not the typical 'I need to make as much power as possible' from the drag race crowd. Even as former drag racer, I'd take the squirters on any engine that wasn't torn down on a daily/event basis.

I'm not saying they're mandatory by any means. Nor am I even suggesting it was a part in any of your previous engine failures. Just saying I would put them in if I were in your position at this moment.

They won’t clear the skirts on the mahle pistons I’ve selected. I don’t know if that’s something we could machine clearance for or alter the squirters but certainly something I can discuss with the builders


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Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
They won’t clear the skirts on the mahle pistons I’ve selected. I don’t know if that’s something we could machine clearance for or alter the squirters but certainly something I can discuss with the builders
I'd consider another selection, if piston selection isn't locked in yet. I think it's at least worth the discussion with them.

If they're old school...maybe drilled ones on the big end of the rods. Really not sure I'd do that though.
 
277
161
Im surprised that you have to punch out a new factory block. One would think tolerances in 2018 would be spot on. o_O That sure adds to the build cost. Looking forward to helping get this new bullet in there when your ready.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
Im surprised that you have to punch out a new factory block. One would think tolerances in 2018 would be spot on. o_O That sure adds to the build cost. Looking forward to helping get this new bullet in there when your ready.

It’s within Detroit tolerance, but the builders and I agree that it’s too far out of spec range for these pistons.

I’ll do some more on this thread soon when I have time to dig in deep. Next up will be the combination selection, classing then I’ll do the block measuring.


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Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
I wasn't aware the squirters came back in the Gen 2. With respect to them coming back to later Gen 1s, are you referring to the late 14s that also had the 15 heads? Or were the squirters indpendent of that?

I've seen the 2015 part listed and it shows up in the Ford cutaways and documentation:
2015-Ford-Mustang-Engine-Details.jpg
Not 'called out', but seen in the upper graphic in front of the con-rod on the right.
Above is same pic as in the FP gen1 vs gen2 doc:
https://performanceparts.ford.com/download/PDFS/FPP_Gen_2_Coyote_Technical_Reference_2-16.pdf
Ironically, they specifically mention it in the 2.3L Ecoboost cutaway.
2015-ford-mustang-ecoboost.jpg


10-2015-ford-mustang-ecoboost-engine.jpg

Like they want us to forget they were ever deleted from the Coyote...

...and here's a set of gen2 take-off parts:
s-l1600-1484.jpg
listed here: *bay link

Or were the squirters indpendent of that?
I think independent of that. As far as I know, they were back by mid-late '13.

...

Basically, the Gen 2s got *all* the good Boss and 2011 hardware stuff plus mid-lock phasers.
 

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