Has anyone ever used this kit sold by the mustang depot. Its mahle motorsports??I've never heard of it personally. I would like to do a 331 / 347 stroker if uncle sam gives me back enough money he's been stealing all year long . Whats the striaght scoop on the stroker as far as machine work besides the normal b/s of boring and so forth. Rick, I know you have a 347, what kit did you use. I'am asking cuz the price seems very good, but makes me wonder if its made in china or something. Also will a 347 live in a street car that sees regular use, I've heard this set up causes excessive wear to the bores due to rod angle? here's da link... Thanks in advance, Jamiehttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/306-331-347-355-STROKER-KIT-5-0-MUSTANG-COBRA-FORD-TMD_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33620QQitemZ8039225101
I almost got that kit, but went with a Scat & Probe kit from ADPerformance.com instead. I heard some bad things about the quality of Hawks cranks (China, like almost everything nowadays), but heard it on the internet so who knows. Mahle are good pistons and are used in tons of production cars and trucks. Probe are great pistons, that's what I have. I think it is a good kit except the crank and maybe the rods. Machining and balancing is probably $500 to $1000 depending on what you have to get done. My 331 was alot ($1200-1300 I think) because I had it bored, honed, decked, align bored, cleaned, test assembled, one cylinder sleeved, and stroker clearanced. Keep in mind that a crank that isn't that great could cost alot more to balance and may also need to have additional machining done. I think the rod ratio deal has been debated to death, but most seem to agree that it isn't a big deal and 347's are the way to go nowadays. Most the people with 347's that I know have had them for a long time and they have had little to no problems. Maverick Man has one too. FYI, after my engine was put together by myself, it cost about the same as a complete crate engine. Oh yeah one last thing, the early 302 blocks (up to 72-73) are supposed to be a little stronger with more material in the main webs, etc. than the newer roller blocks.
Jamie, My 347 wasn't a kit. My engine builder peiced it together using specific parts. No one kit (at the time the motor was built) had everything he wanted to use (4340 Forged Steel Crank, H-Beam Connecting Rods, SRP Pistons, etc). There's guys on here more qualified than I am to tell you everything that needs to be done to the block, but from what I remember: * Bore the cylinders .030" over * Install Block Girdle * Line Bore (for Crank) * Zero Deck (shave the top of the block to have .000" inch clearance from top of the piston to the top of the block. * Hand grind clearance for connecting rod lateral movement (rod will hit cylinder walls without performing this operation on a 347. Also, I had mine internally balanced while I was at it. There's a lot to internally balancing an engine but it's basically weighing the internal parts and then drilling holes and plugging the crank with a heavy metal (welded-in in my case). The supposed benefits are less wear on the crank, bearings, damper, etc). It also lets the engine rap VERY quickly. Personally, I could not provide you any guidance on the parts your looking at on eBay. I know the crank is not forged steel - it is cast - which is not to say that that is a bad thing. In my "system", the weakest link is the block itself. The stock 5.0 block is good for 500 hp repeateadly (so I'm told). Others will argue they can get 750-800 h.p. from them - but not many last long. So, the nodular iron crank would be okay if you didn't intend on throwing 200 hp of nitrous at it (IMO) every Saturday night. In the hot-rod world, one rarely EVER gets back what they put into something. Someone out there, somewhere, currently has a great deal on an existing 347 Stroker. You'll wind up paying a lot less to buy one that's already done. NOTE: That's not to say that you shouldn't do a background check on that engine (how many times has it been down the track? was it used with nitrous? turbo? other? etc.,). Odds are, they have expensive aluminum heads already on it (something you'd want to do to optimize your increased cubic inches). Essentially, the costs vary on building a stroker - depending on how you intend to use it (race? street? both?). The process will also take a while and you'll wonder when the spending will ever stop (the cost of ARP fasteners alone will surprise you). At the time I had my Stroker built, there hadn't been nearly as many built as there are now. They're becoming available more often now. I'd look into the prices of a used stroker while adding up the costs to build a new one. You'd be surprised what kind of deals are out there. Well, I see that I've rambled a lot and haven't told you much. I hope there's something in my novel you can use when determining on which way to go. Good luck whichever way you go.
Here's the 347 kit I used: http://www.cprparts.com/specials.html#Anchor-For-48739 The only extra step was clearancing the bottom of the cylinders for the rod bolts, took less than an hour with a die grinder. Cost me almost $300 for balancing, the front and rear counterweights look like swiss cheese. I figure the crank was made for either 28 or 50 oz imbalance and I went for 28 so they had to remove a lot of material. The Probe pistons and the rods are nice pieces, the crank was a Chinese special but it checked out ok.
A guy i work with told me about a place called rpm machine. thay have a web page and a descent prices. It might be something to check out. My 347 has some age on it but its in good health and i had driven the car at one time for daily driver. But the 331 is supposed to be a more versatile ghoise but i have no experience with it.
Not to say that the "old" 347's were bad, but a lot of people were having problems with oil consumption on them. The wrist pin sits up in the ring on them. If you're going to do a 347, it might be worth the extra $ to get one with a 5.315" rod (and matching piston)... 331's don't have the wrist pin in the ring.
Why not do a 351w to a 393 stroker and be done with it ?? If what I've been reading is true, there's no block work to do. Just basically the crank swap. And of course the add ons that you would have with the 347 anyway. Just my .
I have a 331 in my race car now, using an Eagle kit with SRP pistons. The wrist pin does intersect the oil ring but it also uses a oil ring support spacer in the ring land and that is the key to no oil consumption. The Eagle crank I use, has the small narrow rod journals that take a GM V6 bearing and Eagle I-beam rods. Have over 400 runs on it shifting at 6800 rpm and have gone as high as 7500. Took it down for inspection this winter and found very little wear and minor bearing scratching. Running on gas last year but am now on alky this year, so will see the results of that, mid season. Am a firm believer in main girdles as well as rocker stud girdles for longgevity and strength. Am wondering why balancing costs so much in other area's of the country. Still get external for around 150.00 here, using a new balancing machine. Am in process of putting together a 347, as time and funds allow, using a concreted block and Mahle pistons. They weigh well under the SRP's and make for fast reving and reliability. Mavman was first to try them in his 408, in this area and is really impressed by the results. 393 is a great combo, but makes for a tight fit in the Mav's unless you rid yourself of the shock towers and use the MII type front end etc. One thing to look at too, is stuffing all that HP and torque in the engine bay and then trying to use small rubber on the rear. Other mod's can be made to accomadate these monsters to put the power to the ground, but is going to be a bit more work and some drastic chassis work to make it work right. Course you could just leave things fairly stock, in the rear, and keep the right foot off the floor, in normal street driving, Yeah right!
In my case the shop said they normally get $130 - $175 for a balance job depending on time spent. Unfortunately it took almost twice as long to get mine right, so the price was higher than normal. I didn't look, but I suspect they have an old balance machine that doesn't have the drill press mounted right on the machine. So they have to remove the crank, drill it, put back on the machine and spin, remove it, drill it, etc...
Thanks for all the advice on building a stroker. Unfortunately, cost is my limited factor (always the case). It looks like I have alot more homework to do. I wouldnt mind using a crank / rods made in china as I've never heard of a problem with them thus far. Looks like the cpr and mustang depot kits are basically the same except pistons and I believe you can get probes with tmd kits. The 393 route sounds VERY tantalizing but a mII susp. does not, not that I couldnt do it but like I said budget,budget,budget. I'm gonna call a couple of shops to get quotes on machine work but for the cost of these kits alone I may spend my money on go fast parts for the set up I have now, roller 5.0.. I'm looking to build a street car with a bad attitude. In other words,I want to have fun with it on and off the street on occasion, I want to drive to work, 35 mi each way, and and scare the $hit outa all the "winged wonders" out here .I appreciate all the advice, you guys are awesome!!! I keep you all posted as the parts come in and my little monster starts to come together. Next stop....Summit racing
Personally I stay away from Crate motors. The reason is like anything you get delivered from another state, you got nobody to complain to if it isn't right. A good local machinist will stand behind his work. Go to the track ans start asking guys who built there motor and if they would have another built by that guy. I like the 331 kits myself. I will never build a 347, just do not want to chance it. Most guys have great luck out of them though........If you get really creative you can put together a home made 331 kit for less $800.00. I'm to lazy and would rather pay $1200.00 for a complete kit. I just hate hassles.......Then again I really want to build a 289 that cranks out 8000rpm or more. Anyway just babblin....
Check out these kits from ProPower. http://www.propowerperf.com/product_info.php?cPath=175_176&products_id=12621&osCsid=a6162386aaa492f0a4a6e58482f81e7c
Hey ShadowMaster, how good is this company. Those kits that 331 kits that can handle 650hp are the cheapest I have seen.
Cost of 347 with "cheap" parts ....$1500.00 Cost to replace "cheap engine" when parts scattered $2000.00 Cost of good 347 with "good" parts $3500.00 Doing things right the first time..... Just my thoughts on the subject and that doesnt include your lost time and pissed off significant other and .. you get the point.
I agree with funk....your not gonna get 600+ ponies out of a stock block 302 with cheap parts. well, let me rephrase that, you can get 600+ ponies out of a stock block 302 with cheap parts, just not for very long :evilsmile My set-up is around that horsepower figure and there is no "cheap" parts in it....and I am still expecting destruction at any time
