Project 6: My 15 V6 project

[zackmd1]

Nice car man! Real good work. I'm in Southern Maryland too (PG County). We should meet up at a cars and coffee one day or cruise. Or both lol

PG county.... I feel sorry for both you and your vehicle! Some terrible roads and drivers in PG Country!

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[15Pony]

So how did the quality hold up over all that driving? Have you had maintenance issues come up?

 

[TURTL3]

PG county.... I feel sorry for both you and your vehicle! Some terrible roads and drivers in PG Country!

I grew up here so it's nothing to me. The plus side is unlike VA, PG is pretty light on the traffic enforcement. Already bent one of my wheels though, but those be the breaks I guess.

Let me know if you wanna do a cars and coffee one day. I'm usually at ones in VA ironically.

 

[zackmd1]

So how did the quality hold up over all that driving? Have you had maintenance issues come up?

The car has held up fairly well (aside from hood corrosion that is another issue entirely) and has never left me stranded! I would say it was a hard 100,000 due to DC beltway and general rough Maryland roads, and a bit of a lead foot...

In terms of maintenance I had to replace the struts at about 95,000 due to a leaky rear strut and another that was about to fail. Soon here I will also need to replace all 4 wheel bearings/hubs as I know at least the left front is bad and suspect one or both of the rear hubs are as well. In terms of the drivetrain, beyond a belt change and spark plug change I have not needed to do any other maintenance.

As stated before, the car has been great with mileage! But I am starting to feel the effects of extended mileage on wear items like the hubs which is why I am focusing more on drivetrain mods and replacement of excessive wear items as I move forward.

The 4.6 build is something I have always wanted to do and should be right at home in the engine bay of the S550. It will take be some time to complete the rebuild in which I hope we would have also figured out how to swap in the 10r80. That way when I am ready to install the engine I will also be able to swap my high mileage 6r80 for a new or low mile 10r80 and one piece driveshaft.

 

[Nagare]

Zack you're the perfect one to comment on it then, how long have you been running tunes on your car? Based on the 100k mile and no major issues posted above, I'm assuming everything has been well!

And no more 3.5 eco swap I'm guessing then?

 

[zackmd1]

Zack you're the perfect one to comment on it then, how long have you been running tunes on your car? Based on the 100k mile and no major issues posted above, I'm assuming everything has been well!

And no more 3.5 eco swap I'm guessing then?

I have been running tunes since about 25k miles with no issues! MPT tunes came around 60K I believe and again I have had zero issues.

And nope! My plan was changing almost daily there for awhile but again for about the same price (give or take a few hundred) I can build this 4.6 and achieve about the same power with a much better power curve and room to grow with less of a weight penalty then the turbos. On top of all of that I will be getting a brand new engine with zero miles vs installing FI on a 100K+ motor (which still would be fine...)

 

[Nagare]

Appreciate the info and sounds good on the plans. I like watching these build threads because of all the ideas running around people's heads and the progress you make with it.

I've never done anything on a car before so I'm learning a lot with the mustang. The most I've ever done before was put on a spare when I got a flat on the highway, so far I've changed the shocks, struts, and springs for aftermarket offerings and installed suspension bracing by myself and it definitely gives a sense of accomplishment.

 

[zackmd1]

Appreciate the info and sounds good on the plans. I like watching these build threads because of all the ideas running around people's heads and the progress you make with it.

I've never done anything on a car before so I'm learning a lot with the mustang. The most I've ever done before was put on a spare when I got a flat on the highway, so far I've changed the shocks, struts, and springs for aftermarket offerings and installed suspension bracing by myself and it definitely gives a sense of accomplishment.

It most certainly does! I have yet to build an engine so this 4.6 will be my chance to build my first one! I have help obviously but I am really looking forward to the experience! (and then likely will not ever want to do one again from what I am told... haha)

 

[zackmd1]

What I am aiming for in terms of sound...

[ame]

 

[zackmd1]

Well it is official.... 4.6 32 valve build is a go! Core engine is from a 2001 Lincoln Continental with 160k miles. This is actually a FWD aluminum block (WAP block based). Many say that this block is unusable because of the different bell housing and motor mounts. Thankfully the block has previsions for RWD motor mounts and the bell housing is a non issue due to the fact that I will be adapting it to work with the V6 transmission. (cut costs and due to the fact that the 6r80 is plenty strong even in its V6 form). Block can reliably handle 600+ hp.

Other then that the engine has C variant 4 valve heads and a 10.1 compression ratio. Build will consist of forged rods and either forged pistons or ceramic coated OEM pistons (OEM pistons are same design and material as stock Coyote pistons just smaller bore). Stock crank is plenty strong to handle the power I am planning. I will also be installing 5.8 GT500 cams that I have lying around that came out of another build.

To start off the engine will be NA and should make around 400-410 flywheel HP with a full LT header exhaust and custom intake. Down the road once the engine is broken in and any bugs worked out I will be installing an M122 supercharger and shoot for 600 flywheel HP.

 

[LETHAL]

Mid 90's Tech in your 2015.........if it even works out.

That 4.6 is not going to make 400 crank HP with just LTH and a "custom intake" with OEM GT500 cams.

Why not just S/C your 3.7?

 

[zackmd1]

Mid 90's Tech in your 2015.........if it even works out.

That 4.6 is not going to make 400 crank HP with just LTH and a "custom intake" with OEM GT500 cams.

Why not just S/C your 3.7?

Haha should have put my flame suit on first....

The 4.6 will be powered by the 15 coyote pcm, 15 coyote sensors, and wiring harness. You would be surprised by how similar the 2 engines are considering the coyote is based on “mid 90s tech”.

Mach 1s are pushing 330whp and 340wtq with just an LT exhaust and tune. Factor in a conservative 15% drivetrain loss and that would be 390 crank HP.

The cost of this build will be comparable to supercharging my 6 and I will be getting a fresh motor capable of more reliable HP. I picked up this entire running engine (before it was pulled) for $375. A decent coyote core would have easily been 10x the price. Total cost for this swap I estimate will be around $4k with the engine naturally aspirated. A V6 pro charger starts at $6k and even a DIY ecoboost twin turbo setup would cost around $3-4k and would not produce much more HP then the 4.6 in NA form due to the turbos being undersized.

People universally pan the 4.6 but you would be surprised by the potential of the 4 valve with the proper setup. This engine is not your run of the mill 2v that was installed in every car imaginable...

 

[zackmd1]

To support my numbers....

[ame]

 

[zackmd1]

Well engine is torn down. Fairly clean for a high milage engine! Cross hatch is still visible on the cylinder walls! No doubt though that this engine was close to death... The passenger side chain guide was almost completely worn away as seen in the pic below. A few more miles and the engine likely would have snapped the timing chain or at the very least jumped timing and damaged the valves and pistons.

As with everything, plans have changed slightly upon more research. I will most likely be going with a forged BOSS 302 crankshaft (can get one for $320 vs $800 for a 4.6 spec forged crank). With some small machine work to the snout of the crankshaft it will indeed work with the 4.6 block. Stoke will be increased slightly pushing displacement from 281ci to 289ci. Not much in terms of power gains but it is nice to have that number! MMR offers a set of Manley forged pistons for this exact application.

Another benefit to using a coyote crank is that I will be able to use the coyote crank trigger wheel (block will be modified to accept the new sensor location) simplifying the tuning and will also allow me to use a coyote spec flexplate/flywheel. Will hopefully be dropping off the block and heads at the machine shop by the end of the month.

 

[zackmd1]

Also as a bit of context.... A few parts I will be using for this engine (cams, oil pump, oil pan, etc..) build came from a 5.8 GT500 engine. That engine is currently being installed in a 68 Shelby restomod for a family friend.

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