Chapter 5
The Plan

by Ryan King
Edited by Patricia Kalin
5/07

Since I had a working model for my project, I was prepared to begin.

What I needed to do first was come up with a “project plan.”

Ignorantly, my concept of a “project plan” at the time had little do with how I was going to execute the project. Instead, I focused on WHAT I was going to execute. To that end, the only thing I needed to do was come up with solutions for problems I saw cropping up with my model.

The first problem was the 347 engine design.

To start, the 5.4” rods kept the rod-to-stroke ratio low at 1.58:1. For comparison, the 351W has a rod-to-stroke ratio of 1.7:1 (which was the engine I was used to from my time driving and wrenching on the Original 351). The 347 rod length was even shorter than a Chevy 350's 5.7” rods, which gives that engine a 1.63:1 ratio. Lowering the rod-to-stroke ratio can shorten engine life and reduce power due to higher friction on the cylinder walls and crank (as well as poorer firing angle).

The second concern I had was the oil burning problem I had read about. That was reported to be caused by the piston design, which needed to have the pin go through the oil control ring land to fit the 3.4” stroke and 5.4” rod within the 8.2” deck height of the 5.0 engine block.

I did some research and found out that Coast High Performance had a solution to the oil burning problem. By using a shorter 5.315” rod, they were able to keep the piston pin out of the ring land and improve oil control. While this did lower the rod to stroke ratio even further to 1.56:1, I felt the improved oil control was worth it. I could get a stroker kit (crank, rods, custom pistons and supporting pieces) for right around a hundred dollars more than the cost of the 5.0 rebuild (see Chapter 4 for more details) and I figured I could build the engine myself and keep the total cost down around the cost of a 5.0 rebuild (which really appealed to my sensible side).

The third problem was reconciling the use of stud mounted rockers in the TFS heads with the pedestal mount rockers used in the stock heads. At the time, I didn't want to deal with adjusting the valves as I enjoyed the simplicity of bolting down the factory pedestal mount offerings. I also felt that keeping it as close to stock as possible would make the design easier for me to execute, as I'd never attempted to build a custom drivetrain before.

Although I'd done my fair share of major drivetrain related repairs at that point in my life, I didn't understand enough about valvetrain design to effectively change from one setup to the other.

That left me with limited cylinder head choices.

After looking over all of the available designs of the time, I chose to substitute the TFS heads with Ford Racing GT-40Y pieces.

The fourth issue was intake choice. With the high cost of fuel injected 5.0 intake manifolds (especially at that time), getting an intake was an expensive endeavor. To help keep costs down, I chose to go with a Ford Racing Cobra GT-40 style assembly (even though the original engine build in the 347 model I was following used an Edelbrock Performer).

To better compliment the intake choice and further keep costs down, I opted to go with an FRPP 65mm throttle body and MAF conversion kit.

The valvetrain of the model car was also way too expensive for me, so to keep things simple and cost effective I decided to replace the Crower grind with a much less expensive Ford Racing E-303 bumpstick and use stock components for everything but the valve springs which came pre-installed on the GT-40Y head assemblies.

When it came to headers, I knew I had many choices available in terms of cost, design and power.

The '90 notch used Edelbrock 1 5/8” shorties, which would complement the 2.5” Bassani X-pipe I already had on the car. However, from reading an older article, I had a comparison of just about every shorty available, and the BBK Ceramic Coated 1 5/8” equal length shorties made the most power when installed on a “stock” 5.0. Of course, at that time, I didn't really understand that even though a component does well in one application it may not do well in another. So, I assumed those would be the best choice for mine and added them to the list of components I planned to install.

As I already had the rest of the exhaust system from previous modifications, I opted to use my very nice stainless Bassani 2.5” X-pipe (with cats) and MAC 2.5” Flowpath catback.

Like the model, I planned on using the stock T5 from my car.

Unlike the model, I had the early T5 installed in the '85-'89 cars which is factory rated at 265 lb/ft of torque.

The T5 in '90 and later Mustangs is factory rated at 300 lb/ft due to a stouter gear set. I didn't know that at the time, so I charged merrily ahead being none the wiser.

Yes, the factory 5.0s output in '85-'89 exceeds the rating of the T5s Ford installed behind them. It was just barely up to snuff in the '90-'95 cars, and the 347 in the model certainly went well beyond either transmission's capacity.

The rear end in the '90 Sedan was the stock 8.8” with 3.55:1 gears.

What little I understood about vehicle design and optimum gear choice told me it would be better geared with 3.27s, so that was what I went with (FYI, I didn't understand enough and I lacked any practical experience). While I opted to go with a different gear set, I did opt to install them in the factory rear end as it was cheaper.

Turning my eye towards the chassis, I went a completely different direction than the model. Before the Project LX '87 Mustang went down, I had started purchasing suspension components from Global West and decided to stick with that direction.

The brake setup used on the model was, again, well outside of my price range. Due to that, I decided it would be best to convert the brake system over to the less ambitious '93 Cobra disc setup. Another advantage to this choice for me was that it was a fully designed factory system that would make it easier to do, and it would still provide better braking. It was winning scenario all the way around.

The wheel and tire combo was the hardest decision for me to make.

At the time, I couldn't find a combination I was happy with. The wheels that I liked limited me to 225 wide tires and the only wheels I knew of that would allow me to fit larger were the '93 Cobra Turbines, which weren't my favorites. After much deliberation I decided it was better to have the extra rubber on the pavement, and the '93 Cobra Turbines would allow me to fit the factory Cobra sized 245/45ZR17 tires in the wheel wells, so that was what I went with.

At best I had what I would now loosely call a “design,” but nothing resembling a practical project plan. At least it was something that I could use to guide my efforts, which was more than I had to start with.

In Chapter 6, I’ll start putting my “plan” in motion...kinda like a finely tuned engine with a pair of spark plug wires installed out of order.