How yo make 350hp and other Questions?

Trippen Out

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ive been reading over a lot of threads and theres a lot of talk about doing this and doing that. what i would like to know, is how to get 350hp out of my mark viii. this doesnt seam like a huge deal its only about 60 extra hp and of course i mean how do i do this besides just adding a tune becuase i know that wont get me enough. also while im at the questions here and im sure someone will say search and i have. what is a trac-loc why do i want one in my car from what im guessing it makes both wheels spin instead of one or did i miss something. and whats the i cant remember if its a torq or stall convertor and the number 3000 keeps showing up. i know noobish questions but hey its my first car and gota start somewhere right so it might as well be here. thanks in advance for the knowledge

edit: and what kinda damage am i looking at in regards to the wallet as well.
 
First question 350 crank or 350 wheel hp?

A track lock is just Fords name for a limited slip differential... a stall converter is just a saying for a converter with a higher stall than a stick unit, every converter has a stall speed... stock is supposedly around 2600-2800 rpms... I personally wouldn't bother with less than a 3500 rpm converter...
 
First question 350 crank or 350 wheel hp?

A track lock is just Fords name for a limited slip differential... a stall converter is just a saying for a converter with a higher stall than a stick unit, every converter has a stall speed... stock is supposedly around 2600-2800 rpms... I personally wouldn't bother with less than a 3500 rpm converter...

I think he wanted crank hp because he mentioned it being 60 over stock. :p

My guess would be exhaust including putting an X pipe in place of the third cat, headers, K&N filter, tune, and underdrive pulleys. That's just my guess though.

If that didn't get you there it will get you real close. a 96-98 cobra intake manifold in addition to those other things will definitely put you over the threshold. You're looking at probably $2000 in mods.
 
Yeah you should be able to pull on a 300C w/out getting up to 350 horsepower.
 
stage 2 cams, headers, underdrive pulleys, cobra intake, bigger exhaust piping w/better flowing mufflers, and big gears w/Denny's 4" driveshaft
 
I don't think you need cams to get to 350hp.

A good converter isn't cheap. Well over $500. I got mine through BOC but it's a Circle D unit and would definitely recommend them. Stall speed should depend on your mods and if you do gears. It should work with your combo don't just pick a rpm.

Trac lok and gears should be done before or at the same time as the converter as the gear ratio will affect how the car drives with a high stall coverter. Personally I wouldn't go less then 4.10s. You will probably need a driveshaft too. I got everything new gears/trac lok and install kit from Max @ Five star ford forgot how much. Paid about $300 for install.
 
All the advise above i agree with, its all good. The almight search for more HP is one thing but not all, I have little hp gains over a stock mark but I can handle a charger or 300 not by much though. Raced a couple year old charger at the track ran a few tenths faster but it was there the whole way. I pulled slowly the whole way. I ran 14.0ish!!!! The best performance wise would be high stall converter and gears these will get the 2 ton car moving off the line where most races are won. Neither of these two mods give you any MORE HP but make the car quicker. Then get a good tune to get it all working right that will add a little real HP's.
 
The best performance wise would be high stall converter and gears these will get the 2 ton car moving off the line where most races are won. Neither of these two mods give you any MORE HP but make the car quicker. Then get a good tune to get it all working right that will add a little real HP's.

That's absolutely true! My mustang would annihilate things out of the hole that it should have lost too. It's all about the launch, and coming out of the hole. This is precisely why I'm a bigger fan of torque than anything else. Torque is what you feel, and what gets you off the line. This was why my Mustang was such a beast. It fell on it's face in the upper RPM's though because it was weak in the hp department.

Suspension is another highly overlooked aspect. All the power in the world means nothing if you can't get it to the pavement!
 
thanks for the advice guys. ive got a place around here that will give me 3 dyno pulls for 30 bucks. i figured id start with that get a base reading. then my plan of attack was to do a custom exhaust first then a standard chip for now. and the work my way around. to be honest with ya im not sure i want to mess with the cams on this car at this point. so i think that would be one of my later mods after i get everything up to snuff. then i guess looking at packages. so it from what im understanding is it would be best to do the convertor (if someone could explain what it does would be nice and why its important) along with the trackloc and the gearing. i know a lot of people go back and forth about the gearing as far as what to use. 3.73 4.10 4.30 stuff like that. this would be my daily driver i was thinking 3.73 mostly becuase id like to try and avoid having to get an aftermarket shaft
 
1st gen's driveshaft'll do just find with 4.10s if you don't drive like a nut on the highway and go over 100mph
 
Torque converter allows the cengine to rev up in rpms. It also multiplies the torque of the engine. It is similar to slipping the clutch in a manual shift car. With a 3500 stall converter when you take off from a stop the converter will let the engine rev to around 3500 the engine makes more power at that rpm than at 2000.
 
1st gen's driveshaft'll do just find with 4.10s if you don't drive like a nut on the highway and go over 100mph

Nope. If you mean 93 driveshafts, I have one with 4.10s and the vibrations start to piss me off over 85 or so. 1st gen 94-96 shafts aren't any different than 2nd gens, and they suck. Balls.

My advice is if you do gears at all, be prepared to do an aftermarket shaft. I say this because 3.73s or better need a shaft IMO, and anything less than 3.73s aren't worth doing anyway.
 
thanks for the advice guys. ive got a place around here that will give me 3 dyno pulls for 30 bucks. i figured id start with that get a base reading. then my plan of attack was to do a custom exhaust first then a standard chip for now. and the work my way around. to be honest with ya im not sure i want to mess with the cams on this car at this point. so i think that would be one of my later mods after i get everything up to snuff. then i guess looking at packages. so it from what im understanding is it would be best to do the convertor (if someone could explain what it does would be nice and why its important) along with the trackloc and the gearing. i know a lot of people go back and forth about the gearing as far as what to use. 3.73 4.10 4.30 stuff like that. this would be my daily driver i was thinking 3.73 mostly becuase id like to try and avoid having to get an aftermarket shaft

Let me know how that shop works. I've seen there ad on craigslist and wonder how good they are. It would be nice to get feedback from a customer.

4.10's would be better as there aren't many highways by you. I know since I live in the same area. 3.73's are good for someone that does more highway driving. 4.10's will give you better city miles per gallon so that would be your better alternative. Just my 2 cents.
 
Rule number one - don't believe all the HP claims advertised.

Rule number two - you can't add HP claims. The total HP is always much less than the sum of the parts.

What that means is to get 60HP more, you're looking at well over an accumulated 120HP in advertised HP claims.

That's a lot out of your wallet.

Rule number three - make the most of the HP you have before adding HP.

My '96 for all intents and purposes is pretty close to 'stock HP'. With 18x9 aftermarket wheels, it ran pretty much a flat 15 second 1/4 mile. After a cat-back exhaust, 4.10s with traction-lock, J-mod, MMx driveshaft and a 3500 stall converter it ran very consistent 14.3 ETs on 26" drag tires with virtually the same trap speeds(HP). :cool:
 
Rule number one - don't believe all the HP claims advertised.

Rule number two - you can't add HP claims. The total HP is always much less than the sum of the parts.

I don't agree with you on that. My dyno numbers on my stang prove that the numbers the advertisments claimed were very close to being 100% accurate. Stangs usually run 220whp stock....my car ran 271 with LT's, ORH, Borla catback, BBK cai, Fidanaza alum flywheel & SCT dyno tune.

That's a 51 whp jump from just putting free flowing exhaust, intake on with a tune and aluminum flywheel. The aluminum flywheel is the equivalent of adding an aluminum driveshaft.
 
Let me know how that shop works. I've seen there ad on craigslist and wonder how good they are. It would be nice to get feedback from a customer.

4.10's would be better as there aren't many highways by you. I know since I live in the same area. 3.73's are good for someone that does more highway driving. 4.10's will give you better city miles per gallon so that would be your better alternative. Just my 2 cents.

your right most of the driving i do is on the screets with limits at 45mph ive herd the 4.10 does make the gas go up some i think i herd geno say that in a thread or three. so im all for that. sounds like thats what ill be going with then. maybe this logic is not good or maybe its great. but if i can get more mpg by going to a 4.10 gear then that gives me a little more head room for gas sucking power to bring it back down to normal then. sounds like a good trade off to me.

by the way thanks to for all the advice i think i have a game plan now i just need to bank roll it all.
 
your right most of the driving i do is on the screets with limits at 45mph ive herd the 4.10 does make the gas go up some i think i herd geno say that in a thread or three. so im all for that. sounds like thats what ill be going with then. maybe this logic is not good or maybe its great. but if i can get more mpg by going to a 4.10 gear then that gives me a little more head room for gas sucking power to bring it back down to normal then. sounds like a good trade off to me.

by the way thanks to for all the advice i think i have a game plan now i just need to bank roll it all.

Yeah gears are a torque multiplier, so if a 4.10 gear creates more usable torque than a 3.73, then it takes less for the engine to power up enough to get the car out the hole.

3.73's are superior on the highway because the rpm's are lower at whatever speed you cruise. So that obviously would positively effect your highway gas mileage.
 
BONE stock I went 14.60 @97mph with the one legger 3.07 gears.

My recipe is as follows.

Our Chip.
Our MAF kit.
Smoothed throttle body tube.
Nology Wires.
255 lph high pressure high volume Walbro fuel pump.
Our adjustable fpr.
Autolite copper 764 spark plugs gapped at .048.
Solid motor mounts.
Solid trans mount.
Our trans built to the hilt, lays out 2nd like a throw rug.
3500 stall Edge Racing torque converter.
4.10 gears.
Ford Trac Lok posi.
Poly carrier bushings.
Dennys driveshaft.
ASP crank pulley only.
Griffin radiator.
160 t stat.
Our cat back exhaust.

I launch at 1100 ish and let the chip shift with the tc & od off and best to date in amazing weather was 13.44 @102.993. I have averaged with all equipment (subs in, 1/2 tank or more) consistent 13.50/60ish range. I get 27.5 on the hwy and 19.2 avg and can do 150 plus top end.

Walt has almost the same mods i have and went 13.70 and dynoed 263 to the wheels.
 
BONE stock I went 14.60 @97mph with the one legger 3.07 gears.

My recipe is as follows.

Our Chip.
Our MAF kit.
Smoothed throttle body tube.
Nology Wires.
255 lph high pressure high volume Walbro fuel pump.
Our adjustable fpr.
Autolite copper 764 spark plugs gapped at .048.
Solid motor mounts.
Solid trans mount.
Our trans built to the hilt, lays out 2nd like a throw rug.
3500 stall Edge Racing torque converter.
4.10 gears.
Ford Trac Lok posi.
Poly carrier bushings.
Dennys driveshaft.
ASP crank pulley only.
Griffin radiator.
160 t stat.
Our cat back exhaust.

I launch at 1100 ish and let the chip shift with the tc & od off and best to date in amazing weather was 13.44 @102.993. I have averaged with all equipment (subs in, 1/2 tank or more) consistent 13.50/60ish range. I get 27.5 on the hwy and 19.2 avg and can do 150 plus top end.

Walt has almost the same mods i have and went 13.70 and dynoed 263 to the wheels.

is your recipe laid out in best order of upgrade first, or how would you rate each upgrade from do this first to do this last ? and how much is this recipe costing it looks like theres several grand in parts there
 
is your recipe laid out in best order of upgrade first, or how would you rate each upgrade from do this first to do this last ? and how much is this recipe costing it looks like theres several grand in parts there



I do not remember the order. Most was done right off the bat in the first 2 years I owned the car. I like the chip/tuner, maf, exhaust to get started with,then go from there. Make sure your car is up to par stock before messing with anything IE good fresh tune up and good fuel pressure/delivery.

Cost is about 2kish. total.
 

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