4.0 pefromance rebuild

94redranger · Sep 3, 2008

I might possibly do a rebuild on my 4.0 and would like to get some more power out of it while I am at it. First I was looking at the Tom Morana 4.3 stroker kit with lightweight crankshaft, rods, pistons etc. Does anyone have this setup on their truck? I would also like to know how the Tom Morana cam compares to the comp cams. Also what is the best cylinder head to buy performance wise and strength wise? After all this is put in like the stroker kit and camshaft will my trucks computer not work with these parts? If I decided to put in a jet performance chip after these parts will it actually do anything?

Yellowsplash · Sep 3, 2008

A Jet chip wont do shit for you with that many mods, let alone in stock form. You will need extensive dyno time with a highly skilled tuner. Doug at bamachips is the man when it comes to tuning rbvs.

As far as your other questions, they would be best answered if you contacted morana directly. There really isnt a "best" head to buy. Port and polishing is your only choice. There are some aftermarket castings that have a thicker deck to prevent cracking, but the head isnt any different than the factory otherwise, just make sure you get the correct casting for your year. It is possible to install a 95-97 head on your 94 block to obtain around 10:1 compression, but again requires tuning. Morana and supersix motorsports seem to be the more experienced at port and polishing. Its easy to actually hurt flow rather than help it if you dont know what you are doing. With the cam, you should be able to get the cam specs from each manufacturer to compare.

AllanD · Sep 3, 2008

Ok, I'm gonna ask how much does that 18cid increase in displacement to your 245cid engine cost?

(I already know, I just want you to think about it in terms of Dollar
per cubic inch increase)

Last I checked Morena's stroker kit cost about $200/CID

His customers should be called Morona's

For the price of that kit I could build and install a 5.0 or even a 5.8.
That'll blow the doors off of ANY V6.

That all being said if you want "performance" why did you buy a truck?

AD

86_cookiemonster · Sep 4, 2008

AllanD said:
Ok, I'm gonna ask how much does that 18cid increase in displacement to your 245cid engine cost?

(I already know, I just want you to think about it in terms of Dollar
per cubic inch increase)

Last I checked Morena's stroker kit cost about $200/CID

His customers should be called Morona's

For the price of that kit I could build and install a 5.0 or even a 5.8.
That'll blow the doors off of ANY V6.

That all being said if you want "performance" why did you buy a truck?

AD

I am not completly disagreeing with you. That cost for a stroker kit is through the roof, and you only get 18 cubic inches.

But, you also get forged I-beam connecting rods, and forged pistons. Which is a plus if you trying to build up large amounts of boost. So if you are going all out performance v6, than this kit might be good to consider. But if you are just trying to have better acceleration, and more umph you would be better off paying for a good set of performance heads from some place like supersix.com a good set of headers, and redo your gearing. You'll get better off the line performance, and it will feel faster.

As to why buy a truck for performance. Some people just don't want to drive a car.

engdept · Sep 4, 2008

check out www.8secsplash.net . He has built his 4.0 OHV to have roughly 450 ft/# of torque.

AllanD · Sep 4, 2008

Well, I understand not wanting to drive a car...
I drive my truck most of the time and I have a (disassembled)
car that sits.

My truck isn't a "toy" or a "fashion statement", it works for a living.

on quite a few days I spend more time in my truck than I do here at my computer.

And either car would look rather silly trying to bring an explorer axle
home from the junkyard

If I want to go REALLY FAST I'll put my 1985 Saab back together.
Yeah Really, I own a Saab, Most people don't appreciate that for
a larger and more roomy car it only weighs 300lb more than an
Escort and with it's turbocharged 2liter engine it actually has
more torque than my 4.0 Ranger and more horsepower than
a SHO Taurus. add to that that it's as safe as a Volvo and
nearly as safe as a Mercedes in a crash (but has collision
avoidence on-par with a Porsche...)

Why try to make one vehicle do different (contradictory) things?

Now, I'm going back outside to put my Escort back together
(It's the vehicle my brother and I got for my Mother to drive)

AD

MAKG · Sep 4, 2008

Yeah, I don't understand that either.

I have three vehicles -- see the signature -- and they all have different purposes. None of them are worth much more than 3 figures.

When I care about mileage, I use the Prizm. I can make it get 40 MPG if I want to. It gets over 30 MPG driving it like it's on fire. When I need to haul something, that's what the 4-wheeled trash can is for.

Evan · Sep 4, 2008

If I were to build a performance 4.0L I would:

Punch the block 60 over.
Swap on later model heads for higher compression, and run 93 octane.
Have a shop port and polish the intakes and heads.
Buy a cam that offers more lift.
Run a dual exhaust - X pipe.
Spend a day on the dyno with a knowledgable tuner.

engdept · Sep 4, 2008

Evan said:
Punch the block 60 over.

I think .030 over is about all you can get out of the 4.0 block without making the cylinder walls too thin.

86_cookiemonster · Sep 4, 2008

AllanD said:
Well, I understand not wanting to drive a car...
I drive my truck most of the time and I have a (disassembled)
car that sits.

My truck isn't a "toy" or a "fashion statement", it works for a living.

on quite a few days I spend more time in my truck than I do here at my computer.

And either car would look rather silly trying to bring an explorer axle
home from the junkyard

If I want to go REALLY FAST I'll put my 1985 Saab back together.
Yeah Really, I own a Saab, Most people don't appreciate that for
a larger and more roomy car it only weighs 300lb more than an
Escort and with it's turbocharged 2liter engine it actually has
more torque than my 4.0 Ranger and more horsepower than
a SHO Taurus. add to that that it's as safe as a Volvo and
nearly as safe as a Mercedes in a crash (but has collision
avoidence on-par with a Porsche...)

Why try to make one vehicle do different (contradictory) things?

Now, I'm going back outside to put my Escort back together
(It's the vehicle my brother and I got for my Mother to drive)

AD

I know that a truck isn't a fashion statment, i use mine to hull crap all the time. Your saab sounds pretty nice.

As to the why try and make one vehicle do diffrenent things, I get bored sometimes, and find myself with nothing better to do.

Ranger44 · Sep 4, 2008

Evan said:
If I were to build a performance 4.0L I would:

Punch the block 60 over.
Swap on later model heads for higher compression, and run 93 octane.
Have a shop port and polish the intakes and heads.
Buy a cam that offers more lift.
Run a dual exhaust - X pipe.
Spend a day on the dyno with a knowledgable tuner.

All great, but it's not a good idea to swap later heads(95up) onto an earlier block(90-94). The fast burn heads will cause problems with the earlier management and burn the engine up in a few thousand miles.

woodyedmiston · Sep 4, 2008

Fast Burn Heads

And you know this how? I've read that speculation in the 4.0 Rebuild article - but I've never heard of anyone who actually had the experience. Can you tell me if that bit of data came from anywhere other than the aforementioned article?

Ranger44 · Sep 4, 2008

Talking to some of the ford techs.

Plus the article.

I have not "READ" it anywhere else, besides the article. Plus is says a FORD engineer quoted it.

I woudn't risk building($$$) an engine up like that only to have it destroy itself.

If you'd like to try it, be my guest......I'd be anxious to see the results.

85_Ranger4x4 · Sep 4, 2008

Ranger44 said:
All great, but it's not a good idea to swap later heads(95up) onto an earlier block(90-94). The fast burn heads will cause problems with the earlier management and burn the engine up in a few thousand miles.

That could be where the "knowlegable tuner" comes into play...

94redranger · Sep 4, 2008

ya i know the increase in engine size won't be that much with morana's kit but it has a lightweight crank, pistons etc. which will add to make more power anyways. I'm wondering though if anyone has tried this kit or could estimate the power increase with the lightweight parts and the performance cam. Also if I put in a performance cam and '95-'97 heads will that affect my comp.ratio that my engine will have problems and will it also be incompatible with my engine computer? I know ranger44 said it's not a good idea but was wondering if anyone does run those heads on a '90-'94 block? If I just run premium fuel will that solve my problems or not with these heads?

4.0 pefromance rebuild

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