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Stock Windsor Engine Mods?

6K views 39 replies 12 participants last post by  ebxr8240 
#1 ·
Hey all,

I've got a stock ed xr8, and wanna do some work to it...
I spoke to rob herrod today at the extreme horsepower show in adelaide and discussed stroking the motor with him....he mentioned numbers up to 14 grand(including a rebuild) which is kinda outa my price range considering i paid 12 for the car. I was thinking maybe a cam, roller rockers and new manifold but thought i'd ask what the best thing to do is

cheers
Simon

btw the motor has done 170 odd thousand
 
#2 ·
go to your local ford dealer and ask for the ford motorsport catalouge it got all the go fast bits you'll need.
you can also try either buying a set of trickflow/elderbrock heads/manifold combiation (either company has head/manifold combos) also ford motorsport heads, try and use ford motorsport 1.7to1 roller rockers along witha ford motorsport cam f303(i think thats the number) its rev range is 1500-600rpm and works a treat
,get either a uni chip or a good chip(chiptourqe), 70mm throttle body, 70mm mass air meter from ford motorsport ,dont forget a good set of extractors(pacemakers) and twin high flow cats along with either a 3in single straight thru mandrell bent or twin 2.5in mendrell straight thru with a balance pipe just before the diff(personaly twins are better). it should see you round 265kw (193 rwkw) maybe a little more and get you down the quater in 13.5sec if not a little faster. the reason i no all this is i was going to do up a 5lt but i've set myself a harder chalange -do up a 4.0lt!
 
#3 ·
cheers for the input gm
i've got a question tho, how far can you go before you have to change or update the ecu. I was under the impression that the standard ecu do learn and can handle a certain amount of tampering but how much?

btw any idea on the prices on some of this stuff?
 
#4 ·
I understand with the older cars, the ECU doesn't learn THAT much. To get true results from your modifications a re-program/replacement is in order. However, if you don't want to fork out a grand for the chip and tuning, you'll notice small increases with a good zorst and induction.

Remember the old saying "More air, more fuel - need more spark", so if your going to do some upgrades on the intake, think about your dizzy/coil packs, whichever you use.

If you don't want to go original Ford parts, I can suggest: http://www.speed-technology.com for some great aftermarket EFI products. I especially reccomend the HAWK computer. I know a guy on the Gold Coast that'll install then test n tune your car on a dyno for less than $1300 all up. Then you've got a re-programmable computer, and don't have to fork out tons of cash to someone everytime you need a modification, cause the HAWK comes with it's own software. All you need is a laptop, and you can do it yourself. Also, they got a whole bunch of other things there which are pretty interesting.

Good luck.
 
#5 ·
The EECIV on the EB/ED XR8 can learn very well. A large number of people in the USA are running in the 10's with the factory computer. Their learning capabilities are the same as the EECV on the EL-AU V8's.

As with the mods, how much are you willing to spend? There is a lot of good aftermarket parts out there, but they are not cheap.
 
#7 ·
Consider::A GT40 type motor from Suburban Imports or similar with all the good stuff on. Make sure you get the inlet thats straight it can be tuned the other way to suit Falcon...

F303 has power from 3k rpm on. Crane 2031 or Trick Flow 1..These are dual pattern cams have more lower torque than alphabet cams [Ford B.E.F&X cams ..Anything under118 / 220 @ 50* inlet for lumpy but good torque and power from 2k rpm on..

Checkout For sale some guys here are having a garage sale>>
 
#8 ·
GTHO4 said:
I was told if you're going to to a fair amount of mods you could use an ECU out of a EB GT. Don't know if they are still available from Ford.
The tuning probs that I'v ever had is when going to bigger maf, making sure its callibrated to the right injectors.. Most 70mm h.p Ford mafs are calibrated for 24's unless it's a Cobra with X3Z eec..
 
#9 ·
ebxr8240 said:
Consider::A GT40 type motor from Suburban Imports or similar with all the good stuff on. Make sure you get the inlet thats straight it can be tuned the other way to suit Falcon...

F303 has power from 3k rpm on. Crane 2031 or Trick Flow 1..These are dual pattern cams have more lower torque than alphabet cams [Ford B.E.F&X cams ..Anything under118 / 220 @ 50* inlet for lumpy but good torque and power from 2k rpm on..

Checkout For sale some guys here are having a garage sale>>
the link don't work!

btw I don't really wanna get another motor, i kinda wanna do something with the one i've got cheers for the stuff on the cams tho!
 
#11 ·
SiKEDXR8 said:
the link don't work!

btw I don't really wanna get another motor, i kinda wanna do something with the one i've got cheers for the stuff on the cams tho!
Yes I agree.
But you have keep in mind that the e7 heads don't breath that well along with all the induction. Buying a latter model motor gets you gt p heads and inlet etc.Can be cheaper taking parts of an import and fitting to yours.Depending on price???
 
#12 ·
for 5 grand you'll get the trifkflow or elederbrook combination of heads,manifold,throttle body, mild cam,and a chip or uni chip ,last time i checked it came to $4600 keep in mind these are all alloy parts and some serious weight can be saved over the front end and allow quicker acceleration also youll be staring at 240 kw at least.
 
#13 ·
Forget about computer chips like uni-chip. They are a waste of time. I have done heaps of testing with them and not once have they performed even close to the original ECU. The only way to go better than the original ECU is to get something like a HAWK, Wolf3d or better yet a Motec (and no, i don't work for motec). With the last 3 types, the car will only run as good as the person who tuned it, so you need to find someone who knows your engine and the computer management system. Not easy! and usually expensive. It will generally take more than a day to get a good mapping for an engine.
I would definetely keep the original ECU and spend that money you saved (around $3000 with tuning and installation etc) on more go fast bits.
I have seen 5.0L windsors stroked out to 347ci, worked heads, cam, roller rockers, larger intake manifold etc etc. pull 250rwkw with the stock ECU.
 
#15 ·
Herrods are keen to sell me a Yoke to tie the bottom of the engine together if they do any more than a small KW increace via exhaust chip and filter on my 250kw std TE motor. No one else seems to mention such a mod and anyway Tickford are supposed to have put a yoke (which Herrods say is no good) on the stroker already. Anyone know exactly what the yoke does and if it is really necessary? Of course it makes for an expensive engine out job when otherwise I could easily fit a capa supercharger myself with the engine in place.
 
#17 ·
That would be a main bearing girdle Julian, which adds rigidity to counteract the the crankshafts bigger throws which would normally generate extra leverage to bend the crank. Tickford also found that during testing the girdle also acts as a windage tray and oil surge was not a problem. Source: Blueprint 2001.
 
#20 ·
xf351gt said:
these prices are about 4 years old

edellbrock heads $2700
manifold $1150
cam $400
lot of other things depends on your cash
and how much your machanic charges
so im assuming they'll be a fair bit more by now then....
and my mechanic is cheap cos he's my best mate :p

btw i went to my local ford dealer to hook me up with a svo motorsport parts book and he said that maybe only one place in sa will have that info : maugn thiem ford.......
so im going there tomorrow
 
#21 ·
xf351gt said:
these prices are about 4 years old

edellbrock heads $2700
manifold $1150
cam $400
lot of other things depends on your cash
and how much your machanic charges
Pluss 70mm throttle body std 60 mm
70mm + M.A.F std 55mm
24 Lp injectors std 19's
 
#23 ·
XR9UTE said:
G'day SikEDXR8,

I'm not writing it all again so read my post with regards to engine management;
http://discussions.fordforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26144
Basically; Do Not change to aftermarket ECU's and DO NOT use piggyback devices like UNISHIT or PMS or Interceptor. DO NOT USE "One size fits all "Chips"" they are useless!
As for mechanical mods. Certainly all of what you mentioned are good changes.

Cheers,
Pete.
yeah i read that thread, some of my friends were trying to convince me to buy a powerchip (cos of 25kw gain) and well after i read you're thread that changed my mind!

What do you guys reckon of haltech computers any good? I can get one cheap thats all....
 
#25 ·
The injectors need to be matched to your MAF. If you want to go to 24lb, you need a MAF calibrated for 24lb injectors.

Also Haltech computers aren't bad, but why do you want to change your computer so much. The EECIV and EECV are excellent computers. At the 240-260kw mark you will need a tuner like the EEC tuner or TwEECer, and they you are good to go. Many 10sec cars in the states run the stock EEC with a tuner.
 
#26 ·
SHHMIK said:
Forget about computer chips like uni-chip. They are a waste of time. I have done heaps of testing with them and not once have they performed even close to the original ECU. .....the car will only run as good as the person who tuned it, so you need to find someone who knows your engine and the computer management system.
Is it just me or is this statement somewhat contradictory?
 
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