frank830 Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 So I just got done with my first build, didn't go according to plan but it did pretty good. I planned on putting heads but my girlfriend came out pregnant so my family came first and I left out the heads. Car made 230 rwhp and 280 tq, what's the best bang for your buck?Should I save up and get a 351 Windsor and bore it out?From there see how much power it makes, then add a power adder (vortech or blower etc.)Budget wise would be around maybe 10k then save up again for the vortech or whatever I go withIt will be my daily and my goal is just to get as much power as I can for $10k for the engine I will get the rear end rebuilt and buy a better transmissionIts got a tremec version of t5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 why not sell the car. take the 10k as a down payment for an 11-14 GT? Youre going to spend money on labor AGAIN for someone to build ANOTHER motor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 With a child to support and the car as your daily driver, I don't think I would want a blown windsor in it. It's always going to need fixes, changes, etc. I'd probably just drive the car and enjoy it for a while, save some more money and either get a newer car that can make reliable power like Will suggested, or use the money saved up to buy another car for a daily driver so you can build the mustang to the max and it won't be an issue if it isn't reliable. I love my car, and I don't regret anything I've done to it...but the more I do to it, the less reliable it is. It's plain and simple. I would drive my daily driver scion to California with little worry. I would be very cautious to drive my mustang more than a few hours away from home because very little on the car can be had at most local parts stores and a good deal of the parts can't even be bought because I made them. If I had the money and no other priorities, I'd drop a Dart 427 windsor and a huge F2 Procharger in my car in a heartbeat because it won't matter if there's a ton of troubleshooting or issues that pop up afterwards. When/if that happens, I'm still going to get to work and get important things accomplished because I'm not depending on the mustang to get me anywhere. If I was daily driving my car, it would probably be at most, a heads, cam, intake car with bolt on parts and nothing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 i would keep it N/A if it's a daily. less issues arise that way. but i'm in agreement with others. my mustang is constantly giving me issues and it's not trustworthy as a daily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
410sn95 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 If a daily and you wanted to mod it: Throw a blower at the stock motor and call it done. Low boost. Cheapest and most fun route IMHO.Save the rest of the money for other issues that come up with a family. My stock longblock with a Vortech was super reliable and was a DD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallblocksn95 Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 While I love my HCI 351, I'm super glad I got it done before my girlfriend became pregnant. It wouldn't have got done if things happened differently. Luckily I've got a 98 explorer which I picked up for a grand as my daily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank830 Posted June 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Oh OK thanks everyone and another option I was thinking about was on a lightning swap, any output on a swap like that?Roughly how much does it cost to do the swap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 because its not a modular platform, you're going to need a lot of work and wiring to make it work. you might as well just buy a termi for the amount of money youre going to spend in parts and labor to make it run in your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Oh OK thanks everyone and another option I was thinking about was on a lightning swap, any output on a swap like that?Roughly how much does it cost to do the swap?if you have a wrecked lightning in your backyard to pull everything from it's not too bad other than the fact that half the motor is sticking up past the fenders and looks horrible IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 if you have a wrecked lightning in your backyard to pull everything from it's not too bad other than the fact that half the motor is sticking up past the fenders and looks horrible IMO. Plus a big ass hole cut through the hood isn't really the best idea for something that is daily driven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
410sn95 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 OP, Which gen Lightning? I think some of us forgot that the Lightning came with a Windsor tall deck as well as a Modular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
