Newbie in SoCal, engine question

[RobW33]

I've been pouring over this and the ffcars.com forums for countless hours over the last few weeks. I'm likely going to pull the trigger on an Mk IV before the end of January. Before I do I want to get a good feel on how well my 6' 3" body will fit (I'd also like my son to fit - 6' 5"). I know it's not as simple as how tall you are, so I'm hopeful with the right seats the Mk IV will work. I'm going to stop into the Pomona Hot Rod show next weekend to check it out in person. A little about me...

I've been a car nut since age 15 when I bought a POS 1967 MGB (this was 35+ years ago). After doing everything on that car wrong once or twice before getting it right, I gained a great appreciation for doing things right the first time. That damn thing was the reason I ended up in Engineering School. I've always tried to have a fun weekend car and always wanted to have a car to work on, but with a wife and young kids there was never time to work on anything. So I just had a fun car (usually Porsches) in the garage - flipping them every couple of years, losing a few gs every time. As the kids grew so did their need for my "fun money" - plus the need for my spare time. About 7 years ago my last toy was sold (1994 911 Turbo 3.6 - perfect shape, sold for $55K - kills me that car is worth more than $250K today). The Turbo 3.6 taught me all I need to know about respecting ungodly amounts of power. The Fast forward to today, I've got one kid in college and my son at home for another 18 months. He's got the car bug and loves tinkering with the F250 and loves the idea of building one of these beasts with me. I've decided that going the route of a Mk IV is perfect for me - It will get me an awesome car, be something I will have great pride of ownership in, and be the best of both worlds - new technology with that connection to the way cars used to be when I was young. I'm thinking $45K all in - $25K for complete kit and options, $12K for drive line, and $7K for paint.

I would want to use this car as a weekend road car with maybe an occasional track outing. I don't need to have a million horsepower motor, and would be more interested in general drivability over something that is more suited for the drag strip or high speed tracks. The Coyote engine sounds like a great fit, other than it shrinking the footbox. I've read a number of threads talking about engines, but they generally end with a "do what suits you." What I have yet to find is a discussion about the differences between each engine option - plusses and minuses. The crate engines I've seen are listed below. Price vs. power seems all over the map. Is it fair to say that each of these part numbers requires about the same amount of other items (in $$) to complete them? How different would they feel in an Mk IV?

302 Small Block Engines
X302 with 340HP for about $5K
X302B with 345HP for about $7K
X302E with 340HP for about $7K
Z363 with 500HP for about $8.5K
D347 with 415HP for about $8.5K

351W Small Block Engines
X427 with 450HP for about $8.5K
Z427 with 535HP for about $9.3K
Z460 with 575HP for about $9.5K
Z427A with 600HP for about $13.5K (assume this is aluminum block)

Coyote Engines
M50 with 420HP for $6.4K
A50NA with ??HP for $8.2K (I think the only difference between this and the M50 is that it has beefed up internals - but not really sure)

Thank in advance for any insight!
Rob W.

[Gordon Levy]

Welcome to the forum. $45K will build you a nice car. There are a lot of options available out there. I am partial to the stroker windsor over the coyote but the coyote is a great package. Feel free to ask questions, you will get a lot of answers to ponder.

[David Hodgkins]

Rob,

You HAVE to come down to my place with your son so you can sit in my roadster. I'm in Corona del Mar. I'm "bigger" than your son and I don't thik you will find another example with more legroom than mine!

Send me a PM and let's talk.

:)

[OCMark]

Welcome to the forum. What part of SoCal are you from? If you're able to make it out to the fullerton area I'd be more than happy to show you my MKIV with a 347 in it. Only have a few hundred miles on the car, and its still in the gelcoat. Shoot me a PM if you want to take a look/ride.

[skullandbones]

Hi Rob and welcome,

You didn't mention induction system or I missed it. I think the modern offerings of EFI are just too easy and efficient to overlook. I went to Barrett Jackson last Friday and could not get over the different combinations of injection from stack to carb looking (some I had never seen in person).

Anyway back to engine platforms. The 302 is such a great little engine. If you decide on the smaller platform rather than the 9.5 deck you will have maximum clearance. After putting 3k miles on my roadster, I thank myself over and over again for going that route. My goal was to build a somewhat simple project that would be easy to work on and maintain. I did it and never looked back. Now that I'm looking for a little more HP (which I hear happens to everyone), I'm still thinking of keeping with the SBF. Just for the fun of it, look at Keith Kraft Racing (nice components). It will give you a little more perspective. I would love to have one of their raced prepared short blocks and go from there. I like doing the top end myself but like to leave the basic engine build to the guys who do it everyday. I don't hear much about people building from the short block but there must be other doing it that way. My engine is a ATK long block that I broke down and re-assembled with my own heads and other add ons. I really think it is the most economical way to go and still get good quality components well put together. Even if you decide on the full crate engine, the negatives are few if any. Good luck, WEK.