392 Stroker Crate Engine Output?

[WOLFEMAN]

I'm curious to see if anyone has tested a "non-modified" 392 Stroker Crate Engine (rated at 430 hp) to see what it is really putting out?

[nblumberg]

Mine put out 391hp to the wheels a couple months ago (which I think shoves it above that 430 claim a bit). installed/built in 2001, 6500 miles, and fed by a speed demon 750. The AFR185 article by whomever (fastfords?) said the engine dyno of their 392 crate was 460hp.

-n (drooling over some afr heads)

[Cashburn]

Don't know if Ken S. still posts here or not but he had is Ford Racing crate 392 dyno tuned last year, I don't recall off hand his output though. It was a little lower than we thought, I keep forgetting to suggest we put a 1 inch spacer on his carb and change the filter....

[Jeff Shepard]

Just had SPF #1378 dynoed last month and got 395HP at the rear wheels which equates to 466HP at the crank. this has 185 AFR heads and a matched Victor JR polished and ported manifold

[Guppiedriver]

Last Oct. dyno'd SPF # 939 at 430 at the rear wheels and only went to 5K RPM. Estimate >450 at the crank. Out of the box crate w/ 750 Demon.

[WOLFEMAN]

BDR #369 has GT-40 heads and a 770 Street Avenger for comparison.

[blykins]

You guys are smoking crack if you think you're only losing 15-16% power through drivetrain/exhaust in a Cobra. You're looking at more like 20-22%. I've seen so many cases where 80-100 is lost just through sidepipes alone....

[nblumberg]

So you are saying at my 391hp at the wheels, I'm putting out more than 489hp? I haven't seen many engine dyno to chassis dynos back to back with the same motor.

-n

[Guppiedriver]

You guys are smoking crack if you think you're only losing 15-16% power through drivetrain/exhaust in a Cobra. You're looking at more like 20-22%. I've seen so many cases where 80-100 is lost just through sidepipes alone....


Sounds like you have a lot of experience to share. If we keep it civil maybe others would be more inclined to continue this discussion.

[Goober]

I have a Ford 392 Crate engine advertised at 430HP. Got it from RDI and they test/dyno each engine. Mine made 449.5 HP as opposed to the 430 advertised. This was done with open headers and finely tuned. This is probably the example you originally asked for. Big HP loss for these engines is the Ford aluminum heads. A good set of aftermarket heads will yield you 75 more HP. Some of the other guys are correct on the sidepipes. They will kill HP to the rear wheels

Hope this helps

Mark

[Humbucker]

My 392 made 433 at the flywheel in 2002 from RDI with a Performer RPM manifold. I upgraded earlier this spring to a Victor Jr and AFR 185 heads and the improvement in HP was drastic. At the dyno we made 422 at the rear wheels.

The car never really scared me before, buy that's now changed. Woohoo!

[madmaxx]

Fantastic information. If everyone would list their engine, for example ford motor sport 392 with XXXX heads and Carb and post dynoed horsepower at flywheel or rwhp we could all save alot of money on our next one. For example I had a 302 bored to 306 cubic inches (all ford parts in short block including cast crank), no roller rockers but roller lifters with eddlebrock performer heads, eddlebrock performer rpm air gap manifold and holley 600 cfm carburator and obtained 315 hp at the rear wheels in a backdraft. factory headers and sidepipes, tuned by me, myself and I. Engine cost approximately $2500 from start to finish using used block, rods, crank. $2500 included engine, starter, msd ignition, machine shop work, water pump etc.

[Goober]

Madmaxx, Humbucker is spot on. A change in heads is a big plus. Ford Racing makes a new 392 that puts out 475HP. Look under racepartsdistrubition.com and pull up Ford crate engines. The big change in this motor compared to the 430HP version is swapping to Z304 heads as opposed to the X303-GT40 heads. I run a Victor JR on mine which performs pretty good. The reason I haven't upgraded mine to AFR 185 heads is my pistons are the old style cast ones and I don't want to put big money in my engine. There's nothing wrong with cast, but if I'm going to go balls out, I'll start out with everything forged on the bottom end. I'm looking at a Roush 427 (Dart 4 bolt) engine with 2K miles that's been rolled in a totaled out Mustang. Hope to get a good deal on it? But you never know. I changed out heads /intake on my last Cobra and gained 105 HP. And like Jake says, it's a totally different drive afterwards

Hope this helps

Mark

[madmaxx]

Thanks Goober,

My goal is to have 500 hp at the flywheel. 475hp is close enough if it is a painless purchase. I also feel have a FMS engine helps resalve value as compared to an individual job. I would love the Roush's but he is a little to proud of them pricewise.

[Dwight]

Goober
if you buy the Roush motor out of a totaled Mustang, I think you should replace all bearings and seals, etc. The dynamic of a wreck will do bad things to the inside of a running motor. Flat spots on bearings, broke rings, distorted seals. I know the "yards" sell a lot of motors that are installed into vehicles and they drive away. But I think the piece of mind would be worth the cost of the rebuilt. At least the way I drive my Cobra.
Dwight

[madmaxx]

Dwight, I have to disagree, as long as the motor did not hydraulic shutdown then their is nothing wrong with it regardless of the wreck. The dynamic forces the engine faces during normal operations are exponentially larger than the static forces faced in a vehicle rollover. If it turns over it is good to go!!

[Goober]

Madmaxx, you are correct. Cranked it up this weekend in the wrecked car and everything was perfect. Temp, oil pressure and no noise whatsoever. It was actually a gentle roll with hardly any impact.

Mark

[Cashburn]

If you do a line by line comparison of the Roush vs. Ford Racing and incorporate all the items (billet wire looms, billet air cleaner, etc. etc.) that the Roush includes then the difference is very minor given Fords new pricing and selection... on top of this there is no comparison in the warranty and the customer support department.

Just back from Hershey/Carlisle and spent a lot of time speaking with Roush guys... very impressive new stuff there. We can now even supply seasoned blocks for them to build from to allow certain states to maintain their emissions exemptions.

[Fred Douglass]

Hey Blykins, Sir---

Fill me in on the heinous losses suffered via side-pipes. Like your average ingnoramus, I assumed they were far freer-flowing than under-body pipes with mufflers, etc. Is this loss to be expected with pretty large sidepipes with those spiral "muffler" inserts? Kinda discouraging. What's the best solution? I just don't know about stripping the spirals out---not in Massachusetts, anyway, with the Red Guard out, sniffing for decibelage.

[blykins]

Hey Freddy,

I think it's due to the restrictive size of the muffler inserts on the pipes. I think most pipes are like 4" OD, but sometimes you couldn't squeeze a golf ball through the muffler insert. I think it was Red Barchetta who did a sidepipe rebuild and showed the difference between the muffler ID sizes on his SPF.

I have also rebuilt my sidepipes. Actually I didn't rebuild them, I sold them and built a set myself. The glass pack inserts are unbelievably tight...I bet the ID on my set was around 2".....that's not enough for a 400-500 hp engine. On my new set, I ditched the sidepipes altogether and used Howe Racing mufflers. I can get away with that in my neck of the woods....don't think it would be a likely option for most though.

Another theory I have is the placement of the collector on the header. Essentially the headers don't have collectors. It's the sidepipes that have the collectors....and sometimes I wonder if it's too far away from the heads to really scavenge the exhaust out.

Do a search for Lobak mufflers.....I think some members have had some good results from those......increased flow without an increase in noise.