I got a new block for the mav

As some of you know. I blew my motor up just at the beggining of the summer. i have found a replacement block to start fresh on.

Its an original mexican block that i scrapped off of a guy in a junk yard. He told me that it came out of a v6 mustang that had a swap done to it. It is high nickle conted with thicker sidewalls. I have talked to some guys at the track and they said that it can take what ever i throw at it.

what do you guys think???? deck the block and get a good set of Forged pistons and a eagle crank and a large cam with some twisted wedge heads and some juice should put out some nice numbers.

 

what do you guys think????

i would ...sell that block...take the money and buy a crate motor..

...:Handshake....

 

lol, yea what Frank said

I'd have the block checked out tho... to make sure its a good block.

I'd hate to see you throw all the money into a block that hasn't been checked out, and then you split it and waste your money again.

 

The Mexican block (if it's in good shape and doesn't have any pre-existing conditions) will take quite a bit of naturally aspirated horsepower. I've heard the number of 600 hp thrown around, but my gut tells me it's closer to 700. I have one of these and I've compared it to a stock block. It's like night and day. I would have it mag'd and then have the decks squared, the line bore checked (and honed or bored if needed), have the cylinder bore checked and modified as needed. Have it cleaned and have the cam bearings installed. Then the fun starts! I'd suggest using forged pistons if you can get them. They seem to be getting harder and harder to find anymore and the prices are high compared to the hyper pistons that are available. But if you are going to put squeeze on it, then that's the best way to go. Good luck and keep us updated on your progress!

 

If your building it for the juice then deff go with forged pistons! The hyper's do not like the juice at all! What are you going to do go with a reg 302 , 306 , 331 or 347 stroker? That would be the other question cause then you could just get your whole kit with the forged internals and crank!

 

Ya know I gotta disagree with that......I have seen quite a few guys who tuned there cars right run with the Hypers no problems. I know one guy even went with a 250 shot.....He had over 100 passes pulled the motor apart and sold the pistons.....looked perfect....at that time I expected to see some kind of failure....

Detonation is not our friend

I realize they are not as strong and If I was building a NOS purpose motor I would go with forged just to be safe.....Going lean once bad enough will mangle a forged as well....

 

Some guys like Hyperutectic pistons. To me, they're just cast pistons with a bit more silicon in them. They're STILL cast pistons. And brittle. If you miss the tune just a little they'll knock ring lands out. If a solenoid sticks the ring land gets knocked out. If the fuel pump starts to go south, yep ring lands again. If the timing is 1 deg too fast, ring land gets knocked out. Bad fuel-same thing. There is NO room for error. Just like regular cast pistons. Heck I ran STOCK cast pistons in a 302, making about 9.2 compression (flat tops, milled heads) with 18 psi boost, no intercooler and pump fuel. They lasted quite a while. One time I laid into it and I no more than heard a "ting" (detonation) and it holed a piston. Just that quick. I missed the tune up just a hair. Not to mention those over-rated cast (hyper) pistons are heavy--for 4" bore pistons. A cheapie set of SRP's are 150 grams lighter, forged, MUCH better quality--and just a couple $$ more. Kind of a no brainer.

Mexican block...if you take the caps off of a mex block and a standard block and weigh both of them, they are about the same. The caps are bigger-yes. But that doesn't stop the block from splitting up the middle and it also doesn't stop cap walk. 351's have big beefy caps and they walk too. 460's are the same way. In fact, the caps on a 460 are almost the same as on a 351w. IMO, a mex block is a lot of hype. If you're going to be making big power, I would look for either (1) an aftermarket block or (2) another OE block, a crank, rods, pistons, heads, cam to build a spare motor--because you'll need it

 

How many mexicans are in the block?? The more that you can stuff in there, the stronger it is!!

 

I am planning on decking the block to get some more compression and up the horse power a bit. I am looking at some turbo manifolds off another guy in town. He had a 347 and went 9.8 on 26lbs of boost. but he was running fuel injection and i am wanting to go with a carb. But if i get the turbo with the manis he will include an 80CFM MAF and fuel rails with injectors rated at 36. he wants 1400 bucks which all in all is a good deal, but.... that would require alot more fabing, i have never done a fuel injection swap.

 

If you're doing a turbo setup, check out www.theturboforums.com if you haven't been there already. There's a ton of knowledgeable people over there and most of the info you need has already been discussed more than a few times probably. They even have a carb forum over there. You'll be able to find some good info about the mex blocks holding up to boost, as well. They have been proven to be stronger than a regular 302 but not as good as the R302's. I'm doing a turbo setup as well so if you have any q's i might be of some help (i'm doing EFI though).

9.8 seems slow for a 347 on 26lbs...

 

If I was going to make that much power I would try to source a block from central america, I hear they are much stronger!!

 

he was falling on his face in 2nd gear, he was launching at 4 thousand but when he went into 2nd the turbo wouldnt spool soon enough

 

Are the turbo manifolds you are considering off of a Maverick? If not, like if they are from a Mustang, they will not fit. The Mustang engine bay (late model 79 and up) does not have shock towers and the early model Mustang is wider than the Maverick. Just something to keep in mind. I don't want to discourage you...but I've been working on mine for three years. Want to buy a pair of Thunderbird Turbos??? LOL

 

Considering the maverick never came with a turbo, no they wouldn't be turbo manifolds

 

Ok let me rephrase...are they designed for a Maverick?