Toms-SC
Registered User
With photos of the build on Facebook I figured it would be a good time to bring some context onto the forum. There are some exciting builds going on out there, bring to the SCCoA and post em up. This thread will be a mix of SVO facts and my build which is still unfolding.
Back in late 2010 I was in a bit of a decision spot with my SC. Wait for a 2.0 A/R kit and upgrade my long block to handle the power or try something different. How about a 4.5 SVO V6? Speaking with Super Coupes Unlimited it was determined it was possible. Needing to learn more about it involved finding and buying any vintage print material that floated around on eBay. The old magazines and books were extremely beneficial as the SVO program had a significant change in 1991. Parts came and went, part numbers changed, some never even made it production even though they were published in the catalog. The book published by Dave Emanuel in 1992 about the engine had vitals such as clearance and torque specs. Lots of big names worked on the SVO program, it was neat developing a history of the program from scratch.
The theme of my car has always been street first, track second. This build is no different. I don't have access to all-star mechanics up here, nor do I have a truck and a trailer. The Thunderbird would have to get to the track under its own power and back. The closest track is 3 hours away. In order for this to happen a early style SVO block with matching cylinder heads and an even fire crank shaft were required. Yea yea, insert jokes about my lifters and street camshaft now.
Of course sticking with the typical pain the the ~~~ hard to find SuperCoupe parts thing, the SVO versions of the cylinder heads and block we wanted for this build were only produced in 1989-1991 and were nearly impossible to find. As of this time I only know of one other early block out there but it has been semi filled with concrete. The canted valve cylinder heads feature a coolant cross over, support rocker hardware, clear the stock hood, and have reasonable sized ports. The hunt for parts took a very long time but in early 2011 they were safe at SCU's shop.
The short form history of the SVO program is:
- Ran in the NASCAR Busch series. Competing against the Buick V6 Stage II parts
- Parts were produced from 1989-1995 and during that period
- Had four versions of cylinder heads based off of two different castings. (Early canted valve produced by Cosworth/Late style inline valve produced by Brodix)
- Two versions of cylinder blocks based off of one casting. (Matched to cylinder head style. Produced in the same plant as our 3.8 block in Ontario, Canada)
- Four versions of crank shafts based off of an even-fire and off-fire configuration. (Even fire, odd fire produced by Bryant)
- Four intake manifold versions based off of two different castings. (Matched to cylinder head style. Unsure who produced it.)
My street build posed some unique challenges, never minding its a unicorn motor to begin with. The engine was designed to run 8,500 - 9,500 RPM's, dry sump. The off the shelf parts reflect that. The connecting rods are long, the pistons are flat top, the camshafts are rough ground with a 104 LSA, etc. Adding to the challenge is that canted valve parts are not entirely interchangeable with the later year inline valve cylinder heads. Just an example of issues we had to deal with was incorrect hand inscribed part numbers, minor revisions of parts through out the program (Spark-plug placement, exhaust port shapes) vendors messing up on orders and so on. I've visited SCU twice checking up on progress and brainstorming. I can't thank SCU enough. I suspect other shops would have scoffed at the idea or f-ed up the build royally.
The stats:
- Wet sump Stef's oil pan
- NOS even fire crank shaft
- 4.5L displacement, 8.5 compression
- Ported NOS canted valve heads (298 in, 227 ex flow @ 600. 2.125/1.710 valves)
- Fully custom billet hydraulic roller cam. (Ground to a common SC profile)
- Carillo custom 6.350 connecting rods
- Wiseco custom pistons with ceramic heat barrier top coating and moly graphite skirt protection
- COMP Cams Ultra Pro Magnum XD Roller Rocker Arms
- Hydrolic lifters with solid roller springs, some trick stuff that SCU came up with
- Block modified to accept hydrolic lifter system
- A mixed up set up ARP head studs.I guess you could call them semi~custom.
- Modified NOS single plane intake manifold with a Edelbrock intake elbow (should clear the stock hood)
- Steel shim head gasket
Where the build is headed:
- The engine is to be fed with a Procharger
- Engine management is going to be the EEC-IV with Quarterhorse
- Reuse the unlocking AOD
- Upgrade the fuel system to feed it all
- Refresh the rearend
- Redo the exhaust system
- Full working A/C system
The unknowns:
- Intercooler and radiator design. The Procharger discharges to the front of the car. Procharger offered a a kit for the V6 Mustang that we've poached key parts from but we want to avoid using the plastic discharge hat. I'm completely open to the idea of going for a custom intercooler design.
Dry mock. The hallow long block assembled and dropped into a Thunderbird K-member. Note that the accessories brackets and pro charger bracket bolt up and sits on factory motor mounts.
Stock as cast SVO vs SC cylinder head
Ported SVO vs ported SC cylinder head
The valve sizes speak for themselves. Stock on the left, typical ported SC head valves in the middle, SVO on the right.
Intake manifold and elbow, pre-modification.
This is what a $800 camshaft and $300 cam gear looks like. Comp coated the cam in unicorns blood for ultra strength yet flexibility in the areas required. It's been ground to a common super coupe specification which I do not know the details of nor do I care.
The crankshaft was made by Bryant and is no bull. Once compared with a 4.2 crank is becomes easy to notice the attention to details in the Bryant crank. Weight reduction and increased oil passages are the first things I noticed.
Custom lifter retainer system. By maching the block and designing the retainer system the block can now accept off the shelf hydrolic roller lifters.
Short block assembled. A major milestone in the project.
Cylinder heads completed, valve train installed.
Back in late 2010 I was in a bit of a decision spot with my SC. Wait for a 2.0 A/R kit and upgrade my long block to handle the power or try something different. How about a 4.5 SVO V6? Speaking with Super Coupes Unlimited it was determined it was possible. Needing to learn more about it involved finding and buying any vintage print material that floated around on eBay. The old magazines and books were extremely beneficial as the SVO program had a significant change in 1991. Parts came and went, part numbers changed, some never even made it production even though they were published in the catalog. The book published by Dave Emanuel in 1992 about the engine had vitals such as clearance and torque specs. Lots of big names worked on the SVO program, it was neat developing a history of the program from scratch.
The theme of my car has always been street first, track second. This build is no different. I don't have access to all-star mechanics up here, nor do I have a truck and a trailer. The Thunderbird would have to get to the track under its own power and back. The closest track is 3 hours away. In order for this to happen a early style SVO block with matching cylinder heads and an even fire crank shaft were required. Yea yea, insert jokes about my lifters and street camshaft now.
Of course sticking with the typical pain the the ~~~ hard to find SuperCoupe parts thing, the SVO versions of the cylinder heads and block we wanted for this build were only produced in 1989-1991 and were nearly impossible to find. As of this time I only know of one other early block out there but it has been semi filled with concrete. The canted valve cylinder heads feature a coolant cross over, support rocker hardware, clear the stock hood, and have reasonable sized ports. The hunt for parts took a very long time but in early 2011 they were safe at SCU's shop.
The short form history of the SVO program is:
- Ran in the NASCAR Busch series. Competing against the Buick V6 Stage II parts
- Parts were produced from 1989-1995 and during that period
- Had four versions of cylinder heads based off of two different castings. (Early canted valve produced by Cosworth/Late style inline valve produced by Brodix)
- Two versions of cylinder blocks based off of one casting. (Matched to cylinder head style. Produced in the same plant as our 3.8 block in Ontario, Canada)
- Four versions of crank shafts based off of an even-fire and off-fire configuration. (Even fire, odd fire produced by Bryant)
- Four intake manifold versions based off of two different castings. (Matched to cylinder head style. Unsure who produced it.)
My street build posed some unique challenges, never minding its a unicorn motor to begin with. The engine was designed to run 8,500 - 9,500 RPM's, dry sump. The off the shelf parts reflect that. The connecting rods are long, the pistons are flat top, the camshafts are rough ground with a 104 LSA, etc. Adding to the challenge is that canted valve parts are not entirely interchangeable with the later year inline valve cylinder heads. Just an example of issues we had to deal with was incorrect hand inscribed part numbers, minor revisions of parts through out the program (Spark-plug placement, exhaust port shapes) vendors messing up on orders and so on. I've visited SCU twice checking up on progress and brainstorming. I can't thank SCU enough. I suspect other shops would have scoffed at the idea or f-ed up the build royally.
The stats:
- Wet sump Stef's oil pan
- NOS even fire crank shaft
- 4.5L displacement, 8.5 compression
- Ported NOS canted valve heads (298 in, 227 ex flow @ 600. 2.125/1.710 valves)
- Fully custom billet hydraulic roller cam. (Ground to a common SC profile)
- Carillo custom 6.350 connecting rods
- Wiseco custom pistons with ceramic heat barrier top coating and moly graphite skirt protection
- COMP Cams Ultra Pro Magnum XD Roller Rocker Arms
- Hydrolic lifters with solid roller springs, some trick stuff that SCU came up with
- Block modified to accept hydrolic lifter system
- A mixed up set up ARP head studs.I guess you could call them semi~custom.
- Modified NOS single plane intake manifold with a Edelbrock intake elbow (should clear the stock hood)
- Steel shim head gasket
Where the build is headed:
- The engine is to be fed with a Procharger
- Engine management is going to be the EEC-IV with Quarterhorse
- Reuse the unlocking AOD
- Upgrade the fuel system to feed it all
- Refresh the rearend
- Redo the exhaust system
- Full working A/C system
The unknowns:
- Intercooler and radiator design. The Procharger discharges to the front of the car. Procharger offered a a kit for the V6 Mustang that we've poached key parts from but we want to avoid using the plastic discharge hat. I'm completely open to the idea of going for a custom intercooler design.
Dry mock. The hallow long block assembled and dropped into a Thunderbird K-member. Note that the accessories brackets and pro charger bracket bolt up and sits on factory motor mounts.
Stock as cast SVO vs SC cylinder head
Ported SVO vs ported SC cylinder head
The valve sizes speak for themselves. Stock on the left, typical ported SC head valves in the middle, SVO on the right.
Intake manifold and elbow, pre-modification.
This is what a $800 camshaft and $300 cam gear looks like. Comp coated the cam in unicorns blood for ultra strength yet flexibility in the areas required. It's been ground to a common super coupe specification which I do not know the details of nor do I care.
The crankshaft was made by Bryant and is no bull. Once compared with a 4.2 crank is becomes easy to notice the attention to details in the Bryant crank. Weight reduction and increased oil passages are the first things I noticed.
Custom lifter retainer system. By maching the block and designing the retainer system the block can now accept off the shelf hydrolic roller lifters.
Short block assembled. A major milestone in the project.
Cylinder heads completed, valve train installed.
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