Project Strokers Wild (Part 1): Building a 347CID Ford 5.0L

The crank and a rod/piston assembly is dropped into the freshly machined 5.0L block (bored .030-inch over) to check clearances.

The crank counterweights cleared the Melling oil pump and Moroso pickup just fine.

However, the head of the ARP rod bolt ran smack into the cylinder sleeve, so we broke out the die grinder.

The area marked in yellow shows where the cylinder sleeve required clearancing. There should be at least .065-inch clearance between the rod and the cylinder sleeve to prevent the two from meeting. Approximately 3/16 inch was ground from each sleeve, creating more than enough clearance to keep the rod bolts from hitting the sleeves.

The Trick Flow Track Max hydraulic roller cam features 224-degree/232-degree duration at .050-inch valve lift (286-degree/294-degree advertised) and .542-degree/.563-degree of valve lift.

Piston-to-valve clearance was checked using the clay method. A piece of modeling clay is put on a piston, the cylinder head and head gasket are bolted on, and valves, checking springs and rocker arms for that cylinder are installed. The crank is rotated through one cycle, then the head is removed and the clay measured. Minimum piston-to-valve clearance on a 5.0L is .100-inch intake/.080-inch exhaust. The 347 had way more than that—.200-inch on both sides.

The reciprocating assembly made a trip to visit Mr. Balancing Machine. The connecting rods were weight-matched to 625.9 grams each, and the pistons to 395.0 grams each. The total bobweight added to the crank was 1,716.5 grams.

Pre-1981 small block Ford cranks require a 28-ounce external balance weight. 5.0L cranks from 1981 on up require 50 ounces. The Summit Racing crank ended up wanting some of both—it liked the ATI harmonic damper with the 50- ounce weight, and also liked the flexplate with the 28 ounce weight. That meant drilling the crank counterweights to balance it front to rear. The crank eventually balanced out to within one gram front to rear.

With the freshly balanced crank nestled in the block, the main caps were reinstalled and torqued to 70 foot-pounds.

The piston and connecting rod assemblies were next. Once they were tapped into their respective cylinder bores, the rod caps were installed and torqued to 70 foot-pounds. The rod bolts are 7/16 ARPs; stock 5.0L bolts are 5/16 inches.

The rollers on the Crane roller lifters were given a shot of lube before they were dropped into the block. The stock 5.0L lifter tie bars and hold-down plate were reused.

The Trick Flow Twisted Wedge 170 aluminum heads received some minor port and combustion chamber cleanup to remove any casting porosity. The heads were then flowbench-tested, with the following results: Lift Intake Flow Exhaust Flow .100-inch 69 cfm 57 cfm .200-inch 143 cfm 120 cfm .300-inch 216 cfm 152 cfm .400-inch 255 cfm 172 cfm .450-inch 267 cfm 189 cfm .500-inch 274 cfm 198 cfm .500-inch 283 cfm 205 cfm

To handle the high-lift (.542-inch) Trick Flow hydraulic roller cam, the standard 1.47-inch single valve springs were swapped for 1.46-inch Trick Flow dual valve springs.

The ATI harmonic damper and a Meziere electric water pump were installed on the freshly painted timing cover.

This seven-quart Moroso oil pan has a kicked-out sump that provides extra capacity without sacrificing ground clearance. The pan has a provision for a dipstick, so the dipstick hole in the block was tapped for a 7/16-inch-14 set screw. A 3/8-inch freeze plug would work, too.

One 347 cubic inch 5.0L, ready for a Trick Flow R-Series Intake Manifold, an MSD Billet distributor, fuel system, exhaust, and other external goodies.