Fox LX 1000 Horsepower Engine

A Quest For Four-Digit Power On The Boulevard Begins With A Major Increase In Displacement

From the May, 2010 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords

By Sharad Raldiris

Photography by Sharad Raldiris

OK, fine, it's true-I have lost my mind. But it's not my fault! Maybe if Associate Editor Johnson hadn't talked up the drama of who would be the first to put down 1,000 hp in the King of the Street competition, I might not have taken such drastic measures. By now, our annual King of the Street competition in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has come and gone. Perhaps someone finally broke through the magical 1,000hp barrier. (To find out, see "Crown and Smoke," page 42.) Regardless, we are pursuing that goal with the utmost urgency.

There are many strategies for building four-digit power, but with streetability as a prerequisite, the situation becomes complicated. Our chosen path involves making as much power as possible on the engine alone so that we can run a modest amount of boost. Doing so should yield a reasonable level of reliability. By our calculations, 600 naturally aspirated horsepower would require approximately 15 pounds of intercooled boost to meet our goal. The best way to achieve that level of power with the reliability of a daily driver is to pile on the cubic inches.

With that strategy in mind, we contacted some of the heavy hitters in the performance-racing industry to put together a rock-solid combination. One of the first calls went out to Mark O'Neal at Coast High Performance. Mark has been in the engine-building business for decades, so he knows a thing or two about making power. He recommended CHP's Dominator 428-inch, big-bore stroker kit. It includes a 4340 forged-steel crankshaft with a 4.000-inch stroke; 6.200-inch Probe H-beam rods with tool-steel wristpins; 4.125-inch-bore, reversed-dome Probe SRS forged pistons; Clevite bearings; and Perfect Circle piston rings. The rotating assembly was balanced at CHP, which saved us a step during the assembly process.

Next we spoke with Jesse Kershaw at Ford Racing Performance Parts, who suggested FRPP's M-6010-W351 block as our project was running just ahead of the introduction of that sweet, new Boss 351 block. The W351 is a cast-iron Windsor block with a 9.5-inch deck height, four-bolt main caps, Siamese bores, 2.749-inch main journals, and wet-sump oiling. Combined with the CHP Dominator kit, we were looking at a stout bottom end in need of a worthy crown.

Charlie Schmidt at Trick Flow is a friend from way back, so naturally we contacted him to discuss our project. His sage advice was to top our monster Windsor with Trick Flow's High Port CNC cylinder heads and Box-R-series intake manifold. The heads received Total Engine Airflow's 245cc package. As you might guess, these heads include 245cc intake runners, 2.100-inch stainless steel intake valves, 1.600-inch stainless exhaust valves, 70cc combustion chambers, and valvesprings that are good to 0.700-inch lift!

Speaking of 0.700-inch lift, these heads flow 351 cfm on the intake side and 269 cfm on the exhaust at that figure. The intake manifold is said to support up to 1,300 hp so it fits into the equation rather nicely. Trick Flow's Box-R upper manifold is a two-piece design that is easily separated to accommodate port work. It has a 90mm opening for the throttle body, so we contacted George Klass at Accufab to see what they had to offer. He suggested the company's F90MAX throttle body, which is CNC-machined from billet aluminum and polished to a show-car finish.