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finally starting my journey to 450whp

64K views 686 replies 26 participants last post by  focusmaniaczx3 
#1 ·
EDIT: im editing this to give a quick hopefully short summary of what i want out of this thread. i would like some help finding some things and maybe learn some things.
i would like to locate a billet oil pump gear for high revs like what CFM had. unfortunately CFM no longer sells those. if you have a lead please tell me
cheap vband waste gates around 46mm.
somebody should sponsor me since im going to be at the track alot! that means give me $$$!!!! lol joking?
im getting the borgwarner/bullseye s258 unless you know of something better
i need intake manifold options other than topspeed. i dont like theirs.
what EXACTLY do i need for a return fuel system? cheapest way to do it? i know very little about this other than that it needs to be done.
help me with pick out a clutch. i want to spend under $700 for one to hold 450whp/tq every day and maybe 50-75 dyno pulls ONLY (no track or street) at 600whp during its life. no twin disk unless it can last for at least 25k-30k miles.
teach me about anti-lag. ya know? shooting massive fireballs out the tail pipe and making lots of racket. can it be done with the focus?
help me hook up (traction)
help me locate wheels that look like SVT 5 spokes but are at least 8 inches wide or wider that will fit under rolled/slightly flared fenders without rubbing when turning. a rub when bottoming out the suspension is completely acceptable.

now you can read the rest of the post if you want. i think its funny because i typed it up while jacked up out of my gord on sleeping pills and nyquil and i will ramble horribly when i get on here in that state.


well i always like getting input. i have a thread basically asking how to get to 450whp. i know how now and im going for it and i will be at least part of the way there in about a month or two, God willing. this thread will serve as a bit of a documentary i guess. im going to take lots and lots of before and after pics and ill see if some can maybe get snapped during the process as well. unfortunately i wont be present for the build since this is being done a few states away.

a certain somebody is going to have possession of my car for a little while to fabricate a brand new type of turbo kit for the zetec and duratec focus. in the process he is going to do a complete rebuild for me to get the engine in shape to handle the power. at the very least i will be sitting on between 300 and 330whp when he is done.

the main issue is going to be coming up with all the $$$ i need between now and then. which is why i am now accepting all donations! im just joking about donations unless you just feel compelled to give your money away or you want to sponsor me. i have no problem with putting a few bigass stickers on my car for some help getting this thing done. it WILL be at the track quite a bit..... just saying. anyhow back to serious stuff.

im going to need a bigger turbo than the turbonetics super60 that i currently have which will set me back quite a bit along with a return fuel system. i am also in a fuzz over the intake manifold. sorry but i just dont like topspeed's manifold. they are overpriced and i dont like the idea of a partially plastic manifold under high boost. that being said i know the stock manifold can take over 400whp/tq worth of boost so i might stick with it until/if it busts.

for turbo, i am currently leaning in the direction of the bullseye s256 or s258. or call it a borg warner [eek] unless someone has a cheaper turbo that can make the same power and be as reliable. i still want to crest 600whp on race gas occasionally hence the need/want for such a big one. that might run be around $1300.

im still open to any and all suggestions for what clutch to run. i DO NOT want to spend $1200 for the twin disk clutchmasters unless somebody can prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that im going to be able to squeeze at least 25k miles out of it. i know im about to spend a crap ton of money but it doesnt make me any less cheap. i want to get a lot of mileage out of this thing if at all possible. if i can find a $500 ish clutch that will hold 450whp/tq on a day to day basis and MIGHT hold 600ishwhp on a dyno once or twice every few months that would be preferred. for the record i have been known to dream from time to time.

open for input on BOV and WG too. im going to try the greddy type RS BOV and see if it works out for now since i already have it. ill probably buy a precision 46mm vband waste gate unless somebody knows of a vband WG that will do the job for cheaper. im looking at $315 for the WG just FYI.

i have not got a clue in the world what intercooler is being used. i am quite curious about that since unless im mistaken the master fabricator doing all of this wonderfulness is providing it.

the rest is pretty standard stuff. eagle rods, supertech pistons 8:7:1 compression i think with a big overbore to make sure the block is ship shape. i look at it like this. you may say that i shouldnt bore the block out all the way because i wont be able to bore it out any more in the future if it needs to be cleaned up for any reason. well i say that if something happens where i need to get the block cleaned up again then picking up another junk yard block for $100 wont be an issue. ill be using all arp fasteners obviously, stock head unless the machine shop that is going to get my head and block cleaned up can do some P&P and a 3/5 angle for a little extra. the head will get a rebuild, new timing set, water pump, every gasket will get replaced.

unfortunately i will NOT be using the c-f-m oil pump since they dont have any more and i seriously doubt i will stumble across one in the next month. but if somebody somehow has a lead on one of those boogers then for goodness sake please tell me! i want it bad!

i already have a torsen LSD. really wish i would have spent the extra coin at the time and had a quaife installed instead but oh well. we will see if it holds, i plan on running slicks. [shameful]

and speaking of track stuff. anti-lag... anybody have anything to say about that? the whole deal where you stick the car in gear, clutch pedal to the floor, mash the gas pedal to the floor, make lots of racket, shoot flames out the tail pipe, build boost, and then take off like a bat out of hell. whats up with that? can we even do that with a zetec? if so then how? i dont even think i know for sure how its supposed to work.

im also open for suggestions on techniques for hooking up. i think there's going to be lots of spinning in my future but i would at least like to try and cut back on wheel hop if at all possible. what can i do for that?

and this car isnt going to be a super comfy really quick daily driver im afraid. im going to gut it. sorry but i have the SVT to be comfortable in. the only things staying in the interior will be the dash, maybe center console, racing seat for driver, stock seat on the passenger side only for when someone wants a ride along, the radio, 2 front door speakers, and i might even go wild and run a infinity minisub in the back. what? i like my tunes! and any interior braces i can find to stiffen the car up without going to a roll cage unless i can find one that i dont have to climb through to get into the car. ill probably even remove the roof liner.

dont know for sure what wheels and tires im going to run yet but the ugly boogers i have now just aint gonna happen. 17x7 wont help either. what i would REALLY like to do would be to find some 5 spoke SVT wheels to run in back and some 5 spoke 17/16x8 SVT replica wheels with a 40-45 et on radials up front. i found some 16x8 svt cobra replicas but the only offset available is 15 and 25 that i could find and i dont like that look. they need to be tucked. i refuse to have tires bugging out of the fenderwells looking like a [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] unless im running slicks at the track. if anyone has a lead on anything like what im looking for please let me know. otherwise i might just run some team dynamics 17x8's or wider if i can get them to fit well if i cant find some SVT 5 spoke style wheels like i want. either way i guess i need to get a front wheel off and take measurements to see what is the absolute widest tire i can run and tuck with some mild fender rolling/flaring without rubbing the shock in the front. im going to need the traction!

as far as appearances go im going to put the car in black primer sometime before i take it down and i may leave it that way. i like flat black. it will either be flat black or factory red. im going to stick with the roush front bumper, cobra style hood, and roush back bumper. i dont know about the wings west side skirts, those might have to go but we will see. im also sticking with the roush top wing. i will never run a mid-wing again though. been there, done that, thought it looked stupid. i may change out headlights and tail lights at some point if i cant stand not fiddling with it in the coming months. it might make me nuts just being "done" with my little zx3. ive always been fiddling with it but after i hit my power goal i dont think there is much of anything else for me to do other than get rid of the MTX for a lentech ATX, get a much bigger turbo and shoot for tom's old drag car record. but that would pretty much turn it into a track only car at that point so i dont know if that will ever happen or not. we will just have to wait and see if guess. only time will tell. i will update as things progress, this should be pretty epic you guys! especially when this thing is done and you see pictures of my car before hand so you can see what i started with, how far it fell, and then how far it came thanks to a guy in alabama. and in case you are wondering i have been mysterious about this man's identity for a reason. i dont know if he is ready to step into the light just yet or not but im sure if he is he will pop in here with a few words after he spends the next month reading this book i just wrote.

and on that note let me finish this epic post with this... i really gotta stop getting on this forum after work in the mornings AFTER downing 2 shots of nyquil and sleeping pills. unfortunately if i didnt do it then i would never have time to get on here. wish me luck gentlemen, the race is on!







[hatchet]
 
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#59 ·
Maniac. There are systems like what your talking about that do it for you automatically. I cant remember the name of the company but they do crazy swaps of things like 1600hp rx7s and shit that is streetable. They have a 2 tank system just like what you talking about and when the car hits over a certain amount of boost it switches the tank automatically and runs the race fuel mix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmACTP69Zh0
 
#61 ·
I also quit counting $ for parts while back. The numbers just stack up for less HP. BUT for some reason I've allways had a soft spot for the MK1 focus...maybe it was because it was the first BRAND new car I've owned. Idk
 
#63 ·
Im done modding my focus. Probably the only other thing i will do to it is put on the fnder flares i got for it and slap some bigger tires under it to get it to hook. Ive started messing with my fd. I think as much as i like the boost surge doing 0-60 in under 3 seconds is pretty bad ass. And im putting together a turbo kit for mine. My goal is about 550-600 whp i want a street-able 9 second daily driver car. Oh and one of the best things about my ls1 fd is i still can get 30mpg.. haha.. it gets about the same as my focus does it averages about mid 20s and highway gets 30+. Oh and because its not insanely modded its RELIABLE. Something my focus wasnt for a very very long time..
 
#64 ·
i just like the deal with the focus where you can go out and race someone and if they beat you and start running their mouth you can just go [clap] congratulations... you just beat a ford focus... how does that make you feel? and if the situation is reversed like it will be quite often after this build you can look at them and ask how it feels to get a whoopin from a ford freaking focus. its a win win in a way. that and i too just have a soft spot for the focus. its just out of the ordinary. not alot of people put the time and effort into making a fast ford focus. everybody and their brother does hondas, 240s, mustangs, camaros, etc but very VERY few people actually do anything besides your basic bolt ons and maybe a body kit and wheels for a focus so it is that much sweeter to have one that is really up there.

and as far as making a fast car for cheap, here is something ive always wanted to do. pontiac fiero with the supercharged 3.8v6 out of a bonneville. you can pick up a rolling chassis fiero for about $500, i can get a complete sc 3.8 for about $300 from the junk yard and with about $500 in parts it will crank out just a tick under 400whp. the motor fits in the fiero like a champ and there are motor swap kits available for this for about $3000 or you can just fab solid motor mounts and rig the rest yourself for a few hundred bucks. on slicks at that point the car will run 10s. tuning and nitrous it will get into the 9s. do the math for me... how much is wrapped up in that car? just for giggles add $1000 for miscellaneous crap that needs replacing like bushings, suspension, fuel pump, etc.

i think that would be a very fun car. and excellent for the drags. short wheel base, can be stripped to under 2000lbs and all the weight is in the back right over the drive tires. and those engines can make quite a bit more power if you have a ford focus sized budget. but now we're getting off topic
 
#65 ·
There's a documentary on youtube wherea guy took a buick supercharged it andwas beating everybody and everything andhe spentunder 10k IIRC

Hmmm off topic indeed. I do agree with the oil pump gears thou. They are a gold mine now. I couldn't imagine if anyone put theirs for sale how quickly it would be sold
 
#66 ·
And there is nothing wrong with being different. Tis why i bought my fd. But just keep in mind. Different is expensive. Dont be surprised if you find yourself 20k deep into this project, and lots of grey hair. Haha.
 
#67 ·
well he's bring it to some one that has already done it so as long as he just lets me go he will make the power with out having to change stuff like we all did lol.

sport bikes is a relative term. beating a 600 is completely different than a 1k. it would take 1khp to run with mine i know this for a fact. on those bikes it depends on the rider as much as it does a high hp fwd car.

i agree traction over 350whp is hard to get lol. and this is the reason my focus is gone. it has been replaced with a miata which will be getting swapped for a ls6 in a couple years.

beating people with a focus is a lot of fun and kept me in the car for a long time. but its a lot of work once you start trying to make it really fast.

you could do a surge tank set up on your car and keep the stock tank. the stock tank feeds another small cell (about 1 gallon) and a return set up is hooked into this cell. if your stock pump runs out and doesnt feed this cell you have a gallon of fuel to go through before you have any fueling problems.

Tim
 
#72 ·
No thats even if they build one of there own , if you build the engine right and do the proper machine work thats needed you will have 2800 to 3000 in a Zetec engine

square block / surface by squaring the block I mean install a special bar into that mains saddle and measure from that bar to the deck on both ends of the block and surface till the block is the same , I have never had a block that wasnt at least .0015 out to as much as .011 out
surface head
balance rotating assy
do oil holes in block and massage oil pump
tq rod bolts with stretch gauge
change stock oil plugs to NPT plugs
set rod and main bearing clearances (not plasti-gauge)
line bore after going to ARP main studs
and on and on , people dont have the tools to do these things with a build it your self so a machine shop should be doing this and that cost money

Now if your just talking throwing a set of rods and pistons in , plastigauge it , head and main studs etc and let it go sure you can save money but why not do it right for just a little more money

Tom
 
#73 ·
Modest numbers you add there, clutch alone cost me that, if you throw in suspension, brakes, mounts, fuel pump, wheel and tires, intake manifold, exhaust, etc. you'll see much more $$
 
#77 ·
tell me more about this surge tank. if it functions as well as a standard 10 gallon fuel cell with a return setup then my question is whether it is any easier to install or if its any cheaper to do.

and yes it gets extremely expensive doing this but if this is what you want then its worth it.
 
#79 ·
i can dig up some more info on the surge tank for you if you want. and i can either build you one or figure out a place to mount an off the shelf one while the car is down.
 
#80 ·
That would be spectacular. I like the idea of a surge tank pretty good. Mount it wherever. The car is going to get stripped anyway so even if its in the interior I wont care. Why couldnt I put like a 5 gal in the spare tire well tho?
 
#93 ·
I plan on doing a surge tank after i get all my other bugs sorted out. They do not have to be mounted up front but it does making plumbing them a lot simpler. The Focus RS guys have n=been doing surge tanks for awhile now.

 
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