The Ford 3. 5l EcoBoost V6 is still relatively younger on the aftermarket yardstick, so late-model tuners are often compelled to develop items in-house to go along with tuning and blueprinting tricks learned through testing plus experience. Livernois Motorsports has developed a solid performance technique for the EcoBoost that focuses on longevity improvements, advanced tuning, and gas enhancement, to complement larger turbos and much more boost. The result is an EcoBoost construct that produces more than 600 hp towards the four wheels of a Taurus SHO. Given the stock output will be 365 horsepower with 350 lb-ft peak torque, that’s quite a strength increase, especially considering the factory set up has one big hurdle with regard to performance tuners to challenge.

“This engine is built to handle the particular boost capable of those turbos, ” says Mike Schropp, engine division supervisor at Livernois. “In this particular case the limiting factor may be the fuel system. ”

The EcoBoost was designed with immediate injection, which relies on a mechanical fuel pump integrated into the engine.

“With other [fuel injected] engines that have 50 or sixty pounds of fuel pressure, you are able to just add an aftermarket gasoline system, ” says Schropp. “These engines run over 2, 100 psi. There’s no way to augment the pump motor. ”

To help make up, Livernois added methanol injection once the engine was installed into the Taurus. This is a stand-alone fuel upgrade that will pumps high-octane methanol into the consumption under full boost and wide-open-throttle to add needed fuel when the PADA system is maxed out. Basically, the particular kit consists of a remote reservoir for your fuel, an electric pump, a control and a spray nozzle that is installed in the intake system.

“It’s a combination of tuning and methanol injection that augments the manufacturer pump, ” says Schropp.

Strong Foundation

While the bigger turbos and tuning increase the power, Livernois’ cylinder block prep work plus component upgrades provide the durability necessary to support the increased cylinder stresses and higher RPM. Most of the components are from the factory, as the aftermarket replacement hasn’t embraced the EcoBoost towards the extent of other engine family members.

“We focus on fortifying the foundation from the engine to make sure it can support those people kinds of numbers, ” adds Schropp.

Early machine work contains align-honing the mains to ensure major clearances and that the bores plus round and true to each other. Additional prep work involves deburring areas and radiusing some oil pathways.

Reinforcing the obstruct is achieved with a trick outdoor patio plate that is pressed into the share block. The EcoBoost features a good open-deck design where the spaces among cylinder bores and water overcoats are left open. Livernois offers machined a billet plate, regarding ½-inch thick, out of 6061 light weight aluminum that matches the open-deck user profile. The block is then precision machined to accept the plate with exact tolerances for the press-fit installation. Livernois utilizes a combination of heating the block plus cooling the plate to facilitate the particular installation. Also, a polymer layer is added to the plate to help this slide in, and the coating furthermore acts as an anaerobic sealer.

“Between the press as well as the sealer, ” says Schropp, “the only way for it to come out can be by machining. ”

Getting Ready For Set up

Once the outdoor patio plate is installed, it is come up and then machined to provide coolant pathways. Coolant holes are also drilled to suit the head gasket, there is no disruption associated with coolant paths and performance.

As noted in the over photo, Livernois uses a very heavy torque-plate during honing, which involves the pattern and set of stones made to match the intended ring package deal.

“We found the bore distortion was not exactly the same without having the plate the same width as the cylinder head, ” says Schropp. “So we made a rpm plate that exactly mimics the particular stock head and the distance from your head nut to the face from the deck. ”

Once the block is ready, the long-block components are organized for set up. Livernois retains the stock crankshaft but adds its proprietary rod-piston combination.

“The turn is forged from the factory, therefore it’s a pretty robust piece, ” says Schropp. “We just thoroughly clean it up and modify the oiling a little. ”

Lighter, Stronger Rotating Set up

The pistons are custom made to Livernois specifications for use in a turbo engine. Solid from 2618 aluminum, the pistons have increased skirt thickness as well as the ring lands were lowered. 320-inch below the crown to increase the effectiveness of the piston deck. A ceramic heat-barrier coating was applied to the particular piston crown, and a moly-based anti-friction coating is applied to the dresses. The 1 . 5/1. 5/3. zero ring package features a steel best ring and Napier second. Lastly, the piston-pin wall thickness is certainly increased.

“A big thing with the EcoBoost can be direct injection, ” says Schropp. “The piston crown has functions that mirror the stock piston. That way we could retain the combustion performance already designed into the engine. ”

The I-beam linking rod is forged from 4340 steel and fitted with ARP 2000 3/8-inch bolts.

“This rod was made for all of us and will support up to 1, 1000 horsepower, ” adds Schropp.

Livernois retains the share bearing but the shop does resource them out for a coating. General the rod-piston package is just timid of 1, 000 grams.

“So it actually balances away just a little bit lighter than a share configuration, ” says Schropp.

The main and head studs are custom made to Livernois specifications out of 8740 steel. The bottom finish of the engine is buttoned plan a factory girdle and essential oil pan. The oil pump functions some handywork on the inside to radius the passages. The gears will also be surface treated for added power.

Big Energy With Stock Cams

The manufacturer cam chains and gears are usually retained, but Livernois modifies the particular oiling to ensure longer life plus stiffens up the shear pins in order to strength the chain guides. The particular cam phasers and camshafts also are carry over  from the base SHO engine.

“We do have cam information that we’re testing, ” states Schropp. “At this point, however , the majority of the gains in the engine have come through larger turbos and more fuel. Along with numbers in the 600 to seven hundred horsepower range, we haven’t experienced much reason to pursue camshafts. ”

Livernois offers different stages of cylinder head work, which includes CNC and hand porting. This specific engine had mild hand porting with a revised multi-angle valve work. The intake manifold and accelerator body are stock, as are the particular exhaust manifolds.

“The cast-iron manifolds are very robust. Generally, depending on what the customer is looking for, we are able to get away with just a little mild focus on them, ” says Schropp. “There’s more of a restriction from the downpipe towards the exhaust. We can get more performance benefits there than from the exhaust towards the turbo. ”

Livernois recalibrates the stock ECU to consider advantage of the turbos and methanol injection. The shop offers an amount of options for tuning, including allowing remote control customers to download updates on the internet. Again, the limiting factor could be the direct injection system, but the motor is capable of handling more power.

“The engine itself was created that if you want to put 35 lbs of boost from even bigger turbos, that’s not a problem, ” amounts up Schropp. “It’s getting sufficient fuel to go along with that boost. ”

600 hp in the crank puts the SHO straight into the same category as some from the world’s most exclusive luxury cars. It also makes it a quietly threatening threat on the street, or any track, offering the SHO a truly sleeper high quality. Additionally , we’d love to see somebody apply this build to a F-150 Tremor and create a real, modern meaning of the Lightning pickup from a 10 years ago. Regardless of the application, Livernois will be proving that the 3. 5 EcoBoost is a viable performance platform that can provide great drivability and reliability, along with incredible performance.

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