Supercharged 331?

Hey there all,

I found out the knocking noise is my rod, or something inside the motor..

Christmas is coming up and winter, so I have an excuse to do it then. I want to do a 331 and some form of forced induction. I had some recommendations of AFRs and Edelbrocks. What would be the best for street? I also want to be able to run 89 octane if possible.


Any ideas to make the most power? I'm hoping for 500 or so? Achieveable?

Thanks for all the help!

I'd say that 500 streetable horsepower is very achievable especially with a supercharger. I know this goes back to a long standing debate, but why not build a 347? Unless your engine is already a 331 or you already have the components, building a 347 won't cost you a penny more.
As far as the heads, it just depends on your budget. You may want to check out AFR's website under the articles tab. Then look under Small Block Ford articles. They have a bunch of build up articles including dyno results linked there. You may be able to find a "blueprint" to work from.
Look at the 527HP pump gas 347 with AFR 185's that Joe Sherman built without using a supercharger... The Sherminator 347!

Cool. Whats the most I could spin it up to..with new valve springs and roller cam?

Limits on the stock block? Thanks!

It sounds like you have a lot of choices to make and money to spend.

Any head choice you make from AFR, Edelbrock, Trick Flow, etc. will be a huge upgrade over stock. I also recommend upgrading to a nice intake to compliment the heads. With a power adder you can reuse the stock cam for excellent results, otherwise you could go with a mild aftermarket piece that will better match the flow charecteristics of your new head choice.

500 HP is reasonable, especially with a power-adder, but getting more radical on all motor. However, expect to run it on high octane pump gas and some good tuning either way. 500 rwHP is pushing the limits of a stock block.

For the strokers, a 331 is an excellent choice, and if you were to go 347 I highly recommend you go with a kit that uses a 5.315" rod length and therefore a 331 piston...not so much concerning rod ratio or ring package issues, but to provide a better piston compression height, especially on a power adder combo. Be sure to go low compression on a power-adder build. You can go up to approximately 10:1 on an all motor pump gas build...especially with aluminum heads.


Power adder choices are numerous too: nitrous, twin-screw blowers, centrifugal superchargers, and turbos.

My personal favorite is a quality single turbo kit like Hellion's. Big mid-range torque and top-end power on an otherwise mild engine combo, but they're initially more expensive to buy and more complicated to install, but they're also easier to upgrade to more extreme power levels.

If you go supercharger, opt for an intercooled version...especially if the car is mostly street driven and you will be running pump gas. That'll pretty much eliminate the twin-screw option.

Oops!! Double Post...

Originally Posted by 87stang

It sounds like you have a lot of choices to make and money to spend.

Any head choice you make from AFR, Edelbrock, Trick Flow, etc. will be a huge upgrade over stock. I also recommend upgrading to a nice intake to compliment the heads. With a power adder you can reuse the stock cam for excellent results, otherwise you could go with a mild aftermarket piece that will better match the flow charecteristics of your new head choice.

500 HP is reasonable, especially with a power-adder, but getting more radical on all motor. However, expect to run it on high octane pump gas and some good tuning either way. 500 rwHP is pushing the limits of a stock block.

For the strokers, a 331 is an excellent choice, and if you were to go 347 I highly recommend you go with a kit that uses a 5.315" rod length and therefore a 331 piston...not so much concerning rod ratio or ring package issues, but to provide a better piston compression height, especially on a power adder combo. Be sure to go low compression on a power-adder build. You can go up to approximately 10:1 on an all motor pump gas build...especially with aluminum heads.


Power adder choices are numerous too: nitrous, twin-screw blowers, centrifugal superchargers, and turbos.

My personal favorite is a quality single turbo kit like Hellion's. Big mid-range torque and top-end power on an otherwise mild engine combo, but they're initially more expensive to buy and more complicated to install, but they're also easier to upgrade to more extreme power levels.

If you go supercharger, opt for an intercooled version...especially if the car is mostly street driven and you will be running pump gas. That'll pretty much eliminate the twin-screw option.

Thanks for all the info.

What about 4 bolt mains and a girdle? Will it keep 500rwhp safe? I'm trying to avoid getting a new block since I have to build the tranny to handle the power I want to make, and the rear end. Plus a set of heads. I want to keep a small budget if possible, but not sure yet.

Don't know exactly what you mean by 4-bolt mains. If you're talking a kit that adds 4-bolt caps, it's not worth it. The waekness is in the main webbing of the block, and there's not much you can do about that. Best bet is an aftermarket block like the new 302 BOSS block, but at $1650 it's probably not going to meet your requirements of a "small budget".

A main girdle will kind of help hold things together, but it really does not solve the problem.

The 2 biggest keys to survival will be quality machine and build work, and a very good, conservative tune.

Another good one is to know your limits...it's very, very tempting to push things to try to go faster.

I see. Hm.. I saw a DSS 302 Level 20 prepped block, I talked to them and they said it was rated to 600 at the flywheel, very close to the limit but it could do it.

Good idea? It's only 700 too.

600 at the flywheel is roughly 500 at the wheels...

The best thing I've seen those main girdles do is keep everything together when the block splits...which can go a long way towards sparing parts from the rotating assembly, etc.

It is a nice piece with the windage tray and all, but it does not make up for the waeknesses within the stock block.

Ok.

I decided I'm going to keep the stock block and keep the boost low until I can afford the boss block and transfer everything over.

I need suggestions for carbs, and supercharger. Well more like who.. Novi or Vortech.

331 Stroker- Scat forged crank, forged I beam rods, forged probe pistons.
Edelbrock Air Gap Intake
AFR 185s
JBA Headers
Flowmaster 40s
(?) Good Balancer?
March Pulleys
(?) Aluminum Radiator (Suggestions?)
Electric Fan (?)

And either a Walboro or Aeromotive fuel pump and new 1/2" fuel line.