anyone had any first hand experience with this engine?
only asking as the explorer im going to look at has one and want to know what you found to be bad points on the motor
ive read bits and pieces on various US forums but id rather hear an australian version

I don't have one but they're a good engine. The PI heads are good. It's a long lasting reliable engine.
I've got an '02 PI V10 which shares the head design. Is there something in particluar you want to do with it?

probly look at heads/cam/headers/tune and new timing chains/guides in the short term
id like to strap a blower on it but i can only dream for now

Ok these are good but quite expensive.
http://www.trickflow.com/partdetail.asp ... toview=sku
And you have to ask yourself whether a 3V head conversion is the way to go. Especially when you're already considering a blower....you can get a 3V mustang blower kit of you do.
Like this one...
http://www.magnacharger.com/pdf/manual- ... 4.6L3V.pdf
The problem with your 2V PI engine is that there is no real positive displacement blower kits available.
The old 4.6 2V Ford racing Eaton M90 kit was for the non-PI heads and could be adapted possibly. there was also the Allen engine development kit but I believe they have gone bust?...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/sho ... p?t=249899
Hence my 3V conversion suggestion which is do-able and you just run the 2V engine management and lock out the VCT and recal from there.
Or you could leave it stock 2V and use a Turbo which go very very well on these engines...I'm not sure how much room you have though?
You could also use a small centrifugal kit.
Got any engine bay pics?

So many choices..Forced induction works very well
on these engines...

http://www.bgturbokits.com/babs/

http://www.modularmustangracing.com/

i did have a look at the m90 eaton kit and ive been looking at alot of parts for the 4.6l mustang on jegs and americanmuscle

id like to fit 3v heads and a cam to match with a rev range of 1500-5500 first and supercharge at a later date after i save up more money. id most likely toughen up the transmission before supercharging to avoid any unwanted problems futher along as ive read they can be a nightmare