what are some good mods for this engine? my engine has just over 100,000 miles on it and still runs pretty srong. im planning on rebuilding it soon and while im at it i want to have the heads ported and polished. also thinking about a good set of headers and true dual exhaust with flowmasters. has anyone swapped the cam in these trucks? i remember someone saying that compcams has a cam that works for these engines, anyone tried it? what about a chip, do they work as good on these engines as they do on the new modular engines? any other suggestions to squeeze more hp and tq out of this engine? thanks!

 

Donate54,

The 5.0 has huge potential. Heads are a big consideration, along with cam selection. The truck intakes flow fairly well, especially the lower. Many 'Stang owners used the trucks lower intake as the flow was better than the stock Mustang.

My '95 is still stock internally. I have done intake (custom), cat back (Gibson), ignition (Jacobs), and pulleys (Ford Racing). On my tall geared (3.31) auto, the ignition seemed to be the best bang for the buck, filling in the stock 302s low end weakness more than the the other mods. The intake mod is real cheap and helped mid to higher rev breathing. The pulleys are a 'Stang item that fits the trucks and are usually good for 10 HP or so. Gibson single side swept helped more in mid to high revs, with a slight increase down low.

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on chips on these trucks, and haven't tried one yet. I know a guy that has an identical truck with similar mods. He tried a chip, but feels his ignition (MSD) helped more overall. He did like the shift improvements, but canned the chip due to increased fuel cost which he didn't feel where justified by the power increase.

For know, I would stick to the externals, and/or save for goodies at rebuild time. If you want some in depth ideas of what some good combos are check out the www.corral.net or go to AFRs site at www.airflowresearch.com. Don't forget to look at the blower section, especially the Kenne Bell blowers, over at the Corral. BTW if you find you have an extra three grand or so after your rebuild, just order a blower and send it my way.

 

what about compression? should i bore the block over? maybe install new pistons that boost compression a little bit? or maybe leave the compression alone and put on a supercharger? im not worried about gas mileage because this will not be my daily driver, i just want to get as much h.p. and torque as i can out of it. i dont want to go thru the hassle of an engine swap, however. opinions? thanks!

 

Put alot of money in the heads...they are very restricted on the 5.0's, aftermarket heads are your best bet. The HO's have 351W cam, you can get some really good FMS cams like the B303...depending on your intake and exahst choices. Definately go with as much roller items as you can afford, free's up alot of hp. That intake on the truck 5.0's is not that great either, look into options for that. A complete rebuild is your best bet, just bore it to whatever it needs, and get a good quality piston, you don't need to go crazy on the compression. You probably won't be happy with anything bolt on that you could do now, IMO it would be kind of a waste of money, unless it goes with what you do later with the major modifications. Hope this helps out a little...later, Toby

 

Depends on your use and desires. You can get a lot of power without a blower, but too much cam will make it much less truck friendly.

You can run higher compression, some cam, and all the other intake, TB, etc type mods.

On the AFR site, heads alone were good for around 40 HP on a stock cammed 'Stang. With other bolt ons they got about 100 HP at the wheels.

If you use you truck as a truck and want the low end torque, the Kenne Bell blower would be a good choice IMO. Of course you shouldn't go through the time and effort, or $$$ to put a blower on a high miles engine. Do the rebuild first.

 

i was really considerong the blower forst, but my truck has just over 100K miles, and i dunno how reliable it will be even after the rebuild. im thinking of adding things like edelbrock aluminum heads, bigger throttle body, edelbrock aluminum intake, mass air kit, and a cam when i go for the rebuild. this truck will not be my daily driver so im not too concerned with mileage. is this a good plan, or should i just rebuild and add a blower? or maybe do what im planning, but leave compression a little low and add a blower later on down the road. any opinions? im just looking to pretty muchj get as much power as i can out of this little V8. thanks for the info, guys!

 

has anyone ever tried the edelbrock power package? it includes aluminum heads, new upper and lower intake manifold, and a bigger throttle body (choice of twin 56mm or twin 61mm). it looks like they get good results with all these parts. anyone have any first hand experience with any of these products? thanks!

 

The power package is one of the best things i've done to my engine.The heads make a huge diff.
But,i would do a rebuild first.
No sense in slapping on all those goodies then having to rip it all apart again after the engine takes a dump.
Hope this helps.
Jerry D

http://hometown.aol.com/dvldog458/myhomepage/auto.html