I was reading over your list of engine mods. and I noticed you have installed aluminum cylinder heads, roller rockers, 24 lb fuel injectors among other powertrain goodies. It's a well known fact that mass air fuel injection systems work better with highly modified engines than speed density fuel injection systems. But I noticed that a mass air conversion kit is absent from your rather long list of modifications, yet you still seem to crank out plenty of power without it. I've been considering a mass air conversion kit since I plan on installing Edelbrock aluminum cylinder heads, intake manifold, and throttle body among other things. However, in the Ford Racing catalog, it says that the MAF conversion kit for my truck is not legal for sale or use on pollution controlled vehicles. So I'm wondering now if it's even smog legal to switch over. My question(s) to you are, do you have Mass air or Speed density fuel injection? And two, would you recommend trying to switch over or, if you have SD, are you fine with it? Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

 

TF,
Anytime.
No i haven't switched over to mass-air yet.I hear so many different things about guys making some serious H/P on S/D systems.
The reason i didn't switch over to mass-air is when i went to price out a kit it was $1,300...........Being that i had an E4OD trans at the time.Now that i have a C-6 it's much cheaper.
I'm very happy with my seup now.She runs great and smokes my 39'' tires no prob.........but if i could get alittle more H/P that wouldn't be bad either.
I'm kinda torn on what to do.

One of the best mods i've done is the Edelbrock heads....it took off almost 1 sec. off my 1/4 mile time.
It runs stronger and breaths better.

If you need any more info just let me know.

Take care.
Jerry D.

 

i met a couple of guys who race lincoln MarkVIII(i think thats whatthe car is called). anyways, they all have ford 302's and 351's out of trucks in their cars with blowers, ported aluminum heads, high complression, etc... I asked them about this and they told me that you can run just about any part on a speed density system and a mass air system with absolutely no change in performance between the 2. they told me that sometimes, you might see an increase of a few hp switching to mass air, but it wont justify all the problems you might have with maf sensors. here's their conclusion: the only time we need to switch to mass air is if youre running a big cam. if its a mild cam, you could probably get away with it (like the one dvldog has in his beast), but anything bigger and the engine will not idle with speed density. of course i dont know if this info is true or not, but i trust them because theyve done alot of work to their cars and tested all sorts of different setups. so in my opinion, i dont think you'll have any problem sticking with speed density. imyself am not planning to switch to mass air. heck, if it works for dvldog with all thosemods, the mods i have planned gotta work!

 

Donate54,

I wonder how far i can go with a new cam..........now u got me thinking.
The cam i have now is just alittle above stock.

 

well im not really sure just howfar you can go without needing to switch to mass air. you could always just go bigger and if you have idling problems, THEN switch to mass air. OR try to find out what the highest lift/duration you can use with SD and have a cam made to those specs. those are just some ideas ive been considering.

 

Sounds like a good idea!

Once i'm done with my dana 60 front diff project.........it will be time for a cam change.

 

I have the same cam that dvldog458 has, and like I've said in earlier posts, it is a really mild cam. I'm sure performance can be enhaced much like the cylinder heads did with a beefier cam, but at the cost of driveability, which is why I'll probably just leave the CraneCam in there now, unless of course I do a 351 engine swap.

Dvldog458,

My next powertrain mod. will probably be the Edelbrock upper/lower intake manifold and 56mm throttle body. I notice you have this setup in your truck. What kind of performance gains did you notice with this? Is it worth the $$$$? Thanks for all your advice!!!!

P.S. I'm definately sold on the cylinder heads (Edelbrock 5.0/5.8 street legal aluminum), but they're more expensive than the intake/tb combined, plus more expensive to install. That's why I was planning on waiting a while. However, depending upon the gains you got from the heads vs. the intake/tb, maybe it would be worth it to wait on the intake and just go straight to the heads. It's a lot of money to invest, so I just don't want to do anything I'll regret (ie getting a Tuff Country 4" lift instead of a Skyjacker 6" lift!!!).

 

Tf,

I would definetly recommend the heads.I hear ya on the $$$$$ I was looking on ebay the other day and they had a set of Edelbrock heads for auction .....keep your eye on that,u might be able to get a good deal.
The intake and throttle body are a great setup.
When i put them on,it just felt like the engine ran smoother and reved higher.
The intake gave me some good torque and some HP.
Good luck.
Jerry D

 

Thanks. I'll probably just save up a little longer and do the heads first. They might be a little more expensive, but I think overall bang for the buck I'll be a little happier doing that. If all goes well, one year from now (give or take a couple weeks) I'll have a new pair of heads in my truck!

BTW, Is there anything you (dvldog458 or anyone else for that matter) recommend to increase low end torque. I'm planning on doing a gear swap (either 4.56 or 4.88 depending on if I go with a taller lift or not) to help out a little off the line. While it's nice to be able to rev higher and pick up speed at higher velocities, I don't want to neglect to benefits of having good low end power. As always, any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

 

if you go with more lift, are you going to get bigger tires? 4.56 gears go great with 35" tires.

 

TF,

Gears made a huge difference in my setup.
The guys at Reider racing helped me out alot........i was gonna go with 4.88's at first but this tec. guy named TC suggested i go with 5.13's..good decision.
Give them a call when your ready......real good guys.

 

Are you guys putting these gears in the front & rear?

What would the max be (in your expirienced opinion) for my stock engine and trans. w/31s? I drove a mustang today w/4.10 in the rear...I got to have that punch!

Its at 3.55 now.

Thanks for your ideas

 

I was gonna go with 4.56 if I stay with a 35" Dunlop or a 33" Super Swamper, or if I decide to get a 6" lift and put 35" Swampers on there, then I'll go with 4.88 gears. Understand, my truck came stock with 4.10 gears and the puny 29" tires, so to keep as close to the stock ratio as possible, 33's with 4.56 and 35's with 4.88 come close to 29's with 4.10 gears.

Always do front and rear gear swaps!!!! If your front tires are turning faster than your rear tirs, you're gonna have problems!!!!

As a rule of thumb, if you are going to do a lot of towing or if you want a lot of power but don't care too much about gas mileage, multiply your tire diamter by 0.14 to get your desired gear ratio. If you don't do a lot of towing, and plan on doing a lot of freeway driving (ie 31's) multiply your tire diamter by 0.12. If you want decent performance but you still do a lot of driving, mulitply your tire diameter by 0.13. So, with 31's, 0.12 x 31 = 3.72, so 3.73 gears would be the right choice in that case. For 0.13 x 31, 4.10 gears would be the one you'd want to go with. And for 31 x 0.14, maybe 4.27 gears would be the way to go. 31 inch tirs really aren't that tall so unless you do a lot of towing, I wouldn't go lower than 4.10.

Having stock tires (29") and 3.55 gears is like having 33" (true diameter, not advertised diamter) tires and 4.10 gears. Right now, I'm not quite satisfied, and I think 4.56 would be perfect for my current tire size. For 31's, I would go with 4.10 gears. But that's my preference. I don't care too much about gas mileage (as long as I'm still measuring mpg, not gpm!).

dvldog458,

Gear swaps are just as effective as they are expensive!!! I will go with at least 4.56 gears, if not 4.88 depending on the circumstances. But a gear swap along with front and rear limited slip with labor will set me back about $2000 so it'll be a little while.

 

Thanks TF,
I'm thinking 4.10 or 4.27 like you said.
Next question...My rear end is 8.8 w/31 spline, right? And the front is a dana 44, right? Do I need to know spline for the front axle?

Final question(for a few minutes) how long do you think an Eaton lsd will last in the rear? Or your recomemdation for some kind of locker in the rear for under 400.

 

ive heard really good things about the powertraxx no-slip differentials. streetable, and good off-road traction (much better than LS), and they cost right around 400. the ARB air lockers are good also, but im not sure how much they cost. by the way, yes your rearend is 8.8" 31 spline.