General Horsepower Questions - I'm New

So I bought an 89' Mustang LX with the 5.0L in it. Some mods were done before me, but I did quite a lot of work on this baby. I really really want to know if anyone thinks I have passed the 300hp mark. Here are the specs on my ride. Also, I don't know much about a couple of the mods and I DO NOT know specifics on some of the mods. I have spent hours researching things like what heads I have and what type of camshaft is installed. I do know they are upgraded, however. So that is why I ask in general. Any information will help. Thanks!

PS: I'm very new to this forum but it is definitely my favorite pony site that i've seen so please help me out!

89' Mustang LX 5.0L
  • TrickFlow heads
  • Comp Cams Stage 1
  • MSD distributor and cap
  • 9mm Ford Racing spark wires
  • 5.0 HO Intake
  • SR Performance CAI
  • Ford Racing 75mm mass-airflow meter
  • Professional Productions throttle body
  • off-road H-pipes
  • catless Flowmaster 40s
  • shift kit (automatic)
  • Predator 93 octane tune
  • 3.73 gear ratio
  • 17" SVE wheels
  • and finally NITTO 255's.
 
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Are you positive that the heads are Trickflow? I ask because it is odd that someone would install a $1000+ set of heads and keep the stock intake. It is possible that they simply robbed the intake off of it and put a stocker back on before selling it. That being said, it appears that your intake is holding back your intake track.

I have never heard of comp cams calling anything by stage 1; however, Trickflow does offer a stage 1 cam and it is a decent little cam. If I remember correctly, it's 221 intake and 225 exhaust with .499 and .510 lift on a 112 lsa. I may be off a little on the specs.

Does the car have aftermarket headers or an after market midpipe?

It sounds like the car has potential, but the intake definetly needs to go.

Welcome to Stangnet by the way!

Joe
 
Thanks for the replies!

I know it has Trickflow heads because I checked when I bought it but I am not sure about the intake. I don't know enough the car to tell but it does appear that the headers are stock. They look original to the engine IMO. As for the aftermarket mid pipes, do O/R Hpipes count? Like I said, I'm extremely new to this! :shrug:

Oh and on the list of mods when I bought the car, all it said was comp cam stage 1 camshaft so I am not sure of that either. I wish I had more details!!
 
You are probably 275HP at the crank if that is a stock intake.

If it is a stock intake, i'd wonder if it was 100% stock or had a ported lower. Either way, intake manifold swap would be on my list to do.
 
I agree...especially with aftermarket TB and MAF.

Of course, previous owner could have just wanted the intake. Maybe it was a polished and ported Cobra intake or something worth keeping? WOuldn't be the first time i've seen PO's pull random parts off to replace with stock, but leave others.


Pics
 
If you have TFS 170 heads and a TFS 1 cam, that is a very good foundation. Post some pics as others have said and we can tell you in a minute about the intake, injectors, headers, throttle body. The normal range for rwhp on a TFS top end kit with an AOD - which easily robs 20-25% of flywheel HP vs. 10-15% for a stick- is going to be 260-300 rwhp depending on what headers, throttle body, injectors, tune.
 
Ok here's a pic.. sorry it's getting dark out..
 

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Man, those are terrible pics. I can't tell you if those are TFS heads- pre 2001 do not have any markings on the front - after 2001 it will say TFS or Twisted Wedge. You have a non EGR Explorer/Cobra/Gt40 intake. It flows much better than the stock Mustang inake. You have aftermarket headers not stock. You have a cold air intake, MSD cap, and wire . I can't telll what injectors you have. It looks like an aftermarket throttle body and EGR but I can't make it out. Take a close up picture of the heads, top of the throttle body and the injectors. It also appears your smog pump is gone. We don't know what ratio rocker arms you have. Do you have a chip on the EEC?

Your setupif you have TFS heads, is somewhat like mine- TFS 1 cam, explorer intake, headers, - but I have AFR heads, an E fan, pulleys, a ported Explorer intake, 70mm Throttle body. and a tune. For reference, I am making just shy of 300rwhp through an AOD which is about 350ish flywheel hp.
 
The throttle body is made by professional productikns. I know that much. And if you look close at the bolts on the heads, they aren't screwed in all the and makes the car tick.. But anyways, sorry about the bad pics, I was late for work!
 
which bolts are not torqued properly? The valve cover bolts? You cannot see the head bolts and you would know if head bolts are not tightened properly. Are you talking about the bolts on the front of the heads- the thermactor plugs?