5.0 beginner.

MustangJerry8680 · Apr 17, 2013

So first off I would like to say I poked around a few forums, and having a good deal of car smarts I liked the answers and personality I saw here. It will be nice to have a little community assistance as none of my friends have cars as toys anymore so I'm just a lonely gearhead.

I have an 86 70k GT 5spd. I do not plan to make a screamer, reliable, clean, and about 325HP at the flywheel. Currently has only BBK cai, full exhaust H pipe no cats. For right now I am not concerned so much with power gains but I am going to pull the motor to redo the oil pan gasket, valve cover, gaskets, paint motor etc. I will be blocking off egr and egr cooling lines. I have seen the discussion here and i will do this mostly for the aesthetics, partly bc mine is not working and a new one wont make me faster. Smog pump was eliminated a while back and part of my focus as you can tell will be cleaning up and removing anything unnecessary that you can suggest, and yes for me AC is necessary lol.

Now here is where i need a little help. I knew all the little chevy tricks like taping by the oil filter to get a little better flow, using a resistor to change my Impala SS dummy oil pressure to an actual functional reading, removing screens from TPI intakes, the little things.

Being the motor will be out, trans will be taken to be checked at my buddies shop, is there anything i shouldn't pass up checking replacing etc. Was looking more at low dollar items and knowledgeable advice as to whether they are wise or necessary investments. Was thinking should i replace the oil pump and if so with what, as well as the timing chain. I am assuming everyone has good luck with fel pro on the oil pan and valve cover gaskets but other suggestions welcome. Also wondering on headgaskets as i will probably pop those off and have a look. As well i was considering the top end swap from the exporer with heads intake, throttle body and possibly MAF setup. Like I said its just a weekend cruiser im looking for. Also crank pulley damaged and harmonic balancer. Suggestions on balancer and any idea where i could get replacement bolts for underdrive pulley someone gave me with no bolts. the reg crank pulley bolts dont fit and i dont want cheap ones.

I will replace fan with dual electric fans, i have a few setups pirated of other cars so the underdrive wont be an issue there, I wont change alternator pulley either. Waterpump will be done when I got the dough for good aluminum radiator bc im getting that chalky limescale now with the copper/brass which is still great in great shape otherwise

Tips, tricks, ancient knowledge appreciated.

Thanks and sorry so long.

hoopty5.0 · Apr 17, 2013

Welcome to the board. Most people here use Fel-Pro gaskets it seems (I do), but you will also notice that there are as many differing opinions as there are people here.

One thing I've always wondered about is using a speed density based aftermarket ECM on a factory SD car. Megasquirt (since it's what I'm familiar with) is a SD based system. I would be curious to see how much better it runs with only swapping the ECM and nothing else.

Seems like it would be a lot less painful than switching the whole car to MAF, no? Not to mention the added bonus of tuning it yourself versus paying someone to do it.

Also, if 325 hp at the FW is your goal, im not entirely sure that a junkyard explorer top end will get you there without being worked. Might be better off with some better heads and cam.

MustangJerry8680 · Apr 17, 2013

not sure is it very expensive?? I assume it comes with the software to hook the car straight up to my laptop?

MikeH686 · Apr 17, 2013

If you get the mspnp2 which is what I would suggest getting the ecm software and cables are 839.99

88LX5.Oh · Apr 17, 2013

You shouldn't HAVE to do a MAF conversion for an Explorer set up. I put a set of GT40P heads on my '92 Bronco (still SD til '95) and it runs flawlessly. I've always wanted another SD car to see how far I could push the SD system.

hoopty5.0 · Apr 17, 2013

88LX5.Oh said:
You shouldn't HAVE to do a MAF conversion for an Explorer set up. I put a set of GT40P heads on my '92 Bronco (still SD til '95) and it runs flawlessly. I've always wanted another SD car to see how far I could push the SD system.

Im dead set on getting MS for my current project. It's too simple not to and many people make big horsepower with it (as well as make it run mopeds.)

95Vert383AOD · Apr 17, 2013

Felpro Perma seal gaskets for oil pan and valve covers. (Reusable) And whatever Felpro lower intake gasket you use add "S3" to the end of the part number. s3 is a steel core gasket...Reg paper ones piss out over time. (I still have nightmares of leaking intake gaskets)

f8tlfiveo · Apr 17, 2013

Explorer top end will put him around 260-275 rwhp depending on cam choice. I had 260 with a stock cam. So it would be around 300 fwhp.. Close enough in my opinion. To get the other 25 hp he would need to spend more money

cenok is family · Apr 17, 2013

use felpro 1250s-3 intake gaskets, 1011-1 head gaskets, melling STANDARD volume oil pump, and i'd just convert it to mass air and be done with it. less than half the price of the megasquirt, which you do not need in the first place, and takes no time to do. do not use cork gaskets on the pan and valve covers unless you want them to leak. like someone already said, use the permadry's. personally, i'd go ahead and change out the timing chain and water pump as well since you'll already be into the engine. both are pretty inexpensive to replace and too much of a PITA to do when the engine is assembled and installed. just get a replacement balancer, again, you're not planning on anything crazy for the car. but if you must, check out the professional products dampeners at 50resto.com, they're inexpensive for what they are. as far as replacement bolts for your underdrive crank pulley, i had the same issue, just take one of your factory bolts down to your local parts store and get matching ones in allen head. an untouched explorer top end will put you closer to 250-260 rwhp, but does make for a fun street car. throw them on, bump timing to around 14, and have fun!

oh and if you don't have a shifter and gears yet, get a nice shifter and some 3.73's or 4.10's

MustangJerry8680 · Apr 17, 2013

Thanks guys great info so far. I am thinking SD will stay as is for time being. One day megasquirt will be great but not a necessity at this point. I do need to budget for suspension, brakes, body and of course a dashpad.
5.0 explorer 95-97 are good candidates? i know there is a slight difference to some of the heads, i dont want to change headers, is the difference easy to spot?? B cam and 1.5 or 1.6 rollers? should get me closer to target
I will pop in a timing chain and water pump, ur right, I love working on engines on a stand.

HuskerNation · Apr 17, 2013

MustangJerry8680, This was a website that was given a few weeks ago by mikestang63 and is a VERY good sight to get your information about GT40 heads.

http://www.fiveohinfo.com/performance/gt40-gt40p.html

cenok is family · Apr 17, 2013

MustangJerry8680 said:
Thanks guys great info so far. I am thinking SD will stay as is for time being. One day megasquirt will be great but not a necessity at this point. I do need to budget for suspension, brakes, body and of course a dashpad.
5.0 explorer 95-97 are good candidates? i know there is a slight difference to some of the heads, i dont want to change headers, is the difference easy to spot?? B cam and 1.5 or 1.6 rollers? should get me closer to target
I will pop in a timing chain and water pump, ur right, I love working on engines on a stand.

you may be able to get away with staying SD with just the explorer intake and heads, but if you swap cams, you're definitely going to have to switch to mass air. earlier explorers had gt40 heads, later ones had the gt40p's. easiest way to tell the difference, on the front side of gt40p heads, there are 4 bars cast into the front and rear of each head. see pic below. they also say "GTP" in the rocker arm valley, under the valve cover. gt40p heads change the angle of the spark plugs, thus "P" specific headers are needed. regular gt40's do not have the 4 bars and they say "GT" in the rocker valley. they also retain the same spark plug angle so you can re use your current headers. and ford's use 1.6 rockers with 1.7's being an option, not 1.5's.

mikestang63 · Apr 17, 2013

You got some great advice so far. I would tell you from my personal experience as long as you don't put a radical cam or a huge blower on, you can run SD just fine. I ran an 87 with aftermarket heads , a crane ( think it was 2030? cam- its been 20 years), 70mm TB, headers, the usual bolt ons and had no problems. I would say save the 400 you would spend on the MAF and use it on your build.

ThatBear · Apr 18, 2013

I had gt40p heads on my 89, bbk shorties mate up with no problems as do all longtubes if I'm not mistaken. They're great heads, just do some machine work

cenok is family · Apr 18, 2013

well technically, all headers made for these cars will bolt up to gt40p heads. the issue with non-P headers is not having the ability to change your spark plugs without having to disconnect your headers. i believe this is only an issue with shorties though, as thatbear said, longtubes should be okay.

ThatBear · Apr 18, 2013

cenok is family said:
well technically, all headers made for these cars will bolt up to gt40p heads. the issue with non-P headers is not having the ability to change your spark plugs without having to disconnect your headers. i believe this is only an issue with shorties though, as thatbear said, longtubes should be okay.

To be honest, I never had to remove my header to get to the spark plugs. One of them called it close, but it was doable. Maybe it had something to do with me using the entire explorer engine?

Shakerhood · Apr 19, 2013

If you are planning on doing an Electric Fan then you will need to do a 3G Alternator swap.

5.0 beginner.

MustangJerry8680

New Member

hoopty5.0

mechanicus terribilis

MustangJerry8680

New Member

MikeH686

Mine is only two inches though.

88LX5.Oh

hoopty5.0

mechanicus terribilis

95Vert383AOD

f8tlfiveo

My wife likes my spool and blow-off valve.

cenok is family

MustangJerry8680

New Member

HuskerNation

Member

cenok is family

mikestang63

ThatBear

Active Member

cenok is family

ThatBear

Active Member

Shakerhood

Similar threads

5.0 beginner.

New Member

mechanicus terribilis

New Member

Mine is only two inches though.

mechanicus terribilis

My wife likes my spool and blow-off valve.

New Member

Member

Active Member

Active Member

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency