85' 5.0 C.F.I. ???

jnobles06

jnobles06

Member
Oct 23, 2003
85
0
6
Clovis,NM
#1
i was wondering what cfi ment? im buying a long block 85' cfi. i think it means carb fuel injection. if this is true to i have to keep it like that or can i just sraight up carb it? if i do just put a normal carb on there w/o the fuel injection do i still need to buy the cfi engine specific accessories ie the water pump, alternator, oil pump and ignition system. i have to buy all of this stuff to get this engine ready to put in to my 76 hatchback and i want to keep it carb not fuel injected in any way, but i still want a roller motor.
 
#6
Maybe we can get some other guys to chime in on this one. I've been under the impression that one thing that makes a 5.0L HO an "HO" is the presence of the roller cam. In other words, if it's a 5.0L and not a roller, then it's not an HO. But I could be incorrect about that.
 
#8
just to clear any confusion i may be having, what exactly does a roller engine mean (the roller part)

oh, and my 84 HO has cfi (central feul injection) im pretty sure the name comes from the fact that the two injectors are in the center of the throttle body or something, not one injector at each piston intake valve.

edit: and how can you tell if your engine is a roller cam engine?
 
#11
Thanks Hissin and Maverick, I learned a little something -- that clears it up. In 85, the automatic "HO" were CFI at 180HP; the 5 speed HO's were carb'd at 210HP. For 86, everything went to sfi - the speed density system. In 88, CA went to mass air sfi; in 89 everything did.

Blah - a roller motor is one that has roller lifters. Most pushrod V-8's out there had what's called a flat tappet lifter to follow the cam lobe. The metal lobe sat directly against the flat metal bottom of the lifter. A roller lifter has a smaller wheel or "roller" on the bottom that sits against the cam lobe. Since it can 'roll' around the lobe, there is less friction, and the lobe ramp rates can be steeper allowing more area under the lift curve - more aggressive camshafts. Go to the link posted by hissin above and see if it will tell you the history of roller motors in the Stang's - according to Dark Knight above, if it's CFI, it's a flat tappet motor. The only way I know of for sure is to pull the intake manifold - the roller motors have a piece of sheet metal bolted in the valley that keeps the lifters from rotating in their bores - called a spider for obvious reasons when you see it. If you see the spider, you've got a roller motor.
 
#12
thanks mike, any idea how involved switching a motor to a roller cam is? i was going to get a new camshaft in the future, could i just do it then? thanks, ill also try searching for that answer
 
#13
you're probably better off just swapping in another flat tappet hyd cam, but the only way to know for sure is to pull the intake to see if the block is tapped for the bolts that hold the retainer in for the roller lifters.. if it's not, I wouldnt want to try and drill the holes for it with the engine in the car, metal shavings would drop right on the cam..

I've also heard that the lifter bores are taller for the roller lifters.. not sure about it though..

might try http://www.foureyedpride.com/phpBB2/index.php

there are a ton of regular hyd cams out there... a whole lot cheaper than a roller too...
 
#14
You cannot make a non roller block a roller but you can make a roller block non roller. Most info here I agree on. I will add in late 84 some stangs went to fuel injection but just the autos and have poor hp (157) in 85 it is what Micheal said. The only confusion is about roller automatics that I am not certain, I will believe what is posted here, but for sure the 85 standards are roller cammed, as well as last year of the carb. Roller rockers is just 93 Cobras as far as I know. It is stated many places the 85 was the return of the "muscle car"........like before the oil embargo caused all the companies to reduce gas consumption and power. Just my thoughts.
 
#15
85GTlover said:
You cannot make a non roller block a roller but you can make a roller block non roller. Most info here I agree on. I will add in late 84 some stangs went to fuel injection but just the autos and have poor hp (157) in 85 it is what Micheal said. The only confusion is about roller automatics that I am not certain, I will believe what is posted here, but for sure the 85 standards are roller cammed, as well as last year of the carb. Roller rockers is just 93 Cobras as far as I know. It is stated many places the 85 was the return of the "muscle car"........like before the oil embargo caused all the companies to reduce gas consumption and power. Just my thoughts.
Click to expand...

I could have sworn there are conversion kits to turn a non-roller block into a roller block. About the autos being flat tappet....this is true. HOWEVER, it has been known that some of the autos in the later months of 85 had roller cams.....not very common though.
 
#16
I think it would be more accurate to say in order to convert a non-roller block to roller configuration, you have to use aftermarket linked roller lifters ($$$). I think the flat tappet block lifter bores are too short to accomodate the stock style dogbones - when the lifter comes up it would interfere with the dogbone that keeps the lifter from rotating.
 
#17
Michael Yount said:
I think it would be more accurate to say in order to convert a non-roller block to roller configuration, you have to use aftermarket linked roller lifters ($$$). I think the flat tappet block lifter bores are too short to accomodate the stock style dogbones - when the lifter comes up it would interfere with the dogbone that keeps the lifter from rotating.
Click to expand...


According to the Ford catologue site somthing about the block itself is different....it could be with what you say along those lines.....maybe it can be done but not easily and like I said I was taking that info from them, and it said.......cannot.
 
#18
85GTlover said:
According to the Ford catologue site somthing about the block itself is different....it could be with what you say along those lines.....maybe it can be done but not easily and like I said I was taking that info from them, and it said.......cannot.
Click to expand...
The block itself is different, as DarkKnight stated, the lifter bores in roller blocks are taller. And the lifter valley is drilled and tapped for the bolts that hold down the spider. Original pre-85 flat-tappet blocks can be made to work with OE-style roller tappets by overboring the lifter bosses and press-fitting tall bronze bushings that extend the bores to accept the longer roller tappets and accomodate their links and locators.
 
#19
Yup - that's the issue; it's been referred to by several posters. You can drill/tap the valley to bolt the spider down; but making the lifter bores longer/the correct height is impractical. What they're saying is you cannot use the factory spider/dogbones/roller lifter arrangement. But the linked roller lifters will work in a flat tappet block. The links keep the lifters from rotating - they play the role that the spider/dogbones do in the stock HO set up.
 
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