Best Bang For Buck

Im looking into buying a fox mustang and have found one for sale near me this is the ad

Very Well Kept 88 Ford Mustang 5.0 With Many Bolts On. Has A 302 Ci That Has Been Bored .30 over. Trick Flow Track Heat Intake. Gt40 Heads. Bbk Headers. 3.73 Geared. Flowmaster Off Road Pipes To Two chamber Flowmaster Muffler With Turndowns. Sounds Great. Msd Ignition. Zex Nitrous With Purge. Built In Roll Cage. Race Seats. Electric Fan. 17In. Cobra Rims. BfgoodricH Drag Radials

I plan on doing the work myself with the help of friends I am not an expert but I understand and have worked on engines enough to be able to do most modifications. I came here to find what would be the best upgrades to produce reliable power for a street/strip car. I have a $8000 budget so what I have thought of is twin turbos a stroker kit better cams but I have no experience with this mustang this is just what I have seen works well. So what is the best bang for my buck when it comes to reliable power?
 
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Better heads would be on the top of my list. Superchargers are easier, turbos are more efficient, but both may require different pistons to lower the compression. If your heart is set on turbo, you could look for one that is already set up that way.
 
Im looking into buying a fox mustang and have found one for sale near me this is the ad

Very Well Kept 88 Ford Mustang 5.0 With Many Bolts On. Has A 302 Ci That Has Been Bored .30 over. Trick Flow Track Heat Intake. Gt40 Heads. Bbk Headers. 3.73 Geared. Flowmaster Off Road Pipes To Two chamber Flowmaster Muffler With Turndowns. Sounds Great. Msd Ignition. Zex Nitrous With Purge. Built In Roll Cage. Race Seats. Electric Fan. 17In. Cobra Rims. BfgoodricH Drag Radials

I plan on doing the work myself with the help of friends I am not an expert but I understand and have worked on engines enough to be able to do most modifications. I came here to find what would be the best upgrades to produce reliable power for a street/strip car. I have a $8000 budget so what I have thought of is twin turbos a stroker kit better cams but I have no experience with this mustang this is just what I have seen works well. So what is the best bang for my buck when it comes to reliable power?

I would suggest actually buying the car first.
Second, I don't think budget when you say reliable power. Big horsepower is not reliable, ask me....I know.
You can really get some good advice on this board and there are a lot of great members here.

If I was to have a fox streeter it would be as follows:

Stock shortblock, TFS top end, 42lb injectors, 77mm ProM maf, Vortech V3si w/ stock pulleys, C4 w/ manual T-brake valve body, Anderson PMS, 3.73 gears c clip eliminators and 31 spline posi, M/T 275/60/15 radials and some UPR rear suspension.

This is a proven 10 second combo and can be rather budget friendly and will produce 500+rwhp every day of the week. This combo has proven to last a fair amount of time but like any other 500hp stock block fox it can and will eventually leave you on the side of the road :O_o:

Hope this has been helpful
 
for 8k I would buy a clean stocker and drop a TFS top end on it. 300hp out of the box and leaves room to add that blow machine later.
 
Is $8000 the budget for the mods, or the car and mods?

The car you describe doesn't sound that appetizing to me.
You will never know the history of the engine rebuild, nobody wants a car that had nitrous on it, the parts used sound mediocre like it was built as a budget race car.

Unless it's a very clean notchback or this car is way below market value, i'd keep looking.
 
Thank
I would suggest actually buying the car first.
Second, I don't think budget when you say reliable power. Big horsepower is not reliable, ask me....I know.
You can really get some good advice on this board and there are a lot of great members here.

If I was to have a fox streeter it would be as follows:

Stock shortblock, TFS top end, 42lb injectors, 77mm ProM maf, Vortech V3si w/ stock pulleys, C4 w/ manual T-brake valve body, Anderson PMS, 3.73 gears c clip eliminators and 31 spline posi, M/T 275/60/15 radials and some UPR rear suspension.

This is a proven 10 second combo and can be rather budget friendly and will produce 500+rwhp every day of the week. This combo has proven to last a fair amount of time but like any other 500hp stock block fox it can and will eventually leave you on the side of the road :O_o:

Hope this has been helpful
Thanks that was very helpful why choose the supercharger over the twin turbo system it seems like the twin turbos would make more power and they are around the same price. Just wondering if there was a reason to choose that over the twin turbos
 
Thank

Thanks that was very helpful why choose the supercharger over the twin turbo system it seems like the twin turbos would make more power and they are around the same price. Just wondering if there was a reason to choose that over the twin turbos

In my opinion, Vortech offers reliable well built products that last a very long time. You can rely on dependable performance with there products flat out. There are several reasons why I'm not a turbo fan. Unless you are buying very high quality ball bearing units there just is no seal longevity with the cheaper turbos. The install is far more complicated and there are alot more pieces to the puzzle. I would run a v3 si trim non intercooled and never think twice. the turbos will produce higher inlet temps and will require an a2a intercooler at the least, adding my complication to the puzzle. Turbo cars consistently make more hp on the dyno and usually put up bigger mph at the track but with the street stuff especially the s/c cars will typically perform far better than the turbo stuff (my opinion and yes lets fight about it, lol) If you were to seriously consider the turbo route a single would be my option. I'm not sure what turbo kit you are looking at but i can guarantee your money would be better spent with Vortech!
 
well that defiantly changed my view I will consider a supercharger. So with a supercharger you don't run an intercooler? And with that supercharger how much boost will I be making? I do like the thought of not waiting for it to spool up
 
well that defiantly changed my view I will consider a supercharger. So with a supercharger you don't run an intercooler? And with that supercharger how much boost will I be making? I do like the thought of not waiting for it to spool up

For a base model kit (8lbs or less) you won't need an intercooler which adds about $1000 to the price. The base kits are designed to work on stock engines with little modifications- larger fuel pump, colder plugs retarded timing. When ( notice I said when not if) you step up in boost it's recommended instead of running a FMU (fuel management unit that comes with the kit and allows you to run smaller injectors - it increases the fuel pressure higher as boost goes up) I would say go with at least 42lb injectors and matching MAF, an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, a 70mmThrottle body, a boost timing retard, gauges to monitor boost, fuel pressure, water temperature, a/f ratio, and either a dyno or mail order tune. You can add an intercooler which will increase the boost and lower temps, but I never did and never had an issue. There is also methanol injection that will lower temps, increase boost and allow you to run more timing but again that is not necessary until you step up in boost.

Regardless of the level of boost, you also should change the way the PCV system is setup, as the added boost of the blower will cause blowby and excessive crankcase pressure. Not a big deal to do.

Of course the rest of your engine should be in good working order- cooling, fan, ignition, etc.

It is very easy to add a quick 75-150 horse power safely as long as you have the supercharger properly installed and set up. Be cautioned though, it is also very easy to blow a head gasket or worse, destroy and engine if you run lean or too much boost on a bad setup. The great thing about a supercharger is it only comes on when you lay into the throttle and build boost, usually 2000-3000 rpm or higher depending on what pulley you put on.

I've run Vortech A, S, and T trims on cars and they are dead reliable and just plain fun if installed, setup and maintained properly. The biggest problem you will have is not mashing the throttle at every light. :jester:
 
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