Dash to 300 H.P.

[irvgotti]

I have to make 300 H.P. by the end of febuary...

Currently i have a stock 200 hp 86 automatic...Ive been strickly upgrading the suspesion and minor brake upgrades.... I stupidly open my mouth with my coworker who i dont like , I told him i will kick his HEMI CHARGER a$$ next year in autoxing and drag racing...autoxing im not worried about ive out driven him before...i figured i need 300 HP to beat him at the drag Right??..

So i have a plan but i know its flawed cause im still new to engine moding

I wanna keep my fox as a daily drivin cornering car not a Drager ... By the way the cheaper the better plz

So maybe upgrading the headers , upper and lower intakes with eld.and a chip & tuning with help would that do it ???

PLZ help.... Sincierly - A fellow mustang proud owner

 

[ttop88]

Cheapest way is a explorer engine with a cam. Then put nos on it for the strip. You need heads 2 get 300hp. Your engine has no valve reliefs soit would be cheaper and faster to swap engines. $1200 bucks if you do the labor.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

I second the Explorer engine....and i've seen them for as little as $300.

 

[irvgotti]

explorer engine really what year? ..wow didnt expect that ....why ??

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

explorer engine really what year? ..wow didnt expect that ....why ??

'98 is a good year to look for. They're good engines because they come with GT40P heads. If you had any other engine than the '86, you could just swap the heads....but the pistons in your '86 engine don't have any valve reliefs cut into them, so you won't be able to run those heads on your stock short block (especially with the cam that you'll have to have to crack the 300hp mark). In a perfect world they would also have forged pistons instead of the hypers, but that won't be an issue unless you throw a blower/turbo/nitrous on it and don't tune it.


You're also gonna need a good cam and good intake setup as well....it's not just dropping an engine in and you're there.

 

[irvgotti]

ooohhhh i seee ..so my 86 engine isent good enough..... tranny to??

 

[dcmustang]

On the tranny issue I would go with an AOD to T5 swap that alone will wake the car up, with the engine too it will feel like a new car GOOD LUCK

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

ooohhhh i seee ..so my 86 engine isent good enough..... tranny to??

The issue is just the pistons...'86 was a bad year for 302s in general. They were the first year for EFI so they didn't have a lot of issues ironed out that the '87+ cars got. They had to deal with all the new emissions issues and to help fix that they went with a really tame cam that didn't need valve reliefs.

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

ir you get an exploder engine you have to get specific headers, new valve springs(MANDATORY) and a good cam such as like an f cam or custom would be good, youll have to swap your car to a maf setup as well so it will run right, get some gears or your choice, then traction, and youll be set to rock n roll, I used to have an exploder engine, with a b cam, 5 speed, blah, all the bolt ons made, and it ran out very well, nice driveability, almost like stock.........

 

[irvgotti]

the explorer has mass air correct???...if so can i use that explorer one???

 

[87Mustang351]

just put the juice to it haha, should do wonders, and its cheep HP

 

[ttop88]

95-97 explorer engine Excepts stock headers. Use the intake and mod the 65mm t-body. Use a very mild cam or a stock 87-93 cam.If you use a stock 87 ho cam you will not need mass air. $400 nos kit. Jet for 100 shot. If your cars see's the highway much I would grab 3.90 gears if not 4.10. Get a good shift kit. This set-up with 4.10s will get you 13.2s with decent traction. With the 100 shot you could get 11.9s

 

[1.8kmint]

Kinda off topic but how much hp the stock explorer engine making vs the 5.0 and how hards the swap to do? and will it pass CA emissions?

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

95-97 explorer engine Excepts stock headers. Use the intake and mod the 65mm t-body. Use a very mild cam or a stock 87-93 cam.If you use a stock 87 ho cam you will not need mass air. $400 nos kit. Jet for 100 shot. If your cars see's the highway much I would grab 3.90 gears if not 4.10. Get a good shift kit. This set-up with 4.10s will get you 13.2s with decent traction. With the 100 shot you could get 11.9s

Not exactly. The heads have a revised spark plug angle which will not work with stock Mustang headers. You might be able to use the Explorer headers but i've never heard of doing so. You either need Ford's specific P-head headers, or a lot of people just use MAC long tubes, although a lot of other full length headers will work because they come out away from the head further than shorties do.

 

[ttop88]

Not exactly. The heads have a revised spark plug angle which will not work with stock Mustang headers. You might be able to use the Explorer headers but i've never heard of doing so. You either need Ford's specific P-head headers, or a lot of people just use MAC long tubes, although a lot of other full length headers will work because they come out away from the head further than shorties do.

Do your research the p head came late 98 on the 99 engine. Before that it had the same head that was on the 93 94 95 cobra! GT-40 NOT GT-40P. It was only rated at 205hp but it has a joke for a cam in it. If you use all your smog junk you wont have a problam.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Do your research the p head came late 98 on the 99 engine. Before that it had the same head that was on the 93 94 95 cobra! GT-40 NOT GT-40P. It was only rated at 205hp but it has a joke for a cam in it. If you use all your smog junk you wont have a problam.

I've done my research, i just missed the 95-97 bit. Obviously i was talking about the P heads, since i in fact said P head in my statement, right?

Also, ratings are pointless, since the engines (even the P headed versions) were built for emissions. You can run high 12s all day on the GT40 heads, and even quicker on the GT40P versions. You just need to swap out the stock cam for an aftermarket cam and use the Mustang computer. If you really wanna get serious, mill the heads down to bump compression and you'll make even more power.

 

[irvgotti]

Sounds great guys i love the advise.... would getting gt40 heads on my engine do me just as good???? or is it just not worth working on my engine being that its Speed Density and all....it only has 45 thousand miles on it...i dont have the crew or a garage for a full swap like that...

 

[fivespeedsteed]

the explorer engine comes with gt-40p heads and longer runners on the intake so more torque. and if you can find the throttle body and MAF thats good too. the tb on it is a 65 and maf is what 75 or so? i think thats right. i say explorer motor.

 

[25thmustang]

An Explorer motor with a stock 5.0 cam and bolt ons can run low 12s, maybe even 11s... Our street car with 3.55s went 12.17 @ 110 not too long ago. Should go 12.0s or even 11s next weekend.

 

[irvgotti]

WOW low 12's i was just looking for mid 13's i figured the charger runs around that number

I have a friend in the junk yard he dont have the explorer engine...so id have to keep serching for that...but he tryin to sell me gt40 heads not sure if its P heads he isent using anymore and upper and lower intakes... he says with headers that should beat the "CHARGER" for 400 bucks i can have them is that worth it?? and would i need mass air setup ?? cause he does not have that...

more advise the better i wanna flood my brain with all this wonderfull knowledge so can get a gauge of what i wanna do...and thanks all of you guys who has already shared your thoughts....i love this site