engine mod questions

[91ghp5.0]

Hey guys, I'm looking to do a few easy and relatively cheap mods to up the power in my car, but still make it a reliable daily driver. i've posted a bit in talk, but i figured i would come here. i have a stock 302 as it is, and the new motor (goign in soon????) will be a 302 as well, B cam, stock heads, etc (t-5 going in as well). ill be a senior in high school, so cash isnt overflowing right now.
the B cam will probably be there to stay (for now), and i was looking at things like intake/heads/maf/tb, etc. the car needs to maintain drivability (college is a 4+ hour drive there and back starting next year). iron heads will suit me well in florida, where overheating is a definite possibility. is porting/polishing the stock heads worth the saved cash (as opposed to trick flow, edelbrock, or afr heads). im not a fan of holley/trick flow intakes, but it could be done. what companies for maf and tb? i've seen pro-m and edelbrock, and a few others. i'd like to keep it n/a as long as its a daily driver. pops wants me (and i agree) to keep it sane while im still driving it a lot, but i dont want to be stock either. all options/suggestions will be considered, and i appreciate the help guys.
-Danny

 

[grey5.0beast]

the stock ported heads will not flow as well as trick flow etc. if your strapped for cash do a search and i think the 96- early 97 explorers you can use their heads which are gt40ps.find a wrecked one and u cna use the intake and heads i think but i dont know about the tb. to really wake up the car go with some 4.10 gears but if highway driving will be frequent maybe some 3.55s or 3.73s and a good stall converter.

 

[emagdnim]

You can make stock heads flow almost as well as gt40p heads with a bit of bowl work... but if the gt40p heads are ported they have the advantage. Ive seen articles where people get 30% more flow just doing a bit of bowl work then run 12s with ported upper

 

[91ghp5.0]

alright thanks. yea college is gonna be a 4+ hour drive on a major highway..so i think i'll be sticking with the 3.55's. keep 'em coming please.

 

[QDRHRSE]

An entry level blower on a stock Mustang is the most bang for the buck there is. It has 0 effect on drivability and 0 effect on reliability. It will increase your mileage on the freeway as well. I have seen bone stock mustangs with headers and A trim vortechs go mid 13's on radials. A starter blower will cost you less than heads and intake and take less time to install. Also, if you sell the car you can take the blower off.

It seems like all of my posts lately say "get an entry level blower". I, myself, put off getting a blower for years and it was the dumbest thing that I ever did, or didn't do. Supercharging and or turbo charging are the way to go. That's why a lot of cars and trucks come from the factory with superchargers and turbos.

 

[joeythesaint]

Define "entry level blower."

Seriously. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[RaceDvr50]

I picked up a complete 97 Explorer 5.0 with the GT40 intake and GT40 heads from a salvage yard for $450 I used the intake and heads and sold the rest of the engine. The only other expense that needed to be covered was the GT40"P" headers from motorsport which I found the best price was from Summit on those. The GT40P heads will outflow the stock heads or the GT40 Cobra heads and give you about a 0.6 increase in compression ratio.

 

[QDRHRSE]

Define "entry level blower."

Seriously. Inquiring minds want to know.

I use that term a lot. NOVI 1000,A trim (or whatever the new equivalent is), BD11....all entry level.