HELP me with under the hood upgrades, Indecisive brain!!!

[jdstang87]

Howdy!
I'm hoping my info shows up in the sig this time, but I've been doing alot of research/reading on here and other sites about the typical foxbody upgrades but wanted to name my plans and see what everybody thinks!

I want to do all of this at the same time but need help figuring out the specifics...convert to mass air from speed density (what size MAF?), looking at 165 or 185 AFR heads (how do I determine what size combustion chamber to go with?), upper/lower intake, 1.6 or 1.7 rockers, new valve springs/pushrods, cam (I want a real lopey sound that doesn't kill performance too much).

I may be leaving something out but I think that was most of it. Already have MAC long tube headers and frame strengthening. This is not a daily driver so I want to have power that's on the verge of being scary!! When I drive it I'll want to have fun...let me know what you think! Don't want an all out drag/strip car but my budget is about $7,000. Already spent about $1,500 redoing the interior. Might never even go to the track. THANKS!

 

[jdstang87]

My thread is one of the only ones with no replies.....COOL!

 

[Gearbanger 101]

For the budget you've got to work with, I'd have a nice stoker long block built by FordStrokers.com. For about $5,200, you'd have yourself a serious piece of hardware that'll widen your grin from ear to ear.

For the remaining $1,800 you could add all of your suporting intake and exhaust components to the mix if you shop around.

 

[jdstang87]

For the budget you've got to work with, I'd have a nice stoker long block built by FordStrokers.com. For about $5,200, you'd have yourself a serious piece of hardware that'll widen your grin from ear to ear.

For the remaining $1,800 you could add all of your suporting intake and exhaust components to the mix if you shop around.

Yeah that's a thought I had...I still need to check the soundness of my current motor (compression,etc.) cuz it was supposedly rebuilt by previous owner but not sure how long ago or anything. If it's no good then I'll definitely be upgrading to something bigger, but if it still has life I'm going to be torn between building it up or going for more from the get go.

I'd probably end up wanting more power after I did bolts on with the 302 though so I'm thinking that you're idea or something similiar would be cheaper in the long run.
Any idea how much I could sell the complete 302 for?? Assuming it's in good shape!
Thanks for the reply

 

[reldla1996]

A well matched head/cam/intake combo will get you there, with the 165-185 size right for a 302 unless you're going to rev it past 6500. A cam between 220 and 235 duration at .050 lift, with .500 or so lift should work well for you. Lower duration equals better drivability and gas mileage, with the bigger durations giving better top end while losing some of the bottom end torque. I'd recommend a 75-80mm MA, and 65-70mm TB. Don't forget to upgrade the fuel injectors and fuel pump at the same time.

 

[jdstang87]

A well matched head/cam/intake combo will get you there, with the 165-185 size right for a 302 unless you're going to rev it past 6500. A cam between 220 and 235 duration at .050 lift, with .500 or so lift should work well for you. Lower duration equals better drivability and gas mileage, with the bigger durations giving better top end while losing some of the bottom end torque. I'd recommend a 75-80mm MA, and 65-70mm TB. Don't forget to upgrade the fuel injectors and fuel pump at the same time.

I don't plan to rev past 6500 since I won't be drag racing much, when you say well matched do you mean ported custom to match? Or would a top end kit that they sell already be "well matched"?
I know the MA is calibrated for certain injectors...would 30 lbers be too much?
And how do you determine how many lph on the fuel pump?
Thanks!

 

[Beasty306GT]

you can buy the entire trick flow kit for around $2,500 bucks for everything you need 1987-93 Mustang 5.0L Top End Engine Kit with Black Trick Flow Track Heat Intake, Twisted Wedge Heads And Trick Flow Stage 1 Camshaft at LRS - Same Day Shipping!

 

[jdstang87]

Beasty, you ever been to a dyno or have any idea what kind of hp/tq you have with your setup?

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Trick Flow top end + 331 stroker = really fun daily driver.

 

[2000xp8]

My thread is one of the only ones with no replies.....COOL!

Your goals are too vague, scary fast means different things to different people.
Find a rwhp number you want, and we will give you options on how to get it.

 

[jdstang87]

Your goals are too vague, scary fast means different things to different people.
Find a rwhp number you want, and we will give you options on how to get it.

Well if I don't know what different rwhp will do for me it's kind of hard to say. My truck has about 380 hp but it's a diesel and weighs about 7,000 pounds...but i'll just throw a number out and say 350-400