Just Another Random Question

Yep, confirm the motor's health with compression and leakfown check. And then if the valve stems are not leaking oil and oil pressure is good, just drive it. They are not quite as tough as a straight 6, but the valve stems/guides, the oil pump drive shaft and the rings were the first three to wear out eventually on Grandpa's overloaded plumbing trucks. The stock oil pump drive shaft can twist like a Twizzler for no special reason. My 79 5.0 did in overdrive at 60 mph. So if you are cautious, replacing it with a HD part when you change the oil pan gasket is cheap insurance.
 
I'm not going to beat around the bush. A stock 5.0 engine makes so little power for it's size, it really doesn't have the ability to hurt itself. I would drive it however you want to. The mileage really doesn't matter a whole lot. If it's been reasonable maintained, it will last quite awhile.

Kurt
 
God i have beat that motor stock like it owed me money. Hell i beat the dart block motor too. 7200 on the shift not lifting.

When the car had the stock motor id run it out to 5500-6 ish sometimes power shifting it . Suspension wasnt anything good back then so the fastest it ever went stock was 14.30s on 17 inch wheels with 3.55s and a gt40 intake .
 
Like the others say, I wouldn't worry too much. I've got 240,000 miles on my original stock motor and I've only had to replace some accessories. I don't race it, but I don't baby it either. Just have fun, and do regular maintenance. Transmission is also fine. It's on its third clutch. Also, don't worry about HP too much either. For me, the fun of driving this car is the direct power and torque you get at mid-range RPM's, without having to rev too high, and no wailing turbo. A nice throaty rumble at idle, and a kick in the pants in second or third gear is enough to keep me smiling. :) Sure, it's lost a little HP over the years, but an easier breathing air intake and exhaust have livened it back up.
 
If you own a fox that you're scared to take beyond 4800 rpm... sell it. These things are a money pit for those of us that DO NOT race them. If you're worried about beating on the engine, then you need to stop what you are doing and put the fox away till you get a daily driver, then beat on the fox while you restore it.
 
You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. Advising somebody to beat on an old car is the same as telling them to beat on an old man.
My car never has never seen the north side of 3500 RPM, and even then was only because I decided to " romp on it" a little (Which I'm still ashamed to admit to, even now.):oops:

A fox mustang was never intended to be anything more than the ugly step child at an S197/S550 car show. It doesn't look like a fast car ( Just ask your girlfriends). trying to force it to be will almost assuredly result in you being stranded on the side of the road, with your ugly step child now broken and bleeding in some bad part of town after 10 pm. Now what ya gonna do wise acre?
like you should even be out that late in the first place.......buncha hooligans, and street punks :fuss:makin' all kinds of noise squealin tires, playin' your hippie hop music too damn loud, with your noisy damn lake pipes blastin!
All I'll say about that is that you'd better remember to take your flip phone with you when you go. Beating on it wildly-nilly with reckless abandon is comparable to jumping up and down with a gun barrel in your mouth.
Sooner or later there's gonna be somebody wishin they hadn't.

It needs to be driven slowly, rarely, and only in the best of weather to and from the drug store, else wise a parts breakage might prevent you from picking up your Viagra and Stool softener prescriptions.
Then what?
 
Mileage has correlation to wether or not you can beat on it hard. New motors blow all the time, old motors blow all the time. There’s to many variables to be considered.

Its just like everyone says the 302 block limits are 500 hp...really there’s a magical number that causes the block to split....no its detonation from running out of fuel because you threw timing at it or you’re NA and the poor oiling design couldn’t keep up with the demand. No voodoo harmonic at 500 hp will cause the block to split the main webbing.

Obviously the car has survived this long, which means its earned the right to bounce the rev limiter and float the valves until the pistons bang them shut.

Give it hell!
 
You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. Advising somebody to beat on an old car is the same as telling them to beat on an old man.
My car never has never seen the north side of 3500 RPM, and even then was only because I decided to " romp on it" a little (Which I'm still ashamed to admit to, even now.):oops:

A fox mustang was never intended to be anything more than the ugly step child at an S197/S550 car show. It doesn't look like a fast car ( Just ask your girlfriends). trying to force it to be will almost assuredly result in you being stranded on the side of the road, with your ugly step child now broken and bleeding in some bad part of town after 10 pm. Now what ya gonna do wise acre?
like you should even be out that late in the first place.......buncha hooligans, and street punks :fuss:makin' all kinds of noise squealin tires, playin' your hippie hop music too damn loud, with your noisy damn lake pipes blastin!
All I'll say about that is that you'd better remember to take your flip phone with you when you go. Beating on it wildly-nilly with reckless abandon is comparable to jumping up and down with a gun barrel in your mouth.
Sooner or later there's gonna be somebody wishin they hadn't.

It needs to be driven slowly, rarely, and only in the best of weather to and from the drug store, else wise a parts breakage might prevent you from picking up your Viagra and Stool softener prescriptions.
Then what?

As long as they don't pull over on my lawn, break it all they want.
 
Mileage has correlation to wether or not you can beat on it hard. New motors blow all the time, old motors blow all the time. There’s to many variables to be considered.

Its just like everyone says the 302 block limits are 500 hp...really there’s a magical number that causes the block to split....no its detonation from running out of fuel because you threw timing at it or you’re NA and the poor oiling design couldn’t keep up with the demand. No voodoo harmonic at 500 hp will cause the block to split the main webbing.

Obviously the car has survived this long, which means its earned the right to bounce the rev limiter and float the valves until the pistons bang them shut.

Give it hell!

I think the weight of evidence and convention is vast in opposition to your point of view on the cause for splitting a 302 through the main webbing. It doesn't take detonation to split a block. Also, detonation would manifest itself rather obviously on aluminum pistons and spark plugs, but they are usually perfectly fine when the motors are torn down.

Power alone will do it. Can they survive a pull or a season at higher levels? Sure, I've seen one go over 700 rwhp. The most conservative tune at that power level, however, is not going to prevent eventual destruction. The same motor (a turbo 347) I'm talking about at over 700 rwhp was tuned by Steve Petty using a Big Stuff 3 and blew up on the third trip to the track. It wasn't the tune or the quality of parts. The block was absolutely the issue.
 
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I think the weight of evidence and convention is vast in opposition to your point of view on the cause for splitting a 302 through the main webbing. It doesn't take detonation to split a block. Also, detonation would manifest itself rather obviously on aluminum pistons and spark plugs, but they are usually perfectly fine when the motors are torn down.

Power alone will do it. Can they survive a pull or a season at higher levels? Sure, I've seen one go over 700 rwhp. The most conservative tune at that power level, however, is not going to prevent eventual destruction. The same motor (a turbo 347) I'm talking about at over 700 rwhp was tuned by Steve Petty using a Big Stuff 3 and blew up on the third trip to the track. It wasn't the tune or the quality of parts. The block was absolutely the issue.

The main purpose of my post was you can’t predict the survivability of an engine...only mitigate it.

We know the blocks suck, if they didnt suck, they probably would still be running (production) like the gm ls motor.

Again beat the brakes off the car its earned it. ( sorry for the delayed response....back to my bitcoin)
 
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I believe the Windsor block came out in 1962, the LS in 1995. That's a pretty long run, it's demise had a bit to do with economics. I would think Ford never imagined people would want to get 400 hp out of it.
 
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I believe the Windsor block came out in 1962, the LS in 1995. That's a pretty long run, it's demise had a bit to do with economics. I would think Ford never imagined people would want to get 400 hp out of it.
That would be incorrect. Ford put a blower on the 289 in a 66 Shelby. Power was boasted to be right under 400.
mump-1008-01-o%2b1966-shelby-gt350%2bmustang.webp

Jerry Heasley
August 12, 2010
During last year's Mid America Performance Ford and Team Shelby Nationals in Tulsa, event organizer Jim Wicks rolled up to my photo location in John Atzbach's Candy Apple Red '66 Shelby GT350. Only this wasn't just any '66 Shelby. Under the hood was a Paxton supercharger. Only it wasn't just any Paxton supercharger. What made this car special was the fact that Shelby American had installed the blower at their Los Angeles airport facility in 1966. It's one of 11 '66 GT350s that was factory-equipped with the Paxton supercharger, and one of only three built in red.

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mump_1008_01_o%2b1966_shelby_gt350%2bmustang.webp

Maybe the low production figure is what has kept this novel GT350 from super star status. If people like John Atzbach are an indication, these Shelby's could get more respect as the years pass. The Seattle-based entrepreneur knows a thing or two about collectibles. He specializes in Imperial Russian antiques and art. His collection includes enamels and Faberge, as well as porcelain from factories such as the Imperial Porcelain Factory, Gardner, Popov, and Batenin.

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    For Atzbach, the '66 supercharged GT350 was a major acquisition. This rare Shelby, 6S2265, popped up in a Mecum auction brochure. John "spent some time on the phone" trying to get full background information because he has been fascinated with the original '66 Paxton Shelbys since he was a kid. Although John says he's not a big fan of red cars, he particularly wanted a red supercharged '66 Shelby with white LeMans stripes. The odds were stacked against him in a universe of just three cars and millions of enthusiasts who would love to have a red, factory-supercharged GT350 in their garage.

    The Paxton supercharged '66 GT350s are a curiosity. Paxton Products, makers of the Avanti R-2 supercharger kit in the early 1960s, saw a much bigger market for their supercharger when the Mustang debuted in the spring of 1964. Naturally, they paid a sales call on Shelby American in Los Angeles. Carroll Shelby knew about the power-adding capabilities of the blower and lent them a '65 GT350, 5S425. Paxton's Joe Granatelli returned to the LAX facility with the supercharged GT350 for Carroll's approval. And what better way to test the car's mettle than to go up against a normally aspirated 289 in a 2,200-pound Shelby Cobra roadster? According to legend, the supercharged GT350 outran the 289 Cobra and Joe got an order for 500 Paxton superchargers.

    mump_1008_03_o%2b1966_shelby_gt350%2bside_view.webp

    In the summer of 1966, Shelby American built an Ivy Green prototype, 6S051, for a possible GT350S model. They also promoted the supercharger, claiming a 46 percent increase in horsepower over the standard 289 Hi-Po, or a boost from 271 to 395 horses. As hot as the package was, Shelby American eventually decided not to offer the "S" model. However, they would install a Paxton on a new GT350 if a customer paid for the parts and labor. It just wouldn't be a special "S" model. Essentially, the supercharger became a high performance accessory for the '66 GT350. The production figure of 11 units includes the one "S" prototype.
 
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I believe the Windsor block came out in 1962, the LS in 1995. That's a pretty long run, it's demise had a bit to do with economics. I would think Ford never imagined people would want to get 400 hp out of it.

I love all these worshippers who go crazy when someone pushes 2000hp out of a Chevy 5.3 junkyard engine on an engine dyno. Do these people not realize that the same thing was being done with junkyard 351 engines 20 years ago?

Kurt
 
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