Newbie to foxes/combo opinions?

dtlionsfan · Feb 2, 2007

I have an 89 hatch that I'm building the stock 5.0 for.I've freshened up the bottom end w/bearings,rings,seals,oilpump w/arp shaft.The heads are ported by me w/bowl cleanup,exhaust work and pushrod pinch removal.I'm going to use the stock cam w/1.7 rollers/BBK shorties/T5/4.10's/pulleys/OR H-pipe/flows.I'm looking at a systemax 1 lower and stock upper w/65mm t-body or porting stock lower?

I have to stay in a budget to redo the whole car [paint,interior]so heads are not an option.I want a fun torquey street ride.Any input? Thanks.

Aliate X · Feb 2, 2007

ditch the intake and the heads, they suck even after porting. Get some aluminums and a new intake if your really looking to pick up some serious power

dtlionsfan · Feb 2, 2007

Aliate X said:
ditch the intake and the heads, they suck even after porting. Get some aluminums and a new intake if your really looking to pick up some serious power

I thought I was clear about budget constraints about rebuilding the car.I'm not just throwing a motor in.I have to clean and paint the car and undercarriage,rebuild suspension,interior restore,rebuild the motor and trans plus swap in the T5 where an auto was.I'd be an idiot to speed 5K on a "serious power" motor and set it on a stand for a year till i have money to finish the car.

BlooDReigN · Feb 2, 2007

Besides what you are doin, all I can really suggest is do some weight reduction. Get rid of all the luxries you dont need....cruise, a/c, etc etc. Best bang for the buck you can do for the suspension is put some subframe connectors in and if you have a welder and some flat bar, you can box the upper and low control arms to stiffen them up a bit and reduce wheel up. Also, new eurethane bushings would be somewhat cheap and help firm things up a bit as well.

dtlionsfan · Feb 2, 2007

BlooDReigN said:
Besides what you are doin, all I can really suggest is do some weight reduction. Get rid of all the luxries you dont need....cruise, a/c, etc etc. Best bang for the buck you can do for the suspension is put some subframe connectors in and if you have a welder and some flat bar, you can box the upper and low control arms to stiffen them up a bit and reduce wheel up. Also, new eurethane bushings would be somewhat cheap and help firm things up a bit as well.

Doing a tubular K member,MM subframes,rear control arms,heater A/C smog and cruise delete.Thanks

JChalfan · Feb 3, 2007

I didn't think a stock upper would bolt to a systemax lower, but I dunno for sure...

Check out tmoss's website for info on stock intake porting. He'll probably jump onto this thread too...

http://www.tmossporting.com/

I would recommend a larger cam. I know you're on a budget, but there's a lot of power in a cam. I had a Ford Motorsport E cam in one of my cars and was pretty happy with it. You could definitely hear it at idle, and it pulled great to 6k, but lost a little low end.

I'm sure guys on here will have some good cam suggestions.

v8only · Feb 3, 2007

I agree, Port that stock intake, save the money you don't need the aftermarket intake. OR, you can pick up a ford explorer gt40 type intake for $200ish.

Also, on a budget go with the 87/88 thunderbird turbocoupe rear end, the auto's had 373 gears, and the manuals had 3.55 gears, and you can get the rears in a junkyard for $200 or less and get a rear disc swap for your car too.

Watch out with that arp oil pump driveshaft. they're too long, and not a direct swap. you're supposed to "mill" them to size. I didn't want to mess with that, so I bought the frpp oil pump driveshaft which IS a direct plug and play fit, so if you haven't already, do that or pull the arp shaft and be sure you've cut it to the size of your stocker.

ported stock heads and intake can be had for some decent power, on a budget I think you're on the right track, absolutely.

dtlionsfan · Feb 3, 2007

The car is an original 5.0 and has a fresh 8.8 w/4.10's.Most people have told me to stick w/stock cam and use 1.7's for torque,I plan on it being done @5500 anyway.I have a ported stocker but was thinking a performer intake or explorer.Are ported lowers that good?thanks for the pointers,keep it coming!:SNSign:

P.S. actually the ARP O/P shaft came in at .010 endplay,I had read enough to check that close.Spec sheet said at least .008 to .010

v8only · Feb 3, 2007

good deal, sounds like you've MORE than done your homework, especially for a newbie. From what I understand, a ported stocker is good to about 275 at the rear wheels, that's more than what you'll be doing with those ported e7's. If you've ported that lower right, switching to another intake with those heads will gain you absolutely nothing. Your choice is good with the HO cam. it's a decent cam. I'm running the HO cam with gt40p heads and a ported explorer intake, and it makes great power to at least 5500 rpms, if not a few hundred higher, although in retrospect I would have gone with a tfs 1 cam, but I don't really regret my choice.

90blacknight · Feb 4, 2007

+1 for porting the stock intake, if it's going to cost you next to nothing. I currently run a stock ported upper and lower. Mind you, my upper was done the old school way, cut down the middle, ported and rewelded. It doesn't look the prettiest but it makes some serious power. Back in the day aftermarket intakes just weren't available or were way too expensive, so we had to make do. I think we overlook the potential of porting a stock intake all the time. Talk to TMOSS, he'll tell you. If you're worried about future potential, I run a poweradder on mine (vortech v1, edelbrock heads though), and the car ran 11.9 on street tires.

ironmedic · Feb 4, 2007

im an avid fan of trickflow twisted wedge heads. i would go out and buy the trickflow kit for your 5.0! comes with everything you need for H/C/I to eat rice.

90blacknight · Feb 4, 2007

ironmedic said:
im an avid fan of trickflow twisted wedge heads. i would go out and buy the trickflow kit for your 5.0! comes with everything you need for H/C/I to eat rice.

He clearly states that he's on a budget and heads are not an option.

tmoss · Feb 4, 2007

there are some pictures of stock ported lowers on my website in the photo folders in the Community section - use them to judge the work you've done on your lower. When I do an upper and lower with a 67mm TB opening, they flow right at 200cfm together - more than likely quite enough for yoiur home ported heads.

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