Performance Advice Needed... Any Thoughts Welcome!

[GT2000JAY]

Hey guys, never posted over here and, frankly, don't know much about the venerable 5.0 engine.

The situation is that a friend of mine is building a kit (Cobra) based on an '87 5.0 he picked up. It's a father/son project and he wants a little extra kick when it comes to performance. He is going to keep the drivetrain, tranny and all.

What can he do to get a little extra performance, not "over-engineer" the car and keep it tame and streetable? How do these cars respond to intake replacement and exhaust setups? What kinds/brands of parts? Do they respond well to higher gear ratios in the diff given the 5.0 powerband?

Any advice/responses wanted and welcomed. Thanks for taking the time to help out a 4.6 brother.

Jay

**EDIT: Emissions is not an issue**

 

[ECU5.0]

yes, tell them to get an intanke....cobra/gt40...or wait till the new bbk intake comes out. 3.73 would probably be good enough for a car that light, and exhaust is a must. long tubes with side pipes.

 

[IMissMy93Fox]

Might as well throw some GT-40 or similar heads w/ an E-303 cam in while your at it. If you're going to do all that you might want to convert it to mass air too.

 

[whitemustang89]

heads cam intake. then exhaust=longtubes h pipe and some good mufflers what ever you choose i like flowmaster myself.

 

[dvs bullet]

Holley systemax, or edelbrock performer packages and gears

 

[Sicarius428]

First off, what is your budget. Find that out then we can see how much money of your friends we can spend.
Kevin

 

[sleeper89]

yep, we need to know your budget and performance goals. if it were me in the same situation i'd probably go carbed with new h/c/i. which ones will depend on your goals.

-steve

 

[GT2000JAY]

Well, let's assume the performance goal to be around 250 RWHP (300 at the flywheel) - I believe that to be achievable and streetable on a car that will probably weigh in reasonably light.


**EDIT: If the budget number is unreasonable, if you could provide estimated prices for what you suggest that would be VERY helpful. I'm not entirely sure what they want to invest right now**

Could someone get there for around $2500 - $3000 in parts. It is a DIY project, so I would shoot for the best bang for the buck without making the project terribly intensive, ie. a great deal of electronics/electrical. The motor will be torn down and rebuilt, so nothing is out of the scope of possibility from the standpoint of internals/heads/cams.

All of the help/advice thus far is appreciated.

Jay

 

[tmoss]

If your budget is tight and your not going to replace the heads- or you port them, porting the stock lower intake will amke very good power and only cost about $130 - paste the link in my signature for info and dyno results. The next best choice is a Cobra or Explorer intake for about $250-300 used. Don't use the Systemax without a head change and use a Performer if you can get a used one for $250-300.

 

[tvmango]

get a $2000 upgrade kit, either trick flow or systemax kits,, heads . intake, t chain etc, all included, I would get the trick flow, nicer kit... summitracing.com has them..