Roller motor question

[CarFreakGT]

I apologize if this is a dumb question, but here goes: Are all 1987 blocks roller blocks, or just certain ones. Is that what distinguishes the H.O. blocks? I'm a little confused. Sorry. TIA for any responses.

 

[shoguun]

ya there all rollers i believe and i believe mustang and t birds were the cars that had ho motors. others just had standard 5.0s

 

[CarFreakGT]

Thanks, shoguun. Much appreciated. What distinguishes and H.O. from a standard engine?

 

[shoguun]

HO means high output. this explains everything.
COOL CATS :: Tech Center: Advanced: Standard-to-High Output 5.0 Conversion

 

[BornInAFord]

All the 85+ 5.0L engines are "roller-ready", meaning they have longer lifter bores than previous 302/5.0L engines and can use roller lifters and matching hardened cam. Even the low-po 5.0L found in 1985+ Lincoln town cars and Ford Crown Victorias and pickups are "roller-ready". Only the HO engines found in the 1985+ Mustangs, Lincoln Mark VII LSCs and later Cougars/T-Birds actually came from the factory with roller lifters and roller cam. The others were fitted with the same block but anemic flat tappet cams/lifter combos. Relatively easy and cheap to convert, though.

Daniel

 

[CarFreakGT]

Thanks, shoguun and BIAF. That makes things a little clearer for me. Much appreciated.

 

[kilgorq]

All the 85+ 5.0L engines are "roller-ready", meaning they have longer lifter bores than previous 302/5.0L engines and can use roller lifters and matching hardened cam. Even the low-po 5.0L found in 1985+ Lincoln town cars and Ford Crown Victorias and pickups are "roller-ready". Only the HO engines found in the 1985+ Mustangs, Lincoln Mark VII LSCs and later Cougars/T-Birds actually came from the factory with roller lifters and roller cam. The others were fitted with the same block but anemic flat tappet cams/lifter combos. Relatively easy and cheap to convert, though.

Daniel

You forgot to mention the threaded holes for the roller spider in the post 85 blocks. This is to stop the Roller lifters from turning inside the bore. If you do the conversion do not forget this. It is very important. I have seen 4 or 5 guys forget the spider and make a real mess out of things.

 

[88gt]

You'll need to make sure you have the dog-bones as well..spider is useless without them.

 

[BornInAFord]

You forgot to mention the threaded holes for the roller spider in the post 85 blocks. This is to stop the Roller lifters from turning inside the bore. If you do the conversion do not forget this. It is very important. I have seen 4 or 5 guys forget the spider and make a real mess out of things.

True enough! There is more to "just replace cam and lifters and you're done" to this conversion. You will need the spider, 2 mounting bolts and the dogbones. You will also need new correct length pushrods and might as well get new rockers while you are at it. You may need shims if you have pedestal mount rockers. You also need either a new steel gear (with correct shaft diameter) for the distributor or replace the dizzy with a 1985 HO 5spd unit. All of these (depending on the type of rockers) will be inexpensive, widely available and relatively easy to install.

 

[D.Hearne]

Only the HO engines found in the 1985+ Mustangs, Lincoln Mark VII LSCs and later Cougars/T-Birds actually came from the factory with roller lifters and roller cam. The others were fitted with the same block but anemic flat tappet cams/lifter combos. Relatively easy and cheap to convert, though.

Daniel

Wrong info here. All the car 5.0's had roller cams beginning with the 86 model year. The only 5.0's that did not were the pickup/van 5.0 but these did have roller blocks. But not all had fully formed lifter valley spyder bolt bosses for the spyder retainer bolts. (I have one such in my shop) The pickup/van 5.0's went roller in 1992 and then got a better cam in 1994 (this was the F4TE roller later used in the 96-2001 Explorer/Mountaineer)