1996 5.0L Rebuild!

[FLYIN 5.0]

Well I had the heads done as descibed above, I had the rods resized, cyls bored .030 over, decked the block, had the block magnafluxed, Had cam reground because I liked it so much. It cost me a wopping $94.00 for the valves.
This work was done by one of my best friends. He is a very good friend

 

[section525]

Originally posted by X-box
Hindsight being 20/20 I would no doubt do a few things differently.
1) upon removing the popped piston the side showed some "side loading" abrasions, I would go 331. My engine has around 10K on it and only Mobil1 full syn

Hmmmm.... I'm thinking 331 now.

 

[james t]

if you're doing it yourself, just go with a 331. a cam is "smaller" in a stroker than it is in a 302, so remember that in your final decision. an E303 is decent for a mild 302, but will be stock-like in a stroker.

 

[section525]

Well what cam do you recommend. I'm doing it myself so 331 it is.

Hey James.. what is this brace lookin deal I see in all these 302 pics?

 

[james t]

that is a main cap girdle, and its cheap insurance. get one.

as far as cams go, what do you want the motor to do?

1- stock idle/good torque

2- decent idle/hellish torque

3- slightly lump idle/ killer midrange

4- Troll idle/ race motor

 

[section525]

2.5. I don't care if it has a lumpy idle.

 

[terdrocket]

I don't know jack unfortunately, but there is an article in this months Truckin' where they stroke a 302.
(If you can find it between the adds for neons and crap.

I've seen kits around online.


BTW - the leaking oil issue - Just remember most stories came from Mustang guys running higher rpm's, running harder at dragstrips.

 

[section525]

Will a 331 need to be notched to clear the rods?

 

[section525]

Three questions:

1) Will a stock Explorer upper and lower work with this? Or should I be thinking about something else? Port/Polish, what?

2) Camshaft, camshaft, camshaft

3) What heads? Trick Flows are damn pricey. (But not out of the question). But what else should I be looking at/for?


Thanks!

 

[FLYIN 5.0]

Hey I was just looking around and saw this site. You might want to check it out. dssracing.com Pretty good deal on 331 stroker kit.

 

[james t]

so how's the project going?

Originally posted by section525
Three questions:

1) Will a stock Explorer upper and lower work with this? Or should I be thinking about something else? Port/Polish, what?

2) Camshaft, camshaft, camshaft

3) What heads? Trick Flows are damn pricey. (But not out of the question). But what else should I be looking at/for?


Thanks!

1) keep the stock intake. the lower is a GT-40, and the upper flows pretty good. Mustang guys are currently scrownging the junkyards for you intake because it flows very well stock. you could have the lower ported, but the upper is fine as is

2)depends on what you wanna do. remember, anything describing a cam in an ad will be for a 302. a stroker will make a cam act smaller, so you will need more cam for a stroker to get the same results as if it were a 302 (confused yet?) i would get something comparable with a B-303. my personally pick would be these 2-

1- CompCams 35-302-8 should idle like an E303 in a 302 motor, and have good bottom/midrange and upper in a stroker

2- CompCams 35-312-8 just ever so slightly bigger than above, and should have just a tiny bit of "lump" in the idle. not much, but noticable to someone who knows cars.

3)use this flow chart guide and pick whatever you want. id go with AFR's, Canfeilds, or TFS. it all depends on how much $$$ you got.

 

[section525]

The project is coming along. I found a local small block Ford guy who is going to be doing all the dirty work. My boss used to race dragsters so he knows a thing or two about motors plus he has some connections. Anyway, I'm going to try and work a deal with this guy where he could be one of our event sponsors and all he's gotta do is do my motor work for cheap/free. I'm sure he'll be down.

So here's where we stand:

1) 331 for sure. Just gotta find a deal on a quality kit. Any reccomendations?

2) Comp Cam 35-312-8. Might as well go all out.

3) Heads. Looks like I'm spending $1k no matter what. I think I'll try and find a deal on some TFS's. Let's say I get some Twisted Wedges... I won't need to change the springs or valves or anything to match my cam, right?

4) Stock upper and lower with a nice port job

5) Keepin the headers

6) Catback MagnaFlow 3"

What else??

 

[P51DTUG]

331 KIT

Check out CHP
a lot of mustang guys swear by their stuff.


jim

 

[section525]

Jim.. I think I found the kit! Those are the guys who make the supposedly superior oiling 347 kit, right? Anyway, yeah.. they look pretty good and its only a couple hundred more than I found the cheapest to be. But I'm willing to pay for quality.

Anyone have bad experience with this one?

 

[james t]

CHP makes good ****. the guy that bought my stang put a CHP 347 in it 2 years ago, and its still going good despite massive abuse.

yes, you will have to change springs to match the cam. go here http://www.compcams.com/catalog/156_157.html and scroll down to the cam you want and they will have all of the reccomended part #'s.

 

[JMoore]

MY .02

Well, I don't post much because I like to read what everyone else has to say. But on this matter I will give my .02. I have a great results with small block fords, and making them fast. My last combo was a 302 bored .40 with polished crank with steel rods rated at 700hp,forged pistons, nitrous cam from comp cams, Roush 180 iron heads, main girdle, 1.6 rockers. I will tell you I don't know everything but I thought I could help. If I were you I would get a performer intake, because you are putting this on an Xplorer not a mustang it makes power lower and into 5500 rpm range which is where you need it. The reason I say Nitrous is it is cheap very reliable ( if you not greedy) and it there when you want it, with out hurting driveabilty. I personally shot a 250 shot on a stock 5.0 block for years with no problems at all. But I don't think you need that much I would say 100-125 would work very nicely.

Just my .02

P.S. That combo made 350hp on motor, 650 hp on nitrous.

 

[PUR PONY]

I would say to go with the 331..... but i would stay away from CHP.... just my thoughts though.... lately i have been hearing bad things about CHP. My friend has one of their 34 stroker kits in his stang and doesnt really like it. I would go with a scat or eagle kit......

also I would recommend AFR heads..... they are awesome! and priced fairly well.

I am not to sure on the cam though.

Also- keep the factory upper and lower..... it will keep the low end torque better then a shorter runner intake. The Explorer intake flows well also. I was thinking of sending mine out to AFM to have them cut it open and port/polish it.... then weld it back together...... but thats for my blower..... the stock intake should flow great.

Also if you havent done it already.... get a baumann shift kit!


ps- do you happen to have a spare v-8 explorer radiator, condensor, or tranny cooler laying around you want ot sell?

 

[section525]

Thanks for the advie shaun! I need to get this project back on one of the burners!

Originally posted by PUR PONY
ps- do you happen to have a spare v-8 explorer radiator, condensor, or tranny cooler laying around you want ot sell?

Sorry.. I don't have any extra parts that would be connected to the body. I even need to buy back some of the parts I already sold..