5.0 engine upgrades planned...thoughts?

alright, i am starting to come to conclusions about my engine buildup and would like some feedback and questions answered.

i have 93k on an AWD 97 Mounty (internal EGR&non-P heads), so engine is staying in. here is what i plan to do:

x-305 heads (58cc chambers will give me 9.5:1 or so compression)
1.6 RR's
aftermarket cam undetermined, but mild with a decent idle and good torque
torque monster headers
undetermined cat back setup (just need to find the one that sounds right)
cold air kit with a ~76mm aftermarket MAF
24lb injectors
255in-tank fuel pump (because i have it in my garage)
chip/reflash

looking for around 340hp. possible?

ok, its time to help fill in the blanks. biggest thing is the cam. i have searched and nobody seems to have any better suggestion than the E-303. this cam sucks. it sucked on my 95 mustang and it will suck on an explorer engine. the 110 lobe separation does horrible things to the engine. granted, alot of people, both in the mustang arena and of the explorer variety, have had luck with this cam, but an equal amount of people of both venues have had bad experiences with them. so why would i even bother when i have the choice of what i can buy? besides, all ford letter cams completely ignore the flow characteristics of ford and aftermarket ford heads. exhaust flow is not good, so a split pattern cam is what they need. none of the ford cams offer this. so, i want a split pattern with a good low end torque curve, right around .500 lift with 1.6's and a lobe separation guaranteed not to mess with my computer. and not a custom grind. gotta be under $300.

next is the chip. whatchall using? is there a good all around canned tune? i have dealt with 3 tuners on my mustang and they are all ***** and screwed up while charging me a buttload for either a new chip they can work with or charging me for dyno and burn time because i didn't get the chip from them. **** them. (can you tell i am a bit bitter about the situation?) i want to plug in and go...or something like a PMS, where i can adjust parameters myself.

lastly, will i need to replace my cat/midpipe setup? i have yet to see any aftermarket high flow cat setup. anyone got a lead on these?

any other comments or suggestions are welcome. thanks!

 

[Turdle]

You might get ahold of 99sportx,
He has just installed a custom grind into his swap engine-- I think it is a comp cams special grind.

 

[MoabB2]

next is the chip. whatchall using? is there a good all around canned tune? i have dealt with 3 tuners on my mustang and they are all ***** and screwed up while charging me a buttload for either a new chip they can work with or charging me for dyno and burn time because i didn't get the chip from them. **** them. (can you tell i am a bit bitter about the situation?) i want to plug in and go...or something like a PMS, where i can adjust parameters myself.

SCT XCAL2. Talk to Doug at Bamachips.com

 

[scruff]

I was browsing for cams and though this one sounded like a good match for the needs of most Explorers 1400-5600 rev range, suitable for 3.08 - 3.73 gears good strong idle vacuum etc etc.
I don't know enough about reading the charts to know but it sounds good, and is what I'll be looking at when I am ready for a cam.

They also list one a step milder, but sounds too mild to me.

Anyone got any vaild opinions on that cam ?

 

[pufferfish]

what cam is it?

 

[justin146]

I say if you are going to go through the trouble of installing the heads, you should get a custom grind. Call Comp Cams- even if you dont go the custom route they'll know what is best for your application.

 

[scruff]

Crap, forgot the link.
http://www.iskycams.com/productdisp...257/265&sku=3889&hdwt=31101&loc=101&dealer=no

Seems like a good thing to me.

what cam is it?

 

[tktrain]

I've had an E303 in my '98 for 8+ years, it makes great torque in a 302 with just a little lope at idle (search around on how to adjust the idle). My buddy runs one in his '86 Bronco and another friend runs one in a '91 5.0 LX 'stang. We all have had great luck with them. The X is too heavy to run a really big cam without lots of gear and/or more cubes.

 

[scruff]

You got the specs of the e303 somewhere ?
I'll be using my ex chassis in a much lighter vehicle, so it might be able to run with a bigger cam, but I'd still like to compare.

 

[tktrain]

220 degrees at .050 lift, .498 lift with 1.6:1 rockers. I get .529 lift with the 1.7:1 rockers I run.

 

[scruff]

Thats a lot of lift there, are you running stock valve springs ?

What are the specs on the stock cam do you know ?

220 degrees at .050 lift, .498 lift with 1.6:1 rockers. I get .529 lift with the 1.7:1 rockers I run.

 

[freakinmacguyver]

I've got a 96 5.0 explorer motor rebuilt with 9.5:1 forged pistons, heavily ported GT-40 irons and intake, 1.6 rr, headman headers with high flow cats and 40-series flowmasters in my 96 ranger. I'm using a stock explorer ecu and fuel system and I'm running the trickflow track heat stage 1 cam. The only thing I had to do to get it to idle right was slightly enlarge the metering hole in the throttle plate. When I dynoed it, it made 210 hp and 252 tq at the wheels thru a stock 4R70W. This cam has a nice lope at idle and the power comes on strong. When you nail it it's kind of unimpressive until it hits about 2500 then its like a switch and she screams. So be prepared to get a stall converter.

 

[410Fortune]

Interested in your metering hole mod for the idle fix, I have the E cam in my 96 5.0L and the lopey idle I like, but the truck dying every once in a while when I turn the heater on I dont like

 

[freakinmacguyver]

When I first got it fired up it was all I could do to keep it running so I cranked up the Idle screw as a temporary fix. But with the idle turned up the computer saw a constant slight tps reading. So when you would take you foot off of the gas to coast down, the truck would still pull like cruise was on because the torque converter was still locked. So I turned the idle back down and slowly made the metering hole bigger, test driving it each time. After taking it from about 1/8" to 1/4" it seemed just about right but it would still occationaly stall. Meanwhile my correct headman header gaskets came in so I decided to fix my header leaks first. Once I had that fixed, no more stalling. But now my collector gasket just blew out again and it wants to stall!

 

[Turdle]

Interested in your metering hole mod for the idle fix, I have the E cam in my 96 5.0L and the lopey idle I like, but the truck dying every once in a while when I turn the heater on I dont like

Start with a 1/8" hole in your throttle plate--
What you are trying to do is maintain idle at the given tps voltage, without modifying the tps-

I read about it in MM and FF magazine-I guess it is a common modification in the Mustang world-
Although I mentioned it in my "under hood bug" thread--

 

[410Fortune]

Saturday morn project then along with align the BII

 

[Turdle]

Saturday morn project then along with align the BII

I saw you got to the BII,
I was wondering if you tried it?--did this work, or at least help?

 

[410Fortune]

the Explorer is the one that needs the idle fix, I have not done it yet, I am going to drill the throttle plate on my spare throttle body then swap them out
If this doesnt work its IAC adjuster plate time
and eventually computer tune

 

[freakinmacguyver]

It should work. Just start off small and work your way up, it would suck to go too big and need a new tb. I was supprised at how much a small increase in diameter raised the idle. Good luck.