5.0 Mods?

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

So I've recently bought a 1996 Eddie AWD 5.0. I am a chevy guy that is being heavily swayed to the other side with this explorer, and I'm excited to start throwing parts at this 302. I've built plenty of carb'd SBC's, but I have next to no experience with Fords.

My question is where to start? First things I plan to do is eliminate those rear cats, cold air intake and probably a J-mod. after that I'm lost. I've found many threads on mods for these, but I'm not quite prepared to do a cam swap just yet, which will obviously liven everything up.

I hate to bring up headers..... seems like a touchy subject lol. I can pick up a new set of the 98-01 manifolds for next to nothing, but with the headache of doing manifolds on these rigs, is it worth it? Or should I just save my pennies for a set of OBX headers?

I guess my ultimate question is, what can I do to liven this motor up before tearing the motor down?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

one of the things you can to, and its not even motor related is get rid of the awd, and put a 4406 transfer case it. you will then get 2 hi 4 hi, and 4 low

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

one of the things you can to, and its not even motor related is get rid of the awd, and put a 4406 transfer case it. you will then get 2 hi 4 hi, and 4 low

I was actually just reading through a swap thread for this. That is definitely on the list.

 

[SoHK_alumni]

Real gains are difficult -- the exhaust manifolds are pitiful and even if the GT40 and GT40P heads are the best Ford ever developed for the 302, they still don't breath worth a darn.

About the only exhaust option is the on again, off again OBX knock offs of the Torque Monster headers and while an improvement, they're less than spectacular.

The OEM cam is not really all that bad, even the cam is limited by the inability of the rest of the engine to breath.

Porting the heads and a set of the cast iron OEM exhaust manifolds is a great place to start without spending a ton of money, but that does require digging fairly deep into the engine itself.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

Jmod, 4.56's, catback, dyno tune. imo, easiest bang-for-the-buck mods.

Get the headers if you can get a deal on them. Not worth going broke or losing sleep over um.

No point in a bigger cam without installing steeper gears to take advantage of it.

Factory airbox is already a cai. Cut a hole in it if you want to hear it more. Install a good dry (not an oiled) panel filter.

Cats are not restrictive but the exhaust note does sound louder when they are removed.

Good Luck!

 

[96ex5.0]

It all really depends on how far your willing to go and money money money. I have done several things and threads on it and so have others, but definitely research before jumping in.