'98 5.0 rebuild

[Grizz593]

Not sure if this is the correct forum to post this but it was the closest I could find for my questions.
What is involved to take a stock 98 5.0 & say ether add a turbo or supercharger. I know a few of the obvious things like intake & exhaust & having to tweak the computer to accept it all but if I go supercharger I believe they need a higher compression of like 10:1 & I believe the 5.0 is around 8:1. I am sure with 80K & the oil I have on a few of the plugs I am less so I am looking at most likely a complete rebuild. I guess my question is would it be more cost effective & time saving to just buy a performance crate engine for around 5-6K or rebuilding what I have with say a turbo?

 

[matt0248]

A rebuild would be smart espically if you are planning on adding forced induction. Everyone has different opinions on the turbo vs. s-charger debate. In my opinion the s-chargers would be easier to install vs a turbo set up. I am not sure if they still make it but explorer express used to sell a s-charger kit for the 5.0.

 

[Grizz593]

Thanks for the heads up on the express site. No SC there anymore but I found the exhaust & cool air intake I have been looking for. Hopefully I will be getting a second vehicle soon so I can take my 98 out of commission to get some of the work going on it.

 

[Mountaineer1113]

Not sure if this is the correct forum to post this but it was the closest I could find for my questions.
What is involved to take a stock 98 5.0 & say ether add a turbo or supercharger. I know a few of the obvious things like intake & exhaust & having to tweak the computer to accept it all but if I go supercharger I believe they need a higher compression of like 10:1 & I believe the 5.0 is around 8:1. I am sure with 80K & the oil I have on a few of the plugs I am less so I am looking at most likely a complete rebuild. I guess my question is would it be more cost effective & time saving to just buy a performance crate engine for around 5-6K or rebuilding what I have with say a turbo?

With both Supercharged and Turbocharged you would want lower compression unless you have a REALLY good tuner and a stout bottom end.

Your cost effective solution would definitely be to rebuild. Are you rebuilding this yourself or having a shop do it for you? If done by a shop, I'd ask for an estimate just so you could have a round-about guess as to what your local shop charges.

Crate engines are great but with these 5.0's, you can throw a lot at them if they are rebuilt properly. Plus with the saved money, you can buy some more go fast parts.

 

[Grizz593]

With both Supercharged and Turbocharged you would want lower compression unless you have a REALLY good tuner and a stout bottom end.

Your cost effective solution would definitely be to rebuild. Are you rebuilding this yourself or having a shop do it for you? If done by a shop, I'd ask for an estimate just so you could have a round-about guess as to what your local shop charges.

Crate engines are great but with these 5.0's, you can throw a lot at them if they are rebuilt properly. Plus with the saved money, you can buy some more go fast parts.

I can do everything except planing the block, heads & boring out the cylinders. Last rebuild I did I found it cheaper to pick up a set of heads already milled. I actually mounted a set of 351W heads on my '72 5.0. I seriously doubt you can do that these days unless there is a tuner that can do that. also may raise issues with the EFI.
I miss the good old days before computers :/
If I wind up getting another say 100hp out of this engine how well is the AWD going to hold up to this?

 

[Mountaineer1113]

How you're going to build your engine is all going to depend on your budget, really. Whether you're upgrading to new heads, porting out stockers, rebuilding the bottom end with forged vs hypereutectic pistons... money is going to be the main issue. Speed costs money and there's really no way around it. I'm planning on a budget turbo build but without a rebuild on my bottom end (198,000 miles), I'm not going to get too far.

Whatever you do, save your camshaft selection for last. After you've decided on all of your other components, your camshaft is going to be the heart of your engine. It will either help or hurt your combination. Talk to a reputable camshaft designer, let him know all of your mods so they can design a custom cam for your engine. Each combination's different so tuning is going to be different too. You'll need a reputable tuner as well. Guys around here seem to be going with Bama Chips through AmericanMuscle.com.
^Thanks goes to Don (CDW6212R) for informing me. (Please clear it up if I was wrong.)

As far as the AWD is concerned...
From what I've read on this forum:
The AWD transfer case that comes on our vehicles is the weak point. I'm not sure if they mean that it's bound to break sooner or if it's just a serious downside. Most guys are swapping out for 97-03 F150 BW4406 manual transfer cases and the 4WD compared to AWD is like night and day. I'm hoping to test this transfer case in about a year when I turbo the vehicle and shoot for 350 hp with daily drivability.

Anyone else wanna chime in here? I'm just a novice learning and trying to help others out. lol