throttle body questions

[sunsolar]

alright, new to forum, be gentle
I got a 97 (10/96) Mountaineer with headers on the way, may be a minute so I was thinking, what can I do on the other end? Besides a K/N style intake?
My understanding is this is essentially a Cobra GT40 motor, so how can I get that horsepower? Or close?
My guess is the throttle body is smaller, so maybe there is a larger option?
Appreciate any advice, would love to do this with junkyard parts if possible, maybe an F150 one can be retrofitted?? idk lol

 

[C420sailor]

If you want it to behave like a Mustang engine...put a cam in it.

IMO, these engines have great power stock, even better power with headers. I don’t think the cam is worth it, because you sacrifice a little driveability and a broad torque curve for that peak power...but that’s just me.

 

[RickOTR]

If your Mountaineer is a V8 then it has the Mustang GT engine in it. When Ford decided to put the 4.6 V8 in the Mustang, they didn't know what to do with all the leftover 5.0 engines so they put them in the Explorer/Mountaineer. The 5.0 had a bad reputation of blowing head gaskets.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

factory the throttle body is a 65mm for a explorer or mountaineer. i believe mustangs had a 55mm...i think?
if you are going to cam it, you will need springs to match, you dont want to go to crazy however. they have push in studs for the rockers and now thread in so you dont want one of those to pull out.
you can modify the throttle body from a mustang by changing the throw from a pull to a push.
imo, if its a 4x4, the biggest thing you can do is change the transfer case to a 4406 and get rid of the awd case, otherwise you will be spending big money to get performance from these motors