I have a 93 bronco xlt 5.0 5spd with less the 100k miles on it. only mods are a flomaster 10 series that dumps into the ground below the passenger seat. it has decent power and sounds ok but oddly it recently became quieter. im looking to do a few mods and would like to hear some oppinions and experiences with what i want to do. only visible mods are american racing wagon wheels with stock 265/75/15 tires and a functional boss 429 mustang hood scoop for a ram air setup. id like to change from the dual inlet tb to a larger single inlet tb as well as change the intake manifold to the lightning maifold because it faces foward and not to the side. i also thought abot shorty headers and a better y pipe. im going to remove the ac unit since ti doesnt work anyways and install underdrive pullies. i also plan on flashing the ecu so it can be tuned properly for the changed parts. and sugestions with brands or other simple to swap parts is appreciated. i also thought abot 351c heads or gt40 heads for it as well. thanks for any help or suggestions

 

I can't say for all the mods you want to do but I'll give my advice on a couple. From everything I've read, the stock intake manifold is more than big enough for 5.0 motors. Even with headers and better exhaust, there wouldn't be any noticeable difference in getting a new intake manifold. I've heard that the stock throttle body is quite sufficient also. Now if you completely re-hauled your engine with better heads, headers, cam etc, then a new intake manifold could be something to look into, but then again your stock drive-train would probably need to be upgraded to handle the new power. Basically, I would wait to get a better intake manifold until after some other upgrades are done.

In my opinion, the best bang-for-your-buck improvements would be getting a set of quality headers, and a good Y-pipe (3 inch outlet) and a high flow catalytic converter. The stock y-pipe is a huge restriction on these Broncos. For exhaust I recommend Bassani. They are expensive but very high, if not the best, in quality.

I've heard you get the biggest gains from better heads (but its expensive and time consuming), but that's not something I've had the privileged of doing yet. I hear a lot of good things about the GT-40 heads, but haven't heard much about the 351c heads. Edelbrock seems to make some great heads... but they run 500-600 a piece.... Also, a lot of people say a new camshaft can make big improvements. Again, I don't know too much about camshafts though so I can't recommend one there, its just something to look more into, especially if you are thinking about changing out your heads.