Hey gang,
I am rebuilding a 5.0 from a 98 explorer to put in a 65 mustang. I am building it with new pistons, oil pump, valve job, etc. I want to give it a little more bang,, nothing crazy.
I can build engines all day long but I am no expert in camshaft geometry and what you get out of it when you make changes. Hoping someone here can give me a few pointers.
What I am looking for, maybe what would be considered a mild cam? Decent idle but sounds tough, little more power, probably lower rpm,not likely to ever get run over 5k rpm. Honestly probably 4k max.
wanting ability to daily drive. It's going to be bolted up to a 5 speed manual transmission. And it will have efi. I haven't settled on the efi system yet but the holley stuff looks good.
most likely will be running shorty headers, dual exhaust.
This engine stock is supposed to run 210hp and 280 pd/ft tq. I'd like to lean it closer to 300hp if I can with cam and fuel system upgrades.
This car isn't being built to race, not to say it won't ever spank a camaro, but it is being built to be a nice cruiser that will be driven regularly.
I just wanted to ask here because so many people here have vast experience and someone always pops up with a question or suggestion that I've never thought about.
thanks

 

I understand why you want the cam update but I am curious about what your plans are for EFI. Is your plan to run the Explorer EFI manifold & throttle body or are you looking at something different like a single/dual plane manifold?? The reason I ask is two fold. One for hood clearance and two its really going to make a difference in choosing a EFI system. Most dual planes produce the power in the lower Rpm's but most throttle body EFI's don't work well with a dual plane intake. Most throttle body EFI's work very well with a single plane manifold. The reason I say most is Fitech throttle body inject's the fuel above the throttle blades and lets vacuum pull the fuel into the intake like a carb would so this EFI should work very well with a dual plane.

Most throttle body injection shoots the fuel down the throttle bore at xx PSI where the Fitech lets the vacuum do the work to act more like a carburator.

https://fitechefi.com/product-catego...ttle-body-efi/

 

300hp from 5.0L requires 5500rpm... no way around it when naturally aspirated. A cam like the Comp 35-510-8 will do it with 9:1 CR or better and will also be EFI friendly.

 

I haven't settled on the efi system. If I run the intake from the engine I can run multiport injection and I do have a 95 mustang plenum that I think may give me the clearance. I realize space is limited under the hood in this mustang.
other thought was a 4bbl intake with an efi setup like you are talking about. It is a nice clean look and will perform well too.
I will have to look at all options. The 95/98 plenum will look odd in this old ride but will work well. The tbi system is also a good choice.
my friend has a holley sniper on his 1976 302 and it runs great. I like the simplicity of it. Minimum wiring required, and you don't need to mess with it once it's setup. But you can if you want to.
as for the 300hp, not dead set on hitting it. I have a 95 5.0HO that is 225hp stock.. I want it to be over that. 250-275 would be nice. 300 is sort of a target I suppose but in the ballpark is good enough. In this little mustang a v6 would seem powerful. It's like a wheel barrow with seats and a window. 😆

 

The Explorer hood clearance is also rather tight. A 5.0HO upper intake won't work with the Explorer lower... the ports are staggered and larger on the GT40 Explorer variant, but these two intakes are roughly the same height on the motor so I'm not sure an upper swap would buy anything if it did fit.

 

What rear gear is in it, how much does the car weigh, auto or manual trans and is the converter stock or do plan on installing one that has a higher stall speed that is more towards your liking: either custom or off-the-shelf?

Many aftermarket EFI systems can be tuned with a wide array of cams that are not necessarily "EFI friendly": cam choice may not be that big of an issue, depending on the type of electronics you use to run it.

 

Sounds about like what I have done with the 302 I am building but I dont know what your budget is how ever. My 302 build is right at $10,500 last time I checked between all new exhaust, aftermarket fuel injection and all new engine components minus the block, crank, rods.

For me my goal was always 300hp in a daily driver package but mine was built with a truck in mind that will be driven daily and will see towing from time to time so my specs might be a little different than something I might go with on a dedicated car build. If you are going roller I would go for a smaller cam duration wise and if you want a nice exhaust note but a smooth idle I would look for around a 112* LSA. For street use if you want it to pull good down low then shoot for a lower intake centerline it will help with throttle response down low and make the engine snappy.

My Cam is not avaliable anymore as its a Crane OE style roller and Crane is out of business. But specs on mine is 216*/224* @ 0.050" lift, 107* ICL, 112* LSA, 0.520"/0.542" lift.

Rest of my engine specs is 9.44:1 compression, AFR Renegade 165cc heads with 58cc heart chambers, 0.040" quench, 0.0015" deck clearance, 0.039" headgasket thickness, Performer intake manifold, Hedman street headers, 1" Phenolic plastic 4 hole spacer, 800cfm Sniper Stealth 4150 EFI. DD2000 estimates my build should produce 381hp @ 5500 rpm and 405trq @ 4000 rpm with torque being 372 @ 2000 and 364 @ 5500 rpm. Realistically this build should be in the neighborhood of around 340 - 350 hp at the crank.

You know of a TBI that sprays the fuel below the throttle blades? I dont know of one and I am curious about that cause every TBI style EFI system I have seen had the injectors mounted above the throttle blades or the fuel spray entered the throttle bore above the blades.

 

I definitely worded that wrong. You are correct. The injectors are above the throttle blades. But most throttle body EFI's spray the fuel down the throttle bores on a vertical axis VS on a horizontal axis.

 

Ah ok, I dont know if there would be a difference in performance from a horizontal vs vertical spray pattern. I know like in the case of GM TBI`s the vertical firing injectors spray the fuel in a huge cone while like on the sniper its a stream splashing against the bore of the barrel on the opposite side.

I do know that I have seen people state they had no real negative effect with aftermarket EFI with dual plane or single plane I dont think its as big a issue with EFI like Atomic/Sniper/FiTech.

I do know on the sniper how ever you might have to run a four hole/divided spacer of at least 1/2" thick to stop the IAC whistle when driving down the road. I personally went with a 1" thinking the Performer intake was OE height and the 1" spacer would put the sniper at OE height not realizing it puts my sniper a good 1/2" above stock but the plus side is that extra volume and being a 4 hole spacer it should help improve low end torque which is perfect for my truck as well as ensuring no whistle from the IAC.

 

Engine Masters had a couple of shows on EFI's & dual planes. They had a lot of problems with the throttle body EFI's as they sprayed the fuel vertically down the throttle bore on a dual plane intake. They figured it was one or all three of things. The divider in the dual plane that was causing a problem. The short distance from the bottom of the throttle body to the bottom of the dual plane. Or the way that the fuel was shot down the throttle body and hitting the bottom of the intake causing problems.

The Fitech acts more like a carb so that throttle body EFI should work very well with a dual plane.