ok guys, ive been wondering how to spend my earnings and spoke to my dad he suggests that before i put money into an exhauts system and things that i consider rebuilding my engine....ive already got the tranny and torque converter rebuilt and was wondering yalls opinion......what is the best way to get the most bang for my buck.....ive got 169000 miles on the engine and like 500 on the tranny and torque converter.....if i decide to get it rebuilt what should i specifically ask for to get some more power and maybe better mileage?...oh ya...351windsor on a 1990 bronco, e4od

 

oh yes...and should i ask about mass air upgrade too?

 

personally I would go with the rebuild. If the tranny and trq converter have been done...might as well.

As for the exhaust, what would be the point of getting a good exhaust system when the motor isn't at peak anyway?? See my point? Because until the motor gets rebuilt, you're not using the exhausts full potential anyway.

But that's my .02¢ worth...

 

For power and mileage, headers are a good start. If a little MPG better or worse is acceptable then you may consider a mild cam, aftermarket intake, and consider porting your heads during your rebuild. I say a little better or worse because sometimes the above mods can help MPG or the can make it a little worse, but you should pick up significant power gains either way! Lower gears increase the RPM you run at for a given speed, giving you more power, but you will in all likelyhood loose some mileage. Hope this helps.

 

I had 163,000 on my 5.0L when I replaced it. I was going to rebuild but at 1200.00 minimum I felt that was a little steep. I wound up finding a remanufactured motor on ebay for 689.00 plus 200.00 for shipping. That was pretty much a complete motor. I had to swap the timing cover and put my intake manifold and exhaust manifolds from my old one on. Plus all my external accessories. It was reman'd by ACDelco and then was surplused out to some company that was selling it. Check out ebay. You just might find something similar in a 351. After parts and install I was only into it 1400.00. I'm still in the market for all my other projects but the motor is pretty much spared away. If I had to do it over, (which I might) I have an extra block and two sets of heads that I wouldn't mind porting and beefing up a bit and then swapping that in and resell the current one. Or just rebuild it and sell it outright. Or just.....

 

yea....ive talkled to some people and have the gereral consensus that i should get a remanufactured engine...i was gonna add to it a mild cam and longtube headers.....any other ideas about what i should ask about?..i love better mileage and more power...but keep the price not to high....ive also been told that just replacing the old 160k engine with a basiclly new one will be night and day

 

FYI - depending on where u live, there should be an engine shop that will do the rebuild for you for less than $600, assuming that you can pull it out and do some of the disassembly and re-assembly yourself. If you buy a remanufactured engine, you're going to have to do all the same stuff, and the price should only be a little more... but you'll have to wait for shipping and all that good stuff. There's a place here in Dallas that has done a couple of engines for me, and they port-matched the intake to the heads on one of them. Even with the porting, I was out for less than a grand and a few hours worth of my time. It only took a day and a half to do the rebuild. I'm guessing that this is pretty standard, so call around. The main reason I personally wouldn't do the reman off of ebay is that you don't know the company nor can you just go visit when (not if) you have a need to. Anyway, in response to your original question, I'd recommend the rebuild way before exhaust. If you can afford it, do what daddydcs said and get some mild porting done, possibly an RV cam. Also, (if you can afford it) it would be a good idea to put on headers when you re-install. it'll save you SO much time vs. installing them with engine already in the truck. Of course, while your engine is out is a great time to celan up that engine bay and refresh all your under-hood rubber... ok now I'm rambling.

-Josh

 

If I could have found a shop to rebuild for 600.00 I would have gone that route. The shop I went to and asked about said the machining of the heads and block alone would be just over 300.00. Add grinding the crank, new pistons, rod bearings, cam, valves, lifters, gasket set, misc. and it adds up quick. And if I wanted them to assemble to a short block state then that was another 150.00. I guess it all depends on what you can get done, how much that costs, and what you can do yourself and how much you have to start with. I've heard from various people that if you can get a new(reman-rebuilt) motor for under two grand your ok. But that's counting everything. Installed, everything. JMHO

 

If you are going to go with total rebuild and you want every cent to count get rid of the 90 block and get a 95 block. The 95 block is a roller cam block and has a one piece rear main seal, add a a set of GT-40 heads (500$) your roller set up (300$).may sound like a lot now but once you fire it up and drive it you will not be complaining.

 

Moved to proper forum.

 

The 90 block has a one piece rear main seal as well.

Being you have efi and on a budget and I am sure you would rather not invest in mass air, keep it simple, do some reasearch and home port your heads, then call local speed/ machine shops, you should have no problem getting your block rebuilt for $1000-1200 and thats you dropping the long block off complete and getting it assembled, might save yourself some money if you disassemble, but you better be sure first. Then give comp cams a call and ask for a recommendation, a lot of the lightning owners, as well as others, seem to like the comp cam 35-255-5, speed density friendly and makes great low end torque, comp may recommend another grind for your application. Good luck

 

hey djjoshuad......i live in dallas too....where did you get yours done....i got a quote for 1600 dollars.....you gotta let me know where you went

 

you can use your 90 block it should already be machined for a roller setup and with a rebuild you can get what you want out of your engine not what the manufacturer builds for the masses

 

If its a 90 351w its probably not machined for a roller setup, the 351w weren't roller compatible until 94 up.