looking for a little more power out of my 5.0 in my 95 extended cab 4 wheel drive. I know,drop a 351w in it!! well,that is a plan a loooooooong ways down the road,like maybe 5 years. here are the mods I am considering:

exhaust: Long tube headers (one exhaust manifold is cracked anyhow) what brand works best? I have read good stuff on here about flowtechs,any other options that fit without problems? I want the exhaust to be loud,not nasty loud,but good sounding loud,need suggestions for mufflers. Probably going with 2.5 inch tubing. doesn't have to be duels if single exhaust would be easier to do and if i can get as much of a performance gain from a single as i can from a duel exhaust. i want to do all of this work myself and I do not have a tubing bender available,so all parts will have to be bought pre-bent.

engine mods- underdrive pulleys. How much is this mod,and how much horsepower is it worth?
1.7 roller rockers- is this a good upgrade and where to get? how hard to install?
Any intake manifold,CAI or throttle body upgrades available that are known to work?
Any other things I can add for more power? Not really wanting to get into it as deep as replacing the camshaft,but haven't totally ruled out the idea.

Sorry for the long post,this is the newest ford or any other brand truck I have owned and I am not real familiar with what upgrades work and don't want to waste money on things that don't work. thanks for the ideas/suggestions!!

 

i wouldnt use long headers unless i was definetly going with dual exhaust.use a quality header with a thick flange.my opinion is that flowmasters have a good deep throaty sound.a good cat back exhaust system would complement your headers.the claim for underdrive pulleys is 10 to 15 horse..edelbrock makes a truck intake for the 302

 

Long tube headers will definitly give you a boost in power. Fowtech does make some good headers. For mufflers Id recommend flowmaster. They are on the expensive side though...Not sure how much power the underdrive pulleys will add, probably not much maybe 5hp? 1.7 rockers are a good, cheap udgrade, and easy to install. Pedastal mount, so no rocker adjustment, just need some new valve cover gaskets. Ive heard mixed results on throttle body spacers, so im sure someone else can give some advice on them.

 

long tube headers will work best with dual exhaust or a cat-back system.quality headers with a thick head flange will prevent warpage and leaks.flowmaster makes a good cat back system but there are many others.edlebrock makes a truck intake for the 302.the claim is 10 to 15 horse on underdrive pulleys.

 

I completely disagree, longtubes with no larger than a 2.5" single exhaust is one of the best bolt-ons for the 5.0, providing a healthy boost to low rpm TQ.. something this motor needs badly.

 

Flowtech make some good headers those mods sound pretty good for more power

 

Paul,does any one make a bolt on kit for this,or am I on my own making one? any one here ever done long tubes into single exhaust and have pictures?

 

MAC used to make a complete kit for these trucks with longtubes, don't know if it's still available.

System I built last sunmmer with mendrel bent J sections and other bits... Collection: Exhaust

 

Paul,I looked at your pictures,that looks doable!! where did you get the 2 into collector and the other tubing? what is the bend under the tranny for and did you do that yourself?

 

Yes that is a complete DIY project. I bought everything I needed at a local hot rod shop, the tubing sections came from some distributor such as this one.. 2.5" AS Mandrel Bend 45/180 Combo, the cat and 2-into-1 collector are Magnaflow pieces, the muffler is a Flowmaster 50 series, and the tailpipe is a stock Powerstroke diesel piece. I started with the collector adapters bolted on the headers and cut sections from the J bends and welded them together as necessary, I have a wirefeed welder and a metal chopsaw. It was a slow process that involved a lot of test fitting but it doesn't touch the frame or drivetrain anywhere so it doesn't rattle. The down bend on the drivers side is to allow clearance for the tranny shift linkage, I have an AOD, other transmissions may or may not need this. I doubt I spend more than $200 on the whole system, excluding the headers.

 

paul nice set up. with your exhaust I have a verry similar set up only Ive still got the stock manifolds. the guy b4 me did the exhaust sounds sweet too. only thing is he did 2.5 dual tips off of one muffler. truck deffanily doesnt sound like any other ive see or heard around. (Cherry bomb MUFFLER) love that it's stick to so I can creep and get the poping sound if im looking for a parking spot. oh one question. is that 2.5 to 3 inch ? or 2.5 all the way ive got the 3 inch I pipe to the muff. and splits to 2.5 each pipe.

 

Paul,sorry for all the questions,thinking of them as I get deeper into actually doing it instead of just wanting to do it. What did you do about the oxygen sensor(s)? did the flow techs have bungs on them for the sensors?

 

The Y-pipe is all mendrel bent 2.5", the cat and muffler are 3", the tailpipe is 3.5"(stock Ford diesel pipe).