302 tune up questions
FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
You can't go wrong with Ford Motorsports parts, but if nothing else avoid Fram oil filters like the plague. Oil is your choice, any name brand will do the job as long as it's changed regularly. TB spacers and Cold Air intakes are generally a waste, the exhaust system should be your first target for power gains, loose as much of the stock system as you can and work towards a system with headers and high flow tubing. The 5.0 in my sig is pushing close to 280hp with nothing more than a cam and exhaust, it works pretty good for a 5.0.
Junior User
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 97
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You can't go wrong with Ford Motorsports parts, but if nothing else avoid Fram oil filters like the plague. Oil is your choice, any name brand will do the job as long as it's changed regularly. TB spacers and Cold Air intakes are generally a waste, the exhaust system should be your first target for power gains, loose as much of the stock system as you can and work towards a system with headers and high flow tubing. The 5.0 in my sig is pushing close to 280hp with nothing more than a cam and exhaust, it works pretty good for a 5.0.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
Likes: 1,499
From: Ottawa, Ontario
The cam will have to be a specific SD EFI friendly grind to cooperate with your stock computer, there are several to select from including the Comp 31-255-5. The exhaust is your choice, in general only truck specific shorties are a direct bolt-on, but since the stock cat and Y-pipe are restrictive they don't affer much benefit. If you remove the stock cats or go to longtubes then there are significant gains, but this requires custom exhaust assembly as there are no kits for these trucks.
The 5.0 I have is a truck motor, but with the upgraded cam it's actually more powerful than a stock HO motor. It's running on an SEFI mustang computer as well.
The 5.0 I have is a truck motor, but with the upgraded cam it's actually more powerful than a stock HO motor. It's running on an SEFI mustang computer as well.
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 499
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As far as spark plugs, go with Motorcraft or Autolite. And as far as the type, go with copper plugs. Cheap, burn hotter, but don't last as long as 'platinum' plugs. Coppers should last 20k-30k miles before you'd want to change them.
Junior User
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
The cam will have to be a specific SD EFI friendly grind to cooperate with your stock computer, there are several to select from including the Comp 31-255-5. The exhaust is your choice, in general only truck specific shorties are a direct bolt-on, but since the stock cat and Y-pipe are restrictive they don't affer much benefit. If you remove the stock cats or go to longtubes then there are significant gains, but this requires custom exhaust assembly as there are no kits for these trucks.
The 5.0 I have is a truck motor, but with the upgraded cam it's actually more powerful than a stock HO motor. It's running on an SEFI mustang computer as well.
The 5.0 I have is a truck motor, but with the upgraded cam it's actually more powerful than a stock HO motor. It's running on an SEFI mustang computer as well.
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FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
Likes: 1,499
From: Ottawa, Ontario
If you are going to run a carb on the motor you want a different grind, no sense limiting power unnecessarilly. There are more cams on the market all the time for the 5.0, it's still very well supported with a silly array of both flat tappet and roller cam options from numerous vendors. I saw saveral interesting grinds on the Summit website from Crane, Isky, and Comp Cams. For a broad powerband out of a 5.0 in a truck you want intake duration in the high 250 - low 270 deg range and lobe seperation angle around 110 degrees, the Comp Cams 35-410-8 and 35-420-8 fit this description.
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FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
I believe I have an '89 block, it's rebuilt with 0.040" over pistons with valve eyebrows, CR is stock and the heads are completely untouched E7 castings. A cam and decent exhaust is all that's needed to get this kind of power from the 5.0.. as long as the intake is capable of supporting it, and the truck intake certainly is.
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Senior User
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 266
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From: Michigan
I believe I have an '89 block, it's rebuilt with 0.040" over pistons with valve eyebrows, CR is stock and the heads are completely untouched E7 castings. A cam and decent exhaust is all that's needed to get this kind of power from the 5.0.. as long as the intake is capable of supporting it, and the truck intake certainly is.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
Likes: 1,499
From: Ottawa, Ontario
Better than what? The truck intake is capable of more airflow than the stock HO intake for example, so it will produce more peak HP. BUT... the HO intake will produce more intake velocity at lower rpms so it will actually make more TQ. Which intake is "better" for any given application depends..