I am putting together a fairly simple sbf/5.0. It started as a 1987 5.0 from a Mustang GT. It was and will be a EFI engine using most of the stock Ford stuff. I have a set of rebuilt GT40 (not GT40P) heads that I added upgraded valve springs to and did a little gasket port matching work. Not planning on doing much to the bottom end except a refresh and new oil pump and drive. The 87 was a odd year car. It used a speed density computer system that I am swapping for the later mass air system. It also has flat top pistons with no valve reliefs. I will still need to clay those to see if there will be any clearance issues with the valves. Its getting a manual T5 transmission behind it and I am estimating the vehicle to weigh around 3200 pounds. Looking to make it run the best with what I have but maybe also make it sound a little better. Its going to be using shorty headers (no room for long tubes) and duals with a crossover pipe. I did some research on the various mustang forums about which cam to choose and its kinda all over the place. Some say the original speed density cam is a good one and most recommend some letter of the alphabet from Ford Motorsports. Thought I would ask here to see if anyone has some real world recommendation they have used.
E303 cam has been the go to cam for that application for a long time… IIRC it’s the hottest cam that will run on MAF EFI. If you end up speed density it might not run good
E-303 Cam and 24lb injectors will work well with your set up. A slightly larger throttle body and matching size MAF will also pickup some power across the board.
Old SBF 'trick' Ford guys use is to rotate the pistons on the left bank with pistons on the right bank. The piston pin is offset and by switching sides it changes the angle of the piston pin to the crankshaft. Giving a better angle . It equates to free HP ! Some say 10+ HP. Regardless...its FREE HP with zero downside. Think about a windage tray for the oil pan too. I found out(when looking for the best 'sound') a X-pipe or H-pipe is NOT what you want. Two pipe from front to back (old skool style) use 2" or maybe 2 1/4" pipe to the rear bumper. IF you use turn downs right off the mufflers it will sound great until you start fighting the droning sound. To the bumper with turbo style straight-thru muffs or Blowmaster 40's is what I used. 6sally6 The word is now..... X & H pipes don't do a thing for engines under 6-7 thousand RPM. It just makes them sound like a 6 cylinder OR the late model SBF sounds of the 4.7.
I have a BBK throttle body that I dont remember how I acquired it, but think its 75mm. I 'll have to figure the MAF thing out which looks like it needs to be set differently if you use 24# injectors?
That sounds like an '86 engine. Verify part numbers as '86 is the oddball amongst the H.O. 5.0.'s., intake manifold uses a smaller plenum as well. Swirl port kidney bean combustion chambers and flat top slugs is 1986. 1987 gained better truck E7TE heads with valve reliefed forged pistons. And the common intake. 85/86 short blocks are the same. 79-85 heads are the same, E5 heads are just relieved to allow roller lifter replacement without removing heads otherwise its a 79-84 head. '86 E6** is one year wonder. 87-93 is E7TE 94/95 is GT40 85-88/89(SD) cars used the same camshaft. MAF cars used a different cam I *think* this cam may have changed twice. If changing to MAF then updating the cam would be a good choice. GT40 heads, verify casting number, had a few differences. Four ribbed GT40 are P heads, but they also have GTP and P cast into them, easy. Three ribbed are 'classic' GT40s. But there was also a two ribbed marine GT40 head that has larger 69cc chambers.
I ran an '87 5.0 with 152K original miles on the shortblock. I had Bullet grind me a cam (nearly identical to the Trick Flow Stage 2 cam). I never put rings or bearings in it. Put a set of the first version Edelbrock Performer heads with 1.94 intake valves, ported them and they went 260 cfm @.550 lift. It had a Performer RPM intake with an Explorer 65mm throttle body, 24 lb injectors. I converted it over from SD to MAF. I never did even install a chip in it. It had BBK 1 5/8" headers with a Super King Cobra clutch (Valero brand I think). I tried everything from 3.73's to 4.33's. Never did make a lot of difference. At the track I ran 26 X 8.5 MT slicks. The car had AC , PB, PS, etc. It was choppy idling; but with the stick it was very driveable and no loss of off-idle manners. The car went 7.60s-11.80's all motor and 6.70s- low 10.80s with an Inductions Solutions single nozzle kit 175 shot. Very driveable and fun.
To add to Mad Mike, Non-HO engines used the 86 pistons for several more years. Pretty sure the E6 heads were 1 year even on non-HO. E7 heads with the E6 flat top pistons will bump the compression. E303 cams will work in E6 engines. Edit: E6 heads were used on Lo-Po 5.0s until the 90s in CRown Vic?Marquis?Town Car, Until 88 in Thunderbird/Cougar. Flat-top 86 pistons were 86, and MAY have been used until the factory ran out. Later E6 heads used a piston with valve reliefs.
It might be a 86 or early 87, not sure. It does have the one year crappy E6 heads. That’s why I got the GT40’s with the standard spark plug orientation. It’s definitely an HO engine. My mistake on the throttle body I have, it’s 65mm not 75. I still need to find a MAF for it though and decide if I should bump up to the 24# injectiors.
The Jalopy Journal
