Building a 5.0...

[73azbronco]

I have decided to go the 302/5.0 route. Yes, you can get more bang for buck with a 351, but I'm already into a 5.0

I have purchased the last remaining unmolested Ford 5.0 bare block that I could find. The Part Number is M 6010 A 50.

I am going the late 80's mustang EFI route for fuel/intake (gt40).

What I need now is the internals. Looking at the forum, it seems some have had good results with the ford 5.0 crate motor which has a E303 cam and x303 GT40 heads. I'm thinking of also going that route.

Has anybody had bad luck with the e303 cam with stock gearing 3.51 rear, 31 tires, stock auto C4? I want to stay stock ford for as many parts as I can get...



thanks

 

[minimatt]

E-303 may be a bit much with a stock converter and your gears and tire size. To paraphrase a quote from Colin Chapman, you will need to add lightness (vehicle weight) wherever possible to be happy with that combination.

 

[needabronco]

What internals are you looking for? I've got an exploder 5.0 shortblock, that has been dis-assembled bagged, tagged, and cleaned sitting in my garage. The block is was cleaned up but needs to be bored .030 over. The rods are good attatched to good/used forged standard sized pistons, crank just needs polishing. The cam and lifters are in good shape. I would have just re-ringed this engine, but the bores are right at the limit for a reliable re-ring job... I was actually thinking of selling it to finance another project. I am also going to Prescott between now and the Stampede in March (I'll be there too). Casey

 

[jurob]

e303 in a 302 and gt40 parts is sluggish with a mustang, aod and stock converter.
this would be the wrong cam for you!

stick with a truck cam.

 

[73azbronco]

Any idea on the part number for the truck cam?

Needabronco, thanks for the offer, but I'm going all new for internals, hence the "new" old block..

 

[Broncobowsher]

I took a weekday and gathered all my cam catalogs. Called each one up on there tech line. Gave them my application and got there recomendations. Then I sorted out there picks using friends and what little I knew about cams choices. Hopefully it will run soon and we will see how well I did using recomendations. Just a note, I picked one that I thought would be good, it was way off (too big) from everyone elses recomendations. What cam did I pick? Well my application is different then yours.

As for innards. I did a stroker kit on my last engine. They are fairly affordable considering what you get. The 347 (342 for your stock bore) has a nasty reputation for short life and an oil burner. There is a kit that claims to have solved it but the rod ratio is very low. From the engines I have put together and friends who play with these things, long rods are good rods. For this reason I picked a 330" kit (often called a 331 when they really measure 332 but a stock bore makes it a 327).

When picking parts consider what it is really going to do. stock block is good only to 400~450 HP before they start splitting through the cam. So forged crank and H-beam rods are money thrown away. Lighter I-beam rods should be just fine, cost less and (due to the light weight) be more efficient.
I spent half a day at SEMA one year researching all this by talking to the reps.

 

[fordtrucks4ever]

Think truck, lower powerband, and less rpm for normal use.

 

[surfer-b]

I,m running a stock 91 mustang 5.0 with stock FI system, AOD, 3:50 gears and 31's, when I had the c-4 it wasn't too bad, but when I swap to the AOD with higher 1'st gear it doesn't have the off the line acc as did before, I will eventually go with 3:93 or 4:10 gears, as for the cam its all stock maybe this will help you some.

I don't know if this is true but I was told from one of the mustang heads that just adding stiffer valve springs gives a good boost on top end, 87-93 5.0's, although most 4x4's don't need that.

 

[Ryan]

use the stock 5.0L roller cam

 

[trailpsycho]

The Ford techs that I talked to at Ford Racing also said, that the best option for our trucks (lower end power) and if I wanted to stick to Ford to go with a stock Mustang cam...and save myself some $$.

If you can bring yourself to go aftermarket, try the Crane 444212 kit. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=CRN-444212&autoview=sku
http://www.cranecams.com/index.php?show=browseParts&action=partSpec&partNumber=444211&lvl=2&prt=5

PN 444212 is the 444211 (2020 grind) cam with the springs and retainers.
http://www.cranecams.com/index.php?show=browseParts&action=partSpec&partNumber=444212&lvl=2&prt=5

I also called 3 different cam companies as well as Ford (3X with 2 different answers), the specs from Crane and, the more expensive, Comp Cams were almost identical. So I went with Crane. HTH.

 

[KingOf_Pain]

I second or third the Mustang cam, and if you want a great rock crawling/stump pulling cam go with the explorer cam.

 

[DonsBolt]

I have to agree with the others, even though I have the E303 cam, and X heads. It works fine for me, but I have a NV3550 and 456 gears. With a automatic and 351 gears I think the powerband wouldn't be the best.

If you were going to go with a carb I would also tell you to stay away from the X heads, as trying to find a carb intake that matches them is a pain. Though the fuel injection intakes match up well to those heads.

There are also many just as good or better aftermarket heads priced close to those

 

[justinoshea]

The 444211 is a great 4x4 cam. I would use a stock cam before a E303 or any long duration cam. I've done all three.

Big lift @ low RPM = good
long duration @ low RPM = bad

 

[73azbronco]

Thanks folks, lots of good info, so more or less stock mustang roller cam or truck cam. Now, heads...

I want aluminum, unless anyone has a reason not to go aluminum? Fords gt40 X303 seams about right, anyone else with head options?

 

[Broncobowsher]

I have been happy with my Trick flows that I have been running since '99
Hear good things about AFR 165/185 but have not run them

 

[73azbronco]

what version of trick flows?? thanks

other optios if anyone has input, victor Jr? Edelbrock street?

 

[fordguy]

go look at the afr 165s and compare them to the other heads. they may have similar flow numbers but i think they will give you some low end. I will compare them again this weekend and let you know what i find. I bought a cam from Performance Unlimited who was recommended to me by a ford racing tech when i was trying to buy a gt roller cam. I basically have the engine you are trying to build. I have a brand new 5.0 block with a 10/10 crank and new cast pistons. Dont go forged pistons you dont need them and they will use oil. Hypers or cast will be fine. I can get you a number for performance unlimited and you can call them and they have a low end torque cam and are pretty knowledgeable. Better yet i will get you the numbers from my truck cam and you can compare them to the crane. If you cant find a crank go with the cast stock scat crank. I am hearing of breakage and such in eagle cranks and was told they are being made overseas now and are not a good choice. There is nothing wrong with a stock underground crank like mine though, it will give you many miles of service. Ford cranks can easily handle taking that much off the crank. I have ported e7s heads with roller rockers. If i did it again i would leave off the roller rockers. Extra work and money gettting them to work (have to measure pushrods to get the right ones) Trust me on this my motor has plenty of fun factor. Would i like a stroker yes but i love my 302. I have a 351 marine block sitting ready to be built. But it will probably not go in the bronco cause i am having fun with the 5.0

 

[73azbronco]

Thanks fordguy. Your numbers would be off great help. Do you or have you thought of injection? I am going that route. Still trying to win an intake...

 

[fordguy]

thought about fuel injection but decided against it for now. my buddy can tune an eddy carb pretty good. i dont put enough miles on my bronco to have efi and i dont rock climb. the cam i got will work with efi. i will get you the numbers monday for performance and i will get the numbers for my cam. if you look on afr's site they give you hp and torque numbers. the torque looks pretty good.

 

[73azbronco]

Pretty nice numbers out of afr heads,