Bad Karma

What's up!!
I recently found myself upon a heck of a deal in a '90 Notch LX 5.0. I brought the car home, it had the original motor and trans in it. According to the paperwork and the owners word, the entire driveline only has about 93k miles on it. It's never been touched (rebuilt) nor modded. I pulled the motor and trans. They appear to be in pretty good shape. No major/identifyable scratches or damage internally. The only reason I pulled the motor was that the car sat under a garage with the heads off for about a year and I wanted to at least clean/hot tank the block and install new rings/gaskets/bearings/etc.

My question is as follows. I understand that this particular motor came with Forged pistons. This is good for power and longevity right? Also, if you were in the same position and wanted to build a relativly economical rebuild, what would you suggest? Should I have a machine shop bore it? Rebuild the heads? Install new cam/crank bearings? Also, what should I do about the rings? Should I assume that the factory size (replacements) be ok? I'd rather spend the major portion of the money that I have on some nice aluminum heads and plan on making the car a street/pro-street car. It's got 3.73's in it currently and is bone stock aside from the gearset.

I've been a LONG time bowtie (Camaro) guy and can find my way around a SBC. I know apples to oranges but don't know any specs on the 5.0 or have any Mustang buddies to ask of help.

I'm looking forward to making new friends and learning from them here.

Thanks for your time,
Ivan

Grimace5.0

Have a machine shop look at the cylinders. Figure out if you want a 306 or something bigger. Take that info and post back to us.

r.barn

They came with super cast pistons basically, hypert.... something
good for n/a applications, with boost forged is a little better, but not by much until you hit double digit boost levels.

It is very popular to bore these engines 30 over, and make em a 306.


personally i would just re-use all your stock parts with new bearings and the such
and only over bore and get new pistons if you have to.
put some nice heads on there and then a 10psi blower and you'll have a 400rwhp
sweet *** 11.xx sec car and be running a configuration that tons
of people in here use and have no problems with.

Bad Karma

306 = 10 over?

I reckon that the benchmark would have to be determined off of what an machine shop says.

Thanks for the rapid response Sir.

I've been lurking around the message boards for a couple weeks and it seems like everyone here is a straight shooter so I plan on being here nad maybe even having something positive to add.

I'll follow your advice.

Thanks and take care,
Ivan

myshifter

Ivan, here is quick procedure. If someone is going to bore and hone the block, cam bearings have to be replced along with main and rod bearings, if your way tight on cash you could mic the crank and if its close get a 2 thousand bearing for the main and rod, thats if its close. Honestly doing it half azz is a waste of time and energy. If your boring the block which is a standard procedure when doing a rebuild obviously we need new rings. OK scratch what I said, here is the short version if you want to do it the right way that will last a long time. Bore-Hone the block, new cam bearings, new crank bearing, new rod bearings, cut crank 10 thou, new KB or TRW pistons (hyper or forged) new rings, new oil pump, hardened oil pump shaft. Gasket set. Thats the shortblock in a nutshell. Seems you want to go economical so doing things like arp main studs and align boring are not something you want to do. As for heads, ya I would cut the valves and seats, check guides for wear. New PC valve seals not umbrella seals. Then go fromt here, tell me how much money you want to spend I guess.


Randy where are you LOL

Bad Karma

Nice. Thanks for the input. It's not like a money issue for the motor really. I'm just telling myself that because every Bowtie that I've built was all motor and the thing still had primer on it somewhere. I always spent WAY TOO MUCH on the motor and was always stressing the rest. I'd really like to get into more of the suspension/wheels/paint on this one.
In your experience, what would be a neighborhood price range to have that machine work you mentioned above completed by a competent shop? This way if I get a ballpark number, I'll know when someone is jacking me up.

Again, thanks guys!,
Ivan

Bad Karma

and no, I agree that half assing it will only produce half *** results....

Thanks,
Ivan

myshifter

heres the problem, with the internet there are literally dozens of places that will just sell you a new complete shortblock cheaper than a machine shop is going to do it for. In your situation, wanting a bone stock shortblock I would look closely at a remanufacturer with a warranty online. They deal in volume and alot of places dont charge a core charge either since you are dealing with a motor that was produced a million times.

Bad Karma

Good thinking. I'll check it out and report.

Thanks,
Ivan

tinman

302 + .030 is a 306.
Machine work on 5.0 Ford costs the same as on any Chebby.
BTW, DO NOT bore past .030.......