pro tint

just wondering what the main diffrence is between the HO and the basic 5.0, i know the HO uses a roller cam but what i mean is power wise. is the basic 5.0 useless compared to the h.o? im picking up a motor from the junkyard in the morning and dont know if its a HO or not cause its got an aftermarket intake manifold on it. any help would be appriciated

redmustang83596

The h.o. has a different firing order. Not all rollers are H.O.s Rollers have a different cam, cam bearings, lifters and the roller has a different way of holding the lifters in place (the flat tappet lifters are supposed to turn in their bore). Any 5.0 made 85 or after are rollers, but not all of them are H.O.s. The only difference is the firing order between the H.O and non H.O, you can normally find the firing order on the intake manifold.

TwotoneVert

What year is the block you are picking up? I read an article in this months 5.0 Mustang, and I think it said that anything after 89 were all the same, but I could be wrong. Not meaning that all were rollers after 89, it meant that the engine could be built either way.

pro tint

i dont know what year it is because its comming out of a ford ranger someone did a conversion and its got an aftermarket intake manifold that lookes like the bbk shortram or whatever its called. if its not a HO what the factory horsepower?

frdmstng1986GT

if it's not a HO..factor hp was like 170 or something... my guess if it is comming out of a ranger conversion it will most likely be a HO.. if it's not..somebody wasted there money on the swap.

pro tint

thats what i was thinking also, it has ford motorsports headers,valve covers,nice aftermarket wires and that funky intake manifold and dont know if it makes i diffrence but it has a mass air sensor?

redmustang83596

Mass Air started in 89 and went to 93. If its from 89-92 then its got forged pistons, better heads and stronger block. Your probably getting one of these, because I doubt it someone would do a conversion with a crappy version. It most likely has 225 hp from the factory.

VigCS

This is semi-true. All trucks with 5.0s from 1985-1992 were flat tappet but the blocks were fully prepared to accept a roller cam and lifter.

Got this from a ford truck site: "Ford changed the 5.0 casting around 1985 so all motors built afterwords with this block are roller ready, regardless if they came from the factory with a roller cam or not. These blocks have taller lifter bores and 2 raised bosses in the lifter valley to accept the bolts for the spider assembly."

88blackgt

85-92 has forged pistons