fastdreams

Do these mods make any sense? New-to-me car:
1989 5.0 HO
Current mods:
- BBK CAI with bigger MAF (ford F1ZF-12B579-AA AFH55-03B 1G31 <- I think that's the stock meter, right?)
- Cobra intake
- adjustable fuel pressure ?
- Larger injectors (what size? they are blue)
- F-cam
- BBK headers to custom H to hi-flow cats to flowmaster mufflers (cats may be before the H, can't remember now)
- oh and it has hurst shifter with the stock T5 from an '87 or '88 I believe.

Hello board,


This is my first car with the 5.0, and I have some questions.

The previous owner did a few minor upgrades (listed above), and I need to find if they are a good start, or if I should back up, and/or what would be a good next step.

The car feels pretty good for the most part. 1st through 3rd gears pull pretty hard, 4th and 5th feel kind of weak. In 4th gear, if I drop the hammer it kind of feels like it hits a wall for a several hundred RPM (it's still accelerating pretty decently though), then as the RPMs climb, the pull gets more aggressive. I haven't wrapped up 4th gear yet but it feels like it will pull harder as I go. I assume this is a result of the f-cam and other mods.

The gears are very short. I can barely get any traction in first gear, and it gets sideways in second gear. Hello torque.

Where is redline on this engine? I don't want to blow it; I'm used to higher revving turbo 4-cylinder engines. I'm assuming 6k or less (my tach works but I'm not in a mustang)

The previous owner told me the MAF was a higher flow unit, but a quick google search on the part number makes it seem to be the stock part. Should I upgrade this part to match the other modifications? He also told me that there is an adjustable FPR...I'll have to look for that. I'd assume so due to the higher flow injectors. Previous owner estimates around 240hp (man only 15hp from all those mods...eesh) I'll have to hit up a dyno and find out what's up.

I've always assumed that upgraded injectors aren't necessary unless there are some pretty major mods done. No sense in hosing the thing down with fuel if there isn't enough air to burn it.

Anyway, thanks for your time. Some pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Kevin

silver91gt

sounds like a good start, the injectors are 24 pound and are overkill unless it has high flowing heads, a cam and, intake you will probably make more power with some stock injectors(19lb/hr)

I wouldn't rev past 6k rpm, I did it once (to 6300) and floated a valve and bent it., then something went into my #8 cylinder and gouged up the bottom of the head and the top of the piston. not good.

fastdreams

Cool. These mods were hand-me-downs from his drag racing buddies that wanted more go. Good friends to have

I like the looks of that trick-flow topend rebuild kit but that's pretty serious money. Not to mention the T5 would need to be upgraded along with that 350hp and 370ft-lb.

How agressive is the F-cam? The thing lopes pretty bad at idle...the car shakes a lot too, maybe a mount is shot, I need to take a good look.

I wish the car had as much bite as it does bark...it sounds mean as hell.

Thanks for your time.

fordguy17

i'm wondering how you car is running that good with 24 lb injectors and stock mass air meter.

i didn't think they could be recalibrated.... (might be wrong on that)

the trickflow kit is a good one and is actually pretty cheap for what you get. picking and buying seperate parts would be more expensive. (it always is)

you might want to check and see if you have aftermarket gears in it. (3.73/4.10)

jack the rear of the car up and mark the driveshaft with white out or something similar.

spin the tire one complete turn and count how many times the driveshaft goes around.

if you have stock gears it would be anywhere from 2.73/3.08.

sounds like your having fun with your new car. welcome to the forums.

fastdreams

Good question fordguy. He did say the MAF was an upgraded one. Not sure about that. Does that part number I listed equate to the stock MAF? Could it be just the sensor in the MAF was changed?

I was looking at vortechs and kenne bells until I saw that trickflow kit. I'd rather stay naturally aspirated if I can get that kind of power without boosting.

Well it's the stock T5, bolted up to my stock volvo rear end. The car was originally a turbo 4-banger, I'm not sure what the ratio is, but it's pretty short.