Hi guys,

So I've had a 5.0 out of an 89 foxbody for some time now. Converted to carb, comp cam, and I've supercharged it (vortech v1 s trim). I just replaced the valve seals because it was smoking oil, and I've been told trick flow valve stem seals (that came with the spring upgrade kit) suck pretty bad.

Car still smokes at idle, so my best deduction is a bad oil ring somewhere, probably cylinder number 8 cause that plug gets oily.

Now onto the hard part. Do I re-ring, and refresh the 302 which is pretty mild except for the supercharger? OR, do I sell the supercharger to a buddy who's willing to buy it, to fund a 289 race motor build? I'm talking aluminum heads, 7000 ish redline.

Let's face it: power is addicting, and boost is basically a drug addiction.

Please share thoughts on reliability, power, when power comes in, "if it were me..." scenarios. I'm looking for someone knowledgeable outside of my situation to bounce ideas and thoughts off of...

Let em rip.

 

you can build a stout normally aspirated small block that will provide more power than the chassis can handle. I'd go that way- sure, supercharger is cool, but what you feel is kick in the *** power down low.

 

Make it sound like this. (289 revving to 8500)

 

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the car in the video is only revving around 6500 rpm at the max and in fact you can see it on his tach in some spots . . an engine that revs to 7000 tpm will cost a ton of money and will not have any bottom end and will require at least 3.91 gears.

 

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Racer Dave: yeah you are definitely right about that. There is a lot of grunt down low with the blower, but not so much higher up in the rpm range...

Pzero and Banett: that little 289 sounds wicked no matter what rpm - tempting no doubt.

My largest concern involving power is that the "kick in the *** down low" would be more usable on the street, because with a built 289 like that (or 302) where the power up higher, I can put my foot on the pedal for 4 seconds and be well over the speed limit (depending on where I am) before I feel the power.

that 289 firing order has a pretty iconic sound though...

how about reliability of both?

 

Stroke it to 347 for low end grunt and more power, best of both.

 

If that doesn't give you a blue steel throbber then you're not even trying.

 

Depends on how much money you have.

If you can afford it, get an aftermarket block and build a n/a 363. Otherwise a 347 on the stock block would work too.

Also, you can get a SBF these days to turn 7k rpm and still have bottom end n/a, the custom cam grinders can do wonders and know how to spread the power out. But it will be expensive as hell and still require some gear.

 

Loving this!!

69mach: Not a bad idea. I haven't even considered that, but now you just threw another variable into the mix... thanks a lot! lol

fastbackford351: No doubt about it. I still have a boner for that sound since I watched that video... awkward; but I digress.

67mustang302: I don't think the 363 is quite in the realm of my financial abilities, so if larger displacement were to come about, I think the 347 would be my go-to (would be nice to supercharge that one...)

Hopefully I'll be pulling the 302 soon, and I'll mic the cylinders then. If I have to bore something, originally i was leaning towards selling the supercharger and accompanying accessories to bank roll the 289 rebuild. I really need to see what my current situation is with the 5.0 before I can make an informed decision (not discounting the guidance from all of you gentlemen here, of course).

Seems like most of the replies here are for N/A... No boost fans??

Keep 'em coming!

 

Speaking of sounding good...


I was always a fan of this one in particular.