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i have a 92 mustang LX automatic. i've already made a few modifacations to my car nothing really big, underdrive pulleys bypassed smog pump no A/C conical K&N air filter and a "rearend which was already installed before i bought the car" i have big plans for my car, and i need a little help i intend to have it bored 40 over and i was wondering if you had any suggestions about cams, heads, intake, injectors, mass air, throttle body, etc. i just turned over a 100,000 miles a couple of days ago and i've always been told a mustang isn't broken in until then so i'm ready to start building. i also have another question the rearend thats in it now is a 3.88 limited slip is that a good rearend to be racing with or would it be a good to change it?because with all the modifacations already installed it will only spin tires a couple of feet, is this normal? or do i need to change rearends? thanks please write back at studpuppie83@yahoo.com if you don't care.
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Nathan-
I would stick with the standard .030" overbore for the motor since it'll make piston selection easier and because 5.0L blocks have thin cylinder walls as it is. I don't know about a Mustang being "broken in" at 100K miles...generally I'd give them about 150K miles before it's time for a rebuild. As far as heads/cam/mass air/throttle body/cam selection, it really depends on what you want from the car and what kind of motor you're building. If you're going for a basic rebuild (a 306) and not a stroker, I'd go with a Comp Cams Xtreme Energy cam grind, AFR 185 heads (or something similar), a 70mm throttle body and mass air meter, a Holley Systemax or Trick Flow intake, and 24lb/hr injectors with a good adjustable fuel pressure regulator. For a car that sees a lot of strip time, you can obviously supersize all of these parts. As far as your rear end goes, if it's sporting 3.88 gears my guess is that it's a 9" rear. Gears for 8.8" rears usually go from 3.73 to 4.10...no 3.88. If that's the case then the thing should be just about bulletproof for any street driven car. The 9" rears suck up a little more power than a well built 8.8", but it should serve you well. As far as spinning the tires goes, unless you're making pretty good power (at least 350hp), I wouldn't expect to just evaporate the tires. I actually prefer not to spin my tires anyway. If the tires are spinning, the car's not moving. If you have a specific build-up in mind, feel free to reply to this...it's just hard to pick parts for a car without knowing what you want from it and what it'll be used for. Hope this helps.
Steve
that helps out alot thanks, i want a car thats badass but still drivable, i plan to buy another vehicle and keep my stang as a toy and for just cruisin around in.theres one more area i didn't cover transmissions, my car is an automatic and i'd like to keep that way but i know how ford AODs are i had replace mine a week after i bought it, now i know 5 speeds have more power in a sense, i know because every mustang i've raced whooped my ass because they had 5 speeds and i didn't, so would it be a good idea to convert over to a 5 speed or just keep an auto?, i know they've got C4s and C6s that are way better than AODs my question is which one would hold up and give good power? thanks
nathan
Answer -
Nathan-
Transmissions are simply a matter of preference. I personally like automatics for racing. They're much more consistent, they'll handle more power with less modification, and you'll never miss a shift. AODs aren't so bad if they're built. I've been running a Lentech-built AOD behind my turbo'ed 331 motor for well over a year and I'm amazed at how well it performs. All you really need to keep up with a 5spd is a shift kit and a good torque converter. C4s are great transmissions and will hold insane amounts of power when built for racing, but swapping a C4 in where you used to have an AOD can get expensive when you add in the cost of transmission, bellhousing, converter, flexplate, and associated attaching hardware. I wouldn't even consider running a C6 unless you had a big power big block. Those things suck up a lot of power because of their size and I have yet to see a street driven car that could blow up a well built C4. C4s just don't have an overdrive gear...but that's liveable. Swapping over to a good 5spd like a Tremec or World Class T5 can get a bit expensive, as well and also becomes more complicated since you have to install the whole clutch setup and different pedals (that's a major pain, believe me). If I were you, I'd email or call the guys over at Performance Automatic and tell them what combo you've got and that you're sick of getting outrun by 5spd cars. They should be able to hook you up with anything you need. Lentech is also a great company, but a bit more expensive way to go. Hope this helps.
Steve
that does help thanks, just one more thing i'm sure a stroker motor has alot more power than what i wanting to do with mine, just a ball park rough figure what would i need to make mine a stroker? or would i have to buy a completley new engine? i think i'll probably leave you alone after this you have been a great help though and i appriciate it, thanks
nathan
AnswerNathan-
A stroker kit in itself won't really boost your power by leaps and bounds. Really, if you look at 2 engines with the same stock heads, intake, etc. but one's a 302 and the other is a 347, the 347 will probably only be making 30-40hp more than the 302. I say "only" because people expect to slap a stroker crank into a motor and get 100+hp. Really the best part of a stroker kit is that it makes more use of the mods you DO make after it's in. You could go with a crate motor or short block for a stroker from a company like DSS, Coast High Performance, or Keith Craft or you could simply buy a kit and have it installed into your existing block. All you need is a stroker crank (the two more popular sizes for strokers are 331 and 347), rods, pistons, and associated stuff like bearings, rings, etc. Many people are tempted to go with forged everything...but this increases weight in the reciprocating assembly, increases cost, and is really unneeded unless you're making substantial horsepower (I'd say 500hp and above). Most companies will have stroker kits with everything you need already in them to take the guess work out of it. Remember, for a 347 you'll also need to have a machine shop clearance the block due to the crank's longer stroke. It's nothing major, but it can be expensive since it's rather time consuming. Hope this helps.
Steve
