Fox Build Ideas For My 90 Lx 5.0

1slowfox90

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Dec 5, 2013
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Hey guys I'm new here and this is my first post outside of my introduction. Anyway as the title says I have a 1990 mustang lx with the 5.0 that I have recently retired as my daily driver. I am now looking to do more serious mods. here are the mods the car has just to give you all an idea of where I stand.

Because I am not the only owner of this car some descriptions may be fairly vague.
It has the 5 lug conversion. 3.73 gears, bbk long tubes and off road hpipe, gt40 upper and lower intake, explorer fuel injectors (still 19#) the car is lowered somewhat. It is a 5-speed with some kind of short shifter. Pretty sure that's it.

As far as goals, id like to be making at least 500hp with the stock bottom end if at all possible. If that's ridiculous I'm not too cheap or lazy to go in there. I was thinking a turbo build maybe but any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.
 
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What are your eventual goals for your car? Drag car? Street and strip? autocross? deciding mainly what you wanna do for your car will give you a better idea of what direction to go. IF you would like to make 500hp easily id say go with a turbo setup with a very good safe tune.
 
What are your eventual goals for your car? Drag car? Street and strip? autocross? deciding mainly what you wanna do for your car will give you a better idea of what direction to go. IF you would like to make 500hp easily id say go with a turbo setup with a very good safe tune.
I love the drag strip so I'm thinkin that. I just dropped the insurance and whatnot so I'm not concerned about it being street legal. now, with a turbo setup on a stock block I'd assume I should have a decent h/c/I setup too right? Maybe some bigger heads to lower compression initially?
 
If you're planning on a turbo build(or any build) for the strip go with an automatic. Especially on a turbo car. It helps build boost and you stay in boost the entire time. With a manual trans it looses boost between the shifts. It also will be more consistent. A stock trans(auto or t5) won't last behind 500 hp.
As far as the engine goes you'll need the proper fuel,mas,ign systems along with a proper tune and heads and intake. If it's a turbo build you don't have to change the cam if you don't want to. The turbo setup will make more than enough power without it. Remember the stock block is a thin casting and tends to break at around 500rwhp. Some make it last a little over that some don't. Very important to have the right tune for durability,drivability,and power. The first thing I do is get the suspension,brakes,wheels and tires,etc setup on the car and then worry about power production
 
If you're planning on a turbo build(or any build) for the strip go with an automatic. Especially on a turbo car. It helps build boost and you stay in boost the entire time. With a manual trans it looses boost between the shifts. It also will be more consistent. A stock trans(auto or t5) won't last behind 500 hp.
As far as the engine goes you'll need the proper fuel,mas,ign systems along with a proper tune and heads and intake. If it's a turbo build you don't have to change the cam if you don't want to. The turbo setup will make more than enough power without it. Remember the stock block is a thin casting and tends to break at around 500rwhp. Some make it last a little over that some don't. Very important to have the right tune for durability,drivability,and power. The first thing I do is get the suspension,brakes,wheels and tires,etc setup on the car and then worry about power production

Honestly that is the first thing I planned to tackle. I still don't know what my best bet is for brands but I see a lot of guys going to coil over shock suspension. Maybe a ford 9" rear and I could do disk brakes? As far as wheels and tires go, my primary concern is getting the rear wheels to fit. As it is I have 275/35/17 back there I think, and they don't have much clearance.
 
Also you don't have to go to a 9"rearend. The 8.8 built properly can handle plenty of power/abuse. Strange/moser both make 35sp axles. Add a spool,gears,etc and weld the axle tubes. Good to go. You can add a 28x9.5 slick and with the proper set up you can have a factory shortblock into the 10s@130+
 
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the very first thing i would do is search up a good heavy duty block for the 302, either a 69-70 boss 302 block, or step up and get a ford boss block. the stock block tends to split at about 500hp. you can add a main stud girdle, but all that really does is keep the pieces together to make it easier to pick up the parts after the block splits. also i do recommend you use forged pistons as well, and aftermarket rods are not a bad idea, but invest in a good set of ARP bolts to hold things together.

to get 500hp i suggest a forced induction system of some kind, turbos are nice but do have some heat and packaging issues, the roots type or screw type blowers are also good choices, but again have packaging issues, as well as heat issues regarding the intake charge. i prefer the centrifugal blowers, like the paxton or vortech blowers. they fits nicely under the hood, dont impart as much heat into the intake charge, and dont have the heat output of the turbocharger. the other nice thing is that with the centrifugal charger, the boost comes on like a turbo, a little at first, and then it comes on like a freight train as rpms build. the roots and screw type blowers hammer the motor harder when the boost comes on.
 
The first two articles I wrote about my '89 5.0 would serve as a good guideline for what to do.

I ran 12s with the stock motor in the first article:

http://www.mustang50magazine.com/featuredvehicles/m5lp_0812_1989_ford_mustang_lx/index.html

Then I ran low 11s with some boost in the second article:

http://www.mustang50magazine.com/techarticles/m5lp_0910_1989_mustang_lx_upgraded/index.html

If you added a Trick Flow Track Heat H/C/I package to the car in that second article, it would make 500hp and run low 10s.
 
The first two articles I wrote about my '89 5.0 would serve as a good guideline for what to do.

I ran 12s with the stock motor in the first article:

http://www.mustang50magazine.com/featuredvehicles/m5lp_0812_1989_ford_mustang_lx/index.html

Then I ran low 11s with some boost in the second article:

http://www.mustang50magazine.com/techarticles/m5lp_0910_1989_mustang_lx_upgraded/index.html

If you added a Trick Flow Track Heat H/C/I package to the car in that second article, it would make 500hp and run low 10s.

I was checking out the thread on head kits and saw the trick flow track heat package and thought it seemed like a decent idea plus I've seen quite a few mustang builds using trick flow. I'll check your articles out for sure.
 
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the very first thing i would do is search up a good heavy duty block for the 302, either a 69-70 boss 302 block, or step up and get a ford boss block. the stock block tends to split at about 500hp. you can add a main stud girdle, but all that really does is keep the pieces together to make it easier to pick up the parts after the block splits. also i do recommend you use forged pistons as well, and aftermarket rods are not a bad idea, but invest in a good set of ARP bolts to hold things together.

to get 500hp i suggest a forced induction system of some kind, turbos are nice but do have some heat and packaging issues, the roots type or screw type blowers are also good choices, but again have packaging issues, as well as heat issues regarding the intake charge. i prefer the centrifugal blowers, like the paxton or vortech blowers. they fits nicely under the hood, dont impart as much heat into the intake charge, and dont have the heat output of the turbocharger. the other nice thing is that with the centrifugal charger, the boost comes on like a turbo, a little at first, and then it comes on like a freight train as rpms build. the roots and screw type blowers hammer the motor harder when the boost comes on.
Centrifugal type superchargers like you suggest could be a very good idea too. I'm not sure if it sounds dumb that I would prefer to stick to a 5speed rather than an auto, I know it's fairly counterproductive I just love driving manual.
 
Centrifugal type superchargers like you suggest could be a very good idea too. I'm not sure if it sounds dumb that I would prefer to stick to a 5speed rather than an auto, I know it's fairly counterproductive I just love driving manual.

transmission selection is entirely up to you. for 500hp i suggest something like the tremec 600 5spd. its tough and was designed to handle the power.
 
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Centrifugal type superchargers like you suggest could be a very good idea too. I'm not sure if it sounds dumb that I would prefer to stick to a 5speed rather than an auto, I know it's fairly counterproductive I just love driving manual.
Oh I agree about a manual being "fun" it's just harder to be consistent if you're bracket racing. If you go blower or n/a you def can stay with a manual. Turbo and manual can be done but it is more complicated. Also fwiw a good drag racing 5sp runs about 4-4.5k with clutch,bell,shifter,etc
 
Oh I agree about a manual being "fun" it's just harder to be consistent if you're bracket racing. If you go blower or n/a you def can stay with a manual. Turbo and manual can be done but it is more complicated. Also fwiw a good drag racing 5sp runs about 4-4.5k with clutch,bell,shifter,etc
:nice: Well.. let the saving begin i guess.
 
Thanks to everyone so far for the ideas, this thread alone has been alot of help. So from what i am seeing, 500 seems to be pushing it for the stock block. It may be a while before i can afford everything for my final goal. So for now i think i will start with all the suspension and frame adjustments as suggested. From there i can either start modding the 302 i have in there and settle for less than 500hp or i can save up for a better block. If i do buy a better block what parts from the stock motor can or should i use? i already plan on getting a trick flow h/c/i kit. From what i understand, my motor has forged pistons already. Are the connecting rods and crank forged as well or are they cast?
 
If/when you step up to an aftermarket block don't use the stock rotating assembly. There's no point. Add a forged rotating assembly with extra displacement ie 331/347/363.