Hci Questions.

Lscam580

Active Member
Aug 27, 2014
119
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28
Grand Rapids Mi
First of all I'm new to the fox body world, so any help would be great. Bought a 1987 gt about a month ago with 57k miles on it. Started looking online and reading stang forums, came to the idea of Hci upgrades. Just bought new tfs heads, e303 cam, 1.7 rr, new tfs upper and lower, and a complete wire harness and eec from a 1989 gt with maf to do a maf swap. Now after buying all this I'm told the car will not run right ever and it will just load up and never have any drive ability. Also there is not one person in my area that tunes these cars BC they to old and out dated. Will this set up work with a 19 lb injectors and stock throttle body for a few months till I get some extra cash to upgrade more?
 
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Yes the setup will work with stock injectors and throttle body. You may max out the duty cycle of the injectors or run lean towards the top end but many guys have run 19lb injectors with similar setups. The stock Mass Air and TB will be choke points but not effect driveability.
 
You may get other opinions, but I would do it once and be done. 24's and the matching MAF are fine for that setup. a 75MM TB is overkill, a 70MM is more than sufficient. I would get a PRO M MAF. If you are willing to do some searching on boards, you can find good deals on used parts.

I would definitely check to make sure the valve springs are rated to handle the cam.
 
Sounds about right, BBK 70mm TB, rule typically is to have a bigger MAF than TB so get 75mm ProM MAF calibrated for 24# injectors.

The opening for a trick flow intake is 75mm so you could always go 75mm TB with a 80mm ProM MAF. Might be a little big for your combo but gives you room to grow.
 
If you have the MAF upgrade stuff, it should run fine with a tune, many people here have an upgraded HCI setup on a stock MAF - type ECM.

I would most definitely sell the cam and buy the corresponding TFS 1 or 2 cam since you have their heads and intake.

For a tune, at the VERY least, you could get a mail order box tune since your engine combo is common and mild. Box tunes are not very popular because it's like a one size fits all situation. Obviously, having a custom tune will net you a safer, more powerful setup.
 
Let me guess....the ones that told you these cars were "old and outdated" were the same ones who told you the set-up wouldn't work?

I'll bet not one of these know it alls drives a car with more than 4-cylinders either.
 
Yep same guys that built a short block for me only to find out a week ago I cannot run the setup. 302 stock block bored .30 over Callie's billet stroker crank, crower h beam rods, JE 10.2:1 floating pin flat top pistons,tfs main girdle . I was told stock block holds 480 hp and then splits. I was only looking at 300- 350 hp. They said "hey you want reliability with ford your gonna pay" Smh, saw me coming. So I'm stuck with a block that I cannot do anything with.
Also I cannot get a custom tune in any of my areas. Closest one by me is 300 miles away. I'm an idiot when it comes to turning on the stupid computer let alone trying to program one
 
Like said that combo will work, but personally sell that cam in favor of the tfs1 or equivalent. The maf/ injector set up will get you up and running but an 80mm pro m matched to 24# injectors would be optimal for that set up. Should see 300rwhp with that set up. Almost 100hp over stock.
 
I'll buy the cam today. Which cam is better recommended,
Also Can the short block I have sitting be used and put everything accessory wise on the front? Or should I stick with the stock block that's in the car and build that as I go.
 
Yep same guys that built a short block for me only to find out a week ago I cannot run the setup. 302 stock block bored .30 over Callie's billet stroker crank, crower h beam rods, JE 10.2:1 floating pin flat top pistons,tfs main girdle . I was told stock block holds 480 hp and then splits. I was only looking at 300- 350 hp. They said "hey you want reliability with ford your gonna pay" Smh, saw me coming. So I'm stuck with a block that I cannot do anything with.

Ok, I'm confused by this statement. Why can you not run the set up? I mean....you spent a tonne of money for nothing on the rotating assembly, but there's no reason it shouldn't run just fine with it. Unless you plan on boosting or spraying it, you'll never break that block with the parts you have on the car now?
 
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Well I'm told that the setup from the short block will turn a average hp of 575hp and a stock block I thought cannot handle the power that the short block will put out.

I have my motor in the 87 now tore down and cleaned up, cam bearings look perfect. The roller lifters ,and cam show no signs of even been ran. Pistons have no black over burn. Great deal of cross hatches still in cylinder walls with stock ford stamped pistons in it as well. Timing chain has no slop, I bought a new timing set so I will be installing that as well. Bought a new tfs stage 1 cam from local speed shop for I think a decent price of $150 new. They didn't have any arp head bolts, but had arp studs. So they sold them to me at same cost as bolts would have been. $75.00 :)

Problem that I'm having is the stock valve covers will not fricken fit on the heads with the roller rockers I have. I do have a tall set of aluminum fab covers but they will interfear with the throttle linkage. Should I cut my losses and buy a diff set or should I buy an intake spacer?
 
Yes the cam that's in the short block now is a comp cams rpm 5500-8000
Duration is 318/336 duration at 50 is 282/300 valve lift is 744/731 lobe separation is 112. Solid roller . Was told completely streetable. And was going to put a 400 hp pro fogger shot on it. This is what this shop put together for me. I didn't buy the fogger system yet or go any farther then what is sitting on the engine stand now. Buddy's told me take it apart and put this setup into a dart block. For now it will sit till I get a lot more insight.
 
Yes the cam that's in the short block now is a comp cams rpm 5500-8000
Duration is 318/336 duration at 50 is 282/300 valve lift is 744/731 lobe separation is 112. Solid roller . Was told completely streetable. And was going to put a 400 hp pro fogger shot on it. This is what this shop put together for me. I didn't buy the fogger system yet or go any farther then what is sitting on the engine stand now. Buddy's told me take it apart and put this set-up into a dart block. For now it will sit till I get a lot more insight.
Judging by your list of parts, you're probably not going to see much more than about 300rwhp on engine alone.....but a 400hp shot of nitrous?!? Why in gods name do you think you need so much nitrous? What are you trying to accomplish with this thing? I hope you've got at least $5,000 into your chassis, suspension and drivetrain, because the engine isn't going to be the only thing that won't take that much power.

Are you planning on this much nitrous because you really think you need it, or did one of your "Fast n Furious" buddies tell you that's what you needed?!? Unless you're building a track only car, there's no feasible reason on this earth to ever consider a nitrous kit like that....and if you are, you're a looooong way off on the rest of your mods.
 
No that's what I was told to use.not knowing a thing about nitrous or it's property's. After a long resurch on what it is and how it works, I hung the build up. I want to pull the cam out of that motor,throw it on the local craigslist and let someone else deal with that outrageous cam. I'm just wondering if I'm able the throw all my parts from the stock 5.0 block that I'm doing now? when it blows up.
 
That's when I went out and bought the 87 stang that I am working on now. Just looked all over and found people are using tfs heads and I seen a lot of forums that people are using cams, intakes and doing a maf swap. And getting a reliable 300hp. That's all I'm looking for. Something i can beat around my local area and an occasional try to make the wife piss her pants on a hard launch.