I have had this 89 5.0 convertible for 5 years now. It was my daily driver for sometime will I was having to drive longer distance to work and back. It has never felt fast to me and after some research, I came to the conclusion that an old 385 series would be an engine that can make good power and wouldnt be of the norm around my area.
I sourced a block running 460 out of an old f250. The guy threw in some arp rod bolts and Probe pistons. I threw the engine back together after installing the arp rob bolts and pistons (did slight machine work). Then I came across some dove-c heads for a $200. I had them cleaned up, new rocker studs, new valves, sprints and retainers. I also for a Doug Herbert solid roller camshaft.
After putting it all together, my project that just started off as wanting to build alittle more power turned into a race fuel drinking engine... oops. Haha.
I'm thinking of running E85 (I still need a carb, fuel pump, etc...) or just going for a lower compression piston down the road. The car is going to be a weekend warrior with some cruise time. I plan on running between a 175-200hp nitrous system.
The engine change over was very simple. The factory double hump trans cross member worked perfect, no modifictions needed, 80's truck pan worked perfect, hooker headers needed a little massaging, but not much. The swap engine mounts were used. It will drop right in as an engine/trans unit. I just put the headers in before dropping the combo in.
I'm going to be retaining the power steering, or atleast trying. I do have a flaming river manuel rack on stand by though. Also, I'm going to be using manuel brakes do to the cam size. I want a consistant brake feel.
I put a Ford 9 in with disk brakes on it. Load leveling lower control arms with factory springs and shocks for the time being. I had a driveshaft made for in last week. I also have the 5 lug conversion for the front.
I think that's all for now, any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to write them down.
I sourced a block running 460 out of an old f250. The guy threw in some arp rod bolts and Probe pistons. I threw the engine back together after installing the arp rob bolts and pistons (did slight machine work). Then I came across some dove-c heads for a $200. I had them cleaned up, new rocker studs, new valves, sprints and retainers. I also for a Doug Herbert solid roller camshaft.
After putting it all together, my project that just started off as wanting to build alittle more power turned into a race fuel drinking engine... oops. Haha.
I'm thinking of running E85 (I still need a carb, fuel pump, etc...) or just going for a lower compression piston down the road. The car is going to be a weekend warrior with some cruise time. I plan on running between a 175-200hp nitrous system.
The engine change over was very simple. The factory double hump trans cross member worked perfect, no modifictions needed, 80's truck pan worked perfect, hooker headers needed a little massaging, but not much. The swap engine mounts were used. It will drop right in as an engine/trans unit. I just put the headers in before dropping the combo in.
I'm going to be retaining the power steering, or atleast trying. I do have a flaming river manuel rack on stand by though. Also, I'm going to be using manuel brakes do to the cam size. I want a consistant brake feel.
I put a Ford 9 in with disk brakes on it. Load leveling lower control arms with factory springs and shocks for the time being. I had a driveshaft made for in last week. I also have the 5 lug conversion for the front.
I think that's all for now, any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to write them down.
