Anyone with H/C/I on a high milage engine?

[Highbredcloud]

Hey guys...

Well I purchased another 5.0 last week. It is in really good shape...looks like the previous onwner took good care of it. However, it has 100K on the clock and I was just curious if anyone has put H/C/I on a high milage car? I'm trying to find out how reliable that is. I don't plan on racing the car just want to have more power than stock in my daily driver. It also has a t-5 that seems to be shifting like its new. Please let me know what to expect and what needs to be changed. The engine is a 91 so it still has the forged internals...

Thanks.

-Greg

 

[2MuchPSIForU]

I have 205 000 K on my car, and it gets a healthy diet of nitrous, (100 shot) which makes the same RWHP and a lot more TQ than your average h/c/i setup...

I still have perfect compression, I use almost no oil in between changes (although it's black as sin)

and now im running a 150 shot

so I think you'd be fine, go for it, even if the motor is tired, you'll still get a lot more power out of it, then when you get some more $$$ saved up you can get a fresh one.

You'll be fine, DO IT

 

[goldbomb79]

I have my daily driver that has about 147k on the clock with h/c/i on it and it has run just fine. I'm not gonna recommend it on a track engine like i'm building now, but if the engine is in good running order and has good compression I think she'll hold up.

 

[Highbredcloud]

Goldbomb79: How do you like your setup? That is what I plan on doing to the "new" 5.0...stock stuff just ported along with an E-cam instead of the B cam...must stay emmisino legal. How much of a significant gain is there over stock? How streetable is your setup? Let me know.

 

[Mike86Stang]

I have maybe 110,000 miles on my engine now (more on the car) but anyway I put cam & heads on it within the last 10k. The intake was already on there, but no problems at all, throw on some HCI & enjoy

 

[goldbomb79]

I like my setup alot. I haven't been to the track or been able to run anyone with this combo due to the fact that i just got it running 2 weeks ago. so far it runs pretty well. feel alot stronger than stock. i think it's gonna be one heck of a sleeper when i get my suspension finished. let me know if you need any help with anything. i did all of my work myself so i'll help ya anyway I can

 

[Michael Yount]

I'd run a cranking compression check on all 8; maybe a leakdown if you really want to know -- If all checks out, make your changes and you'll know that the engine's gonna be fine. Given how you're gonna use the car, I'd think long and hard about the cam change. Heads/exh/intake will make big changes in the car's power level and the stock cam is actually quite capable of producing good power and excellent drivability. More daily drivers have been screwed up with cam changes that helped top end power a bit, but at the expense of low end - which is what makes one really fun on the street. If it were me, I'd let this be my guide - any cam where there's a recommendation to run steeper gears with it is a cam that's likely gonna hurt your bottom end. And all the alphabet cams fall in that category. If you want a little extra, throw some 1.7's on the stocker - but I think I'd leave the cam alone.

 

[Highbredcloud]

Michael Yount...I will do a compression test. Would you know about where the norm should be on a healthy motor? The cam is what I'm afraid will screw up the drivability of the car as well therefore I'm a little careful on what to get that will work well in terms of drivability and reliability. The car is currently stock except for 3.73's and a stock T-5...I like to get some thumper heads on the car but I also know that some GT-40Y heads work well with the stock cam...not sure about how the stock cam would work with the thumpers. I also was thinking about getting an E-cam in the car along with the heads and an Explorer upper and lower...I don't know how reliable the car would be with the E-cam...any ideas or suggestions on that one? Keep in mind...I don't want to make 300RWHP, I need a car that will be reliable but have more power than stock and I don't want to upgrade the T-5 so that's got to stay...I know that that depends on how I drive the car but I have seen some nice imporvements on cars while still maintaining the T-5 and drivability reliability. Any input would be appreciated and will be taken under consideration.

 

[Michael Yount]

I'd contact tmoss about having him port your lower. For what you want - a ported tmoss lower, some Y heads or have Thumper work his magic on the E7's, nice exhaust system, open up the intake tract - a Cobra maf would work great and you could keep the stock 19# injectors, stock cam, the gears -- that would have stock drivability, with plenty of umph down low, and more pep up top.

Me - given what you've described you want I definitely would not go with the E cam. The E is the same as Crane's PowerMax 2040. See Crane's description below. You'll definitely hurt bottom end torque production with it - and I don't think the gain up top is what you're after anyway.

Good mid-range and strong top-end power, requires modified mass airflow, aftermarket intake, perf. cylinder heads and headers, must use 5-spd and 3.55 or numerically higher rear gears. Requires Crane Springs and Retainers. (50 state legal 85-93, C.A.R.B. E.O. D-225-46) Basic RPM 2400-6000

 

[tmoss]

I think you'd be very pleased (maybe surprised) with a well ported lower. Paste the link in my signature and send me an e-mail from the site if you get to the point your interested.

 

[Bigstang1]

Sorry dont mean to hijack this post but i have 2 question. How do you do a leak down test? and second, Is a trickflow stage 1 cam a decent daily driver cam? Its just my summer car.

 

[Michael Yount]

Can't help with the cam choice. Leak down test applies pressure (compressed air) to the cylinder with the valves closed through the spark plug hole. By measuring how long the air remains in the cylinder you get a sense for how well the cylinder seals. By listening closely you can tell if you have a ring problem (noise of air into crankcase) or head/valve issues (noise in intake or exhaust tracts).

 

[Highbredcloud]

a Cobra maf would work great and you could keep the stock 19# injectors, stock cam, the gears -- that would have stock drivability, with plenty of umph down low, and more pep up top.

Hmmm...I thought a Cobra MAF was a 70mm and for 24# injectors. Can I just switch the electronic part from y stock MAF and place it on the Cobra MAF? But wouldn't that give incorrect readings since the MAF is bigger than for what the STOCK plastic electronic sensor set up for...I would get more air than fuel right? I heard that the stock cam is good, however, I have an E-cam sitting around...Thumper heads flow 219cfm on intake and 151cfm on exhuast...Tmoss ported stock lower enough or the Explorer would be better? I already have full exhaust, gears, from my other car. Is there a certain "norm" for a compression test or do I just listen to hear if the air is escaping??? Could you please explain the process a little better, I will attempt to do this myself.

-Greg

 

[Michael Yount]

The adjustment for 24# injectors is made in the Cobra ecu, not the maf -- it's a common misunderstanding. The Cobra maf IS calibrated for 19's -- the Cobra computer is calibrated for 24's. So the Cobra maf is a bolt in swap in terms of being compatible with the HO motor/computer using the stock 19# injectors. I don't know if the plugs are exactly the same or not. It's the larger diameter of the Cobra maf that makes it an attractive swap - it's capable of letting more air flow without being a restriction than the stock maf. You don't have to move any "electronic parts" from one maf to the other.

My stock cam suggestion was based on your initial post - a bit more power but with reliability because it's a daily driver. Many people have a difficult time with idle quality/characteristics using the E cam - not everyone, but many struggle with it. And, it will make less power/torque down low - which I assumed you wouldn't want with a daily driver. tmoss posted above - pm him and ask him about Explorer vs. his lower - for the use you described I believe his ported lower will work fine. There are a number of folks out there running Thumper's heads and his ported lower quite happily.

Do a search on compression testing. Cranking compression on a stock engine should be done with engine warm. A general rule of thumb is that the numbers should be within 5-10% of each other among the 8 cylinders. There iis debate as to what the actual number should be - consult your repair manual for their recommendation.

Leak down is a bit more complex - I don't know what the actual numbers are that represent a solid cylinder seal - perhaps someone else will post and enlighten us with that.

 

[Michael Yount]

Talk to some of the guys in this thread about process and numbers.....

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=403390

 

[tmoss]

...Thumper heads flow 219cfm on intake and 151cfm on exhuast...Tmoss ported stock lower enough or the Explorer would be better? I already have full exhaust, gears, from my other car. Is there a certain "norm" for a compression test or do I just listen to hear if the air is escaping??? Could you please explain the process a little better, I will attempt to do this myself.

-Greg

Greg, the intake you use will need to consider that head flow and the power band you want. On Thumper heads, my ported stock lower intake will make more average torque/power in the 1,500~4,500-5,000 rpm band and the stock Explorer intake will make more average torque/power in the 3,000~6,000+rpm band. Where will you do most of your driving or where do you want your power to be. I ported Rio5.0 Explorer lower runners but left the head flange opening the same for his Thumpers to add a little flow and to increase the #1 & #5 runner flow to a level closer to the other runners - better flow balance.

 

[remat457]

Hey guys...

Well I purchased another 5.0 last week. It is in really good shape...looks like the previous onwner took good care of it. However, it has 100K on the clock and I was just curious if anyone has put H/C/I on a high milage car? I'm trying to find out how reliable that is. I don't plan on racing the car just want to have more power than stock in my daily driver. It also has a t-5 that seems to be shifting like its new. Please let me know what to expect and what needs to be changed. The engine is a 91 so it still has the forged internals...

Thanks.

-Greg

The good thing about doing a high mileage car is that you will get to replace all your seals which you probably would want to do anyway! (front and rear main, etc..)