Best Engine Combo?

aprost27

New Member
Mar 19, 2011
10
0
1
I have a spare stock 1989 5.0 motor that I want to start throwing some parts at. Im not looking for extreme power as this eng. will be used as a daily driver and i just want something fun and reliable for street use, so I wanted to have the power between 1500-to 5500 RPM Range. I was thinking of going with a gt-40 tubular intake, a Steeda 18 cam and some Edelbrock performer RPM aluminum heads, 1.6 rockers and of course a bigger throttle body(not sure what size yet) Right now I have in my possession some Edelbrock performer rpm aluminum heads and a Edelbrock performer 5.0 RPM 2 upper and lower intake. I thinking of selling the intake, from what I've read is, that intake doesn't start coming alive until the 3000-3500 rpm range and up, which is not something that would be good for street use. Anyone have any comments or suggestions??? p.s. don't want to run a blower or nitrous either. Thx in advance....
 
  • Sponsors (?)


Have the heads valve jobbed, use a custom cam and i'd keep the intake. If you had said gt40p heads i'd say change out the intake, but as of late i've seen the rpm II work out pretty well with just about any aluminum head, and getting yours valve jobbed should bring them up to a point where you should still be able to keep the intake.
70mm TB should be good.
 
Keep the Edelbrock upper/lower intake to match the Edelbrock heads, get a Trick Flow, Comp, or custom cam, 70-75mm throttle body, bigger MAF, 24lb injectors, a 255lph fuel pump, and youll be good to go.
 
No point to go with a 255 pump, that's way overkill for a 340 fwhp engine.
Jrichker has a post on here and it shows that just 190 LPH pump being able to support over 500 N/A HP.
 
Thx guys for the suggestions. What do you think about the Steeda 18 cam? Is that more suitable for minor upgrades? Can anyone recommend a reputable custom grind company? Thx again.
 
I'd keep the intake and go for some nice long tube headers.
Long tubes are going to help your power at every rpm, raise torque, and gain fuel economy.
An H-pipe and free flowing exhaust will round it out nicely for a street machine.
 
I wanted to have the power between 1500-to 5500 RPM Range. I was thinking of going with a gt-40 tubular intake, a Steeda 18 cam and some Edelbrock performer RPM aluminum heads, 1.6 rockers and of course a bigger throttle body(not sure what size yet) Right now I have in my possession some Edelbrock performer rpm aluminum heads and a Edelbrock performer 5.0 RPM 2 upper and lower intake. I thinking of selling the intake, from what I've read is, that intake doesn't start coming alive until the 3000-3500 rpm range and up, which is not something that would be good for street use. Anyone have any comments or suggestions???....

Keep what you have and add the following:

75mm Pro-M MAF calibrated to 24lb injectors
70mm TB (matches your upper intake opening)
Long tube headers + shorty mid-pipe
CompCams XE270HR14 cam (0.512" valve lift with 1.6 rockers)
24lb injectors
255lph fuel pump (allows room to grow if you change your mind later about adding a blower)
 
Keep what you have and add the following:

75mm Pro-M MAF calibrated to 24lb injectors
70mm TB (matches your upper intake opening)
Long tube headers + shorty mid-pipe
CompCams XE270HR14 cam (0.512" valve lift with 1.6 rockers)
24lb injectors
255lph fuel pump (allows room to grow if you change your mind later about adding a blower)

If anything use a HP gss340 pump if leaving room to grow, the standard 255 isn't always enough.
While i like the 75mm pro m, i'd use a larger one if a new one has to be purchased, probably a 95mm.
 
Maybe NA it is, but supercharged it's not even close to that.

I did the calculation as follows:

255lph fuel pump flows 67 gallons/hr.
Each gallon weighs 6.2lb so that's ~418lb/hr.
Assuming a BSFC of 0.60 from a supercharged engine and a BSFC of 0.50 from a NA engine (both conservative figures), a 255lph pump will be maxed out at a supercharged ~700hp and a NA ~835hp respectively.

The stock GT fuel pump is rated at 87lph or 23gph so it should theoretically be maxed out at ~285 crank hp, and that's the reason why a fuel pump upgrade should be considered mandatory if you're going to run anything other than a stock H/C/I 302 +/- basic bolt-ons.

The OP's proposed engine combo should be good for ~350 crank hp so the 255lph pump that I suggested still allows enough room for him to double the hp.
 
I did the calculation as follows:

255lph fuel pump flows 67 gallons/hr.
Each gallon weighs 6.2lb so that's ~418lb/hr.
Assuming a BSFC of 0.60 from a supercharged engine and a BSFC of 0.50 from a NA engine (both conservative figures), a 255lph pump will be maxed out at a supercharged ~700hp and a NA ~835hp respectively.

The stock GT fuel pump is rated at 87lph or 23gph so it should theoretically be maxed out at ~285 crank hp, and that's the reason why a fuel pump upgrade should be considered mandatory if you're going to run anything other than a stock H/C/I 302 +/- basic bolt-ons.

The OP's proposed engine combo should be good for ~350 crank hp so the 255lph pump that I suggested still allows enough room for him to double the hp.

You can do all the math you like, real world and on paper don't always align.
I assure you, supercharged you are not going to even get to 500rwhp with a standard 255.
People with superchargers should always use the gss340.
 
ive made a little over 500rwhp with a 255 and stock lines and rails, but the only reason the air/fuel ratio was safe was because i was running $11 a gallon race gas. 700 forced induction hp from a 255, thats funny. with pump gas and a power adder the most i have personally done at a safe a/f is 460rwhp. thats a far cry from 700 flywheel.
 
I've physically seen a 155lph feed 477rwhp NA.

Wait a minute. You're saying that a 155lph pump will feed 477rwhp (~550 crank hp) NA and then go on to say:

I assure you, supercharged you are not going to even get to 500rwhp with a standard 255.

700 forced induction hp from a 255, thats funny. with pump gas and a power adder the most i have personally done at a safe a/f is 460rwhp.

Er. So a 155lph pump will feed 477rwhp NA but you need a 255lph pump (65% more capacity) to feed 460rwhp supercharged? At least one of the above statements doesn't make any sense.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to get into a pissing match here; just trying to understand the logic behind your statements.