Buying new 5.0, setup recommendations??

[69Rcode_Mach1]

Hey guys I am finally in the market for the 5.0 performance. My friend is thinking of buying a 1990 5.0 LX with auto tranny from his dad or looking for a manual GTo for around $1500 Which would you guys go with? I am a classic mustang guy but love the 5.0's and am looking forward to building it with him so i can someday convince my brother to get one. I need helps with some setups and pricing. We plan on getting the spintech side exhaust kit for his car. But I have no idea what way is best and cheapest for a 5.0. (We are high school students and are on limited budgets, and I am currently building my 1969 Mach 1) What kind of rear end did the 5.0's come with will it be able to withstand 400fwhp? What needs to be beefed up to handle the power? And should we go Supercharger or naturally aspirated?? I think it would be cool to have it supercharged since it is new to me and I have never done it? What would I need to do and what do you guys recommend?

 

[FLA5.0]

Welcome to the forums! To start with, if you have the choice and the condition of the two cars is comparable, I would go with the standard shift. I have an AOD and have wished on more than one occasion that I had a five-speed.

Second, 400 rwhp is an awesome goal, unfortunately however, it is also a very expensive one and on a high-school students income, probably a very long-term one. Therefore, plan on doing it in steps. If it were me, I'd start with rear gears, cold air induction, performance exhaust, maybe throttle body and MAF upgrade and so on...
But that's just me...you'll probably get a dozen different suggestions...take it all aboard and keep working toward your final goal! Good luck...and remember to sift through the forums, I've learned a bunch of stuff just sitting here in the evenings and reading.

 

[69Rcode_Mach1]

We're trying to get 400 flywheel horsepower. 400rwhp is insane for a highschooler budget(I know cause Im trying to build my mach). I have only worked on carbed cars so I don't know all the essentials with a fuel injected engine. Like what an upgraded throttle body does etc... Talk to me as if I were a child. He is making an account on here today and hopefull he'll chime in.

 

[dvs bullet]

It's the same as a carb but it just has electronic componants a rather than mechanical. the best thing to do is pick up some magazines and stay connected to a resource like this, you'll pick it up fast. a carb manages your fuel, but in FI everything is broken down to specific functions but it's the same result. Welcome to the the forum, and I'm a little bias

5spd gt is my choice

 

[69Rcode_Mach1]

I am biased towards the 5 spd also, I like manual better as does my friend and it lays more power to the wheels. We asked because I wanted to know if the auto tranny is tough enough to handle the power or if the 5 spd is or isn't thats all. Where should we start? I suggested some longtube headers and probably the spintech side exhaust. After that what?? Also give me the price ranges I can expect for the parts. We want to put in the cheaper stuff in first if we can so that my friend has something to play with until we do the bigger stuff. Also supercharged or naturally aspirated which would be cheaper?? Would we have to forge the internals for a supercharger on this car??

 

[69Rcode_Mach1]

What is the difference between the gt and the LX?? Also do these cars come with 8.8" rears or 8"?

 

[super302]

The LX vs. GT is all in appearance, not performance. Gt's have a "body kit", fog lights and most have pw, pl, pm.....LX's usually don't have all the pw, pl, pm, etc. They came with the 8.8 inch. A supercharger would be alot less in my opinion, but can be really expensive.

 

[super302]

Def. go with a 5speed, way better in my opinion.

 

[timewarped1972]

i just recently became a member of this forum as well. very used to the carb stuff and am learning my way through the efi stuff. it seems intimidating at first but you do catch on quick......its pretty simple really its just a matter of matching things more carefully so that your mods stay in line with the computer and doe'snt make it wig out.
the lx and gt are similar, the gt has the lower fender flares and or ground effects, and the gt comes with more standard stuff like power windows and all that fun stuff. their usually a couple hundred punds heavier due to the extra stuff, but worth it in my opinion if you want something comfy to cruise in.
all the late modle 5.0's have the 8.8 rear.
most people would prefer the stick shift, although i would'nt pass up a real nice low mile auto as you can build the aod in it or swap for a 5 speed. there's alot of guys in here who did that, swapped to a 5 speed so thats one nice thing it's always an option. good luck.............

 

[69Rcode_Mach1]

Okay well then we'll probably be looking for a 5 speed then. What will the throttle body cost me and what is MAF(and the price)?? Also what kind of horsepower gains could I expect from that?? Remember talk to me as if I were a child.

 

[z9_87]

i know you mentioned that you were going to get a 90 but just make sure u get the 89 or newer with the mass air computer system instead of speed density. I dont know how much money you have but I would go h/c/i and then see if you could pick up a bigger throttle body off ebay real cheap. problem i dont like about the whole k&n, throttle body, mass air, ect. is those things give you very very little power, unless you have a motor that needs that kind of airflow.

 

[87'GTstang]

i know you mentioned that you were going to get a 90 but just make sure u get the 89 or newer with the mass air computer system instead of speed density. I dont know how much money you have but I would go h/c/i and then see if you could pick up a bigger throttle body off ebay real cheap. problem i dont like about the whole k&n, throttle body, mass air, ect. is those things give you very very little power, unless you have a motor that needs that kind of airflow.

There are many ways to swing an older efi 5.0 to MAF also though. Z9-87, the MAF upgrade and the TB are long term as this will be a log-term project. It's all exponential and as the mods add up, the upgrades to those two things will show greater and greater results.

Although it's expensive, the absolute biggest power gainer is a good set of high-flowing heads. They are on average good for between 75-150 hp (depending on application and setup).