Heads/Intake/cam combo

latham83

New Member
Jul 24, 2003
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I need to know whats the best combo for me..
I have a 1990 LX 5.0 with 165,000 miles on her...all stock engine but compression test came out 155 on all cylinders....
AFR 165's will bolt right on without problems right...
if i get them..which everyone says i should..what bout intake?
and do i have to get a cam? if so which one will fit
 
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if you get the pedestal mount heads, you'll be fine. The edelbrock rpm is said to bolt up really nice with the AFR heads. You dont "have" to get a cam, but to get optimum resukts from your combo, give ED Curtis a call and get a nice custom piece.
 
haha what they are expensive huh?
well where can i get em online though...
man im so confused lol
all i want is a combo thats gonna work and be easy to install and not blow up my 165,000 motor
 
Your choice of intakes will affect your torque (power) curve. Longer runners will give a broader torque curve and shorter runners will give better high rpm torque/power, normally with some sacrifice of lower rpm torque which compromises street driveability to some extent. I ported a Cobra lower for MathZ281LE who had AFR 165 heads and a Crower 15511 cam (VERY broad flat torque curve) who made peak numbers of 306RWHP and 329RWTQ.

If you'll drive mostly on the street, keep the torque curve as high and broad as possible. Cams that provide that are usaully less than 220° in duration @ .050" lift and have lobe centers of 112+°. Custom cams can be had for a little more $ and you get the experience of the cam specifier to help you out.
 
thanks man..well when u say there is a wait?
where can u get them online..im having trouble finding places..
how can u tell if you rockers are either or...im taking them off soon and they SOULD be stock..but if someone changed them i wanna know
 
well thats wha ti would need then i guess an intake with longer runners..cause i want more torque and low end..so what one should i buy? and then which heads will match it..cam? etc.
 
I would think that if I was going to put h/c/i on a 165,000 mile motor, I would at least get the engine honed, reringed and get all new bearings put in. I wouldn't trust a high mileage motor to last very long with h/c/i because your now going to be revving it higher than it's ever been revved and you don't know the condition of the existing rings and bearings in the engine. I would at least consider doing a freshening up of the engine before you install some good aftermarket parts on it. That's just what I would do though............. :shrug:
 
I dont think its worth the time an money to do that minor of a rebuild. If your going that far, you might as well rebuild the whole bottom end with the summit rebuild kit. If he should happen to spin a bearing or throw a rod, who cares.

The engine wont be revved any higher with the stock computer, unless he has a rev limiter in mind .

Stock heads are pedestal mount.

When i say there is a wait, that you means you will have to wait, because i believe that they are on back-order. Try adperformance.com or jdsperfromance.com
Almost positive that they both carry AFR's
 
nah im not taking the engine out....compression test passed with every cylinder 155...i dont feel ike doing all that work...i dont need anything thats ognna blowout 400 hp ..just a nice, powerful combo dude
 
As far as long runner intakes go, if your going to stick with stock or ported E7 heads, port the stock lower intake and use it. If your going to go GT40 or GT40P you can use a ported lower or stock Cobra or Explorer intakes. If you go Twisted Wedge or AFR, the Cobra or Explorer can be used but the lower should be ported to match the flow of the heads.
 
latham83 said:
nah im not taking the engine out....compression test passed with every cylinder 155...i dont feel ike doing all that work...i dont need anything thats ognna blowout 400 hp ..just a nice, powerful combo dude

How fast exactly do you want the car to be? What are your goals? I believe most well built AFR setups do a decent bit over 300rwhp. With a good AFR setup (supported with a good I/C + boltons and suspension) you can pull 11s. Is that what you're looking for? Or do you just wanna run 12s? 13s? If you decide you dont need to run 11s and are satisfied with a 12 second car, you can save about a grand (probably more) this way, and it'll be easier on your motor, and also you wont have to worry as much about destroying your stock tranny/rear. Hopefully some of the more knowledgable fellas will correct me if i'm a little off on any of this. Just a thought,
-Grand