Bone stock '94/clean slate

bc1025 · Jul 4, 2023

Hi, new to the SN95 community. I've had several Fox bodies and just bought a low mileage SN95 (my first). I wanted an un-molested 5.0 and got lucky with this '94 70k one owner Convertible. I've read through many topics but haven't pin-pointed what I want to do.

Any and all help is appreciated...My goal is a nice performing GT that will run in the lower 13's. I'm guessing I will need to have at least 300-350 hp build.

My question is what path you recommend I take. My car is AOD with 2.73 GEARS

So far, this is what I've done...
BBK cold air
BBK 75mm Mass air
BBK 75mm throttle body

Planned
3.73 gears
shorty headers
catless X-pipe

At this point, this is where your help is needed.

Thank you in advance for your input.

BC

Wmac · Jul 5, 2023

Welcome to the site.

Staying NA or planning a power adder?
Low 13's with an Sn95 vert and aode won't come easy, think big heads, intake, cam, converter, etc to get there. Maybe 331 or 347?
And a very good tune.

Daryl · Jul 5, 2023

You may have to lean to one side or the other between “a nice performer” and “the 13’s”. I suppose it can be done, but Wmac pretty much nailed it: stroke the motor; 3.73 gears for NA; or go 3.55 for supercharged.
FWIW, I’m a 347 stroker with 3.55 gears. When I contacted Vortec about a SC, their kits are for 5.0’s. They said they’d have to refer me to a specialist shop that could set up the right combination to make it work with my platform. I scrapped that idea! $$$$ Plenty of power for ma as is!

Daryl · Jul 5, 2023

Scat rotating assembly + AFR 165 heads + Comp Cam. Intake essentially same as yours.

bc1025 · Jul 5, 2023

Thanks everyone. Keep the advice coming. I’m looking at your suggestions.
Bill

cobrajeff96 · Jul 5, 2023

While on the other hand, I molest my Mustang every chance I get.

ttocs · Jul 6, 2023

welcome to the group. There are not many virgin cars left out there these days. don't forget the suspension upgrades especially if everything is still stock.

duh09 · Jul 6, 2023

What's the budget? How in depth do you want to go? This car is nothing more than a little bit more refined Fox, so everything you know in the Fox world is going to transfer over. The main differences are you're already 5 lug and the CCRM controlling fans and the fuel pump. ECU is a bit different, little more sensitive to mods.

If you're shooting for 300-350whp you've really got about two solid options - a well thought out H/C/I or slap a blower on. Well or something like a Coyote swap, but I'm going to assume we are being reasonable pushrod fans.

A basic Vortech kit on a otherwise stock motor with supporting mods should get you close to your power goals without a lot of fuss. I'd probably go a bit more in depth on fuel system work over the boost-a-pumps that the systems come with, but that's just me. The booster's have worked well enough for years.

A Trickflow 11R / Custom Cam / Systemax H/C/I combo on a SBE should get you very well within your power goals, even going through the AOD. There are again, plenty of other options, but that seems to be the current "best" power setup I've seen for a SBE N/A car.

Whichever direction you go, count on needing tune. A Microsquirt PnP would probably be the best bang for your buck, all the way up to some of the Holley setups. There are other options too, but a lot of the "tried and true" OG ways of doing things are pretty dated in 2023. Some will argue about that, but drive-ability and tuning capabilities are way better with stuff that doesn't depend on a 30+ year old design ECU.

I've got no information for an AOD, as I've only ever played with manual cars, but I'm sure someone else can give some more info there.

Chassis wise, subframe connectors need to be pretty high on the list. There are a handful of good options, topping out at the Stiffler's system, but anything you can do to stiffen up that wet noodle vert will help get the power down. Check out Maximum Motorsports for suspension parts. There are plenty of people copying their designs, but there's a treasure trove of information there on planning how far you want to go suspension wise. Springs, shocks, caster/camber plates, and lower rear control arms are a good place to get started, but going through and making sure the bushings and other wear items are taken care of should be pretty important too.

bc1025 · Jul 7, 2023

I knew you all would be helpful. Pretty much everything suggested I have also thought about.

The tuning aspect is concerning because I haven’t had much luck finding solutions or the right people that still do it.

By the way, performance budget is about 5k. The rest of my budget will go towards paint and body. Car looks fantastic but will eventually need it.

Thanks again everyone.

Bill

joemomma · Jul 7, 2023

For $5k, I'd probably just throw some boost at it. That'll get you a complete Vortec kit.

duh09 · Jul 7, 2023

bc1025 said:
I knew you all would be helpful. Pretty much everything suggested I have also thought about.

The tuning aspect is concerning because I haven’t had much luck finding solutions or the right people that still do it.

By the way, performance budget is about 5k. The rest of my budget will go towards paint and body. Car looks fantastic but will eventually need it.

Thanks again everyone.

Bill

Find a reputable remote tuner.

Microsquirt/Megasquirt is the cheaper intial buy-in but has a little less support after the fact - it's a much more DIY intended unit and there are a TON of resources. Holley is becoming pretty standard and any up to date tuner should be able to work on it.

I had Steven, who used to be a member on here, but I don't remember his username, do all the tune work on my car after the Microsquirt install and he's 12 hours away. He remoted into my laptop and we spent a few hours over a couple weeks tinkering with it, but we were also starting out with a corrupted start file and a plethora of mechanical issues on my end. He's gearing up to do more tune work, but I don't know if he's ready to start doing remote work legit quite yet. But I can say, he has a good base 5.0 tune now lol.

You'll need to find someone like Steven that is patient and will hang on remoted in and on the phone with you to really get it dialed in, but a base file and some datalogs and emailing back and forth can work too, it's just a little more time consuming. Either way, remote tuning is a very viable option if you've got someone willing to do it and the skill to understand what's going on enough to know which way to adjust the idle screw and such lol.