Engine plan- would love your thoughts!

[jamesd]

Hey guys!
So, I am planning to wake up the engine a little as it's kinda slow stock. But, it's a DD and I just wanna keep it simple (for now).
I've done a ton of research and would love to hear your thoughts on what I'm doing wrong or could do differently as I want to do my best to do it once and just enjoy it.
1994 Vert, 5 speed. Currently stock engine.

The plan
-keep the stock bottom end
-SVE 170cc aluminum heads
-1.7 roller rockers (does that mean I can keep the stock valve covers?)
-double roller timing chain?
-keep the stock cam as I've read it's not bad?
-can I keep the stock pushrods and lifters or do I need to replace those?
-ported GT40 intake (from a 1996 explorer)
-stock 65mm TB or should I get a 70mm?
-stock MAF or should I go to 24lb injectors and upgrade the maf too?
-shorty headers
-currently has h pipe and muffler delete
-CAI
-after all this I do need a tune correct? Or because I'm keeping the stock cam I wouldn't?

Like I said I just want a little more power, nothing too crazy.
Is this a good plan or should I not and just go BIG later on?

Thank you for your help!!!

 

[96blak54]

You could swap out a few of the mentioned upgrades, like explorer intake manifold, headers, CAI with not much engine or tune differences.

 

[joemomma]

If it's your daily, then be prepared for it to be down for a few days with the install. There's a couple schools of thought on the 5.0 - either boost it or top end kit (heads/cam/intake). Both will get you in similar power territory (assuming you can find a used blower). Neither will be cheap.
Pretty sure the rockers will not clear factory valve covers. You can get the Cobra rockers (best I remember they are Crane 1.6) and valve covers if you can find them.
You would need to measure for pushrod length if changing rockers. It's cheap and easy, and good insurance.
Replace the lifters and do the timing chain while you're in there that far.
Properly ported Explorer intakes flow plenty. The 65MM TB is fine, and so are the 19# injectors/MAF. Keeping the stock cam, you probably won't need a tune with any of the other mentioned parts (unless you go boost or HCI).
Budget an additional 10% or so for miscellaneous stuff (gaskets, sealant, random tools, etc.).

 

[shovel]

You can put 1.72 rockers under the stock valve covers if you're willing to do forbidden shaving tricks.

 

[96blak54]

Is that all that is needed to clear stock valve covers?....that aint crap. That amount of material loss wouldnt affect function or reliability.

 

[95opal]

Id throw a set of 3.55 gears in it and go from there. You may be satisfied with just a gear swap. What you have listed is a lot of work for minimal gain

 

[joe65]

Id throw a set of 3.55 gears in it and go from there. You may be satisfied with just a gear swap. What you have listed is a lot of work for minimal gain

Yeah good for the 5.0. our Ranger 5.0 had 3:73's and its just a little much. lots of spinning. lol


Trick flow heads? cam and intake. That would wake it up a bit.

 

[shovel]

Is that all that is needed to clear stock valve covers?....that aint crap. That amount of material loss wouldnt affect function or reliability.

just the top four corners, I thought nothing of doing it. The rockers don't hit on the "flats" they just barely scrape the corners. Here (circled) is the witness from before I clearanced the rocker butts. I had considered carving a die out of wood and hammering a clearance into the cover instead of clearancing the rockers but I was worried that might warp the gasket surface and leak - couldn't think of any reason not to grind the corner of four rockers.

 

[96blak54]

Hey thats some good investigative problem solving. And all this time I thought the clearance issues were from short covers and needed tall clearances. Good to know! Thank you

 

[jamesd]

Thanks for all the info guys!!!
Kinda stuck now if it's a lot of work and I'm not going to notice much- going to think it through and do some more research!

 

[shovel]

Currently stock engine.

The plan
-keep the stock bottom end
-SVE 170cc aluminum heads
-1.7 roller rockers (does that mean I can keep the stock valve covers?)
-double roller timing chain?
-keep the stock cam as I've read it's not bad?
-can I keep the stock pushrods and lifters or do I need to replace those?
-ported GT40 intake (from a 1996 explorer)
-stock 65mm TB or should I get a 70mm?
-stock MAF or should I go to 24lb injectors and upgrade the maf too?
-shorty headers
-currently has h pipe and muffler delete
-CAI
-after all this I do need a tune correct? Or because I'm keeping the stock cam I wouldn't?

Like I said I just want a little more power, nothing too crazy.
Is this a good plan or should I not and just go BIG later on?

-keep the stock bottom end if you're an adult about fluid maintenance and drive with any sympathy at all you can run a stock bottom end NA forever.

-SVE 170cc aluminum heads a lot of work for "a little more power" - there's 300hp NA builds on E7 heads. remember when you swap heads you also want new pushrods (length might change, springs might be higher rate..) and you're gonna stretch out the tune enough you might as well go aftermarket ECU and then you're going to need widebands and injectors and...

-1.7 roller rockers (does that mean I can keep the stock valve covers?) - I'm real happy with 1.72 pedestal rockers on e7 heads and a stock cam. I already own SVO X heads that I'll install some day but kinda not in a hurry to do the work since the motor feels good already, in fact I'm almost more excited for the weight loss of the aluminum heads than I am about any increase in power.

-double roller timing chain? - well yeah on an old engine replace the timing assembly if your timing's not steady. If the car's had good maintenance and isn't high miles and you don't get creepy timing then there's no problem to fix here.

-keep the stock cam as I've read it's not bad? - a cam would be a lot of work for "a little more power" what do you mean by "a little" ? the wild thing is 90% of the time when I see someone talking about a cam they don't even care about driveability or power all they want is to go bub-ka-cha-bub-bub-ka-cha in their instagram idle videos.

-can I keep the stock pushrods and lifters or do I need to replace those? - you can keep them if you don't replace the heads or cam.

-ported GT40 intake (from a 1996 explorer) - this is going to make the biggest difference. I don't know the fitment nuances on Explorer intakes, I got a regular Cobra intake when those were still cheap

-stock 65mm TB or should I get a 70mm? - if you're keeping stock heads and stock MAF there's not going to be any appreciable benefit to changing TB, you'll just give up resolution off-idle without gaining anything at the top, maybe like single digit hp at absolute peak where you won't notice it on the street.

-stock MAF or should I go to 24lb injectors and upgrade the maf too? - no need to fool with this on "a little more power" - you're a few steps down the road by the time you can make good injector choices and by then, ditch the MAF entirely.

-shorty headers - you won't get much from this while close to stock but it's a pretty painless install so yeah, why not.

-currently has h pipe and muffler delete - not my bag.. the OE four cat assembly is like 34 pounds so you've saved weight at least but loud and smelly ain't for me. anyway performance wise that's fine, no real difference vs. performance cats/mufflers.

-CAI - biggest waste of money since war.

-after all this I do need a tune correct? Or because I'm keeping the stock cam I wouldn't? - you kinda need a tune just on account of replacing the intake manifold. it would be a real good idea to lock yourself into a plan right now because if you're going to play the horsepower treadmill game then you should put a modern ECU (ms3 or holley) in the budget right up front. stretching the stock computer's legs made sense 10-20+ years ago because there weren't any other options. with ms3 you can ditch the MAF and accommodate basically any pokemod you catch at any time into the future - but there are frustrations on that learning curve too.

 

[96blak54]

Ill help with perspectives

Grab a wheel barrel full of money, dump it into the car. Now compare the horsepower potential to the new mustang gt's. It is quit amazing with all the technology pouring into these newer engines. Old iron horsepower dont come close.

In my suggestion, save the money, keep your car clean, looking good and roll with it. Or youll be like me and my mustang......dormant.

 

[RAU03MACH]

or you could go 351 engine swap there are plenty of parts
more power

 

[jamesd]

Much more info to process- thanks guys!

 

[jamesd]

-keep the stock bottom end if you're an adult about fluid maintenance and drive with any sympathy at all you can run a stock bottom end NA forever.

-SVE 170cc aluminum heads a lot of work for "a little more power" - there's 300hp NA builds on E7 heads. remember when you swap heads you also want new pushrods (length might change, springs might be higher rate..) and you're gonna stretch out the tune enough you might as well go aftermarket ECU and then you're going to need widebands and injectors and...

-1.7 roller rockers (does that mean I can keep the stock valve covers?) - I'm real happy with 1.72 pedestal rockers on e7 heads and a stock cam. I already own SVO X heads that I'll install some day but kinda not in a hurry to do the work since the motor feels good already, in fact I'm almost more excited for the weight loss of the aluminum heads than I am about any increase in power.

-double roller timing chain? - well yeah on an old engine replace the timing assembly if your timing's not steady. If the car's had good maintenance and isn't high miles and you don't get creepy timing then there's no problem to fix here.

-keep the stock cam as I've read it's not bad? - a cam would be a lot of work for "a little more power" what do you mean by "a little" ? the wild thing is 90% of the time when I see someone talking about a cam they don't even care about driveability or power all they want is to go bub-ka-cha-bub-bub-ka-cha in their instagram idle videos.

-can I keep the stock pushrods and lifters or do I need to replace those? - you can keep them if you don't replace the heads or cam.

-ported GT40 intake (from a 1996 explorer) - this is going to make the biggest difference. I don't know the fitment nuances on Explorer intakes, I got a regular Cobra intake when those were still cheap

-stock 65mm TB or should I get a 70mm? - if you're keeping stock heads and stock MAF there's not going to be any appreciable benefit to changing TB, you'll just give up resolution off-idle without gaining anything at the top, maybe like single digit hp at absolute peak where you won't notice it on the street.

-stock MAF or should I go to 24lb injectors and upgrade the maf too? - no need to fool with this on "a little more power" - you're a few steps down the road by the time you can make good injector choices and by then, ditch the MAF entirely.

-shorty headers - you won't get much from this while close to stock but it's a pretty painless install so yeah, why not.

-currently has h pipe and muffler delete - not my bag.. the OE four cat assembly is like 34 pounds so you've saved weight at least but loud and smelly ain't for me. anyway performance wise that's fine, no real difference vs. performance cats/mufflers.

-CAI - biggest waste of money since war.

-after all this I do need a tune correct? Or because I'm keeping the stock cam I wouldn't? - you kinda need a tune just on account of replacing the intake manifold. it would be a real good idea to lock yourself into a plan right now because if you're going to play the horsepower treadmill game then you should put a modern ECU (ms3 or holley) in the budget right up front. stretching the stock computer's legs made sense 10-20+ years ago because there weren't any other options. with ms3 you can ditch the MAF and accommodate basically any pokemod you catch at any time into the future - but there are frustrations on that learning curve too.

Thanks for doing this- it's much appreciated!!