302 (5.0) help

[woofer700]

If i remember right, there are a couple engine guys here.
The question: I have a 1989 F150, 302 (5.0) OD trans, 3.55 gears.
I,m thinking of turning this truck into a mud drag truck, I need to know how to build HP somewhere in the 400 to 450 range, and as much torque as i can get. I will be running 33 in tires, (boggers).
I do have some rules to follow, I must run 17 lbs vacuum and stay under 368 cubis inches, with no trans brakes. they say no porting allowed, but, well you get the idea, maybe i can post the rules on here if someone wants to help or has some ideas.

 

[94f450sd]

basically you want to do what the mustang guys do.bore it,cam it,intake,cab,headers,3" exhaust,

 

[Zookie400]

no porting is allowed, however is there a rule that says what heads you must run? ford made quite a few different head designs, and certain casting numbers are much more desireable than others.

firing order should be chamnged to the 351/5.0HO if its not already. that will pick you up a few horses.

347 stroker is a very strong bottom end, i would say 10.5:1 will net you the most power while keeping it reliable, and also keep it from tearing up the rod bearings

for vacuum you can get a good cam, and put 1.7 rockers on it so it makes the duration a little longer, without killing the vaccuum.

electric water pump and underdrive pullies help

can it be fuel injected?

 

[JLDickmon]

no porting is allowed, however is there a rule that says what heads you must run? ford made quite a few different head designs, and certain casting numbers are much more desireable than others.

firing order should be chamnged to the 351/5.0HO if its not already. that will pick you up a few horses.

347 stroker is a very strong bottom end, i would say 10.5:1 will net you the most power while keeping it reliable, and also keep it from tearing up the rod bearings

for vacuum you can get a good cam, and put 1.7 rockers on it so it makes the duration a little longer, without killing the vaccuum.

electric water pump and underdrive pullies help

can it be fuel injected?

ya, you beat me to it...

anyway...

they say no PORTING allowed... how about polishing? What's their definition of porting? Just keep the hole in the casting smaller than the hole in the gasket?

I'd use a medium rise intake manifold.. tunnel rams would be out of the question as they're just not going to flow enough to fill the cylinders at the rpm those reciprocating assemblies are capable of.. don't forget to polish the runners of the intake if you think you can get away with that as well... I'd think as long as you see the roughness of the floor of the original casting, you'd be ok.. just knock down the high spots.. a LITTLE turbulence will help keep the fuel in suspension as well.. get 'em too clean and anywhere it makes a bend, it creates a low pressure area and the atomized fuel precipitates out of the air charge (WHOA... physics before coffee.. headrush..)

 

[BJS]

mass air flow conversion, roller lifters, move the intake into the cab so you're getting clean air. and as mentioned change the firing order to match the HO 5.0/351 firing order.

 

[hdjeff]

Like they said before, change to the ho firing order, the biggest problem you will have over time is the weak 2 bolt main caps. When I raced my 88 5.0 GT I used a 306 ci, 030 clean up bore, used the stock crank and rods reconditioned, changed the 2 bolt fasteners to ARP studs and it held up and made 490hp/580lbft at the rear tires with cam, heads, ported, and a 100 shot. Since you cant do any of those, I'd suggest forced induction or nitrous, but nitrous only if you use a progressive controller. The reason for this is if you slam all the N20 the block usually cant handle it and then you have 2 big ash trays. I used the progressive controller with great success, just think of it as a turbo where it builds boost, its completely changeable, you can dial it in at what ever you like. Even if you change intake, heads mild cam for vacuum, increase compression and long tubes, your still only going to be in the mid 300's hp range. Remember the factory HO mustang had 225 hp. These motors need to breathe. Now before everyone gets upset, yeah you can make bigger power but it takes more $$$$. Now if thats not an issue, go with Trickflow R intake, Trickflow Highport heads, Mass air conversion, Fuel Injection and you will definately have to have a dyno tune, the factory EEC-IV cant handle too many mods. They can put in an E-Prom chip to make it work.

 

[f100cleveland]

If you can put in a 351w I'd start there. Change to some really low gears and a high stall converter. If you have to run stock heads some Explorer heads are good or GT style. Getting the horsepower numbers you want and haveing 17inch of vaccum isn't going to come cheap. A Weiand Stealth is a good intake. I mud raced for close to 15 years and had a great time. 2 years in a row Midwests points champ in Super Stock which is about like the class you plan on competeing in but with 36 inch tires. Have fun and keep asking Questions and checking out what works for the other guys.

 

[Zookie400]

ok so, they say you must have stock heads, but can you run ford svo heads??????

if not, the heads you want will have casting numbers of C9OE, or D0OE......if i am remembering correctly. if you are allowed SVO heads, than a nice set of GT40 heads will do you VERY nicely!

my brother and i are using a VooDoo camshaft from lunati, but i havent started the engine yet so im not sure how much vac it pulls. i have heard they have much better vac/idle properties while still having an aggressive long duraton profile, time will tell.

boring the engine out as much as you can is really good for those stock heads, it unshrouds the intake valve and lets it flow better, as well as making more combustion chamber swirl.

im not sure how much power you can gain, but they make special journal bearings and spacers to allow the use of a small diameter main bearing crank, wich is supposed to be better for high rpm engines.

what do they say you can run for fuel???? if you are unrestricted i would highly recomend the stuff i run in the quads, VP's U4.2......it is awesome stuff!!! the most oxygen available (think NO2), heavily leaded, the stuff really wakes up an engine!

 

[woofer700]

ok, I think i better post the rules as they are written.
ENGINE

Gasoline only ~ No strokers allowed.
No blowers, alcohol or nitrous allowed. Specialty race fuels are allowed.
Must be factory OEM rotating assemblies including rods, pistons, crankshafts and their components.
Factory OEM ignition only.
No electric fuel pumps.
Maximum engine size, 368 cubic inches ~ No trans brakes.
No fuel injection OEM or AFTERMARKET.
Intake manifold must be OEM cast iron available for that make and year of truck, or an aluminum EDELBROK PERFORMER low rise only. NO other brand names and no other makes of EDLEBROK.
Absolutely NO PORTING of heads or intake allowed.
Carb swaps allowed, vacuum secondary ~ single pump only.
Open headers allowed, bottom exit only.
Must run a steady 17 inches of engine manifold vacuum (minimum) at 800 RPM’s for 30 seconds. No vacuum pumps or equipment that will produce vacuum.
OEM stalls (not to exceed 1800 rpm’s).
Must have fan shroud.
Must have vacuum line routed to front or side of engine bay for easy access by tech personnel.
Solid cams allowed, no roller cams, no roller rockers.
No after market heads which includes vortec, n-heads, dart, world, indy and others

 

[f100cleveland]

What racing association is that from? With rules like that all you can do is mill the heads to get more compression and get ahold of a custum cam grinder to get the most for what you are using it for. You'll lose hp. if you run race gas unless you have the compression to make it work.