I decided that since it's a bit milder out (near freezing) I would take the 5.0HO apart and see what I needed for my junkyard rebuild (IE, whether I needed standard size rings, etc).
This engine came from an '87 Mustang, and was basically a "freebie" that came with my T5 swap stuff. When I had originally posted pics of it somebody mentioned that the pulley arrangement almost looked like a CFI car. That stuck in my head, and I was almost dreading taking this engine apart.
First thing I did once the engine was on the stand was grab hold of the crank pulley and move it back and forth. There are several degrees of slop, and I can actually hear the timing chain clicking inside the front cover. Timing chain is definitely worn. I then pulled & pushed on the pulley to check for thrust wear. Definitely plenty of endplay. OK, I thought - I'm rebuilding it anyway, so no big deal.
So I pop the upper intake plate off. There it is, "HO" cast into the uper intake. Off to a good start. Then the upper comes off, and there they are, tan-top injectors. OK, we've got an HO upper and tan top injectors. So far so good.
Then it was off with the heads. As soon as I pulled one off I saw what I was dreading: Flat top pistons! I flipped the head over and there was my confirmation: Instead of the E7TE I was hoping for, I saw E6SE. It got even worse: The cylinders are very worn, with a prounounced ridge. No simple hone & re-ring job here, this is gonna require boring and new pistons. Looks like I've got a bunch of s iron.
My theory: The engine is an '86, not an '87 as I was told. I can't fault the guy I got it from, as he removed it from an '87 GT he bought for parts. I figure the original owner (or some person before the guy I got it from) blew the engine, so he swapped an '86 in and reused his intakes....Either that or it's an SO engine with an HO intake on it. There were no plug wires on it so I can't verify by firing order, although I suppose I could turn the cam and watch the lifters to see which order they open in. Either way, there's no point in going any further with this engine, since it's no better than the one I've got in the car (in fact, since it's so worn, it's actually worse).
New plan: I'm gonna find a pair of E7 heads and an HO cam, and upgrade my existing 65k mile 5.0 to HO spec. I know flat top pistons will limit me to stock HO cam, but I can live with that, since rebuilding the engine I thought was an HO to stock spec was my original plan anyway.
It's probably a 86 HO engine.
Ordering aftermarket or stock replacement HO pistons not an option?
Stock forged pistons for the H.O are on Ebay for super cheap quite often.
If you were to come in my neck of the woods I'd give you the stock HO cam and the heads for free.
I'm trying to do this on the cheap, with a budget of ~$400-$500 including engine rebuild kit and headers. I had it all figured out with what I thought was the HO engine: Rings, bearings, a gasket kit, and a set of Summit headers. Pistons weren't an option before, and now that I need heads & cam too, they certainly aren't now (in fact I will be foregoing the rings & bearings, but I don't mind because I know my car's bottom end is sound).
I was just out in the garage piling this engine up in the corner and noticed that the upper intake has E7ZE stamped into it. Or something like that - I do know it says "E7". This leads me to believe that the engine is a conversion, either from a CFI engine (as the pulley arrangement would suggest) or an SO engine with an HO upgrade, since I assume an '86 HO would have an E6 manifold. I did figure out the firing order, and it is an HO cam, but from what year I don't have any idea. Anyone know how to tell an '86 HO cam from a newer one? If this is from the same '87 that intake is from it'll save me having to buy a cam.
I'll probably hang onto the short block and rebuild it proper (have it bored, buy forged pistons, and maybe even get some decent heads such as GT40 or aluminum) at a later, more financially stable date, but for now it's gonna have to be an HO upgrade for my SO.
If the motor is out of the car...it's sure easy and inexpensive enough to take the block to a machine shop and have some reliefs fly-cut into the pistons. ;)
Sure sounds like someone put a 86 block in it and used the e-7's.
I think all the ho cams are pretty close to being the same it may be hard to tell the difference. I got some spec sheats I can check but I don't think it will help.
But the motor needs boring.
Sorry Eric missed the part about the other block.that is a option.
If you were planning to stay with a ho cam you don't need to worry about fly cutting. you will even gain a little higher comp. ratio.
What a mess,i wouldn't trust that you have an HO cam thier either.
The injectors should be orange top for stock HO(i have a set of 8 that i took out of my HO) tans are stock SO.
You've got an SO that someone played around with,is it even a roller block???
If it is it's .
I have a 91 HO cam and a set of orange tops i can let ya have for 60.00cdn shipped if your interested(They came out of the 91 HO i put in my TC).
You could measure the lobe lift.
1985-1988 H.O. cams were .278" on intake and exhaust.
1986-1990 non-H.O. cams were .237" on the intake, .247" exhaust.
1989-1995 H.O. cams were also .278" lift, but the duration & lobe center was changed.
The 86 cams were supposed to have a more aggressive profile.
Thats some of the specs, I was goin to look for. It might not be a ho, someone might of changed the firing order to run.
You do got some mixed up "stuff", If you need something just ask,
Got stuff That know one wants, Can stick it on a pallet goin to ic, It's closer, I would doubt he would mine. But I did not ask.
The engine I'm using is in the car. The one I took apart is out, but it's so worn out it's not worth doing. Like I said, I will hang onto the other one and someday rebuild it proper (including a bore and new pistons)
I wish that were the case, because I'd at least be able to use the heads. This engine has E6's on it.
According to Coolcats the 19-pound injectors can be either orange or tan, while the SO injectors are light grey. I confirmed that my 88's SO has light grey (almost white) injectors on it, and the ones on the other engine are definitely tan. Strangely, I can't seem to find any mention of tan injectors doing a Google search. Time to go pull one out. As for the cam, it is the HO firing order, so I must assume it's an HO cam of some sort (or, knowing how ized this engine is, a 351 truck cam)
I might yet take you up on that offer, depending on whether I can figure out what I've got here.
The 35# injectors in the '85 and newer 2.3L Turbo's are tan.
Here is the color breakdown in the 5.0L Technical Reference book.
14# - Gray - Non-H.O.
19# - Yellowish-orange - H.O.
24# - Light Blue - '93-'95 Mustang Cobra
30# - Red - Early 2.3L Turbo
35# - Brown - Late 2.3L Turbo
Can you tell if the pistons are cast or forged?
If it's a '86 HO, it should have E6ZExxxx on the piston tops... At least mine does...
Tan or orange, one in the same 19lb(I believe they change color with heat)... The white/light gray are the 14lb, all SO 5.0, NA 2.3 and std 3.0 used these inj(no doubt a few others)...
Nope, [COLOR="Red"]
Red[/COLOR] inj are 30 lb, but were used in the '89-'93 3.8SC engine, plus are high impedance vs the low impedance 30lb [color="green"]
Green[/COLOR] inj that were used in the early Turbo Coupes(and SVOs I believe)...
The '94 & '95 SC used a 36lb dark blue high impedance injector injector, not interchangeable with the TC browns...
You are correct; the early 2.3L Turbos did have green injectors I should have realized that when I was typing it. :punchballs:
OK, back in from the garage. When I unplugged an injector it was immediately obvious they are orange. The exposed area is just faded to look tan. The plug area didn't fade like I guess the exposed area does.
As for the cam: I measured the lift using the very non-scientific method of using my digital caliper's depth rod. I rested the caliper base on a lifter, the depth rod on the dogbone, and zeroed it at 0 lift. I then turned the cam and took my highest reading, which was .24". That's pretty close to the .237 BCA quotes for a non-HO cam. Perplexed that I got the non-HO lift I checked the firing order again, by starting out with the #1 cylinder intake lifter just about to lift and then turning it, watching the order the other intake lifters lifted. I got the same numbers I got before.
I then double checked on Mitchell. That's where my mistake was. I checked the firing order for a 1987 Mustang GT. Figuring that the program would actually give me the firing order of a Mustang GT I assumed my 15426378 was a match. Nope. Mitchell shows a non-HO firing order for the '87. When I checked '89 it gave the different, and apparently HO, firing order of 13726548.
As for the pistons, I have not pulled them out. I stopped disassembling it the moment I realized it was basically the same engine I already have in the car (and given the ridges, I'd probably need a ridge reemer to get 'em out anyway). From what I can see they are perfectly flat except a very subtle dish in the center. I can't tell if they're forged or not, but given the non-HO cam and E6 heads I'd say it's a safe bet they're not.
Final verdict: I've got a non-HO 5.0 with HO intakes and injectors. Oh well, like I said, the engine was pretty much a freebie. I'm glad I decided to take it apart before installing it :hick:
Looks like I'll be needing a cam and some heads.
That's a SO piston, '86 HOs have no dish at all, perfectly flat...
Well atleast you have a spare engine to build later :hick:
The worst thing is I just three days ago sold my 351 for the money to do this thing. With the E7 heads :hick:
And to add insult to injury, THIS (http://"http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-classic-cars-Edelbrock-Performer-RPM-Alumininum-Heads-W0QQAdIdZ101392973") shows up for sale locally. A bargain, but out of my reach at the moment. Unless one of you guys wants to lend me $850 :deal: PLEASE!!! I'll be your friend!
Dam i need those heads,the rpm's would go perfect with my vortech.
My performers are a little small but still function very well.
850cdn is a killer deal for those,they'd be to much on a stock HO though,my performers would be better suited.
Tell you what you buy those and i'll trade ya LOL JK...
Still got that cam,in mint shape from a 100k HO.
I'll let you know on the cam, I'm trying to track down heads right now.
Those RPM's are nice, aren't they? I know they'd be too big for a stock 5.0, but then again, with those heads it wouldn't be stock ;) If I could afford those I could afford a 347 bottom end and a decent intake/cam :hick:
On the contrary, they'd be fine on a 5.0... Your problem would be valve clearance on the SO pistons...
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HEY Thunder Chicken i don't know if this helps you but i have extra set of E7 you can have .if you pay the shipping!