I was out at the junkyard today, and I found an explorer with the 5.0, so I took the intake off of it for my bird. (I would have taken the heads too, but I ran out of time and didn't have the right tools).
Anyways, I bought the intake, fuel injectors, fuel rail, EGR, throttle body, and MAF. (I figured to get more than I need than not enough)
So... my question is: Is it worth swapping in that intake now or should I wait until I get some heads and a cam to swap in too? I really don't mind removing and installing the intake twice, as long as I can enjoy some extra power until I can afford the rest.
Then, if I did swap it now, should I keep the 14lb-hr injectors or would the computer compensate for the higher flow explorer injectors? Would I have to worry about blocking off the internal EGR passages?
Couple of very good questions, and I do not have all of the answers.
You need to run the 14#ers unless you swap the computer.
I personally see no problem with swapping the intake now. But you will not see a large power increase with stock exhaust, heads, cam and computer.although every little bit helps. I would also use the larger explorer throttle body if you have the means to modify it. If you have emissions, then you need a functioning egr. If not, I wouldn't even bother with setting it up. I honestly do not know the differance in the egr systems between the explorer and stock intakes/heads. So I am no help there.
96 and early 97 sploder intakes have internal EGR, just like what you've got now. No changes needed. 97 and newer, will require you to plumb some exhaust up from elsewhere.
Honestly, go back and get the heads, find a mustang mass-air PCM and an HO cam (the explorer cam is worthless). Do the whole job at once. I know you don't mind doing it twice, but your 14#'s aren't going to be able to keep up with that intake and while I can't say for certain, I'm willing to bet your PCM goes batshiznit trying to keep it running right. While you're in the yard, find some HO headers and a Mustang H-pipe (or Mark VII, but it's smaller than Mustang). Better to wait and end up happy than jump the gun and be unhappy.
Well, I got some HO headers and a free flowing exhaust already, so no worries there.
Heads and cam and ECU are planned upgrades, I just don't have the cash to buy them all right now. I have a friend that has a truck engine he wants to part out, so I could get E7 heads for cheap to free, but he won't be doing that until summer at the earliest.
In the end, I was more wondering if it'd be worth doing the intake swap for now, there'd be no being unhappy, just an intermediate upgrade before I'm finished. If I only gained 5hp and a massive headache from the swap, it wouldn't be worth it. But if I gained 20hp, it'd be worth the frustration until I can get the heads and cam and ECU and all the other
I would wait till you get the heads. Doing the swap now won't gain you much if any power as the heads and cam on the car won't really be able to take advantage of the extra air flow.
I had the HO headers, h-pipe and Flowmaster cat-back on my last 88 Cougar without the intake upgrade and liked the difference the exhaust made. On my newest Cougar, I went with the HO intake manifold first and and noticed a difference, but nothing crazy. I just pulled the dual exhaust setup from my old car and had it installed a couple of weeks ago. It definitely runs better with the manifold and exhaust than it did with just the exhaust. It's pretty easy to make the swap, just pay attention to which vacuum ports are used on you existing setup and do the same with the new one (I think the stock setup has one line plugged facing forward that is used with the Ho motor). You won't get 20 hp out of this, but you should definitely be able to tell you made the swap.
I guess if I get really bored over the winter, I could give it a shot, but otherwise I'll just wait until I get all the parts.
Then again, I found this posted on a different forum about a 5.0 HO
I kinda doubt it'd be that effective on a non-HO, but there seems to be quite a bit of gain just from the GT-40 style intake.
Your stock EEC WILL function fine with the Explorer intake, but as stated, do it right, the first time, with ALL the parts :)
Forget E7 heads. They're junk. I was completely and utterly unimpressed.
If you can get the GT40 heads off that Explorer, go that way. They're still not the best heads in the world, but they're better that the E7 heads in a way that's disproportionate to how the E7 heads are better than the E6 heads you've already got. 96 and early 97 had GT40 heads that won't require special headers, late 97 and on have GT40P heads which, as I hear, have better chambers but they give back the larger exhaust valve of the NON-P heads. If you already had an HO intake, the GT40 isn't going to get you much more without the matching heads and a better cam.
In short, you're running out of life, don't waste any of it on a GT40 intake swap onto a 5.0 SO without swapping better heads, cam and PCM with it.
With the GT-40 or GT40-P heads, there's plenty of difference. I have P heads on my car, big difference. Mine are ported with Trick Flow springs, but the power increase was noticeable. The P heads can be found cheaper than the GT40 heads, but they are better than the GT40's. People are scared of them due to the revised plug angle. I use BBK unequal length shorty headers with 90 degree plug boots and shorter plug on the number 7 cylinder. No issues at all.
IF you still have asthmatic SO throttle body, upgrading to the Explorer intake & TB will make a noticeable difference... Don't worry about idle problems won't be a issue, problems arise when swapping cams on speed density systems that effect vacuum...
Running the 19Lb injectors with stock ECM isn't recommended, but with free breathing exhaust and intake you may get by with it, would be a try & see...
I went back yesterday to try and get the heads too, but I was stumped by inaccessible bolts and cold weather, so I have no heads in possession yet.
But I did work out a game plan for now.
I'm going to adapt and install that Explorer intake and throttle body onto my stock E6 heads and SO cam. I know I won't get that much of a boost, but I'd rather enjoy some extra power until I can collect all the other parts, even if it means a bit more work in the future.
Also, while I'm at it, I think I'll find some 1.7 roller rockers to install too. That'll give me some extra valve lift to go with my extra intake and exhaust flow.
As far as I can research, that should let me run my 14lb injectors and stock ECU for now. Then I can enjoy the extra 20hp or so while I'm gathering the heads, gaskets, cam, timing chain, ECU and other assorted necessary parts for a head swap.
The only question left to research now is whether or not to keep the EGR. I don't have emissions, but I've heard that it really helps with gas mileage.
Be careful with the r/r's and your flat topped pistons. It *may* be ok, but I'd research first. If you ever get as far as needing HO pistons (they have valve reliefs, SO pistons do NOT) give me a holler if you can't find some. I have 3 or 4 sets of HO pistons, all for standard bore.
I've been there, feeling the impatience of starting something before all the required parts were on hand, and then having to do the same work 2 or 3 times over...wait till you have the heads, HO cam, intake, and EEC. Hell, I think I have an EEC from an '89 Mark 7, which will work with your combo. Do it once, do it right, and not have to backstep a coupla times during it all. Just my opinion :)
The people I've seen talking about it on a Grand Marquis website swore that anything under .500 lift at the valve should be fine with the SO pistons. And from the cam stats I found, 1.7 ratio rockers puts me at .420 lift on the exhaust valve vs the .395 it currently is. It should work for the HO cam too, it would increase the lift from .445 to .473. Of course, I'd be smart to double check P/V clearance when installing the new heads and cam later on.
It's a bit of a philosophy question about installing parts now or later. Do you do the extra work to enjoy a small gain, or do you wait until you can do the entire job to get the large gain all at once?
I'm more a fan of installing the parts I have even if I have to remove and reinstall them again later. Yes, it's more work, but spending time in the garage is fun, and I have a bad tendency of giving up on a project if it gets too complex or if I see no gain in a long time. Besides, with the intake and throttle body, there is a lot of work that will only need to be done once. If I install the intake first, I won't have to worry about adapting the throttle body to fit on the Fox or making the EGR work or how the throttle cables will hook up because it will be done already.
You still will have to mod the Explorer TB to work with the Tbird's throttle linkage...find an old HO Stang TB to tear apart, and do that so you don't have any downtime. You have to swap a part off of the old TB to the Explorer unit..
No worries there, I got an HO upper with the throttle body from the previous owner, and I've been doing research on how to do it.
One person said that the throttle shaft would swap right across, and other people say I'll have to grind off the cable mounting plate and put on the new one. I'll find out for myself.
Ask Jerry (daminc on the forum here), he's done it, so has Vinnie, and a buncha others.
AFAIK there is no issue installing 1.7 rockers on any stock cammed 5.0, I ran a set on a '86 5.0 Stang with E6 & flat top pistons...
If you can get lucky and find a set of Trick Flow heads those can be used on flat top pistons, I have a set on a '86 HO short block and run the stage-1 TF cam as well...
The HO intake was a direct swap for me, with no modification at all except replacing one hose on the HO intake with a plug that was on the SO intake. My HO intake sat for a few years before I installed it, and the EGR spacer gasket dried up and blew out shortly after the swap, flooding coolant into the intake. Cleaning the mating surface of the lower intake was the worst part of the swap. The whole job took about an hour the first time, and I had it down to about 45 minutes after swapping the old intake back in and then back out. With the HO intake AND headers/H-pipe/cat-back exhaust, I noticed a quicker/snappy response when stepping on the accelerator. With the stock setup, it took a while to kind of wind up and go. It definitely feels better to drive, and not just taking off from a stop. I would say that the hour or so needed to do the swap is worth it, even without the other possible mods.
I agree! This was how I started with mine.