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Differences in 5.0 engines


superdave1984

Well-Known Member
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
1,215
Age
59
City
KY
Transmission
Manual
What is the difference between a 5.0 from a town car, mustang, crown vic or F-150? Assume they are the same year or close to it late 80's. Different cams? Heads? Electronics? Or are they all the same?
 
You got a lot of the differences nailed down. Intakes vary a lot also.
Dave
 
Trucks and "boat" cars got more torque friendly cams. H.O.s got a more aggressive camshaft. The trucks got a torque tuned intake where as the mustangs got a "H.O" intake. The heads are E6s or E7s on trucks and mustangs. Late in the game all V8s came with roller cams. All the vehicles have slightly different electronics. Trucks being tuned for torque whereas mustangs for power.
 
So the town car 5.0 is the mildest for sure. I expected that.But parts for a mustang 5.0 are interchangeable?
 
Is there much of a difference between the price of a 5.0 from a mustang and the f-150
 
So the town car 5.0 is the mildest for sure. I expected that.But parts for a mustang 5.0 are interchangeable?

I think the mildest one you mentioned would be the F-150 for HP. Very mild cam, batch fire ignition, most of them had roller blocks but no roller cam, intake too tall for most swaps. Would be a great block to build from but with the Mustang parts. Not really sure what you are looking for to build up or buy complete for a swap. Quite often (depending on buget), cheaper to buy a rebuilt Mustang short block and work from there.
Dave
 
I am looking at an 88 town car as the donor for my Ranger. Runs good so I will just drop it in as is. But later on I will want to give it more muscle. On the plus side, EPA rates the 88 town car at 17/22 MPG which is about what I get out of my 2.0 Of course the car has taller gears but also weighs a LOT more.
 
The 88 Town Car 5.0 has a roller cam (but the smallest of the production 5.0 cams) rated at 150 hp. Heads are the E6SE's, flat topped pistons with no valve reliefs. Intake is similar to the H.O intake but with a different upper (looks the same but they used a different engineering number, so there's something diffferent internally) The block, crank, rods, and roller cam hardware are the same stuff used in the HO motor. You can improve the motor's HP output by simply swapping in any of the other production roller cams, even up to an E cam. If you swap heads and cam, you'll then run into piston to valve clearance issues. The valves are deeper into the E6 heads than all other SBF heads, hence the reason the pistons didn't have valve reliefs.
 
I have a 1988 f150 with a 4 speed manual. I want to put the 302 into my ranger. Would I be able to use a 5 speed without changing my computer? Is it even a good donor vheicle for the swap?
 
non-HO engines:

crappy E6 heads, 154 firing order...injector harness and ecu matches this. hyper pistons, smaller diameter runners in intake manifold and often times 14lb injectors.

HO engines:
e7 heads, (87-91 mustang and mark VII got aluminum valve covers w/forged pistons) 137 firing order. injector harness and ecu matches this. larger diameter intake runners and 19lb injectors.

you can swap an HO cam into a non-HO motor and THEN run the HO injector harness and ecu and it will run good.

you can also get a non-ho cam to run with HO injector harness/ecu and it will idle nice but when you put it in gear until you get up to speed, it will stutter and run rich due to the ECU being Sequential Injection and half the injectors would be firing incorrectly...higher rpm doesnt matter as the pulse and engine speed even out. so you either have to swap injector plugs or swap the cam for it to run right...ask me how I know haha.

if you want a junkyard engine with forged pistons, look for the aluminum valve covers. dead give away. mainly in mark's unless you find a mustang with the engine still in it...

I usually pull the mark VII engines at my u-pull and then rip the upper half off an explorer and bolt it to the mark VII shortblock and get out the door with the best combo including throttle body for $200 hahahaha. best way as far as I'm concerned since I usually blow up 2-3 engines a year in my 88 hatch pushing 600hp. split blocks shurrr arrr puurrtyyy haha
 

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