Top end kit vs supercharger

[jayh]

I have a factory five with what i think is a basicly stock ho 5l. Looking for more push and some advice on which way to go...supercharger or top end kit, and once that is narrowed down...brand....trick flow or.... Thanks

[Dwight]

stock 5.0 would be about 225 hp.
How much horsepower do you want and what is your buget?

What year model is your motor?

Dwight

[jayh]

Dwight,

I'm looking for modest gains. Gains that will give me the reliability of the stock 302. I would like to see gains of 40 to 70hp.

As far as budget I would like to stay at around $4000.or less. (if possible)

I don't know what year the motor is, 5.0 HO is my best info. My best guess would be early 90's

thanks

[Dwight]

do you have fuel injections or carb?

Dwight

[jayh]

Dwight

it's a fuel injected 5.0 HO

thanks

[Dwight]

Most of your hp will come from aluminum heads and cam. I like the Brodix heads from Keith Craft and one of his custom Comp cams. Cost about $2000.
You will need 70-80mm mass air meter, 70-80mm throttle body, 70mm upper & lower intake, larger air filter and 24 injectors.

If you change to carb you will need a fuel pump, carb, regulator, heads, cam, air filter.

Years ago Holley and Edelbrock sold kits, head, cam, etc. just about everything you needed to make 350 hp.
I bought the Holley SysteMax II for fuel injection and it made 288 at the wheels, which would be 350 plus flywheel hp.

You need to plan you motor to maximize the hp per dollar. I know!

I have some part left over from past motor upgrades. Three different heads, three TB, three MA, three cams, rocker arms and lifters.
Now I'm running a 354 stroker with 90 mm mass air and TB. Edelbrock 80 mm upper & lower intake. A custom chip and lots of dyno time. I'm making 400 rear wheel hp.

Do a lot of research and make sure you have someone (dyno shop) that can tune you motor with all the new parts.
If you change to carb it may be easier. Don't forget you can change rear end gears to may it faster off the red light.

some of these guys and tell you more about tubos and superchargers.
Dwight

[Dwight]

50 hp with a tubo should be cheap and easy.

Dwight

[UrQ]

In my challenge car we upgraded to the Trickflow topend for the 2012 FFR series, mine was at 329rwhp at the start of the season (on new stock bottom end). So for about 3K you can add 100+ rwhp via trickflow (heads, cam, upper/lower intake, 24lb injectors, 70mm throttle body and MAF to match).

I ran all season w/o any engine issues, pushing 6K RPM most of the time.

[D-CEL]

Jayh,
You know what they say about opinions.. So here is mine LOL
70hp is no problem in either direction. It really depends on how you want get there.
But with a blower. it’s just too easy
I have had 4 Vortech’s, a 5.0, 5.4 sohc, 4.6 dohc, and the V10 with nothing but good things to say about them. When you’re not into the pedal hard, they drive like a stock motored car, smooth and quiet albeit with a little whine. But when you spin them up, the extra hp you are looking for is there. They are a great fit for a street car with street tires. Because the power gains are higher in the rev range, they are easier on the tires coming out of the hole. On top of that you don’t have to crack the motor open and no drivability issues.
Then when you want more power (that you will want soon!) it is just a pulley and tune away. And you can get there for a lot less than $4Gs if you’re thrifty like me! Here is a used one for $1500
Complete Mustang Vortech V1 supercharger Kit Rebuilt Head Unit | eBay

Boost is good!

Jason

[MadDog]

If you are looking for 40 to 70 hp then top end is the way to go .A supercharger or turbo is going to give you more like 50% more power and over shoot your goal. But remember the car guys golden rule. There is no such thing as too much HP.

[jayh]

Thanks to all that responded and offered advice. I'll post when additions and modifications are complete..

[YerDugliness]

I was wondering why not both...if you have to do it in stages, do the C/H/I swap first, then the blower will really be able to provide some extra power!

If you're thrifty and do the assembly yourself you could get by within your budget.

Cheers!

Dugly

[Lebeter]

Just do the supercharger. you can easily get into the power range to crack a stock 302 block with a basic vortech kit and gt40 iron heads and an explorer intake. so why plunk down a bunch of money on aluminum heads/intake/cam. a basic vortech kit with proper injectors and fuel supply will make 360whp properly tuned on a stock 5.0. You can expect anywhere from 280-340whp with a well selected set of heads/intake/cam. But if you go with a stroker later 347 later on you may find the 165-185cc heads you put on with your naturally aspirated 302 are now too small. Food for thought. Feel free to send me a pm, i live in the seattle area and know these 5.0HO motors well. A friend of mine has his own shop on Vashon and has a 410ci windsor with a Vortech YSI while I have a 302 with a Paxton Novi 2000, i'm sure we can get you hooked up in the right direction, been messing with sbf's for quite awhile. you basically need to tap the oil pan for the oil return line from the head unit since you are feeding it oil from your oil pressure sending post, change injectors, upgrade your fuel pump and have the ECU/MAF tuned/recalibrated and a few other things related to the PCV system if you want to do it right. Most kits come with bandaid items like booster pumps, FMU's in increase fuel pressure to use stock injectors etc etc. they can work, but if you just do it right you will be more happy in the longrun.