i just got a 95 5.0 H.O. how much more power do these put out over a stock 79 302 ? whats the difference between these and a normal 5.0 is it just the timing order? Can i still bolt on the intake i have right now on it? i was wondering if the headers that come on the mustangs will fit in between the shock towers of the maverick?
According to ford (and a google search) the factory rated horsepower for a 95 5.0 HO is 215 horsepower. This is with the SEFI and the MAF sensor and all of the other factory goodies like the roller cam..ect In comparison the 1979 mustang with a 2bbl carb has a factory rating of 140 horsepower. If I remember correctly the horsepower rating for your car will be very similar to the 140 horsepower if not a little less (I know my 72 is). The HO is a roller motor from Ford (roller cam) and it has alot of upgrades over the older motor if you are going to build one it would be better in my opinion (and alot of other peoples as well) to use the roller block. You can put an older intake and timing cover on it without any mods and you can run an aftermarket distributor, you can run the stock duraspark you have on the motor but the only thing you have to watch out for is that you run a steel gear on your old distributor to run the roller cam. I believe a few of the guys here just went to Autozone and got a distributor for a 84-85 stang and put it in. It already has the steel gear and it is a direct plug in.
Firing order is different. '82 and up 5.0(H.O.) changed from regular 302's using a marine style camshaft-hydraulic and flat tappet, with the firing order from the 351W engines. Starting in '85 they spruced it up more with tubular headers(shorties) and roller camshaft (some documents say a few '84 5.0 Mustangs got the roller cam) as well as true dual exhaust. 4V carb that had reappeared in '83 went away at the end of '85-replaced by speed density EFI, and later Mass Air EFI systems. Flywheel and harmonic balancers are different too. Check/ask around about that for your particular application. Whatever you want to do has been done many times before. Good luck. Seth
The block is identical, on the outside, to a 302. Same headers, heads, intake, etc will fit. But the crank is balanced differently and you will need 50 oz imbalanced flexwheel and harmonic balancer (go for aftermarket, and not O'Reilly replacement, read recent thread about my experiences with that). All the bolt holes are the same, so all your stuff from your 302 will bolt right on over. I just did this with an non-roller block converted to a roller cam setup. About the only thing I needed to do to make it fit the mav was to plug the oil dipstick hole and use the hole in my old timing cover. HOs are roller which will free up a bit of power due to less friction. Mine feels like a 2 stroke dirtbike, and actually has a "powerband". When I hit 4500 rpms, it really wake up. Below 4500, it doesn't feel too much different, just a little more power. I think my cam and intake are rated for power in the 4000-6500 range, making it wake up in this range.
Forged piston use ended in 1993 in all tha H.O.'s. While the basic parts are somewhat interchangeable, they're completely different parts used between a 79 and a 95. Look at the casting numbers on your 79. If it's a D8VE block, you've got a winner. This block is thicker and heavy like the Mex blocks, but lacks the thicker main caps. The D8VE block outweighs the 95 block by ten pounds.
