Absolute sleeper 1986 intake setup

[erratic50]

I've read articles in the past that talk about using an aftermarket lower intake with a ported stock upper as a way to make an absolute sleeper.

I know these days a lot of guys buy 96 Explorer intakes, port the lower, and call it good. With a 5.0HO badge it's not terribly obvious but I'd like to track down the early days methods that were once used that are much harder to identify.

It seems to me back in the early days guys were porting stock lowers then cross drilling between runners to further encourage flow and cause a shorter perceived runner length too in order to eek out a little horsepower and a bit more RPM.

later attempts ground down the runner divider so it couldn't seal each port from the other then ground the dividers to a razor edge on certain aftermarket intakes

Also opening the inlet and spacer up to 65 or even 70 MM and adding a bigger throttle body.

I think the main manifold used was a Holley System Max. There may have been others too. Just trying to dig up this old info so I can capture it for reference purposes when I finally get back around to playing with making stock appearing fast.

[FoxFords&FFR's]

If you havent researched everything that TMoss has put out then start there. He has done lots of testing and porting on factory intakes with great results. A few of the ideas include cutting the intake apart and porting inside. You can shorten the runners from the plenum side and this effectively moves your powerband up like the box intakes. You can spend lots of time making all the runners larger but it will only flow as much as the lower intake which has bigger problems than the upper. #1 and #5 have dog legs that are a killer for airflow. To gain the most you would have to weld the knees of those runners to get the straightest shot and to balance the flow with the other runners. You could hide the weld by grinding it to a uniform shape and then sandblasting it with some rough sand. Same goes for the upper after welding it back together. Smooth it all out and some sandblasting and it would be tough to tell it was cut. You could probably take 2" out of the upper. Theres a lot of info out there, here is a link for TMoss's max effort stock casting.... Hope this helps!

Mike

http://eectuning.org/forums/download/file.php?id=3338

[cb84capri]

It just seems like a lot of work to me when you can pick up a GT40 setup off of an Explorer fairly cheaply and put the early plaque on it. If you have all the time in the world, like being covered in aluminum shards, and the scream of a die grinder in your ears then go for it, but the reality of it is that most people will not realize the GT40 intake is in place with the early plaque.

Cale

[gmatt]

Extrude honing was the way to go back in the day, before there were so many manifolds available from the aftermarket. Still the way to go I guess, if you're trying to maintain a factory appearance. http://www.extrudehoneafm.com/servic...n-torrance-ca/

[srad2drag]

I had a extrude hone factory intake with some ported gt40 heads. I managed to get 295 rwhp out of the set up. Added a ported explorer and picked up 20 more hp. The stock intake is a waste considering the explorer will make more power and still look reasonably stock.

[homer302]

Holy cow! You seriously only changed the intake and got 20RWHP over an already ported stock 5.0 HO intake? WOW. That is HUGE.

[Droog]

Back in the day, guys did all kinds of crazy **** because tuning with a "dry" intake was new and nobody really knew how to do it. You can tell by looking at the earliest aftermarket intakes for 5.0's; some looked close to stock, others looked like something out of Dr. Suess. The cut, ported and re-welded stocker was a popular budget option. Ron Anderson (Rick's brother) used to sell them exchange out of the backs of the Mustang mags back in the late-80's early 90's. I've actually got a mint RAP HO intake sitting on the shelf out in the garage. The first aftermarket intake for a 5.0 was the old Trick Flow truck intake. And I recall seeing my first sheetmetal upper in person, a really butchered up homebuilt piece, probably around 91 or 92.


Here's a short article I wrote on intakes sometime back: http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...=9990440430324

And never mind all the blurbs about Mopar cross rams. Some creative editing took place between the time I submitted it and the time it got published.

[erratic50]

Fox fords & FFRs - I've seen pictures and dyno sheets from Tom's work. Good stuff - starting with junk parts and ending up with considerably more power.

The info he's published on converting Explorer throttle bodies was great. The details on porting the GT40 lowers is among the best out there. He also details the problems with trying to run high RPM with the Explorer upper due to runner length, and has done many examples of short runner surgery.

I had the opportunity to pick a short upper with ported lower up a few years ago but elected to sell off my explorer setup and get a Typhoon for both performance and cost reasons.

I am mining info for is my son's 86 rag top. He has said he would like to get into high 11's - even an 11.99 - with a completely stock appearing and sounding engine and no power adders. Stock appearing g right down to an infamous stock appearing 5.0 HO upper. That's quite a challenge - way harder than what I'm trying to do with mine where I said damn the looks I want power.

His perspective is set it up so you can open the electronic dumps, roll on drag radials, launch it, row the gears, and run the numbers.

Tom did a lot of research on making power and turning R's with a stock HO cam. Hotrodder modded roller lifters with stock cam and 4 degrees of cam retard and 1.7:1 rockers support a lot more power than those who spend a lot of money on a cam would expect. 400 at the crank is about the limit but adequate if it's put to the ground efficiently.

Add aftermarket aluminum heads which are body worked and textured to appear like painted cast, get everything out of the intake setup possible. Go to MAF and larger injectors to support the power level. Ultimately make the minimum necessary power to run the number, then put it to the ground and make it to hook and book.

[erratic50]

Cale - yes it's a lot more work than a GT40.

2rad2drag - I forgot about extrude. a very good way to go on the uppers as 110 CFM front and rear cyl was the norm and over 200 is required to efficiently spin a SBF past 6000. Especially if it's a stroker with aftermarket heads hiding under rolled on texture black paint.

Homer302 - really?! Sorry but we can do this without the bashing of others who contribute, right? Speaking of that, please give us your contribution.

Droog - agreed. Thanks for the article.

[FoxFords&FFR's]

You could always plumb a little nitrous on the bottom side of the intake that you wouldnt see and run deep into the 11's. A guy local to me had a 347 with cast iron GT40 heads and a Vortech S-trim that ran low 10's. Looked fairly stock, he didnt clean the grease and oil off anything and it was in a scrappy looking coupe. Was a great street race car, he won lots of races with it. You can grind the markings off of GT40s and it would be tough to tell they werent T heads. The old Motorsport headers turn the same color as stock headers after a while and they are tough to spot at a quick glance. Good Luck with the combo, I am sure you will achieve your goal.

Mike

[homer302]

Cale - yes it's a lot more work than a GT40.

Homer302 - really?! Sorry but we can do this without the bashing of others who contribute, right? Speaking of that, please give us your contribution.

Droog - agreed. Thanks for the article.

Just now saw this. Who was bashing? 20 HP IS Huge, wouldn't you say? If a car manufacturer, ANY car manufacturer could get 20 HP by just changing such a relatively low investment part, they would consider that a win. The new Coyote 5.0 has been out 7 years and Ford has only found 25 or so HP in that 7 years. I wish I could find a bolt on 20HP on mine. I am not sure what you mean by bashing? In fact, apparently the person who posted the comment that I replied to (NOT you) didn't think it was bashing, so actually, why are you commenting to me at all?
We already have plenty of forum moderators and last I looked....

[BaconB8]

You'll save yourself lots of time beginning with a Systemax 1 lower intake. The stock intake is a total must for this to fool anyone. Explorer intakes are a dead giveaway. Ideally, you need a stock sounding cam so nobody even asks to pop the hood.

One of my 85's has a stock cam with good heads and a Edelbrock Performer EGR carb manifold. The whole thing looks and sounds stock with the hood popped. The only clue is the sound a motor with more compression vs. a stock 5.0 has when it kicks off. If you hadn't heard this before, you'd probably be fooled.

I have a similar goal with an 88 coupe. Already have the Systemax lower. Bought it on this forum!

[erratic50]

Homer302 - sorry. It was not the way I took it the first time I read it. Sorta like the car insurance commercial where the kids gets a new car and the dude gets his car stripped. They both said the same thing but it had very different meanings.

Back in the early days of the HO 5.0 it was awesome being able to remove the silencer and crank the timing and get an instant upgrade of about 10% with a bunch more torque too.

Anyway - please accept my apology. I'm certain if you read your post again you will see the scenario I just mentioned.

Not intending to moderate, just defensive of my thread I guess. ��

[erratic50]

BaconB8 - sounds like a fun project. Yea - ported upper with system max lower with markings gone and things painted up should do well.

Stock cam with 1.7:1 should do the business with good heads, throttle body, headers, etc. 11's would be hilarious.

Hey - maybe rear mount turbos only there when the tailpipes are capped and the exhaust is ran out cutouts.

[Haystack]

Id like to see the rear mount turbo piping appear stock under the hood.

Id just throw a truck intake at it and brag about how much power they make. They actually flow pretty good, but most people would just think you were dumb for doing it.

[erratic50]

Under the car is where it should be extremely obvious. The main problem other than that is sneaking the pressurized line into the fender well where it can join up with a "cold air kit".

Havent played with truck intakes or even seen any articles on them. Might be interesting.

[BaconB8]

My plan is a well hidden nitrous kit.

Consider the differences in an 86 fuel rail vs. a 87 and later. Think Schrader valve location.....

[erratic50]

Ok - now I'm curious..... How do the 87-93 rails look?

[BaconB8]

On the 86 only fuel rail, the Schrader valve fuel pressure port is up by the regulator and not down by the front cylinder head. The fuel pressure safety switch goes there on a base kit. Its easier to hide this switch when using the 86 fuel rail. I always look for the switch on EFI cars. It's normally down by the head.

[Droog]

Under the car is where it should be extremely obvious. The main problem other than that is sneaking the pressurized line into the fender well where it can join up with a "cold air kit".

Havent played with truck intakes or even seen any articles on them. Might be interesting.

Seems like most of the early hot rod intakes were truck-based. Besides the handful of Trick Flows, there were quite a few cars running around back then with one-off intakes based on heavily modded truck pieces.