87 5.0L Mods

[Nee Nee]

I have an 87 Grand Marquis with an EFI 5.0L. It has almost 200K miles on it, and I just put a new short block, rebuild heads, P/S pump, and heater core in it. I plan on keeping the car for a while, as it has been in the family for a long time and been well taken care of. Anyway, bone stock the car had 140hp and 170ft/lbs of torque. The new block I put in is bored .040 over, and I was kind of excited that I might have a little more power, but I was disappointed. I know the stock setup has got to be very restrictive in terms of air/fuel delivery and intake/exhaust setup, compiled with the fact the whole system has high miles. I was told that the only difference between my 5.0L and the high output ones in the mustangs of that era was the MAF sensor. I found that a little hard to believe, but it made me think exactly what could transfer over? The reason for this thread is to find out if anyone knows what I could do to get some more ponies out of this land yacht? 80's fox body mustangs are plentiful at swap meets and junkyards. Does anyone know some cheap and easy bolt ons from the mustangs that will get me a little closer to some tire smoking power? Thanks in advance.

[fredjacksonsan]

You've got to let it breathe. I'd start with a performance intake, headers, and a true dual exhaust. I believe Ford made a true dual for that year, so it may be available at the parts store; I'd checked for mine, and it was $400 from the cats back for stock dual set up.

You could also go with a more aggressive cam. That year Mustangs also used a roller valvetrain, that's another addition.