performance parts w/o digging into the short block

[over2tonsofFun]

I am wondering what performance mods can be done to the lo-po 5.0 in the panther, without going into the short block. Not including a cam swap. I mean without doing the pistons, rods, crank.

Heads, intake, exhaust, rockers, throttle body, ???? etc.

let's post so others may learn and upgrade there panthers.

Tim

[87_crown_vic]

exhaust consists of BBK shorty headers connected to you choice of "X" or "H" pipe, than however you wanna run them according to laws in your state...there is a thread on this.

Intake consists of getting a H.O. upper intake, 1997 Exploder upper and lower intake, or going to ebay and searching for a "5.0 typhoon" intake setup.

Throttle Body you would want a HO setup that has been MODIFIED for a panther.

heads would consist of E7s, GT40s or some from thumper of orange park located in Florida.

not sure what else, but i am sure others will correct me if i am wrong and add what else can be done

[gadget73]

Well, if you are open to a cam swap (I wasn't entirely sure by reading the question), the classic HO conversion works great. stock HO heads, HO cam, HO intake. Nice power gain, no issues at all with a stock shortblock


gears are a good idea, stock ones suck. Probably the best bang-for-buck mod available

exhaust helps a lot, the setup Jim mentioned above is pretty solid, but you can use whatever headers you want. If its got stock heads, honestly the boring old stock HO headers are probably a better choice. The primaries are smaller, and a closer match to the existing exhaust port size. This should be second after gears.

replacing the stock upper with an HO upper and HO throttle body would be next after exhaust


underdrive pullies won't hurt, though as of yet I don't think anyone has done this on a lopo motor. Well, there is one installed, but the car hasn't been run yet so the results of this are as of yet unknown.

1.7 roller rockers will give you a little more lift, and should be good for some more power. I noticed a slightly wider power band when I installed mine.

Without getting into the motor, thats probably about the limit of what you can do with it. The stock cam is crap, the stock heads are crap. Getting any serious kind of power is going to require upgrading both. The HO cam might not be the wildest thing on the planet, but its worlds better than whats in there now, and with good heads, intake, and exhaust it will perform quite well. The tall factory gears along with the low stall converter also aren't helping anything. The stock trans and converter is OK for mild stuff, but those gears really need to go.

a lot of this can be found here as well: http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?t=3147

[mrltd]

They're


Have you read my FAQ? That has all kinds of info on getting a bunch of power out of a lopo, and HO swap stuff.

[87_crown_vic]

fogot to mention if you do the cam, to get a computer/brainbox out of a mark 7 with HO and i think upgrade to 19 pound injectors. check mrltd's post he was talking about, i am only going from what i can remember right off

[1987cp]

The stock cam is crap, the stock heads are crap.

Actually, do you know if anyone has the actual specs for the stock lowpo cam? Tossing in some guesstimated specs (.380/.380 lift, 190/196 duration on 111 degree lobe center), it looks at a glance like it should be good for maybe 220hp @4000 and upwards of 340 lb-ft from 3000 on down with a four-barrel and semi-decent heads and exhaust. Retarding the cam looks on paper like it can make nearly 250hp at maybe 4200rpm, still right where we would need it with a stock tranny governor. I'm getting tempted to try it for real .........

[gadget73]

Actually, do you know if anyone has the actual specs for the stock lowpo cam? Tossing in some guesstimated specs (.380/.380 lift, 190/196 duration on 111 degree lobe center), it looks at a glance like it should be good for maybe 220hp @4000 and upwards of 340 lb-ft from 3000 on down with a four-barrel and semi-decent heads and exhaust. Retarding the cam looks on paper like it can make nearly 250hp at maybe 4200rpm, still right where we would need it with a stock tranny governor. I'm getting tempted to try it for real .........

GM/CV/92-93 Truck Cam: Lift at the cam .237/.244 Duration 244/256

is all I can find on it right now. multiply the lift figures by 1.6 to get your actual valve lift. No idea what the LSA figures are.

[1987cp]

Interesting, interesting. So I stuck those numbers in, assuming the same LDA and intake centerline as an HO cam (116/118 per my data). With a four-barrel, E7 heads, and nonrestrictive exhaust, Desktop Dyno is predicting nearly 250hp@4000-4500 rpm and upwards of 360 lb-ft below 2500 rpm. Numbers improve greatly with better heads (see attached).

[Nathan in MI]

Where did you get teh BHP flow files? Nato wants!

[1987cp]

Where did you get teh BHP flow files? Nato wants!

Here: http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...highlight=flow

[85MercPark]

Interesting, interesting. So I stuck those numbers in, assuming the same LDA and intake centerline as an HO cam (116/118 per my data). With a four-barrel, E7 heads, and nonrestrictive exhaust, Desktop Dyno is predicting nearly 250hp@4000-4500 rpm and upwards of 360 lb-ft below 2500 rpm. Numbers improve greatly with better heads (see attached).

Any way to see how those mods would work with a CFI unit?

[Mercracer]

Actually, do you know if anyone has the actual specs for the stock lowpo cam? Tossing in some guesstimated specs (.380/.380 lift, 190/196 duration on 111 degree lobe center), it looks at a glance like it should be good for maybe 220hp @4000 and upwards of 340 lb-ft from 3000 on down with a four-barrel and semi-decent heads and exhaust. Retarding the cam looks on paper like it can make nearly 250hp at maybe 4200rpm, still right where we would need it with a stock tranny governor. I'm getting tempted to try it for real .........

It's a Trap!...................... Step away from the desktop dyno......

[Pirate]

It's a Trap!...................... Step away from the desktop dyno......

Yeah, seriously. I am vaguely recalling a few '900HP' small block 302's I built when screwing around with my latest desktop dyno software...lol.

[Mercracer]

Any way to see how those mods would work with a CFI unit?

They would work excellent as long as you are talking about a Holley Pro Jection unit and not your factory CFI....
Lipstick on a pig comes to mind when discussing a factory CFI and performance bolt ons.....

[85MercPark]

Yea, I know, was just curious...