found them both at diff yards, same price. is one better than the other? i did a search, and everyone said the explorer 5.0 was good, but nothing about the F150.

r their any identifing marks or brackets to be sure im getting what they claim it to be?

also, what r the hp/tq #'s fro the 302 versus a stroked 347?

thx

I think at that point in time, ford trucks were still speed density efi, while the 90 stang is mass air. if this is true, go for the mustang , hands down

MUSTANG! The truck 5.0 is weaker and the fuel injection isn't as good.

thx. is that a good yr mustang, if not what is the best yr?

88 california(89 federal thru 93 mustangs are basically all the same. 94 and 95 were a tad different, but not enouf=gh to be concerned with(other than the fooked shift timing retard feature). The explorer 5.0's are nice. Very similar to the stang, but with better heads and intake manifold(VERY close to the 93 Cobra motor minus the cam).
Phil

Originally posted by tradin1
thx. is that a good yr mustang, if not what is the best yr?

The best year for the mustang motors were '89 to '92 as most '88's were speed density not mass air and the pistons were swithched from forged to cast in '93.

Alright heres the scoop. The Mustang motor will have forged pistons (1985 to 1992) and will have a hydraulic roller cam. I have no idea what is stuffed inside that F150 truck motor.. more than likely (matter of fact.. positively) it will have hypereutectic pistons and possibly a flat tappet hydraulic in it.

The aftermarket for the 302 has gone from nothing back in the mid 80's to nothing short of insane with the success of the Fox body Mustang. If you went with the Mustang motor and harness, you would have a huge amount of aftermarket at your fingertips for anything and everything having to do with the wiring harness, electronics.. ect ect..

This should really be a no-brainer unless there are other factors involved. As for the Explorer motors.. heres the scoop on those. SOME Explorers came with a close (close, but not exact) version of the FMS Cobra upper and lower intake. And although its not an exact Cobra intake casting, it will sure as hell outflow the F150 or the stock Mustang intake any day of the week. The heads on these specific motors are FMS GT40 'P' castings. They are a revised (still iron) version of the old (but good) GT40 heads that Ford released for its small blocks back in the mid 80's. Once again, this head will outflow (and make more HP/TQ) than the heads found on the F150 or the Mustang motor. The only real problem with these is that they take a 'P' specific header because the exhaust port is shaped a tiny bit different than a standard 302. If you find one of these.. make sure you get the stock exhaust manifolds as well.

Moral of the story.. take the mustang motor.. unless you can find an Explorer with the motor I just discussed.. and then get the electronics out of the Mustang to run it.

Thank you drive through.

The truck motor's intake sits a lot higher than the mustangs which can cause clearance problems with the hood. Atleast it did on a buddy of mine Bronco II. I can't think of any reason the truck motor would be better. Stick with the 89 - 92 mustangs and you'll be fine.

The truck motor has 2 throttle bodies which stick up further and longer intake runners which produce more low end torque. Aside from that they are pretty much the same. The mustang is Mass Air and lower profile which makes for a much nicer install in most cases. Jake

wouldnt the longer runners and lower torque be better, no arguing, just dont want to have any doughts. i will be rockcrawlin mainly.

Where does that altenator sit on them. are they both up high? Just wondering, as that would be a consideration of mine. Then again my wheeling is like a submarine adventure.

Back when pro stock drag cars went from 4 to 5 speeds, I heard an engine builder make the comment about HP vs torque debate.....what was best and where, and his answer was make as much HP any way you can and then figure out a way to use it.

I think the same thing goes for us. Find a light weight, powerful engine and then gear the snot out of the truck. You don't have to have an engine that will lug down to 500 rpm or have 500 ft lbs of torque if you have 250:1 gearing!!!

You can get the torque multiplication from the gearing...you CAN'T get horsepower from the gearing. It takes horsepower to have wheelspeed. Buy or build something with enough HP for your application and gear accordingly.

very good point flipper. i love this board.

The 5.0 Mustang engine makes more HP and more torque.
The truck engine actaully has a taller plennum that is better suited to make HP. The long oval runners of the 5.0 HO engine is better suited to torque than to HP. If you talk with the gearheads from Ford Racing they will often comment that they screwed up by not using the 5.0 HO for the truck engines.
If you look at any of the way fast drag cars running Mustang engines, they usually go to a bread box style plennum(tall, straight, downward flow,..like the truck engine) to get the high rev HP they need.
The 5.0 HO from a mustang is actually a very strong HP and torque engine, and beats the truck motor in both areas in its stock configuration, and is much easier to performance modify.
There is no up side to the truck engine.

Personaly I use a Ford Racing B303 cam, some 5.0 cobra parts, a few bolt on upgrades, and some minor bench modifications, and I can idle down to 500 rpms under heavy load, and mash the pedal to 2700 rpms in a bout a secon without side stepping the clutch.
It is an excelent rock crawling engine, it runs cool, maintains great oil pressure at low rpms, is very reliable and super responsive. Ive even made, more than a few believers of the Blue Oval, out of die hard Bow Tie fans who have seen the engine in action at competitions.
I was dyno'd at the track in Vegas at 275hp and 320ftlbs, at the rear wheels.

Go with the Mustang mill, and never look back, its an awsome engine.

what mods would u recomend. especially to b able to idle so low.

what about stroking it, what is the hp/tq then?

i have a 383 TPI now, but am seriously thinkning of selling my jeep and doing a buggy. I love the 383, i just idle up everything.

i understand that i will have significantly less hp/tq with the 5.0, but u gotta LOVE that exhaust!

what is the wieght diff between the 2, 350/383, and the 302/347? i am hoping 50-75lbs less with the 5.0.

Originally posted by Flipper
Back when pro stock drag cars went from 4 to 5 speeds, I heard an engine builder make the comment about HP vs torque debate.....what was best and where, and his answer was make as much HP any way you can and then figure out a way to use it.

I think the same thing goes for us. Find a light weight, powerful engine and then gear the snot out of the truck. You don't have to have an engine that will lug down to 500 rpm or have 500 ft lbs of torque if you have 250:1 gearing!!!

You can get the torque multiplication from the gearing...you CAN'T get horsepower from the gearing. It takes horsepower to have wheelspeed. Buy or build something with enough HP for your application and gear accordingly.


For Rock Crawling that argument is not completely apllicable.
If you are running an automatic then its a pretty good argument, but if you are running a manual, you dont always have the luxury of being able to shift gears between the slow "high torque" approach to a tall obstacle, the "hp" wheel spin break away, and then the "mid range" momentum climb. having an engine with enough torque to slowly climb a 30" rock just in front of a steep climb, in 3rd gear low at 500 rpms, gives you the ability to mash the peddal and maintain speed right afterwards without shifting gears and losing momentum.
In any case, the 5.0 HO does have the ability to do this, if set up properly.

so u r recomending an auto?

what engine mods can b dond to the 5.0 to make it more manual friendly if i go that route?

Originally posted by tradin1
what mods would u recomend. especially to b able to idle so low.

what about stroking it, what is the hp/tq then?

i have a 383 TPI now, but am seriously thinkning of selling my jeep and doing a buggy. I love the 383, i just idle up everything.

i understand that i will have significantly less hp/tq with the 5.0, but u gotta LOVE that exhaust!

what is the wieght diff between the 2, 350/383, and the 302/347? i am hoping 50-75lbs less with the 5.0.


Buy a "5.0" Magazine at the grocery store. Even though they are just as much of an advertising rag as any other magazine it will give you access to many good modification books written by guys who know much more about setting up an engine than I do.
You will be pleasantly surprised that you are way underestimating how much power and torque you can get out of a 5.0 Mill, and you will not be giving up much power to your Stroked SBC(you will still be able to easily idle over anything you currently can).
If you do the same amount of work to the Ford engine, as to the stroked SBC, the performance will be very close.
There are some shops in texas that are getting 1100 hp and running in the 6's with the 5.0.
In any case I do not personaly believe in putting a bunch of money into building an engine that is gonna be used for rock crawling. I spend way to much time running the egine upside down and super steep angles with no oil pressure to want to worry about blowing up a $1000 in shop work. I like the idea of going down to my local junk yard and pulling a $700 engine with 80k to 90k out of Lincoln Mark VII, spending about 4 hours on the bench , and swapping it into my Jeep in a weekend.
The torque and HP numbers of the 5.0 HO is more than adequate for any rock crawler, with just a minimal amount of work.
The 5.0 is said to weigh just under 400 lbs (dry). They really arent very heavy as far as V8's go.

PS. as an added bonus, my Jeep will also cruise up to Lake Tahoe on the highway with 38.50 SX tires, and pull nearly any car on the road in the passing lanes.

Good luck

Originally posted by tradin1
so u r recomending an auto?



For Rock Crawling, its pretty hard to win the "Manual" is better than a "Slush box" argument. Autos and Rock Crawling are just so well suited to each other.

As fars as how to set up a 5.0 to be very good with a manual, my set up works very well (read my previous posts).

those are valid points as far as simplicity goes.

thx