i was wondering what it would take me to beat a stock 5.0....check my sig for my current upgrades.

 

ALOT. Its gonna take heads and cam for an L03, maybe more.

 

haha just get a 350 it'll save alot of time and money in the longrun

 

Easier said, then done...

-ONE2FLY

 

Ok starting over, I started writing a book

You might get irritated when everyone starts telling you "get a 350," but seriously, I've done the research and ran the numbers, and they say this for a good reason. I have the same car you do so i know where you're coming from. You're not going to be able to run with mustangs with the stock engine unless you swap out heads and cams. You'll probably need a bigger throttle body too. The only way to make these fast it to go all out and replace darn near everything, and thats expensive. It also requires computer tuning, since our ECMs are kinda "dumb" when it comes to compensating for modifications. By the time you do all the stuff to the L03 to make lots of power, you've spent just as much as putting in a decent 350 would have cost. The cheapest way to make some real power would be ditch the EFI entirely and put on a 4bbl, and under than some new heads and cam. Tune the carb and you're good to go. But at this point, you've invested enough $$ you might as well have done it to a 350 and got much more out of it, and you've lost the benefits of EFI.

I'm not bashing the LO3 totally. It has its uses. It'll run for freakin ever, not use much gas, and make its power at really low, usable RPMs. But if you really want to go fast, its not the ticket.

I know people are going to argue with me, but my mind's made up.

 

It's actually pretty easy. You can pick up a cheap 350 TPI with low miles on it in alot of cases for anywhere from $450-950 give or take a little. Swap it yourself for free or have someone else do it for around $500 and you've got a 350. Easier said then done? I think not. About a year ago a friend of mine that had a 305 TBI in his RS decided it was time for a 350. He picked up the motor with 68k miles on it from a local bone yard with everything needed for $650. I helped him swap the motors and it only took us and another guy one weekend to do it all. If you have the time and can find the right deals it's not too hard at all.

 

OK my last post got a little off topic I have a way of doing that. You can beat/run with mustangs with a 305, but like the guys said, it'll still take a lot of upgrades. I'd say Lt1 cam, 3.73 posi, TBI intake, aftermarket or custom chip, and start increasing fuel pressure. That should help quite a bit!

Cobra: The TPI thing was an idea i was tossing around for a while. I kinda got away from the idea because honestly it looked like a real -b word- to change all that stuff, all the wiring and sensors, fuel lines/pump, throttle cabling, etc. How bad was it really? I change my mind about every 2 weeks what I want to do (keep/sell, carb, tune chips, TPI, 350, T5 swap, all kinds of things). Do you think it, in the end, was worth all the effort? Or would just starting over with a car that had the top of the line powertrain in the first place be a better starting point? What I basically want is a RELIABLE car that can go about a 14.0 and get decent milage and handle well. I'm sure a TPI 350 with a mild cam upgrade and good exhaust, mabye some other little things, could do this for me. Comments?

 

I'd have to say overall it wasn't that bad the other two guys did most of the work since I didn't know too much at the time(I go to school for it now however) I think for what he wanted it for it was completely worth it. He wanted a car that had some power but still had decent fuel mileage. Since the swap all he's done is full exhaust,a cam and a couple Air intake upgrades. I personally think myself that starting out with a solid vehicle that has a good powertrain in the best way to go. If you're looking for a driveable car that can pull a 14 flat or slightly better and still be reliable I'd have to say just get a TPI 350 thirdgen. I've had very little problems with my IROC(knock on wood). Anything that ever went wrong with it was usually because the car is old and things needed to be replaced(battery/alternator/tires) those are really the extent of "repairs" on the car beside from doing a tune up and regular maintenance. I say overall it's a great car and has a great drivetrain. My former car was an 87 SC with the 305 carb and that car was one of the most reliable cars i've ever had but it lacked the power of the IROC.

 

I think that (if you're on a budget, you might as well stop reading here) the easiest and best way to make decent power and still get gas mileage is just to buy a newer engine. LT1 is not bad. LS1 gives you 350fwhp and 30+mpg on the highway (my dad's 98 Z-28 got 32 highway mpg). The LS6 ($$$$) will give you way over 400 fwhp and still give you 26 mpg on the highway (as per my dad's Z06). Just for the record, I am 18. However, I don't drive the new stuff so I'm giving you first-hand data from the nearest source.

 

Hey now, is everyone forgetting the 305 5-speed with dual cats? Those are pretty fast, theres one at my local track with 123,000 miles onit (ex-state car) and it runs a 14.04 with K&N's and a Cat -Back, Given the topic was TBI vs _ _ _ the 305 Dual cat was still one hell of a 305. After all my TBI Formula 5-speed ran a best of 14.9 in it's day.

 

hmm well....if i was to drop a ZZ4 crate motor in my car what kinda numbers would i have?....see i HAVE to have the car everyday to get back and forth from school and work so i cant have much downtime...i really dont wanna go carb for the fact its not all that reliable id rather get a holley TBI unit or something...i was hoping this summer to have the money for a zz4 crate motor swap...how will the 7004r hold up behind a zz4?

 

The 700r4 should hold up fine behind the zz4 motor. But instead of getting a holley TBI if you want to keep a FI system I'd go with something like a miniram or something similar. I think it would give much better performance.

 

The quickest/cheapest way is to spray it, but with the L03 and a 150 shot that might get you a little bit faster than a stock 5.0 Stang. $300 - $500 and a little bit of your time, and you can turn 16 second car into a mid to high 14 car. Gears would help a lot to.

Sparks a flyin'

 

i know a lot about tbi and i can honestly say that you can beat up on a lot of street stangs very easily with a 305 tbi. it does take more work than if you were using a 350, but it is not necessary to change to tpi or spend a ton of money on parts that wont help a 350 or can't just swap over to a 350 later.
1. posi w/ 3.73 gears
2. 14x3 flat base open element air cleaner
3. full exhaust(headers, y-pipe, 3inch cat, 3inch cat back)
4. ultimate tbi mods(look in hte tech articles)
5. ALDL torque convertor lock up(look in the tech articles)
6. shift the car your self at 5000rpm
7. edelbrock performer tbi intake
8. stock LT1 cam and new valve springs(you can find these cams used for $20-30 on a lot of the 4th gen boards) if you do the cam you will want to shift at about 5600rpm
9. torque convertor from a 4-cyl s-10(will stall around 2400-2600 behind a V8) and a shift kit
10. rear control arm relocator brackets(see the spohn link at the top of the page)
11. boxed stock rear control arms
12. decent tires
13. custom chip(there are a bunch of guys on the tbi board that woudl burn you a chip for really cheap)

these mods will get you way into the 13's which is plenty to smack aroudn most mustangs. add a good set of heads(yes, 2.02/1.60 valves will clear on a 305. i use them on my car) and you will be a threat to run low 13's or even high 12's. and all this is possible with out having to abuse your motor with the part time power of nitrous

later
tim

 

I say you Just go to a nearest junk yard and get a used corvette motor-lets say( $750 is what if been looking at for a couple of last year L98's with less than 60K on them ) complete motor and have it rebuilt with a couple of upgrades and that price range could be alot or a little depends on how much you can do your self. Migh be costly but youll have a very fast dependable motor that will last for a long time- Than Just Get some 3:55"s or 3:73's and make sure you tranny can hang ( Im assuming you have a 700R4 with a shift kit wich shopuld be fine ) and you should well into 13"s and hang with mustangs just fine.

 

i am sorry bigmike, but i can't see any real reason to go plunk down all that cash and motor swap trouble just to run, maybe, a few tenths faster than you can go on the tbi for a lot less $$$$$. most street level mustangs are only 14sec cars anyway, maybe high 13's. you are talkign about a process that would cost more than $1000 more than just moddding the existing 305 only to get the same mid 13sec result.

later
tim

 

well im sure you could but you no once you get to 14's than you want 13's than 12's and so on and so on so eventually you probally go that route any way- Jus t the way I would do it

 

id say a 300 shot should give you the edge you'd need

 

that is very true. believe me i have had my car for 7years and i am working on a 12sec N/A 305 TBI combo.
the thing i i always liked about workign with the motor that is in the car is that parts swap over. take the LT1 cam out of the 305 when you build your 350 and you will add about 25hp to an other wise stock TPI motor. same thign applies to a good set of gears and a posi or a well assembled exhaust adn a good tranny/convertor combo. as long as you select parts with thought you can always just move them over. sometimes you end up in a situation liek me, i have been beatign the crap outof my motor for all this time adn it ain't dead yet. but at the bergining of everyseason i say "if it dies this year i am buildign the 350 turbo motor". 107k on the clock and it ain't missed a beat yet.

later
tim