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5.0 HO info?

I have read a lot of info about H.O and non H.O so?? What is the the difference from a mustang H.O and an 1997-up explorer 5.0? Also what about truck 5.0?
I know heads intakes and cams are a little different and very year to year. Only reason I am asking is I am thinking about buying a 5.0 HO for my 83 vic and swapping it in till i get enough time and money to build the original engine the way I want to and still be able to drive it for the time being. I have looked at several engines on Craig's list and eBay.
There is probably a lot of false info on the net. I know it's not for a truck but I know I will get the truth here instead of google. Thanks in advance!!
 

5.0Flareside

GingaNinja
14,463
384
La Vergne, TN
what ya wanna know?? lol..

H.O.
Crank=same as non H.O.
Rods=same
Pistons they are either forged or Hypertuetic Flat-tops depending on the year.
heads are still E7 same as non HO
intake is crap. a GT40 intake or Truck intake is a huge upgrade.

the Camshaft is a more aggressive grind.

85-88 H.O. Cam (mustang)
Duration @ .050: 210 / 210
Lift w 1.6 rocker: 0.444 / 0.444
Lobe Sep: 115

89-95 H.O. cam (mustang)
Duration @ .050: 214 / 210
Lift w 1.6 rocker: 0.444 / 0.444
lobe sep: 115



long story short, cam and Heads are the real main differences..
 
So my best bet would be stick with a mustang H.O from 89 and up. I was looking at car-parts.com I noticed a salvage yard we do business with at the shop I work at had a 99 xploder engine with about 70,000 for $650. I know that there is a lot of part swapping involved like oil pan and pickup tube along with timing cover, balancer and flexplate just to name a few. The mustang engine would be the easiest to put in there would only be a few things I would have to change. I will be running a carb on it so intake will be aftermarket. Thanks for the info nice to see actual specs. The engine that is in the car now has one of the worst hp ratings I think that I have ever seen for ford what a restrictive set up!
 

5.0Flareside

GingaNinja
14,463
384
La Vergne, TN
the ratings is cause the cam is garbage and the heads are trash..

it's what 130 hp???


a Mustang HO from any year is decent.. not a big difference..

the only downside to the 99 Explorer 5.0 is that it's gonna require the FRPP headers for the plug angle for the GT40P heads.. a few hundred bucks..

but the heads and intake on the Explorer are really good...

the cam is pretty good also..

F4ze is the part number for the cam

Int. Lift -- .422
Ext. Lift -- .448
dont know the duration @ .50 lift
but advertised total duration is
Int. Dur. -- 256
Ext. Dur. -- 266
Lobe sep 116
 
Yeah i think it was 130 hp. Like you said any thing would be better than my engine now. I had a set of heads from a 98 explorer they were gt40p heads and I sold them like a dummy. I will stick with a mustang one for sure I already have headers on the car now so I don't want to have to buy new ones. All I need is a intake, 6a ignition box, kick down cable for the aod and some way to step the fuel pressure down to about 4 psi. I have had a msd distributer for about 4 years still in the box I never used and I also have a edelbrock 600 electric coke carb I got for $45. It should be a fairly easy swap. A lot easier than it was when I swapped the 4.6 from a Lincoln town car into my 98 f150 I had to strip it down to a long block. Thanks again for the info it was very helpful I am going to keep looking for a 5.0 H.O
 

O'Rattlecan

Redneck Prognosticator
26,687
797
Belton, MO
The firing order is also different from a 5.0 to a 5.0 HO! In the later years when the 5.0 had mass air flow, it had the same HO firing order, but the earlier years were different.

Ryan
 
Thanks for pointing that out I will have to make sure that I put the right firing on when I swap it over. Mine still has the 302 non H.O. Firing order. Funny story about 5 years I had put the wires on in a clockwise direction and it wound not start and was popping back through the intake I double checked it several times still thought it was right. Then I noticed the arrow in the diagram pointing the counter clockwise rotation. I felt really stupid and the sad part was I had tuned it up once before and got it right.
 

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