Getting 89-93 5.0 soon need mod advice

[Drewbe510]

Hello All sometime in afew days i will be getting a 89-93 5.0 auto. I will have about 6k to spend on mods after selling my current car and paying bills buying the car. Coming from owning an ls1 vette I am not familiar with the 302. I kind of need an idea on what works well so im not waisting money.My goal is to have a fun street car that I can take to the track every now and then. As far as power goes im looking for around 300-350whp It also must be smog legal power as I live in Cali. Here are some things i wanted to do first.

1. suspension kit ( maybe beefed up torque boxes as well if current ones look really worn
2. Torque converter,tranny cooler and Gears (not sure which combo is best for street car)
3. upgraded brakes/ better tires

After that I was looking to do engine mods. Some of this stuff ill buy new but if I can get a deal on used parts so be it. IF any one has any suggestions please reply

[badbrad]

shop the classifieds here and get more for your money. %% my .02, get some good struts, NO monroe and no kyb. get some good ones, like Koni, better yet go for coilovers. I wish i had done that--would have saved some bucks

[Michael Yount]

Sounds like you're serious about handling - add a decent set of weld-in subframe connectors. You've got to stiffen the uni-body to allow any reasonable suspension mods to work well. 300-350 rwhp though the auto while CA smog legal AND do all the brake/suspension work you want to do all for $6k will, I think, be a challenge. Of course, you could always put a used LS1 in it....

[Drewbe510]

Originally Posted by Michael Yount

Sounds like you're serious about handling - add a decent set of weld-in subframe connectors. You've got to stiffen the uni-body to allow any reasonable suspension mods to work well. 300-350 rwhp though the auto while CA smog legal AND do all the brake/suspension work you want to do all for $6k will, I think, be a challenge. Of course, you could always put a used LS1 in it....

It isnt so much handling that I want. I want the car to be able to put down the power to the ground without being all over the place too much. I said suspension because Im still somewhat of a noob and cant think of the right parts that allow the car to do that

[8950HO]

Is there no chance of getting a 89-93 5 speed manual?
The auto's in these cars are kind of lame and slower than a 5spd stock vs stock.

[mustangguy87]

If I did another fox EFI car I would do this-

suspension-
94/95 UPR K member kit- steel C/C plates
94/95 spindles with cobra brakes and 17" 95R's
rear control arms- MM lower- stock uppers with new OEM bushings
MM coil overs front and rear with adjustable Bilstein struts/shocks
Eibach front and rear sway bars
rear Cobra brakes

rear axle-
3.55 gears- Carbon fiber Tlok clutches
full CHE brace
94/95 rear axles

Chassis-
MM or UPR full length SFC's
drive shaft loop

motor-
Trickflow street heat TW top end kit w/ st.1 cam on the running 5.0 short block
under drives, electric fan, 94/95 5.0 3G alt, and an aluminum rad
Summit long tubes, with 2.5" summit X pipe (w/ high flow cats for Cali), Dynomax cat back
poly mounts

trans-
lentech built AOD trans w/ manual VB- stall convert matched to engine setup
aluminum DS
Hurst automatic shifter
poly mount

body-
if GT I'd make a 93 Cobra clone
if LX I'd leave it

[rpmmustang89]

6k
Add a exlplorer intake with the 65mm TB to the stock long block
good used single turbo set up or S trim
some real valvesprings
fuel system and tune
Some sticky tires who needs suspension lol
Find a good used tremec 3550 set up
explorer 31 spline diff and some aftermarket 31 spline axles

Dollar for dollar hard to beat a turbo set up on a stock longblock impressive 350-400 rwhp on stock parts.