Couple of exhaust and carb upgrade questions
 

My stang has headers, (not sure what brand, they were on the car), aftermarket cam and lifters, (again not sure what brand), Holley stealth intake, with Holley 750cfm carb, mr gasket carb spacer, and 3.73s in the rear end. The duel exhaust is shot, so I think that I am going to buy a set of patriot side dump exhaust pipes, (does anyone have them on a fox body, I would love to see pics). Would side dumps be any good on a 5.0? My next question is, in the future I would like to get a new carb, (I was thinking maybe a Barry Grant demon carb). The reason being this is, I think a 750 is a little big for a 302, what would a good size be? Should I have a choke or not? What does the numbers mean on carbs, i.e. 650, 550,exc. is it the smaller the number, the more bottom end, the bigger the number, more top end? Any suggestions for a good carb, (it is going to be my daily driver, I want there to be a good balance between fuel mileage and power, (more power than anything). Last question, I want a different cam sometime down the road, something that really brings the beast out in a 302, any suggestions? I was thinking an edelbrock performer, 1500-6500rpm, since my Holley stealth manifold helps from idle-7000, supposedly. Is this a good setup, let me know what you guys think, thanks.

The #'s for a carb designate the airflow rating of the carb in Cubic feet per minute. A 600 is good for a mild 302 and a 650 works well on a modded motor. I'd get a better flowing set of heads before swapping the cam as the heads are the biggest bottleneck.

What kind of heads do you reccomend for me? Trick Flow?Edelbrock? Others? I want to show all my big block chevy friends (350's,383's,etc.) what small block Ford power is all about.

Almost all the aftermarket heads are excellent pieces and people have gotten excellent results out of all of them. I'd suggest finding someone with each type of head you're considering and see how their car is running. Also, you'll have to decide how extreme you want to go in terms of streetability.

I want something that hauls major ass, but is still reliable, and descent on gas. Somewhere down the road, I plan on getting heads, maybe a 6 speed tremec (maybe not, I'll have to find out how they do), and a nice supercharger (Definately!). I guess I am looking to get about 400-500 hp outta the car within the next few years,I know I am never going to sell it.

I was just reading about gt-40 heads being on stock explorers, which years do I check, and how will I know that they are gt40 heads,(by checking a junk yard).

For the ultimate, get afr 165's, 185's for a little less bottom end kick and room to expand into a supercharger. Everyone says the gt-40p's from the explorers are a pain to get plugs into so they dont hit the headers. Plug goes straight out and not at an angle. I shall post my reflections on this as I go to mount my gt-40p's using standard mac headers in a week or two.

I run the holley street avenger 670 vacuum secondary and it is the perfect size for a mild modded motor. I thought the 570 I had before was perfect for a totally stock motor but left no room to expand. I had an issue where the engine wouldnt run at all if the choke wasnt open all the way so I got pissed and ripped it out. Starts fine even in mid winter chokeless with a little pump of the gaspedal to start it and you babysit it with some light throttle blipping for 5-10 seconds. After that, you're all set. If you set it to run lean, it will heat up fast enough so that cold running is not an issue.

For exhaust, I warmly recommend a bassani x-pipe and american thunder. Side dumps dump the exhuast right under your window. In stop and go, you'll be sucking it all in. Think of it that way. Plus I dont think the sidepipe look really fits the mustang's sleek rounded bodystyle. The look works better on the more angular f-bodies.

Just my thoughts...

Have fun!