~The Jester~I appreciate the confidence, but I have been wrong before, and I will be wrong again, haha. I just happen to rely on history to show what the 5.0 can normally do.
Well, 285rwhp with the stock intake is a bit to believe, but I suppose it's possible. If you had an aftermarket intake, no problem. That being said, the Windsor Sr. heads are good, not fantastic, but they'll probably take you to at least 85% of what the 302 can do with better heads. The camshaft is the strongest part of the 5.0HO engine, and while you can add significant horsepower by going to a more aggressive camshaft, you're not picking up 100hp in the swap if you're still naturally aspirated. The intake, followed by the heads, followed by the camshaft are the weakest major power production components in the 5.0. With a good combination, how much do you suppose the Windsor Sr.'s were holding you back? 10hp? 20hp? 30hp? That's a lot to pickup when you're already running good heads. You'll need that cam to get you another 60, and you'll need it to make that power below 6500rpm if you want a chance to run a hydraulic cam (which the vast majority of street driven 5.0 EFI cars have).
Keep in mind, 285rwhp is about 340hp at the crank, whereas 350rwhp will require about 430hp at the crank. You need to add 25% more power beyond your modifications to hit 350rwhp, and that's a HUGE target for a N/A EFI 5.0, espeically with a hydraulic camshaft.
I'm not saying it can't be done. It can, but very few streetable 302s are N/A and making that kind of power (which was a comment more directed at
1979bruiser's comments about the Edelbrock package than the topic starter.
wlingle92lx has a combination plan that is borderline (read barely, lol) streetable so he may very well pull it off. I still think his tranny is going to grenade in short order if he's able to put the power down
, but I'd be the first to cheer him on since I'm a big fan of the Borg Warner designed transmissions (especially the underdog T-5) or rather I dislike the garbage transmissions Tremec has designed. Anyway, I kinda feel like this whole thread is bouncing around a little.
Coupe50h, I haven't seen the dyno figures on the new Z06, but I was aware of the times people are quoting on them. As much as I'd like to say the little 302 could lay the smack down on the LS7, it's kinda like wheeling Brad Johnson out onto the field and asking him to outthrow Michael Vick downfield. Sure, Johnson could lob the ball up at a 45* angle and scream out "500!" but lets be honest, it's not a real fair comparison, hahaha. Side note, even with a small blower the 1996-2001 4.6L DOHC engine has no problems putting out that kind of power with a couple little mods. Forced induction is absolutely the cheapest, most reliable, and easiest way to make power. It's also the future of automotive performance. I fully expect to start seeing a lot of turbocharged 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder E85 vehicles putting out a lot of power while increasing their fuel economy by engineering higher compression ratios and boost levels. The days of the V8 rumble and torquemonstering are fading fast. Kudos to Ford, and GM for keeping the big cube American V8 legends alive for at least a while longer.
wlingle92lx, on a side note, are you using racing lifters? If not, you're seem to be planning on getting into the eschelon of rpms that the stock type lifters are unable to cope with, regardless of your valvesprings. If you haven't gone to a high rpm lifter (I'm assuming you have) you will probably have to get some or you can expect to still see valve float since you can't compress liquid, even if your valvesprings are strong
I think I'll end my babbling on this topic at this point as it's pretty much derailed like Amtrak, sorry for the thread hijack,
wlingle92lx