actually.....you can get about 250 hp out of the stock heads easy...any more than that requires either witchcraft or aftermarket cylinder heads. Although using the early heads bumps compression nicely and therefore gives a nice power increase, you also run into problems with pinging.
My advice (as the owner of a 5.0 powered 66 Mustang) is keep the 5.0 longblock stock, add an Edelbrock or Weiand dual plane intake, 4 barrel Holley carb (600 cfm) and make sure the exhaust is free flowing....good 1 5/8" headers and dual exhaust.
BE CERTAIN to match the distributor gear to the steel camshaft. This means buying a steel distributor gear ($40)....otherwise you will be tearing the engine apart in a couple of weeks to replace the cam and distributor. I would probably just run the stock cam since you want an automatic....good for torque. Keep it simple and you will be happy. This recipe will idle smooth, and pull hard, but best of all is cheap.
If you want more power in the future, then buy the aftermarket heads and matching cam...you will pick up 50 hp in the swap.
ooooh yeah....on the tranny, last year for carbed 5.0 Mustangs was 1985....but I'm not sure how much the computer was involved in the shifts during the early years of EFI.
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66 GT Fastback,fuel injected 5.0, 5-speed, cable clutch, JBA's and duals, 3.40 gears and handling mods...just call me "Doc"
[This message has been edited by 66fastback (edited 10-29-2001).]
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