First off I'm a newbie. I have a '93 5.0L lx. Mods are as follows; 3.55 gears, T-5 trans, 155lph fuel pump, 24# injectors, adj. fuel pressure reg., Explorer gt-40 design upper and lower intake - ported and polished, 1/2" spacer, 65mm throttle body, 75mm pro-m bullet mass air sensor, ram air hood, underdrive pulleys, pro billet distributor, 1 5/8" shorty headers, off road h pipe, and flow masters. My question is this; I need help finding a aluminum cylinder head and camshaft combo that will give me 350 - 400 hp at the crank and ...... heres the kicker - still be a daily driver with r-12 a/c and smog pump. Well maybe not smog pump? I make no power after 5k rpm according to the dyno results, so i would like to run it up tp 6k or 6.5 k rpm and still have the low rpm power. The bottom end is all stock. If I could get some suggestions that would be greatly appreciated! I know - I'm trying to have my cake and eat it too

 

If you want to make big power after 5k you need larger cc heads like AFR 185cc. They 2.02 intake valves, and if I were you I would go with the type that have the 60cc combustion chambers. With a thicker head gasket they will be pump gas friendly. As for the intake, remember the operating range you want to be in. For example the Daily driver works from idle to around 5600, now pick a manifold like the trick flow track heat to match those AFR heads, and the manifold is a 1500 to 6500 range type. You will have to do serious tuning and engine management mods to get her to behave. My recommendation for you would be the trick flow twisted wedge top and kit. Runs about $2500. You get all you need for 350 horse and 370 tq at the crank. Also see if you can find the Holley systemax 2 kit. It's discontinued but worth looking up. Both should give you what you want.

 

Ok thks. I was thinking about some edelbrock heads. The e-cnc, 2.02 valve, 59cc and 185cc runner type. They are cnc ported from the factory and I heard they will flow better than the afr's. I would like to still use my ported explorer gt-40 upper and lower intake with them. But I don't know what cam, so I don't lose too much low end power or torque and stil have a good idle.?

 

Afr 185s are much better than edelbrock heads, that's what I'm going to go with but also look into trickflows twisted wedge heads too, they are just about as good as AFRs and as for a cam, I'd suggest E303s, trickflow, or comp cams (call up either the company that makes them or late model restoration and they can help you figure out which cam to go with). As for the intake manifold, what you have is fine but if you change the heads, trickflow or edelbrock intakes will show more of an improvement than your explorer intake. Just a suggestion.

 

AFR 185s

 

I recommend trick flow. Heads and cam. 2.02 valves are a must. Don't settle for smaller valves. Dont worry about the chamber cc size that much either. The 302 compression ratio doesn't matter as much as airflow. So 60-64cc heads will all be great with 2.02 valves. Trick flow stage 1 cam is a great camshaft also.

 

All the advice you are getting about heads and cams are fine and very decent heads but in no way is going to get you 400hp sorry it maybe would be close with boost. A N/A 347 stroker could push just slightly over 400 crank hp. you can creak up to 350 crank mark which will be in the 300rwhp neighborhood plenty easy with an H,C,I 302 but the 400 north family is reserved for boost or cubes.