Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

As far as I know, you could put the E7 heads on with the intake and leave the cam alone.  You wont see as big of gains, but it would help.  The stock 14lb injectors may be nearing their limit though, but I think should still be OK.

With all HO components other than the E7 heads you'll make approx 200-205Hp... Basically you'll have the '86 HO engine rated at 200Hp that originally used SO intake and a 58mm throttle body vs the '87 up 60mm... Or in other words, the HO cam will net you far more HP than the E7 heads...

Other than maybe a club, I can't think of anything that would be a good use tor the SO cam...

I think the Mustang engine the heads come from was rated at 225.
Are you saying I should get to around 200hp by doing just the exhaust, heads, intake and injectors? I'd find that very acceptable if that's the case.

No that's not what I said... You'll need the HO cam if you want more than probably 175/180Hp, no matter what other mods you make...

With the HO cam you need at least the computer, 19Lb inj(Ford list them as gold but all I've seen are orange or a golden caramel color), 60mm TB along with EGR spacer and headers/exhaust... The HO intake will net maybe another 4/5 Hp and the E7 approx 20Hp... Without all the mentioned parts, the E7 swapped onto a SO may give you a 10-12Hp increase...

I have to question, what makes the price "too good to pass up"? The cam and heads are the most complicated and "expensive" (new support items like gaskets, coolant, etc. to swap out so if the head upgrade could go further for just a few more dollars, I'd start there instead. Just my opinion. If the heads are ~$50 or less, then for the price, you can't lose. The head gaskets will cost as much as the heads, or more. The cam and head upgrades would work fine while you decide what/when to replace other parts, and still provide a bit more power with the stock intake and exhaust. I'm kinda curious how something of such nature would drive. It should have a bunch more lowend torque, that's for sure. i assume huge plateau of torque.

As suggested, the cam swap would really help, and it can grow well enough with future mods. The exhaust I'm not sure will do much. It will help, but the E6 heads don't really flow.

There is something to be said about the reworked heads, if they did indeed have some good stuff done to them. If the springs are tired, there still isn't much value in the heads. You'd need to dump another $100 on new springs.

From what I'm he just replaced needed valves and all seats 5K ago on the heads then upgraded and no longer needs them, he only wants $35 for the heads and $10 for the headers. He checked and he does have both the injectors and the intake, but I haven't gotten with him on price for that yet.
My biggest obstacle to doing anything isn't ability it's time. I have a family and a very demanding job, finding an hour here and there during the winter is tough, in the summer it's impossible. Finding a day to work on a car anytime will never happen and I don't want to get into a project where my engine is torn apart for weeks. Thus I don't want to do the mass air conversion or really even get into the changing the cam even though it would make sense while I had it torn down to that point.

So do you think the springs have 100k miles on them? 200k miles? Stock springs are always pretty poor for high revving motors, and after that age, they've just gotten weaker. With the stock transmission, it would likely still run fine for some time, but I'd want to know more about the springs, check the actual seating/seal, and what was done exactly with the valves and guides. The last thing you need is a head failing in 10-20k miles.
If time is an issue, I wouldn't exactly say heads are quick either (ESPECIALLY if you wanted to do it right with measurements, quench height, etc). The heads and cam change really go hand-in-hand and both take a bit of work/time. Everything else you could replace, but without the valve events from the cam to help pump the air in and out, there is only so much to be gained.
Doing a minor upgrade to the intake and exhaust will help lean out the rich mixture being commanded at wide open throttle. I think if you are looking for much beyond 180hp, you really need to upgrade the heart and lungs of the system - the cam and heads.
The stock motor isn't 165hp either. It would be 155hp new with the Y-to-Y exhaust from the factory. The car's likely making a bit less now days with other parts just simply worn out or clogged.

I'd say if you don't have the day to do a head swap, you can do the tb/upper intake, headers, and exhaust. Any deeper, I'd go full upgrade, including new timing chain, waterpump, etc.