upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

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upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

December 09, 2013, 03:00:00 PM

Hi,

This must've been covered somewhere before but I can't find it. I have a non-roller 5.0 88 LX. It's an engine with 120K miles but still runs great. Still stock with E6 heads, SO. I've acquired some used E7 heads, hydraulic lifters, HO cam, push rods, (19# injectors, A9P and HO upper intake, TB, HO MAF). Can I just replace all that and have a roller engine with 225 HP? I probably need to buy some roller rockers since the heads didn't come with them. Would it even be worth it with the amount of miles on the engine? What else would I need? Double timing chain?

Thanks

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #1 – December 09, 2013, 05:22:04 PM

If you're going to do all that you might as well rebuild the whole engine but 120,000 isnt too terrible. If its an 88 block it should be a roller block. In the lifter valley there should be 2 holes where you could mount the roller spider to hold down all the lifter dog bones.

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #2 – December 09, 2013, 06:05:09 PM

wait.. not all multiport 5.0's (SO or HO) had rollers? I thought they did, throttle body had flat tappets, and multiport had rollers.

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #3 – December 09, 2013, 06:55:23 PM

My advice: keep the cam, and injectors, sell the rest, and find a complete and running Explorer engine. Swap in the HO cam (it has more upper RPM power) and right out of the box you'll already have better heads and intake. As an aside, you can also put on a mass air conversion, and use the A9P EEC. Grab some good headers (BBK 1515's work great, especially with GT40-P heads) a good X or H pipe, and and a cat back kit from a stang, modify the mid pipes and tails to fit the longer wheelbase of the tbird/cougar, and enjoy it immensely. It will have more power and torque than a 5.0 with E7 and an HO intake, simply because the heads and intake flow better. If you add a bigger TB (65mm would work well) you'd have it pretty nice and drivable.

Some folks reported that they were getting 300 horsepower with that setup with a tune on it...who knows for sure, but for the same amount of work, it's very worth it. Going from an HO to an explorer engine in mine made it feel like it was 50 cubes bigger...

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #4 – December 09, 2013, 07:18:46 PM

ALL SEFI engines are roller, if yours isn't then it isn't the original engine...

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #5 – December 09, 2013, 08:44:21 PM

TC50, how do I tell if my engine is a roller without taking it apart? It is the original engine, but I was told that only the HO's are roller.

Thunderbird Sport 302, good advice, know anyone selling a running explorer engine like you describe? I have an catless x-pipe (need the tail pipes though) and BBK headers all ready to go (not sure if they fit 'P' headers though). I was planning on porting the E7 heads and the HO intake but I guess that doesn't get me to GT40 territory. There is a cost issue with buying the engine (of uncertain origin) $500 - $1000 and then having someone install/swap it -- another $1000.

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #6 – December 09, 2013, 08:50:16 PM

Quote from: marianadeeps;425425

TC50, how do I tell if my engine is a roller without taking it apart? It is the original engine, but I was told that only the HO's are roller.

If it's the factory engine it's a roller motor. All 86 and up passenger car 5.0s, either HO or standard, are roller motors. They all have roller cams. My 88 Thunderbird had a factory roller motor.

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #7 – December 09, 2013, 08:58:25 PM

Quote from: marianadeeps;425425

TC50, how do I tell if my engine is a roller without taking it apart? It is the original engine, but I was told that only the HO's are roller.

Then you were talking with someone who doesn't know Ford 5.0... ALL '86-'88 T-Bird/Coug & '86-'91full size models used roller cams in the Lo-Po engines... Generally in the same time period, trucks used a std cam but blocks were cast for roller lifters... Assuming you have a E6SE block(yes same as head), you can bet the bank it's roller...

If you want a sure fire method pull a pushrod & measure it, a non roller engine uses a 6.8" while the roller pushrods are a shorter 6.25", they will not interchange...

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #8 – December 09, 2013, 09:18:58 PM

So my tbi is definetly flat tappet? Am I correct in saying that they're not bad, it's just that rollers are better?

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #9 – December 10, 2013, 05:00:25 AM

Quote from: White85GS;425430

So my tbi is definetly flat tappet? Am I correct in saying that they're not bad, it's just that rollers are better?

you "might" have a roller block with flat tappet lifters, sometime mid 85 is when they started to change them over to the new "XXX" block

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #10 – December 10, 2013, 09:35:25 AM

Learned something new... thanks, guys! :D

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #11 – December 10, 2013, 10:41:06 AM

Quote from: BornInAFord;425439

Your 88 is *probably* roller-ready, but still flat tappet. HO and non-HO used the same block. There *may* be an oiling boss you have to drill/tap. The easiest way is to pull the intake to see if XXX and the spider hold-down bosses are there. Ford can be wierd in their use of old blocks laying around (see the 1968 289/302 changeover), so never say never with them...

You're WRONG, ALL SEFI 5.0 are roller, NO EXCEPTIONS...

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #12 – December 10, 2013, 02:33:52 PM

Quote from: BornInAFord;425439

Your 88 is *probably* roller-ready, but still flat tappet. HO and non-HO used the same block. There *may* be an oiling boss you have to drill/tap. The easiest way is to pull the intake to see if XXX and the spider hold-down bosses are there. Ford can be wierd in their use of old blocks laying around (see the 1968 289/302 changeover), so never say never with them...

Stop confusing the guy. If your engine looks like the one below it is a roller motor. No ifs, ands, or buts. ALL SEFI 5.0 V8s ARE ROLLER MOTORS WHETHER THEY ARE HO OR STANDARD 5.0s.

Quote from: TurboCoupe50;425440

You're WRONG, ALL SEFI 5.0 are roller, NO EXCEPTIONS...

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #13 – December 10, 2013, 03:22:44 PM

Tom and Lou know their

upgrade non-roller to roller engine?

Reply #14 – December 10, 2013, 03:31:16 PM

That pic just reminded me of something. I don't think I've ever seen a carbed or CFI 5.0 with the distributor boot.