Has anyone installed a supercharger on a 5.0L 1992-93 F150? I am leaning toward powerdyne because of price, but I'm open to suggestion if I'm missing something. I have many parts to go with this install(heads...etc.), but I'm most concerned about the cam. What make and grind of cam works well with a supercharger?

 

sorry i really can't help you, but you should call summit's tech hotline. ive talked to them before and they really know their stuff. good luck!

 

Called Summit yesterday, and they said that there was only one cam upgrade available. It's a hydraulic lifter cam, but my factory cam is a roller, so I'm on the fence about whether to replace it. Hence my other post about firing order. If my firing order is the same as a Mustang, I can get any grind out there. The truck came from the factory with Speed density controlled EFI, but I upgraded mine to mass-air so I can put a cam in it among other things. Unfortunately, I can't find a cam because speed density is too unforgiving to allow for a cam change, so aftermarket companies didn't make any.

 

i got a quick question for you...im looking into buying a mass air kit for my truck and i was wondering what exactly is included with the kit? did you install it yourself? how hard of an install? thanks a lot!

 

do yourself a favor, forget powerdyne. You can do a serch at the corral.net, and see comments about cronic failures. Also I think you would be much happier with a positive displacement type, rather than a centrufical, especially with a heavy truck.

My advice, save and get a Kenne-Bell, you won't be disappointed.If price is your thing(not a good way ot buy a blower) than go with a Vortech A-trim for the same money.

 

Thanks for the advice jstang, I've heard the same thing around. I'm just wondering how Powerdyne stays in business. I prefer centrifugal to roots because I want to keep my stock hood and fit everything under it. I had looked into Vortech, but the price was over $1000 higher, and that's 50% more than Powerdyne.

Donate54 - The kit comes complete with a new computer, redesigned (better single outlet) airbox top, sensor, and wires that go all the way around the engine to all the injectors (nicely done - looks like a painless kit with all the wireloom)and a Y-tube. The weak link is the Y-tube. The new airbox has a single 3 inch outlet, and then the sensor, and then a Y-tube to get back to our double intake tubes. They just took a 180 degree elbow, and stuck a 3 inch inlet at the bottom of it. They could have made it a little more graceful, since that particular method causes the maximum possible turbulence. I'm looking into making another Y. The cost was about $750, but you can get it cheaper from Summit Racing. You really only need it if you want to put a cam in, or for some supercharging applications. I just wanted to be able to do whatever I please and not worry about the way it's going to run afterward.

I lied a little bit - I do have the mass air conversion in my garage, but not in the truck yet. I now have my 3/8 inch heat spacer for the intake manifold, and my optimized BBK throttle body, so I'll be installing it all over the weekend. I like to do things once. The reson I mention this is because I wanted to tell you what the dealer said about the kit. Because it's an SVO item, I was told that you get a performance upgrade similar to buying an aftermaket higher flow Mass-Air sensor ($300 retail). So, I can't verify the results yet, but if you take into account a $300 upgraded mass-air sensor, the conversion kit drops to $350 for everything else. That's how I justified it to my wife.

The F150 firing order (1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8) is NOT the same as a Mustang (1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8) in 1992, so you can't just buy any 302 cam. There are not many cams out there for our 5.0L trucks, since the speed density system is not forgiving enough to allow for a cam change. I want to let you know so that you don't buy the kit and then still not have a cam. Find your cam first, and then buy the Mass-air conversion. Don't get stuck where I am now. See my first reply above.

 

what heads do you have to go on?

Really, you should convert to a roller cam and MAF. Depending on the heads and those 2 upgrades with intake and exhaust upgrades you may find that you have enough power to not warrant a supercharger upgrade.

Blowers are fun, but in a truck not the greatest thing. If you ping while towing, say buh bye to your motor. When is the power going to come on? Roots or centrifugal style decision here.

I just think that the supercharger is not the best money spent. hydraulic roller conversion, MAF, cam and heads with some other intake and exhaust mods will make a good motor. If anything a better foundation for a blower

 

Matt90GT - I am gearing toward a mild, supercharged engine. Here's the list of what I have and the plan. I am working on my top end right now, since the engine has ~110K on it, and will need a rebuild before I even consider a supercharger. However, it doesn't burn any oil at all, and the leakdown test results were much better than I would have suspected on a 110K engine. I change the oil every 2000 miles religiously.

The truck is lowered with 18inch rims, and a hard cover. It doesn't tow anything, and I store it in the winter. I have a 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4, so I haul and trailer with that or my wife's grand cherokee. The only thing I want to haul is a@@.

I have the MAF conversion kit to allow for a cam, and to eliminate any possibility of it running crappy whenever I do something to the engine. It has the STOCK roller cam in it, and that's why I didn't just order the hydraulic cam Summit Racing recommended (see my other posts). It is NOT the same firing order as a mustang's, so you can't just pick one. They're limited since the truck came with speed density controlled EFI, which can't handle a cam, so there aren't many. I found a hydraulic roller cam on Crane's website a few minutes ago, that will give me some decent gains 1000-4500RPM, because it's a daily driver in the summer.

Here's my top end. I have World Castings Windsor Jr. heads w/58cc combustion chambers. I'll do the cam while I'm in there. I have a 3/8 inch heat spacer for the intake plenum. I'm going to polish (well, sand smooth) the inside of the plenum also since it's multiport injected. I have the BBK performance throttle bodyat the entrance.

I have Ford SVO stainless headers, and a custom bent true dual exhaust.

In addition, I read your electric fan post. I put a flex fan in yesterday. It was almost as heavy as the stock fan (cancelling the lightweight theory), and I ordered the fan as large as possible (19in.), so it hit my shroud. I cut the shroud for now, since I'm convinced to go electric. I'll be adding two black magic fans to my 18x28 inch radiator. I'll put one in the upper right, and one in the lower left corners. I may have to do some bracket work, but I want the engine as cool as possible. I have a custom 190AMP alternator for the stereo competitions I used to do before my house/wife/kids, so I won't have any trouble powering them.

So, as far as I know, I'll have a cool running, well aspirated, reliable engine that needs a bottom end rebuild next year. should be perfect for a supercharger in the future. I'm open to any suggestions from anyone, so let me know what you think.

 

A Bell will fit under the stock hood, and the Vorech you prices was probally an S-trim, not an A-trim which is closely priced to Powerdyne.

 

Sounds decent.

If you have the heads out, get a stage 1 port job on them to clean up the casting flash. A stage 3 port on those heads will yeild a 70-100hp gain from the motor, and that is cheaper than the supercharger.

If you are going blower, especially the kennebell, you may be better off going to the GT40/Cobra Intake kit as that is a more common lower.

FYI the truck lower flows a LOT of air stock. Dont worry about messing with it. It is not your restriction. The heads and cam are.

 

jstang - thanks for the supercharger trim advice, I'll check out Vortech A-trim.

Matt90GT - I am having the Windsor Jr.'s ported and polished professionally. I'll do the intake myself, since there's less risk involved. Good advice.

I have a gt40 available to me, but I'd have to re-route everything, and I already have an upgraded throttle body for the truck setup. Besides, the truck intakes is free flowing, and set up to make torque, which is really what I'm after. There would be a backward trottle body wiring issue as well. I've considered it, and I may do it when I go to get a supercharger.

The added benefit to upgrading to the GT40 intake would be that I could buy a cheaper supercharger kit made for a mustang, which would also have the re-routed air intake. Add the cost of the intake, and it's a wash.