by Tom Shaw
Y
ou say you want to go fast
but can’t drop $12K on an
ultra-trick 5.0 engine? Your
Fox still has to double as a driver
so you can’t go wild under the
hood? No prob.
You don’t need to go on a
spending binge to get ample
power out of your 5.0. A few
simple changes will add a nice
stable of extra horsepower without creating a driveability monster
or impacting the 5.0’s excellent
reliability.
We spent some time with Mark
LaMaskin, the driving force at
Performance Autosport in
Richmond, Virginia, and one of
32 FOXMustangMagazine.com
the most experienced professional
Mustang builders, for the straight
truth about getting top performance from the legendary 5.0 V-8
on a realistic budget. Mark doesn’t
mind speaking the truth, and he
had plenty to say about what
works, what really works, and
what’s a waste of money.
So if you’re in search of some
extra power — and who isn’t —
here’s the scoop from Mark.
5.0 POWER BASICS
When someone has a basically
stock Fox Mustang, I suggest they
first pull out the air silencer and
replace the stock air box with
either a cone or high-performance
flat-panel filter. Next, bump the
timing to between 12 and 14
degrees, but be careful as the car
will “ping” with too much timing.
A bump in timing will require
upgrading to 91- to 93-octane
fuel. Do a fresh tune-up, which
means replacing the plugs, wires,
cap, and rotor.
If you want to get into deeper
tuning than that, add an adjustable
fuel-pressure regulator and bump
it up a few pounds over stock.
Then put a set of shorty or longtube headers on it. I never recommend removing the catalytic converters, because it’s illegal, and