Engine building questions

[SS]

1995 Dodge Ram 4x4 5.2L with exhaust, mopar performance computer and K&N air cleaner set up.

Can I bore the TB out? If so, how much and what all is involved?

Can I swap the heads out on my 5.2L with some 5.9L heads and see a gain off of it or are the 5.9L heads the same?

Are there any aftermarket (edelbrock, holley, etc) intake manifolds that'll work with the factory fuel injection set up?

Good, cheap headers?

What else can be done to beef up the 5.2L on the cheap side? Anything I can take from a 5.9L that'll add some power?

[Yetti]

well theres stuff to bring the 5.2 to life. check to see if you can find a set of "dart" brand heads. they have something for everyone and the best HP for your money is in head work. the cam is second, but only to bring the power in from the heads. the TBI is a waste, you would have to go with a huge one or buy after market. the factory ones have limited ability to be moded up.

[84Scrambler]

The factory TB can be opened up to about 52mm max. For a slightly modded 5.2, I wouldn't go past 50mm. I think stock was about 48mm IIRC. The 5.2/5.9 heads are all the same. So are the heads that came in the R/T models. Edelbrock has some good ones out, and so does Mopar. The Mopar single plane MPI intake is the only one I know of out there.

Check out www.krcperformance.com for some ideas of what is out there to mod a 5.2 magnum.

[SS]

I was cruisin dodgeforum and it looks like the best TB set up would be a Fastman 50mm.


I'm on a pretty limited budget so is there any place I can grab some dart heads for cheap? Sounds like I'd be better off grabbing a set of stock magnum heads, having them magnafluxed to make sure they aren't cracked like 99% of them are, and work the head myself.

I've also heard of cutting down the runners for the factory manifold. Anyone ever do this? Is it worth finding a factory manifold to do it?

Cam will be done when I order my Recon remanned engine. If I end up getting heads I'll only need the long block and I can get the long block for $650 through Murrays.

[84Scrambler]

Be careful of used stock heads. They have a tendency to crack between the inner most chambers. Both of the heads on my '96 5.2 ZJ did this. Seems to be very common. Just watch that if you buy a used set.

A fastman TB is a great piece. Dan knows his magnums. If I ever decide to bore and stroke the 5.9, he is the guy I would have do the work. I have an APS Precision 52mm I had on the '98 5.9 ZJ. It is just a bored out stock TB. But, it did a nice job opening up that motor along with the 3" exhaust and the Mopar intake.

[GreaseMonkey]

Jeremy, if you plan on doing pocket porting on the heads yourself, invest in some porting templates from Mopar. For my airflow project last semester, me and a buddy used those on his 360 heads and had an increase of about 45 cfm, and we didn't hit any water jackets.

If you're looking at aftermarket heads and cams and stuff, pay attention to where you're going to be shifting your powerband. If you start building that thing up to make max power, it's all going to be high up in the RPM range, where you don't necessariliy want it. Build for mid-range, and the lower end and higher end will increase along with it, but you'll keep your peak where you want it.

Bigger isn't always better, don't go making everything bigger. It'll kill your lower end. For lower end torque and mid-range power, you want things to be a little smaller. You want velocity through the intake and exhaust to be high, and big ass headers, ports and an intake kill velocity at lower RPMs.

[Yetti]

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