ok i have a question i have an 89 mustang 5.0 automatic convertable and right now i have a exhaust on it underdrive pullies and a cold air intake.. i would like to get a ford racing e303 cam and a pair of headers, i cant afford heads and wont be able to for a while but right now i have about 500 dollers to spend on ONLY my car i would like to know if thoes would be a good idea i love the sound of a cam and i know it wont effect the horsepower that much untill i get heads but i would like to know if i can put the cam in myself with the engine in the car and if i would have to change anything around to do it, or if it would just be better to have a shop put it in? the headers i have no problem doing myself but the internal of an engine is really knew to me... so i would like to know wat everyone things i should do with the money i would like a cam and i dont know wat else, or if the E303 would be the best one just let me know thanks     Chris  

You're right about it not doing much good to put in a cam without better heads.  If it's one or the other, go with the exhaust first then wait until you get heads before the cam.  You'd have to pull the intake off to change the cam so you could get the lifters out so you could pull the cam and isn't too bad to do, but considering the hassle and stock heads, the exhaust is the better choice.  

I don't know to what extent you want to do to you exhaust but you can find some pretty go deals on ebay if your patient enough. Or save the 5 bills until you have enough for heads and cam.  

i already have an exhuast and i was thinking about buying headers and throttle body and spacer that would be 490 and i can do that all myself, i actually have another 2 hundered so im up to 700 waht do you think i got the exhuast within the first month i had the car i jst never replaced the h pipe like i want to cuz the guys who put in my exhuast cut into the h pipe and welded into it so i have to get them to fix it and they said they would if i brought it back wiht an h pipe so i dont knwo what to do but thoes are 360 dollers cuz i hvae to get cats, damn emisions. oh well thanks for the help ne other advice?

want good heads cheap? find some ol 289's and get em worked go to a junkyard for em and just send em to the machine shop

Well dont get me wrong but the cam and exhaust sounds okay....but if it were my car i would do 4.10 gears and a stall and maybe even a shift kit to get that dayum heavy automatic out of the hole. After all that is what drag racing is about...coming out of the whole and leaving hard!!  

69 or 70 351w heads have a bigger ports than the 289 head does.  the 289 head has a 54cc chamber it will raise your comp. the 351 is a 60.4 cc chamber. (same as stock 5.0)   but if you have the windsor heads decked it will raise your comp. and have better ports.  just food for thought.

Skip the heads, go for the jug. You can run a 100 shot all day long and have no problems. It'll give you the best return for your money. If you don't want to go that route, the gears and/or converter would be the next best thing to do as they can knock off 3-4 tenths from your 1/4 mile time.  

Spend 300 - 400 dollars on nitrous easy quick inexpensive and big horses you can add 100 - 150 in less than a day and its there when you need it not when oyu don't i would recommend a wet kit injecting both nitrous an fuel mixture at the same time  it make for a smoother acceleration  

as i said in NOSzle installation, Nitrous dries the oil off the piston rings, also because of the increased air and fuel the compression goes up when you spray........excess heat+air/fuel mix = BOOM make sure IF u do use Nitrous to have it tuned by a speed shop. Why you may ask? Well if your motor Blows its THEIR FAULT BWAHAHAHAHAH!

If I had 500$ for my stang I would beef up the suspension, and frame. You can do an eibach spring set up for around 225$, and get some sub frame connectors for around 100$. Most people dont know how much power they loose when the frame and chassis are moved from the power. But yeah definetly beef that up. That won't add hp or torque but will get more of the power you already have to the tires!  

Depends what you do, I agree nitrous if you're looking for alot of bang for your buck and fast ET's.
But for just general driving enjoyment I think my vote would be for 4.10 gears, they really wake up the AOD cars. .
Obviously no horsepower change but much better acceleration on my car after I switched to 4.10's
                                             - Jenn