l just bought a 1987 mustang. Originally a 4 cylinder car, converted to a 5.0 right before l bought it. Whole conversion - the tranny, the rear end, etc. - and it looks to be a good job. It is a low mileage 87 5.0 engine, and the body style is notchback. still 4 lug. How much am l looking at to get this car running/looking nice? Ideas for other improvements would be good too.

l wanna add:
70mm TB
80mm MAF
K&N filter
full exhaust header back
tires
wheels
rear gears
interior
paint
intake manifold
bore or not?
how much horsepower can l get from a stock 5.0?
stroker kit?

200hp on the stock version, the k&n filter will up that by about 10 hp, flowmasters will give you 15hp more a stroker kit will get you more cubes but not necessarily more hp, what kind of ignition do you have? l would highly suggest you spend the 800 bucks for a complete msd ignition, this is the distributor, spark plug wires, the al600 spark control box and the coil, it will give you at least 25 more ponies

You've made a good purchase. The 5.0s were rated at 225, so 300 horses does not seem like an unrealistic final goal. Building up a small stroker -- say 331 cubes with new intake, camshaft & Ford Racing is GT40 heads -- a descendant of the Blue Oval is fabled Boss 302 heads --should get u there.

Of course, you're going to want 5-lug wheels. Ford did not think 4-lug wheels & V8s were a good idea back when the V8s displaced only 221 cubes

None of this will come cheap. By the time you're done, u will be well on ur way toward the sticker price of a new 'Stang. But u will b able to take pride in having done it yourself/

A good h/c/i ( heads, cam, intake,) combo will easily get u close to 300 horsepower maybe over 300 with the right setup, AFR cylinder heads r the best on the market when it comes to the 5.0. A custom grind camshaft, from cam innovations, & a holley systemax 2 intake. This along with other supporting mods like full exhause, bigger throttlebody, bigger injectors (24lbs should be sufficient for this combo) & a bigger maf. Underdrive pullies a superchip, & a full msd ignition system & ur stang should be making 350 to the wheels or better. You might wanna look into a rear gear change l would go with 4.10s for an automatic & 3.73 is for a manual. If it is an automatic u will wanna but a bigger stall converter & a shiftkit or reverse valve body init. Also it ur 5.0 is still a speed density car u will HAVE to change it over to mass air or it will never run right with the upgrades.