Just installed an aluminum 2 core radiator in my 83' 5.0 Cougar, and am not liking the OEM top mounts one bit.
The rubber insulators in the OEM Mounts barely even touch the mount locations on the radiator itself, and allow about 1/2 of up and down movement of the radiator itself. - Obviously not a good thing.
I purchased on of those Steeda Hold Downs that bolts into the OEM location, but the hold down point is across the entire top of the radiator core. - Same problem. 1/2 of up and down movement of the radiator itself.
My set up does still utilize a belt driven fan.
Any ideas folks? What are you guys with larger non-OEM radiator upgrades using?
I'm considering trying this on, as it would cover the entire top of the radiator itself, and could be bolted through the fan shroud mounting holes:
I've just been away from the mechanical side of things more than I'd like lately! ( 80 hr work weeks. Fun stealers.)
Doing a EGR Delete on an 83' with the CFI 302. Smog pump is already gone from a long time ago - not an issue.
On the back of the CFI Throttle Body there is a long oval shaped device between the EGR Valve and the throttle body itself. - Coolant from a heater hose flows into 1 end of this oval device, and out the other side of it into the intake manifold - via hoses.
What is the long oval shaped device? ( I'd imagine its related to assist in starting in cold weather, but would appreciate any other info.) - This car is put away inside November - March most every year.
Can this oval piece be removed? If so - whats the best way to handle the smaller coolant hoses on it?
Appreciate the help! Thanks!
Added Image: ( Sorry for the low quality - its not my picture, but is the part I'm talking about.)
It's been a while since I messed with an AOD.........
It's an 83 Cat with a 5.0 and the AOD. Column Shift, and about 120k on the AOD.
The car doesn't seem to go into the P position completely. Meaning, that it does slightly go into park, but if on an incline, it will pop out of P and roll. This happens weather the car is running or not.
Also, when driving at highway speed, before the trans will kick into OD, I have to lift my foot off the pedal, then it kicks it into OD and all is well.
Other than this, the AOD behaves quite well and has no issues.
It's done this for a little while now and I'm finally trying to figure it out. Does this sound like just a TV Cable Adjustment?
Fluid/Filter were changed about 800 miles ago, pretty routine service. Nothing smelled/appeared burnt. Everything looked in good shape from that point of veiw. The AOD behaved this way before the fluid/filter change too.
PNRD21 indicators (instrument panel) do not line up. (can't imagine this would be relative to the AOD issue however)
I have too many vehicles and need to sell this one fairly soon.
Translation - I need the cash to put towards the wedding!
The Car
1995 Ford Thunderbird LX
144k miles (mainly highway) 3.8L V6 Automatic Transmission PS,PB, PW, PL, Tilt, Cruise, AC - Pretty Much Loaded. AM/FM CD, USB, SD, AUX Stereo System with Subwoofer & Amp. Jewell Green Metallic on the out, Gray Cloth Inside. Very Clean! Very Reliable!
I bought this car earlier this year to commute to work and in typical fashion of these cars, it has been great! I average about 24-36 MPG and have had zero trouble with this car. It has been well maintained the entire time: IE: Oil Changes every 2500 miles, Washed weekly, etc.
It does have the typical wear for the year and isn't perfect. The normal rock chips, a small ding on the nose and lower driver side fender. The worst is a small area of rust around the gas door. Nothing major, just something that could use a little attention at some point. Otherwise, this car is solid and would make an excellent daily driver, student, or work car. It's ready to go!
This car is located in Belle Plaine, Iowa 52208. It is a small town slightly south and almost in the middle of the Cedar Rapids and Waterloo Area.
I'm asking $2500 but am quite open to offers, as I need to sell this car in a bit of a hurry. (Meaning, I need to put money down for the Wedding Hall and Catering in the next couple of weeks.)
I've described everything the best I could, but none the less, if you are interested or have further questions; feel free to ask here or shoot me an E-Mail at webmaster@soundwavescs.net
I haven't noticed much discussion in the way of Gear Drives on the boards, so I thought that I would bring up the matter.
Basically what I am wanting to know is if anyone has installed one on their 5.0 Fox Cougar, and recomendations about which ones to look into, installation issues, etc.
I've gotten hooked on the "noisy gear" sound as welll as the benefits of no longer having a typical timing chain. In short, I'd like to put one on a 5.0 Cougar of mine and want to know what's involved.
I've gone to this show for the past few years and it is by far one of the best in the area. There's always plenty to see; from Modified Super Coupes, Shelby Cobra's, GT350's and GT500's, as well as Built Turbo Coupes, Fox Cat's, Birds, Mustangs,- even Torino's, F150's, Roadsters, and plenty of stuff from Saleen, Roush, and Steeda, to see. That's just for starters too. :)
There's enough stuff to see car wise all day, the DJ plays all day- and is really good, plus it's at a mall; meaning that this show generally draws one heck of a good crowd!!
The Eastern Iowa Mustang Club puts this show on every year. They are a great bunch of folks and really know how to put on a cool show.
Swithched out the old X pipe to a Pace Setter off road H Pipe, Pace Setter Intermediates, Magnaflow "Glasspack Style" lers, and turn downs right before the rear axle. It's a true dual setup with all mandrel bent 2.5" tubing.
A set of 5.0 Headers from a 93 Cobra start things out.
The engine is a Cobra/GT40 Crate Engine fully balanced/ blue printed, and tested at approx 400 HP at the flywheel.
May be I'm just being overly critical, but for some reason I think that my overall exhaust note has too high of a tone. It's not overly high to be annoying, but to me it would sound better at a little lower tone.
Any idea's on how to lower the tone of the exhaust note, preferably without un-doing much of what I just changed?
Also, I'm a little concerned about the backpressure in this system. Previously, I was using Flowmaster 40's and really didn't have much of an issue. Now with a little more of a "flow through" style ler, I suspect I may need to some how add a small amount of backpressure to maintain my low end torque.
Granted, I've got enough power there where it's not a big issue, however, it sounds and feels like I need at least a little more backpressure.
I came upon an interesting find today while working on an early 83 Cat.
It's a CFI 5.0 with an EEC-III setup and Duraspark Ignition.
Anyhow, I'm swapping the OEM Manifolds and Exhaust for OEM Mustang Headers and a Pace Setter H Pipe, etc etc.
I just pulled down the lead down pipes off of the manifolds and there was a peice that came out with a Vacuum lead that looked like a small throttle body in the exhaust line.
It appears that this device is somehow connected to the car's EGR System.
Obviously, it's something that's not going to be able to find it's way into the new exhaust.
I'm wondering if capping the lead vacuum line that went to this device is all that is needed, or if I have to do something else?
It's an EEC-III car, so there are no ports to pull a code from, and the car allready has the smog pump & line delete.
What needs to happen with this set up to allow the new exhuast to go on without causing any other issues?