visually that may be the only diff could have to do with gearing, weight, ecu maps that have to do with timing curves, hard to say .. the end results where always the same
Ive been selling underdrive pullies for 85 and up 5.0 Mustangs since well they first came out in the mid 80s. Kaufman Products made the original design back then. We put them on a boatload of Stangs back then... But most people just ran the Crank and Waterpump pullies and tossed the alternator pulley in the trash. The smaller crank pulley would enable the crank to spin faster, while the larger water pump (and alternator if you chose to install it) would slow down the accessories a bit. This would release whats known as Parastatic Energy. Either way, its a good idea to a point, but if you slow the accessories too much, you can run into a cooling probelm or a charging problem from your alternator/battery. The overall gain was maybe 3-5 hp on a good day, but they seemed to help and in theory they do work. Move on to the late 80s..we had a customer come in with an 87 5.0 Cougar who wanted more hp. We installed the 2 pcs only pulley kit (crank and w/p pulley only) didnt want any charging problems, on the guys Cougar. He came back a few weeks later and it was weird, he came back to our shop and demanded to know what all we did to his car. At first I thought he was mad, but once I convinced him all we did where the pullies, he proceeded to tell me his gas mileage went up 5-7 mpg in town !! The Hp gain was fair, but couldnt get over how much his gas mileage went up. And since then every Bird or Cougar and Lincoln we put the 2 pcs pulleys on, always had the same or very similar results. Funny thing is, the results where never the same on the Mustangs.
either way, the car has enough power on tap to make as a good daily driver... It doesnt have to be Mustang fast, its close enough as is. If I wanted it really quick Id just add a 100 shot of nitrous to it :)
being a bit partial to these cars, I had to save this 87 from getting trashed. Its a 1 owner 87 5.0 , 89k orig miles, Tucson car, no rust. factory paint, but very faded on top, but other then that, nice driver. Classic Silver charcoal with Red interior and digital dash.
a little of a conversion I did on an 86 GT conv, I put an SVO nose and taillights on it. if the motor ever went on it, I was going to swap in an SVO drivetrain. But as fate would have it, the 5.0s last forever :) and then I sold the car to a buddy.
I did search, didnt find out anything. But on my 88 LS Cougar, looks like a backlite is out I can see the gauge working if I get up close to it at nite, but it doesnt illuminate. Was going to take the cluster out today, but thought Id post this up prior to see what it comes up with. Speedo and Driver info center pods lite up fine btw.
Hi folks been wanting to stop in, the short version to my story is Ive always been a Cougar / Bird fan since I was a kid I like alot of the Bird and Cougars over the yrs. And have owned several. Recently I sold an 87 turbo coupe to a guy in CA. My recent purchase is an 88 Cougar LS highly modded with all the XR7 options (5.0, full power, rear sway bar even..etc) I have had a performance retail store here in Tucson since 1990. I remember back in the 80s and 90s all the body kit manufacturers that use to offer kits for these cars. (ie: pacific, kobel, gst, mga, aeroform and more) I still have pics from these companys from their brochures although many have since quit the business :( ) Luckily Xenon and a few others are still out there. Anyway, just wanted to say Hi and let you know what sitting in my garage. Actually next to it, is a 70 Boss 302 grabber green Eliminator too. Come to think of it I have probably too many cars. Usually I buy them, hold on to them for a bit and then release them back into the wild haha. Ill be popping in from time to time with more info etc. nice site