Major plans for my car...need advice

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Major plans for my car...need advice

March 18, 2005, 07:56:37 PM

Now that spring time is on the horizon I'm getting the itch to get the 'bird out. I've decided to build a motor and trans for the car but I don't know what direction to take (155 hp is getting old). I'd really like to do the 5.0 HO/T-5 swap. My question is, if I find a donor Mustang, is there any specific year I should go for? I know for sure I want to upgrade to Mass Air (1988 and up right?). The plan is to build a 306 with mild heads and intake, etc. for regular street/strip use. I'd like to see somewhere around 325 hp or so with the potential for more. My main concern is finding the right year car with good usable parts for an affordable price! Anyway what do you guys recommend for this buildup as far as a parts car? Also if anyone is from near Indiana, where is a good place to find decent parts 'stangs?

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #1 – March 18, 2005, 09:08:48 PM

89 and up would be factory mass air unless it's a california car then 88 would be the starting year.
To push 325hp you will need the following,aluminum heads,cobra,trickflow,edelbrock intakes.70mm TB,24lb injectors bigger 73,76mm maf sensor,cam,1.7 roller rockers or both,min 155lph fuel pump,adj fuel regulator,good set of 1 5/8"headers and 2 1/2"dual exauste.
So far i've done the HO transplant and have all of the necessary parts listed above to make 325 flywheel HP but not including the swap parts it has cost me around 2500.00cdn to get all of the above listed parts,heads being a big chunk at 750.00us.
With the stock heads 300hp is really hard to attain unless they are drilled for bigger valves and alot of port work is done and by that time you'll be at the price of a set of used aluminums so your better off with them.
Now a mustang would be a great donner car for the eng,trans and computer but the eng wiring is useless to you because it is just easier to convert your factory 5.0 harness than to play with the totally differenty mustang harness to make it work.
You only need the 4 pin maf connector and a few lengths of wire and then use the instructions found here on the site,did mine in like an hour and a half.
As for the stock maf sensor it is very restictive and will actually rob you of a few hp,so it's not worth converting a stock HO,SD is actually better for a stock application.
When your ready to upgrade to 300+hp then goto the maf setup and get the performance parts you want instead of wasiting your money on stock restrictive parts.

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #2 – March 18, 2005, 09:16:59 PM

yeah, a mustang would be a great donor, because sometimes youll find the engine and tranny sometimes costs more than an entire car!

but basically, youll need the engine, computer, MAF conversion harness, tranny, pedals, and assorted BS, having a donor car helps big time

and if you get a full donor car, gut it and ebay everything, big money to be made parting out mustangs, like us buy up stock stang stuff :p

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #3 – March 19, 2005, 12:51:25 AM

Quote from: Tbird232ci

like us buy up stock stang stuff :p

Speak for yourself, the only stock Stang part on my Bird is the A9P EEC.. ;) Think I'll swap it out for the Ford Racing 3CW1 I have(courtsey of the blue Bird), then I'll have no stock Stang parts. Curious to see if there is any noticable difference....

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #4 – March 20, 2005, 08:28:38 PM

I know about what I want as far as go fast goodies (heads, intake, etc) and specs on the engine but its just the computer mumbo jumbo that scares me more than anything. I know about what I need to get the horsepower I'm shooting for its just a matter of finding a good donor car and fiquring out what all i need I guess. I wonder if it would be cheaper to build a motor and then just stick with an auto and rebuild my AOD? Sure an Auto isn't nearly as fun as a manual tranny but I need to keep costs in mind. I guess I could even stick with my original SO 302 and just rebuild it with more compression and add on good heads,intake,cam,headers,etc. Would there be any hope in that?

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You only need the 4 pin maf connector and a few lengths of wire

So basically what I need is a 'stang computer and a MAF conversion kit and then I can go as crazy as I want on the motor? Thanks for the help guys. I've never built a motor for anything so this is a learning experience for me. The only cars I've really tore into before have all been carb'ed with no computer junk to worry with.

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #5 – March 20, 2005, 09:38:58 PM

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So basically what I need is a 'stang computer and a MAF conversion kit and then I can go as crazy as I want on the motor

if you are using a mustang HO engine.

im pretty sure you need the ho cam to go with the mustangs computer. i could be talking out of my ass though. im speculating. maybe rewire the injector harness? also with the SO you have to watch valve clearance with cam lift.

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #6 – March 20, 2005, 10:51:16 PM

I hope your thinking of 325 Flywheel... maybe...
Blown306 has a 306 with MANY goodies and I doubt he's there
Mercoug302 has a 351w built up and I know he's just under 300RWHP
The easiest way to get close to that 300 and up range would be a 302 bored .030 over and with forged pistons and hardened everything. Then supercharge that puppy.

89-93 are the years you should look for. With an automatic look for an A9P mass air computer from a mustang, 5-speed an A9L mass air computer from a stang. You can check out my cardomain page and see what $8g will get you in the N/A relm. I MAY be around 260RWHP, perhaps a little more. When I get the edlebrock/AFR heads I want I should crank a bit more out.

If you want to be fast with an AOD get a 4r70w gearset, 3.73 rear gears, and a 3k stall converter... I wish I knew about that before I put the t-5 in my car...

This is my opinion on what you should do.
1- Get the car ready for the motor/drivetrain upgrade. Get a good set of subframe connectors in the car, last thing you want is to twist the frame the first time you go out and mess around. Get the exhaust system in place and even install it on the car now. This will get that out of the way and give you a little more sporty sound till the swap.

2- Research what you want. Compare prices and performance, see what is within your budget and exactly how crazy you want to get with it. Keep in mind that, as you stated, you want to use this as a daily driver. Big sloppy cams aren't the best choice for a daily driver, neither are the loud exhaust systems (police tend to notice when you drive by at 30 and it sounds like 100). Also remember that n/a 300 rwhp is a very hard number to reach, so don't brag until you hit the dyno and don't be disappointed either.

3- Get all the parts together. Look for sales from the companies themselves, and e-bay is a great source for 'stang people getting rid of stuff. I got 80% of my stuff from Summit... they are great and I reccomend them 100%.

4- Build it up nice and easy, dont rush and do not place a time limit on when things need to be done. Things always happen and parts are always forgotton it's just the way it is.

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #7 – March 21, 2005, 07:32:56 AM

Good advice above, but stay away from the 93 motors if possible. 1993 was the year of the hypereutectic piston the ealier HO's had forged pistons.

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #8 – March 21, 2005, 11:17:30 AM

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I hope your thinking of 325 Flywheel... maybe...

Yeah I was meaning at the flywheel. I figured with the amount of parts available that number would not be that hard to reach. I understand that to go fast costs money...it just depends how much I'm willing to spend I guess (heads seem to be a big factor). The main thing is that this car is a weekend driver so if it has to sit around for awhile with the motor out or something that isn't really a big deal. It will get there someday I guess I just need to be patient.

Quote

1- Get the car ready for the motor/drivetrain upgrade. Get a good set of subframe connectors in the car, last thing you want is to twist the frame the first time you go out and mess around. Get the exhaust system in place and even install it on the car now. This will get that out of the way and give you a little more sporty sound till the swap.

not a bad idea...I just hate having more bark than bite. But this would help save me from buying everything at once. What subframes do you guys recommend? THat was definatley on the list of things to buy.

I appreciate all the advice guys.

Re: Major plans for my car...need advice

Reply #9 – March 21, 2005, 08:33:55 PM

I just started my std. to HO swap today. My std. is an 88 and I picked up an 88 HO Mustang GT motor with 37000 original miles from a guy in Mich. for $600. This is a complete motor that he is replacing with a stroker motor. I also picked up a D1 computer to go with the HO for $100 (also from an 88 GT). I am putting on headers and a 65mm TB and that is it for this year. This is a reasonable upgrade and should make a big difference over the std. for little money and still have room to grow in the future. Also, you can use the stock wiring harness.