Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

Umm, yeah, I would say Gasoline/Water slurry is usually not exactly the best to run in one.  But, to chime in on the plug wire routing issue ....
 
There are two firing orders on the 5.0L.  HO, and non HO.  The Non-HO firing order is 15426378.  Can't remember the HO order, but notice that 7 and 8 fire back to back on the non-HO cam.  When you install the wires on the LH side (driver's) of the engine, as they leave the dizzy, make sure to keep #5 and #6 wires between #7 and #8 as long as you can, and then separate 7 and 8 as much as possible after 6 drops out of the bundle.  When you take 7 down to the cylinder, make sure it crosses #8 at a right angle (90 degrees) so that the wires are NEVER close together and parallel to each other.
 
This sounds like a bunch of hooey, but there is actually a Ford TSB about this, and I actually experienced the problem with my '92 F-150.  If 7 and 8 wires are not separated, when 7 fires, it can actually induce enough current in #8 wire to fire the plug.  When 7 is on the power stroke, 8 is on the compression stroke.  This will cause SERIOUS detonation, and even destroy #8 cylinder.
 
As for the plugs.  DO NOT use Bosch platinums in a Ford engine with a Ford TFI ignition.  The TFI will EAT those plugs.  The ceramic around the electrodes will shatter. Guess where that ceramic goes.  Stay with the Motorcraft coppers, you won't regret it.  They last longer, and perform better.  Again, I speak from experience at the School of Hard Knocks (excuse the pun).  For all your ignition parts, STAY with MOTORCRAFT parts.  I've tried MSD, Bosch, and a few other things, and ALWAYS wind up coming back to Motorcraft.  I'm not saying Bosch is a bad plug.  It works WONDERFULLY in a VW Beetle air-cooled engine with an old school breaker points ignition.  Just not in a Ford with TFI.
 
Just my .02 worth.

When you say the strap support broke, are you talking about the piece that goes behind the 
the frame that the bolt goes into?