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Topic: mass air conversion (Read 1364 times) previous topic - next topic

mass air conversion

So todat I got:
stock Mustang mass air intake tubes
stock Mustang mass air meter
mass air meter bracket
mass air sensor connector with 2 feet of wire
12 eec pins
A9P Mustang mass air computer.

The best part it was all free :D

So in a week or two I'm going to be converting to mass air. I've read the tech section on coolcats and it seems like a straight forward swap. I just have a few questions:
1. Do I need anything else (besides another 6 feet of each color wire)?
2. I have an 88 so the speed sensor wires should already be in the harness correct?
3. Do I really need to run a wire from the fuel pump relay to the harness?
4. What's the best way to get the mass air meter wires through the fire wall? Should I just pop the main harness gromet out and cut a slit in it for the wires?

That's it. Any other feed back from you guys who have done it would be great.

Oh and I'm doing this to cure some funky idle issues I get every once in awhile with the car. The cam is right on the edge of what SD can handle. Plus I want to be able to have the car idle below 1100 rpms in park when hot. It's set that high so it doesn't stall when shifted into gear :hick:
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

mass air conversion

Reply #1 –
1.You need 19# injectors
2.Correct
3.No
4.I cut a small slit in mine with an Exacto knife,then when I was all finished,I smeared in a little black silicone as a "just in case".

Move two wires,add two wires,splice two wires,done.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

mass air conversion

Reply #2 –
Quote from: vinnietbird;217349
1.You need 19# injectors
2.Correct
3.No
4.I cut a small slit in mine with an Exacto knife,then when I was all finished,I smeared in a little black silicone as a "just in case".

Move two wires,add two wires,splice two wires,done.


I already did a HO swap so I have 19 lb/hr injectors :D

That's all I thought it was. Just wondering but do you remember how long the mass air connector wires are? I have 2 feet from the connector end on mine because I cut it out of an 89 GT. I was going to add 8 more feet of wire to each wire (color coded of course) but I want to make sure that is enough.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

mass air conversion

Reply #3 –
why didnt you just take the whole harness?
1979 Ford Fairmont
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5.0L/4R70W/8.8"/5-lug/3" Exhuast

mass air conversion

Reply #4 –
Quote from: 32VFoxBird;217360
why didnt you just take the whole harness?



The mass air connector is the only part I got from the wreaking yard. I tried to get the whole harness (all the way to the computer) but I couldn't because the car I got it out of was t-boned BAD in the passenger side. I could only get the wires to the fire wall grommet but I couldn't get the wire harness out. I would have had to bend the fire wall back into shape to get at it :hick:
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

mass air conversion

Reply #5 –
Even 5 feet of wire will be too much (I THINK mine were about 3 1/2 feet which left a little extra).It's better to start with too much than not enough.8 feet of wire is over half the length of the car..I had my harness out so I could solder everything and heatshrink the wires with a lot of freedom of movement and a lot of light.You can do it in the car fairly easy,though,so no worries.I'd remove the passenger seat to give you plenty of work space to wiggle around..
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

mass air conversion

Reply #6 –
Well I did it and it works better than before. It picked up a bunch of off idle and part throttle power that it didn't have with SD plus it runs A LOT better. By being able to have it idle at stock idle speed with mass air the car now has that great rumpty-rump sound at idle :D


I have one slight problem though. Every once in a while when starting it hot it starts then dies right away. A second crank and it's fine. I checked for codes and all I get it a code 95 (secondary fuel pump monitor as I didn't run the wire). Any ideas? It didn't do it before the swap so I'm guessing it might be that wire missing.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

mass air conversion

Reply #7 –
I didn't run that wire either,and haven't had that problem.My problem is the E303 cam and stock converter.My car wants to die half the time.After the 5 speed swap,if this problem continues,I'll either swap cams for a custom grind,or have a chip burned for my setup.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

mass air conversion

Reply #8 –
My cam is much less agressive than an E303 so I don't have the constant dieing problem. Other than the starting issue once in a great while it starts and idles fine. It never wants to cut off on its own or anything. Granted the car could probably use a 2400-2600 stall converter though (then it would just burn the shiznit out of the tires with almost no throttle:hick: ).
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

mass air conversion

Reply #9 –
If I wasn't going to do the 5 speed swap,I'd get a converter like that as well.I am glad you got the conversion done.How long did it take you to do it?
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

mass air conversion

Reply #10 –
I'm hoping to get a tranny rebuild next spring (as long as the stock one holds out till then :hick: ) It'll be done by a shop near me that does most of the 9 second AOD Mustang cars around here. New internals, a converter, *shift kit* high rev governor ect. In other words all the good stuff the tranny in the car right now lacks.

The conversion took about 2 hours. Most of the time was taken up cutting a hole in the engine harness rubber grommet. Why? Because like a dumb ass I cut my finger with the knife I was using and I had to bandage it up.

What computer are you using? I'm using an A9P but perhaps an A9L would work better with an E303?
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

mass air conversion

Reply #11 –
I have an A9P right now.I have wondered if the A9L would work better as well.I hear "yes" and "no" about that.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

mass air conversion

Reply #12 –
I have an A9P computer and it works great.  No codes either after my swap. If you do decide to hook up the FPM it's not that hard..just locate the FPM pin in the connector under the passenger side carpet, by the door sill. I just had to move the pin in the connector to get mine to work (the FPM pin # on the A9P was different than the one on my V6 processor)
1988 Thunderbird
306 HO w/ A9P processor
AOD w/ Transgo Reprogrammer
Full Digital Dash w/ twin Cyberdyne A-pillar gauges 
245/50/16 Tires on Snowflakes
Engine swap - CA smog compliant