87 Gt (5.0 H.o.) With 88 T-bird Motor (5.0 Non H.o.) Please Read And Help!!!

[NCsProdigy 87GT]

ok so i have an 87 mustang gt. i thought it had the original 5.0 h.o. motor in it. well come to find out it has the 88 tbird 5.0 non ho motor, ecm and injectors. now i was confused bc i have been running the 5.0 h.o. motor firing order so i was confused but after doing more research i came to find out that you can run the 5.0 h.o. firing order if u have the correct cam and i remembered that the guy who sold me the car said a cam was put in. this is what the article said:"you must retain the tbird firing order UNLESS the cam is replaced by one with lobes conforming to the mustangs firing order." now i have put alot of time work and money into this car before i knew any of this. i just did theintake swap to a 97-01 explorer gt40 without egr. i also just did the maf conversion. put in an A9P ecm, put the 19lb injectors in, got a MAF sensor with housing and got a MAF harness and hooked it up. well after that, when i start the car it idles at 2500 rpms. when i hit the gas hard it shuts off, but when i press the pedal slowly it will rev. also when i pull the timing plug when its running it shuts off. now i did the timing set. i pulled the dizzy, pulled plug 1, found 0 tdc, put belt back on, put plug in, put dizzy in and made sure it faced number 1 in the dizzy cap. started it and it wanted to idle at about 1000 rpm but now it will not stay started. also, how to you do a maf conversion on an 87 mustang if the motor is an 88 tbird? won the 60 pin harness be different? unless they took the wiring harness from the tbird and swapped it out also?
what do i do here!!?? i dont want to get rid of the car bc of the time and money invested but i dont want a damn tbird 5.0 NON HO motor in my car bc i want power. so how can i fix the problem im having? do i need to get another motor? what do i need to do? my sole purpose to get this car was to be able to have a project that i could build my way but from the looks of the way things are turning out, im effed! so please, anyone who has an idea on how to fix this car to be able to get high hp out of her, how to get her from speed density, or any input on the subject i welcome and PLEAD for some guidence here! i dont want to keep putting time and money into a crappy motor or a motor that cannot be built for performance. so please email me at [email protected] with any type of help or input!
Thank you

Heres the link to convert 88 tbird to MAF. Will this work in my GT?
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/hrdp-0705-pitstop-ford-thunderbird-mass-air-sensor/

 

[stykthyn]

Ok. First things first. You need to pull codes and report back to us. It really sounds like you have a timing issue, but we cannot help any further without figuring why it won't idle.
Secondly I would pop the valve covers and verify that the valves open and close on the ho cycle verifying that you indeed do have an ho compatible cam.

 

[jrichker]

This doesn’t prove that the block is a HO block. Some trucks evidently use a HO firing order with a low lift cam (this will result in less than the desired HP output). However, it will definitely prove that a block can’t be HO because the firing order is wrong.

Remove the #1 & #3 spark plugs. Put your finger in #1 spark plug hole. Crank the engine over until you feel compression on #1 cylinder. Slowly turn the engine until the TDC mark and the timing pointer line up. Mark TDC on the balancer with chalk or paint. Put your finger in #3 spark plug hole and crank the engine 90 degrees. You should feel pressure trying to blow past your finger. If you do not feel pressure, repeat the process again. If you feel pressure, it is a HO engine.

No pressure the second time, remove spark plug #5. Put your finger in #1 spark plug hole. Crank the engine over until you feel compression on #1 cylinder. Put your finger in #5 spark plug hole and crank the engine 90 degrees. If you feel pressure now, the engine is not a HO model, no matter what it says on the engine.

Using a small carpenter or machinist square to mark the harmonic balancer off into 90 degree sections may be helpful here.

A 15/16 deep socket & breaker bar or ratchet may be used to turn the engine.

The HO firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
Non HO firing order is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8