If you can identify the engine as HO or non-HO, that would help. A difference between the two is the firing order.
5.0: 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8
5.0 HO: 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8
The '88 T-Bird is a non roller, non HO 5.0L engine and they made about 150hp in stock trim. The Mustang headers will physically fit, but to be quite honest aren't going to do much for performance considering how restrictive the engine components and the rest of the exhaust system is.
If you really must modify this car, your best and cheapest bet is to just find yourself wrecked '87-'93 Mustang and do a strait engine, computer wiring harness swap. It'll be a lot of work, but having a complete donor car at your disposal will save you all kinds of headaches. An HO engine swap alone is good for about 75hp over what you're making now.
If you must absolutely have GT40 gear on the engine, you can pick yourself up a complete '96 to early-'97 Ford Explorer engine up for anywhere from $300-$1,000 depending on location. It's got the standard GT40 heads on it, which will accept the stock exhaust components as well as an equivalent Cobra type intake. Swap out to the HO cam and upgrade your valve springs and you'll tack on another 30hp over a stock HO roller. You'll still need the Mustang wiring harness and computer though....as well as numerous exhaust improvements to let it breath.
There may only be a couple of additional wires, but the pin connectors for the T-Bird ECU are all in the wrong place. You'll be hours just mixing and matching trying to move them around to work with the Mustang ECU. On top of all that, the pistons are different, the heads are different, the cam is different, the intake is different, the sensors are in different locations, etc, etc I’m almost 100% certain that the T-Bird is also a non roller block. The Lincoln Mark VII’s and F150’s of those years were the only other vehicles to get them besides the Mustang….and only the Lincoln utilized the roller cam profile.
Trust me....you're further ahead doing a complete donor car swap. You should be able to pick yourself up a wrecked '87-'93 Mustang for around $1,000. It's worth it just to save yourself the aggravation of chasing Gremlins and running around looking for parts.
You seem to have it all figured out then. Have at it.all i have to do is add wires to pins # 50, 9,. the power and ground for the maf run to existing pins... move pin #11 to 32 and pin# 51 to 38 and add pin#19 to existing fuel pump relay wire...... thats not very hard at all..... every sensor that the mustang has thunderbird has.... and the map turns to the bap just by unhooking the vacuum line..... thats a $30 fix for a at least $100 wiring harness.... i already have a computer and cam theres really nothing to the conversion... and unless somebody magically changed my cam and lifters from the time i changed the intake gaskets then my engine is the roller block
Let me help you clear this up. The '88 Bird is a roller engine. Not an H.O engine, but a roller engine none the less. For good power, easy to upgrades....
Install the H.O cam
Install the E-7 heads
Install the Mustang headers and H-Pipe
Have the dual exhaust installed
plug in a Mustang GT Speed Density computer and 19# injectors
The H.O intake or other aftermarket intake (Explorer intake is cheap and well worth the $125 or so to get one)
You don't need Mass Air or harness upgrades. The Sped Density computer wqill work as a plug and play with the parts I listed above.
The Thunderbird has flat top pistons. So, I'd stick with the H.O cam. The TFS-1 cam will more than likely need pistons with valve reliefs, otherwise, bent valves or other damage will probably happen. I have seen the H.O cam and GT-40 heads work with good springs installed. I had an E-303 with flat top pistons and ported E-7 heads. It worked great, although it probably was really close with piston to valve clearance. For the TFS-1 cam, you need new pistons,or cut the notches into the current pistons. There are different methods of doing that. Very time consuming, but can be done.
To just do the H.O upgrade as I stated above will really make the car a lot more fun than you might think, and the flat top pistons accept that work easily.
All of the stock Stang parts are cheap and easy to find. Install the cam and heads as I said, and an explorer intake with a 65mm t-body and have a lot of fun.
I's also, at some point, swap the gears. The Bird has a 7.5 rear with 2.73 gears. An 8.8 from a Stang is a direct swap, just install the brakes and axle shafts from the Bird onto the 8.8 and go play. If you have any questions at all, my email is vinnietbird@sbcglobal.net I've been through about everything with my '88 Bird and can help if you need it.
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