Explorer intake questions...

Do you only have the lower for the explorer? The upper from the stock 5.0 H.O found in the mustangs will NOT work with the explorer(cobra) lower. The ports are placed differently, and will not match up.

As long as emissions aren't a problem, the Explorer intake should work fine. The lower does not have a tapped hole for the ACT sensor in the #5 intake runner. So you'll either have to drill and tap the manifold, or relocate the sensor. I lengthened the wiring harness and installed the ACT sensor in the elbow just upstream of the throttle body. The early Explorer intakes (95-early 97) had provisions for internal egr just like the Cobra/Stock intakes. The later Explorer intakes do not have those provisions - neither do the P heads. So you'll have to figure out which year intake you have, and what you're gonna do with your egr valve if you have a later model set up. If you don't have egr hooked up and functioning, some people experience detonation at part throttle. You can get around this by using a chip to turn off the egr function in the ecu. You may also have a check engine light to deal with if you remove the egr.

ACT - air charge temperature; computer uses this sensor (very similar to the ECT - engine coolant temperature) to know the temp of the air entering the engine. Importance? It's required.

I got mine off a 96 Explorer with the 19# injectors and 65 MM throttle body for $250.

The ACT (Air Charge Temp) sensor will probably need to be moved. The GT 40 manifold isn't drilled & tapped for it to go into the intake like the stock manifold was. There is a boss cast into the GT 40, but a machine shop will have to drill & tap the new manifold. The best spot for the ACT is the air box if you don't do the drill and tap thing. You get to cut and splice the 2 ACT wires in order to make them long enough to reach the air box. Solder the wire extensions on the existing wires & use heat shrink tubing to cover the splices. Offset the place where you cut the wires so that you don't have a big bulge when you put heat shrink over the 2 wires to cover & protect them. The air box gets a hole (5/8" or so) for the ACT drilled about 1 1/4" down & 1/1/4" in on the front top side near the upper radiator hose. A brass fitting nut from Home Depot or Ace Hardware secures the ACT into the air box.

If you are very clever, you will find that the ACT connector comes apart so that you can remove the pins. A very small screwdriver releases the lock in the front of the center insert, while another small screwdriver inserted in the back pushes it out. Once the center insert is out of the connector shell, the pins come out easily. New pins are available from AutoZone in a $5 electrical pin kit for Fords. Crimping the pins on the extender wires saves you from having to splice them twice: once to put the connector on and once to extend the wires.

6 ft black 18 gauge wire
6 ft green 18 gauge wire
6 ft 1/4" heat shrink tubing
1 ft 3/16" heat shrink tubing

Use the TPS and IAB from your old throttle body. All the EGR passages were there and fit OK. Use you old fuel rails and regulator. You will probably need a new EGR spacer adapter and gaskets. Without the EGR spacer, there is no place to mount the throttle linkage support bracket.

I used the stock water lines on the Explorer manifold and they connected up to the EGR without any problems. I made a “U” out of ½” copper pipe and sweat soldered it together. Then I used it and some hose with clamps to bypass the leaky heater I have. You don't need heat very often here in Central Florida...

The vacuum lines you need are 1 small line for fuel pressure regulator, 1 small line for A/C,1 small line for EGR and another small line for the smog pump. One big line at the back goes to the vacuum tree for the power brake & A/C, the other big line goes out the front for the carbon canister. In a pinch, one of the small lines can connect to the spare port on the vacuum tree.

The stock Explorer linkage didn't come anywhere near fitting, so I made an adapter plate for the throttle linkage so I could use the 65 MM throttle body.

This is what I did:
Make a drawing of the position of the old throttle body linkage arm and its angular position relative to the centerline of the throttle body. Remove the ball stud off the explorer TB to make way for the adapter plate. Drill and tap a 10-32 hole in the linkage parallel to the TB shaft. Make an angle bracket out of 1" angle iron 3/8", drill a 3/16” hole in the center of each one of the legs. Then bolt it on where the hole was drilled & tapped. Then make a circular adapter plate out of 1/4" thick aluminum to bolt the two linkage arms together. Then bolt the aluminum plate to the existing linkage, and the angle bracket. Next mount the arm with the ball stud off the old throttle body on the adapter plate using the drawing to get the angle correct. You will need an aircraft type countersink for one of the bolts that secures the plate to the explorer linkage arm. It ends up being under the arm with the ball stud for the linkage. It works great and looks neat.

A trip to the welding shop with the explorer TB and the arm from your old Mustang TB would probably accomplish the same thing. I didn't have access to a welder, so I fabb'ed the plate in my shop. I took about 1.5 hours to do it, it was a measure, cut, and fit type of operation.

Also see http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/ConvertingExplorer65mmTB.pdf for modifications to adapt the 65 MM Explorer TB to a Mustang

You guys got this one covered pretty good. I'd add one thing - the ACT hole can be done by you with a 9/16" drill bit with a shank cut down to 1/2" to fit a 1/2" drill and a 3/8" NPT tap - lube the tap up good when taping for good clean threads. Cost should be about $35 for them from www.mcmastercarr.com