Was going through all my car's receipts from the original owner (only been her and me) to see if i needed new 02 sensors to put in with the build and saw that in late 00 the orig. owner had the intake manifold crack and steam/overheating. In fact all the check-up/tune ups before note .1 labor hours allocated to check for a crack on it - so they obviously knew about it by around 97/98. Well they replaced the intake manifold and everything accompanying it with a "ok-inspected new manifold". You can bet that this was also plastic so that when i bought the car in early 03 i have the same problem almost a year later when my car's not covered by the recall lawsuit or warranty. This was before i knew squat about mustangs, so i ended up spending like $900
/rant
On a side note it looks like the owner had rear end noise and spent $740 for a new u-joint, rear end seals/bearings and all with new fluid. And i bought the car about 2k miles after that, explains why 15k miles after that when i put gears it the bearings looked brand new. All the receipts show the owners were a tune-up/check-up nazi too and replaced anything that made noise as well - so thats a nice feeling.
Bad note tho, motorcraft 02's are like $108 for a pair
thought i'd fill you guys in
/rantOn a side note it looks like the owner had rear end noise and spent $740 for a new u-joint, rear end seals/bearings and all with new fluid. And i bought the car about 2k miles after that, explains why 15k miles after that when i put gears it the bearings looked brand new. All the receipts show the owners were a tune-up/check-up nazi too and replaced anything that made noise as well - so thats a nice feeling.
Bad note tho, motorcraft 02's are like $108 for a pair
thought i'd fill you guys in
) So just be happy you know the car and have all thoes records for it. O2s on ebay are 30-40 for Bosch and Randy would prolly know for sure but I have heard Bosch actually makes the factory ones and they are rebadged as Motorcraft. I was just looking at a used ex-cop car for a DD and the lot that had 7 of them had one in great shape but had a cracked plenum. I told the owner he could get an aftermarket metal one for the same price as stock and it would also improve power and reliability since it will prolly crack again. Of course he didnt believe me and told me I dont know enough about the Ford engines to say that cause hes been working on the cop cars for yada yada yada. Hell I even said Ill give you $2000 and fix it myself but he was firm on $2500 and he had to fix it 
which at that point I said "this 2500 bucks Im holding dosent like you so I cant give it to you" 
