hello all. new member here

Welcome to the forum! Alot of good stuff on here just make sure you look at all the stickies before asking any questions about stuff that has been posted a million times! (and whatever you say dont mention the d-word!! Tortilla chip thats triangle shaped and has a nacho cheese flavor!!! lol you will never hear the end of it!)

If your headed to the junk yard don't forget that you can also find gt-40 heads on an explorer(95-96 i think) which wont require special headers but is debatable whether there as good as p heads. Good luck and happy hunting!

p.s. Might want to put in a signature as to what car you have and where your from. That way people know what car your referring to and you might be able to meet up with other members in your area and get deals on parts.

Welcome to the neighborhood! Can't wait to see it!

bigH82 said:

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum. i am finally a mustang owner again. I had an 02 gt 6 years ago that i parted ways with and regretted it. Last wednesday I signed over my first 5.0. An 89 lx vert 5 spd.....bone stock. Cant wait to start pulling it apart. This will be my budget project because the wife has a tight leash on my wallet so ill be headed out to the junk yard to find myself a set of gt40p heads and upper/lower intake. Fun times await.

Click to expand...

Welcome. I did the Explorer top end swap a few months back. Make sure you get the upgraded TFS springs if you want to put a cam in it. (TFS-2500100). While you are there, get the MAF from a 94-95 GT. They are a direct swap for the factory 58MM and are 70MM. You'll need to either fab an adapter or they sell them on EBAY. Also, grab the 130 amp 3g alternator off the same car. It is an easy upgrade from the stock 75amp unit. Sticking with the Mustangs, any 94-2004 front seats will bolt right in and are a great upgrade. While you are there, pull the e fan out of a 1990's taurus ( think it's the 3.8?). Then when you have some more money, you can swap out for 5 lug brakes by taking the spindles, calipers, rotors, and rear end out of the 94-96.

Many people have done some or all of these and a lot more.

Welcome! Post some pics!!!

GT40 top end kit is worth the money. I am doing it as we speak. Just waiting on a few things and sending it to the shop to have it rebuilt and springs put on.

Welcome!

Now your next duty is pictures so get to work! Lol

Welcome to Stangnet...

Not all of us know how to fix everything, but some of us know how to fix some things
with excellence!


If you are in California or some other state with strict emissions laws, part of the deal should be that the owner takes the car and has it emissions tested. If it passes, you buy the car and pay for the emissions test cost, if any. If it does not pass, walk away from the deal. For a mechanically inexperienced owner, emissions related problems can be difficult and expensive to fix.

Keep in mind that states with strict emissions laws may make the go faster goals more difficult to reach. Some parts are OK to replace with aftermarket parts and others aren't. Check carefully before you get out your wallet and buy something you can't use in the area where you live.


If you want to do the fix up & power up thing, make sure that you have some other
form of reliable daily driver. That way the stang can sit while your wallet and hands
take a rest from the last project that didn't quite get finished on that 3 day weekend.
Things always cost more and take longer the first time you do them. Having some
other working vehicle makes life easier since it isn't the big crush to get it running
for the Monday morning drive to work or class.

Plan on spending some money on tools it you don't already have them. The stang
has both metric and American fasteners, so you really need two sets of wrenches.
A timing light, digital voltmeter, vacuum gauge, compression tester, fuel pressure
test gauge and fuel line coupler tools are some of the test & tuning tools you'll need.
Visit the pawn shops and sometimes you can find a deal on tools & test equipment
if you stick to well known name brands.

A sheltered work area is almost a must, someplace that you can leave the car in
pieces without upsetting anyone. Some guys here have changed a transmission in
the parking lot of their apartment in a rainstorm, but they will tell you it wasn't fun.
Depending on where you live, a warm dry garage is a nice place to do the winter
projects that stangs tend to become.

EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) Computer - every stang after 85 has or had one:
don't let it intimidate you. The computer based EFI systems are not hard to fix
and most of the time they tell you what's wrong with the engine. Here's a book
that will get you started with how the Ford electronic engine control or "computer" works.

Ford Fuel Injection & Electronic Engine Control 1988-1993 by James Probst:
ISBN 0-8376-0301-3.

It's about $35-$45 from Borders.com see http://www.amazon.com/ . Select
books and then select search. Use the ISBN number (without dashes or spaces)
to do a search

Use the ISBN number and your local library can get you a loaner copy for free.
Only thing is you are limited to keeping the book for two weeks. It is very good,
and I found it to be very helpful.

For lots of great ideas and tech notes on upgrades and repairs, be sure to check
out http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=643651 “Useful Technical Thread Index” sticky at the top of the 5.0 Tech forum.

Things that break often:
T5 5 speed manual transmission (syncros go bad, mostly 3rd gear)
TFI Module (Thin Film Ignition module - mounts on the distributor)
Electric door locks (see the link in my sig for a cheap & easy fix)
O2 sensors(oxygen sensors) They are good for about 60,000 miles and start to go
down hill after that.
TPS Sensor (Throttle Position Sensor) causes flaky problems with idle & acceleration.
Fog lights They overheat the wiring and cause the headlights to flicker. The fix is
cheap and simple if you can do electrical stuff.
Harmonic Balancer – they separate between the hub and outer ring. A harmonic
balancer puller is a must have to change it. You can rent or borrow a puller from
most of the larger auto parts stores.

Things that are very durable:
Engine - as long as it hasn't been abused, it will run good for 150,000-200,000
miles without an overhaul
Rear axle other than an occasional case of worn clutches in the traction lock,
they almost never have problems.
Computer - believe it or not, the computers seldom have problems of their own.
Most of the problems are with the sensors and the wiring.
Suspension – the front and rear suspension has very few problems if the car hasn’t
been wrecked or seen a lot of drag strip runs. The drag strip runs tend to distort and
tear the mount points for the rear axle control arms. Revving the engine up to 4000
RPM and dumping the clutch with slicks or drag radials tends to break things.

Things that don’t break often but are hard to fix:
Water pump mount bolts – they corrode and shear off when you try to change the
water pump.
Rear oil seal on the engine – lots of parts to remove to get to a $20 seal.
Power steering pump – the pumps are noisy and the pulley requires some special
tools to remove and install. If you have the tools, they are easy to do. Again, the
larger auto parts stores will rent or loan the tools for the pulley.
Power Steering rack - it is hard to get the toe in set so that you can drive the car
to the shop to get it properly aligned.
Starter – the top bolt is hard to get a socket on if you don’t have the right combination
of socket, universal joint and extensions.

Everything considered, 5.0 Mustangs are not hard to work on. They just require
some patience and though before you get started.



249 to go and counting...

:worthless:

Welcome new member....I'm pretty new here as well and learning a lot everyday, thanks to the knowledgeable folks on here. I got my 5.0 around 6 years ago and after the 1st year of issues sort of let it be as it may after draining the funds replacing/upgrading things. Just now getting around to fixing the stuff that has history. And jrichker pointed out yet another issue that I need to address, 3rd gear syncros... didn't know they were prone to problems till reading this post. Now the irregular grinding in 3rd makes more sense.

welcome!

bigH82 said:

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Ill be sure to post pictures soon. Im already on my way to slightly modifying my car. Im picking up a pile of used parts for cheap. Aluminum driveshaft, gt40 upper and lower, shorty headers with an h-pipe. Throttle body and 70mm maf. 130 amp alternator and electric fan, cold air intake. Now i just need to find explorer heads and order valve springs and a mild cam and i think ill be happy for awhile. You all think I'd be okay with 19lb injectors or should i do a fuel pump and 24lb ?

Click to expand...

You should be fine with the stock injectors for now. If you plan on going over 280-300 hp, then yes step up to 24;s. You can bump up the fuel pressure and raise the hp level the injectors will support, but again the 19lb'ers are going to be working at 100%. Remember, you also need an MAF for 24's. You can look at the message board classifieds and CL as people are always swapping out their setups.
Injector Lb/Hr Max V8 HP HP supported by 1 injector Ford Color*
14 Lb/Hr 228 28.56 Gray
19 Lb/Hr 310 38.76 Orange
24 Lb/Hr 391 48.96 Lt Blue
30 Lb/Hr 490 61.19 Red
36 Lb/Hr 587 73.44 Dk Blue
42 Lb/Hr 685 85.68 Lt Green
60 Lb/Hr 800 100
*Colors are only constant for Ford Racing Performance Parts brand name injectors.

24lb injectors- (from the JY thread)

FORD E-250 ECONOLINE SUPER 1995
FORD E-350 ECONOLINE 1995
FORD E-350 ECONOLINE HD CLUB WAGON 1995
FORD E-350 ECONOLINE SUPER 1995
FORD E-350 ECONOLINE SUPER WAGON 1995
FORD F-250 (1991 - 1997)
FORD F-250 SUPER CAB (1991 - 1997)
FORD F-350 (1991 - 1997)
FORD F-350 SUPER CAB (1991 - 1997)
FORD F53 (1991 - 1997)
FORD MUSTANG COBRA (1993 - 1994)
FORD MUSTANG COBRA SVT 1995
FORD MUSTANG SVT COBRA R 1993

Welcome! Most the guys here are awsome and very helpful. Good luck with your build!

My copy and paste is broken but welcome I have lots of info, none of it will be of any real use

I always say Im a wealth of useless knowledge