help me spend $1000

On a budget? do the junkyard upgrade...

Gears - 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe rear axle - disc brakes and 3.55 or 3.73 gears in one package for $125-$300. Add another $100-$200 or so to complete the brake upgrade.

94-95 Mustang GT MAF - $40-$100. It is 70 MM instead of the stock 55 MM on regular stangs built prior to 94. It uses a slip on duct on the side that goes to the throttle body and a 4 bolt flange on the other. You need a flange adapter to fit the stock slip on air ducting that goes to the air box. Wiring plugs right in with no changes. *1 *2

95-97 Ford Explorer intake manifold & throttle body $150-$300. The intake manifold flows 220 CFM +, much better than stock. Throttle body is 65 MM, bigger than the 60 MM on stock stangs. I got a 96 with EGR passages that match the stock setup, so my smog gear works just like factory. You’ll need a 65 MM EGR spacer & new gaskets for $65-$90 so you have a place to mount the EGR & throttle linkage.

3G alternator from 94-95 Mustangs or other Ford. $20-$120. A must have to make the electrical system work like it should or if you have an electric fan. You’ll need a 4 gauge power wire and a 125-135 amp fuse to go with it about $15- $30.

Lincoln MK VIII electric fan -$40-$160. Free up some HP by not having to drive the stock fan. The 3G alternator upgrade is a must have prerequisite before you do the MK VIII fan. You won’t have enough electrical power if you don’t do the 3G upgrade.

Aluminum driveshaft: (courtesy of shawn13) It needs to be from a 92-93-94 Aerostar AWD. It measures 45 ½” center of the front U-joint to center of the rear U-joint. You will need the U-joint, part #PUJ353 from NAPA. The Canadian NAPA pat number is 1-0134BF. It should bolt right up after the U-joint swap.

Note: This driveshaft is not an exact duplicate of the Ford Racing part. It is 3” in diameter while the Ford Racing part is 3.5” in diameter. There is no guarantee that the balance will be any better than the stock part.

Use a piece of string and wrap it around the driveshaft. Make a mark on the string where the ends overlap. Measure the length of the string:
On the 3" AeroStar driveshaft the string will be 9.42" or about 9 7/16" long.
On the Ford Racing 3.5" driveshaft the string will be 10.99" or about 11" long

*1.) Metal flange adapter Ford MAF Adapters - Air Filters - Kurtz Kustomz Motorsports, Inc. KKM Buy the TR70 for $40. Or spend some time on eBay looking for one that may fit.

*2.) MAF & sensor interchange
The 94-95 Mustang 5.0 MAF & sensor is also found on:
1995-94 Mustang 3.8L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Crown Victoria 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1995-94 Mustang, Mustang Cobra 5.0L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Town Car 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Grand Marquis 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
Evidently the –A1A, -A2A, AA, etc. on the end of the part number is a minor variant that did not change the operating specs. You should be able to ignore it and have everything work good.
 
I'm not a big believer in the aluminum driveshaft or flywheel, though I've had the D/S.

I agree with the driveshaft, I'm not convinced it's worth the price. Those things are getting crazy expensive.

I'm also no longer a big advocate of electric fans.

Eh, I like the e-fan for reasons outside of just performance. It makes working on the front end of the engine sooooo much easier. Less moving parts when I'm setting the timing. Also, there's no worry about misalignment with the shroud with an e-fan.

But yea, there are definitely other things to spend money on first.
 
Nik is on the money, as usual. If you go with used parts, you'll get all of it done and still have a little money left over.

After thinking about it, I'd agree with Fastdriver and Nik here... Making it breath will bring the hp. Bang for the buck would be exhaust+headers( I prefer long tubes for max hp & torque yield), intake and gears. Maybe a good camshaft if you can squeeeze it in there.

I always had a hard time spending a wad on a bunch of little items that I could pick up here and there. This is why I said power adder or heads. I always try to save the wad-o-cash for the big money items that will take a while to save back up for. Albeit you aren't going to find a power adder for a grand, and the exhaust is a better starting point than expensive heads.:nice:


Oh, and pay attention to what Jrichker has to say- he amazes me constantly!

CARRY ON!!!:D