New Guy-New Car

[Goldcuffs]

Hey Guys,
New to the site and a first time Mustang owner. I bought an 89 LX 5.0 auto with 87K from this old guy that was supposedly the original owner for 1000 dollars. I couldn't pass it up. I'm from Florida and the car is in very good shape. The paint is faded on top and the drivers seat has a rip in it. The underside is completely rust free. The car in my opinion is kind of a dog. The engine sounds very good(no ticks or whines) I've heard talk about bumping the timing up a bit to help performance. Any other things besides the normal exhaust,K&N, ect... Thanks guys.

 

[jrichker]

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.

*1.) Metal flange adapter http://www.kustomz.com/cat3.html Buy the TR70 for $44.95. 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.

 

[Goldcuffs]

Wow!, thanks for all the good info!

 

[bloopbloob]

SUBFRAME CONNECTORS!!! about $100, and in my opinion, BY FAR the best mod you can do for your money. i regret not doing them sooner because i wanted to add Hp instead, and ignored the suggestions, but they are great.
The AOD's need help, but as a 5sp driver, i don't know much about them, someone will chime in. converter & gears would probably wake it up quite a bit.

also, budget & expectations? there are a million things we could list, but that would help narrow it down a lot.

oh, and no posting without pics of said car allowed! pics please!

 

[mercurycapri]

I would do under drive pulley's easiest upgrade you can do

 

[1.8kmint]

You should post up some nice pics... Welcome to stangnet...

Gears would be a good mod go with 4.10s if your keeping the auto...

If you describe more in depth of what you were expecting or comparing it to we could further help you with your problem...

Saying how much hp/torque your planning on wanting would help also.

Changing the fluids helps a lot and If you have any kind of a vacuum leak it will reduce gas mileage and performance.

 

[Arcane4565]

I've had both stock Foxes with 5spd and AOD..Night and day!AOD really bogs down the power.My current 92 GT,mostly stock,really woke up with only a stock 5spd swap..Remember,they only have around 220hp,new...Good luck..Jason

 

[mercurycapri]

I personally hate the AOD its stupid how you cant manually shift 1st to 2nd gear

 

[Goldcuffs]

Sorry this took so long, I loaned my camera out. I can only do 1 pic at a time unless I shrink it way down, sorry for the multiple posts.

 

[Goldcuffs]

one more

 

[Goldcuffs]

and another

 

[qtrracer]

Not go-fast, but the brakes on these things are terrible. Upgrade to some better frictions front and rear, SS brakes lines and if you can do the rear disc swap. With that said, going with the sn95 5-lug conversion is getting pretty cheap so if you need to do rotors, pads bearings and such anyway, and are in the market for new rims, you might compare the costs of fixing as opposed to the sn95 swap - which gets you so much better braking and huge upside potential. Also do the SFC and STB to stiffen the thing up.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Not a bad pick-up for $1000. You def made out.


Keep in mind the car is almost 20 years old, so a lot of stock 5.0's these days can be doggy. First thing i'd do is go through it with a complete tune up before tossing mods at it. A lot of times a lot of power is gained by replacing worn out parts like wires, cap rotor, etc when an owner neglects them for so long.

 

[SuperStang83]

You got a steal man! That car looks real nice. I would take 5L5's advice and start with a tune up, then go from there.

 

[HaynStang]

Nice looking car, and agreed on the tune up. That should help wake the car up if one hasn't been done for a while. Do wires/cap/rotor(brass terminals)/plugs (copper core)/pcv valve & screen (motorcraft), change all the fluids (your mileage is low enough you can go with synthetics), filters (motorcraft or purolator), clean the MAF, TB, and idle air control, throw a K&N on it, and maybe run some seafoam through the motor via a vaccum hose. I thought my car ran pretty decent when I bought it but these things really woke it up.

Once you're sure the car is running right you can start modding it... SFC's and an aftermarket H or X pipe if it's still got stock cats are a must-do, then some gears and trans upgrades to wake the AOD up...

 

[dresmnkaos]

not trying to steal this thread, but what is SEAFOAM?

 

[Goldcuffs]

Yes, I will definitely take your advise on the tune-up. It has original wires,cap,and rotor. I'm sure the plugs and everything else are also O.E. I have a motor-vac machine at work so I think I'll go that route instead of smoking out the shop with seafoam or should I do a combo of the two? Thanks for the advise guys.

 

[Goldcuffs]

not trying to steal this thread, but what is SEAFOAM?

It's an engine cleaner in a can that is sucked out through a vacuum hose, brake booster hose works best, and cleans intake runners, valves, combustion chamber, ect...

 

[Goldcuffs]

Nice looking car, and agreed on the tune up. That should help wake the car up if one hasn't been done for a while. Do wires/cap/rotor(brass terminals)/plugs (copper core)/pcv valve & screen (motorcraft), change all the fluids (your mileage is low enough you can go with synthetics), filters (motorcraft or purolator), clean the MAF, TB, and idle air control, throw a K&N on it, and maybe run some seafoam through the motor via a vaccum hose. I thought my car ran pretty decent when I bought it but these things really woke it up.

Once you're sure the car is running right you can start modding it... SFC's and an aftermarket H or X pipe if it's still got stock cats are a must-do, then some gears and trans upgrades to wake the AOD up...

I know what a pcv valve is but what do you mean by the screen?

 

[bloopbloob]

I know what a pcv valve is but what do you mean by the screen?

when you pull the pcv, there is a screen sitting underneath you'll need to fish out. you can use a magnet, or sometimes spinning a small screw on it will grab it. other ways, but i've heard those two are among the easiest.. i'd just spray it with some brake cleaner to clean it up if needed.