new guy

Welcome to Stangnet.

Pics please?

another one!

Don't by any books yet. You're better off getting a feel for the hobby by chatting with guys on the internet to begin with.

Your question doesn't have a correct answer and can't really be answered without more details from you. How much money do you have to spend? And what is your goal? What are your limitations? In other words, how streetable does the car have to be? Can you afford to pay more for maintenance such as tires every 5-6k miles? Is it a daily driver, garage queen, or something in between?

Thanks and welcome to SN,

Chris

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 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 $25-$35 from Borders.com see http://www.amazon.com/ . Select b...d.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 sign 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.

+1 on everything jrichker said, i have the book he mentioned, its pretty much the man

Welcome to the land of Oz.

I don't even have to read what jrichter wrote to agree with it. That cat is usually spot on so read what he said carefully.

It sounds to me like you need to bone up on your engine building/technology fundamentals before you jump into the game with the 5.0. You're going to want to do a LOT of things to the car before you're ready to throw a power adder at it.

Some GREAT reading material that I would reccomend to anybody, new or old to Fox Mustangs, is The Official Ford Mustang 5.0 Technical Reference & Performance Handbook. Most book stores can get you a copy, and I believe you can even buy it through places like 50resto.com and mustangsunlimited.com. Half of that huge book is dedicated to each model year, 79-93, including limited run offshoots like SSP cars and the Cobra cars. The other half of the book is dedicated to the components and hopping up/modifying the cars. Once again, GREAT reading. Buy one.

deerhunter1947 said:

i want the best bang for the buck, i would like to get about 400h.p. . the car will be used more for the weekends. i want it to be a play toy. i'am middle aged crazy. fast motorcycles and cars. i would like to know more about the mass air ,is more better? is nitrous better than supercharging? i want to start this project soon. at this time am building an old school chopper, 750 honda, rigid frame and springer frontend.

Click to expand...

So, if I understand right, your goals are 1. 400 hp, 2. best bang for the buck, 3. weekend toy

Hands down, nitrous is the best bang for the buck hp adder on the planet. Personally I have seen an individual running a 250 shot on a stock block stock internaled 302. However, this is not something I recommend nor would I try this on anything I owned. However, a 150 shot of nitrous is actually pretty common and the block will take it just fine.

To make 400 hp as cheap as possible, this is the way I would go about it:
1x stock 302 in with a good compression test
+ used Cobra or GT40 intake
+ stock panel replacement K&N filter
+ U/D pullies (consider not installing the alternator pulley if the alt is stock)
+ used 1 5/8" long tube headers w/ corresponding H or X pipe
+ the aftermarket mufflers of your choice
+ 1x used 75 to 80 mm MAF
+ 1x used 65-70mm TB
+ 8x 42 lbs injectors
+ any reputable brand 150 shot nitrous wet kit
+ SCT tune or any piggyback tuner of your choice
+ dyno time

That'll be good for 400 at the crank. If you want more, then next places you should invest are the heads/cam/ valve-train. Keep in mind that with the torque you'll make with this kit, the stock T5 tranny will give up the ghost sooner rather than later. This is just one way to do it, but since you're looking to do it on the cheap, I think this is very cost effective and will set you up for future mods.

Chris

Nitrous is not "better" than supercharging. It's just a different way to make power. Use the search feature if you would like to learn more about their differences.

Chris

NikwoaC said:

Some GREAT reading material that I would reccomend to anybody, new or old to Fox Mustangs, is The Official Ford Mustang 5.0 Technical Reference & Performance Handbook. Most book stores can get you a copy, and I believe you can even buy it through places like 50resto.com and mustangsunlimited.com. Half of that huge book is dedicated to each model year, 79-93, including limited run offshoots like SSP cars and the Cobra cars. The other half of the book is dedicated to the components and hopping up/modifying the cars. Once again, GREAT reading. Buy one.

Click to expand...

have that one too, another awesome book.

some others i have:

Building High Performance Fox-Body Mustangs On a Budget - george reid
just as the title reads, good book

Fox-Body Mustang Recognition Guide - peter sessler
awesome book if your bored and sitting around, year by year production numbers, options, vin decoder, etc. awesome book

have fun!

Welcome aboard!