newbie help

Go to college too. Best piece of advice I can give you.

stykthyn said:

Go to college too. Best piece of advice I can give you.

Click to expand...

I agree

Money for college can be obtained through scholarships, grants, loans, etc. The Military will help pay for your tuition after the first 4 year enlistment. Military service will also instill a sense of purpose, direction, maturity and a good work ethic. I would recommend the Air Force or Navy, since their primary emphasis is you use you as a technician first and then then as a gun toting soldier second.

While you are doing your college or military service, there are some good budget things to do the your Mustang.

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.

+1 go to college.

--
Dan in ND

Go check out your local recruiters office. Best thing I ever did. Sure it sucks sometimes but it's a steady paycheck to pay for the toys!

go to college

Kid, college ain't for everyone, but if you have the aptitude you should strongly reconsider it. If not, then start doing something that will allow you to grow. That may be the military, or it might be some other profession. Don't start dicking around with cars until you've got the money to do it. This hobby is EXPENSIVE, and that means you need to find a steady paycheck first. For now, just keeping the damn thing running is going to cost you what you can afford.

Lol i was thinking maybe u were a year behind ur friends. I love how everyone jumped to the conclusion u werent going. Good on u for proving them wrong. Jrichter has a strong post about the boneyard budget stang.

Military!!!!!!!

lol... whoops

50ogtho - Can you supply a few more details about your car such as year, condition, body style (hatch or coupe, convertible, etc.), mass air vs speed density, etc. It would help in making suggestions for upgrades.

Actually a cam would be one of the more advanced things you will need to do. Everybody wants the lumpy idle, but without the proper supporting heads and intake you might actually wind up with a slower car.