Engine Putting the Windsor on a diet

General karthief said:

Street cruiser or race car?
Aluminum heads are a big ticket weight wise, don't know what the suspension components are made of,

Click to expand...

Will probably change the intake and heads to a GT40/Cobra set-up eventually. I'm not looking for big power overall... 300hp at the crank is good enough for me.

It's actually my daily driver family hauler... lol. Only racing will be track days at Vancouver Island Motorsports Circuit. I'm not much of a drag or circle racer. Wanting to loose some weight up front to correct the F/R imbalance from the swap. I like a nimble car.

2000xp8 said:

Not sure what you mean by high rise intake (maybe it has an intake spacer?.
If it's fuel injected you will want a new intake to go with the heads regardless.
The heads are the only real engine mod that will take significant weight off the engine.

You could also move the battery to the trunk to offset the weight.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a 1989 5.0 H.O. with EFI. I don't know what was done... he said "high rise intake". It could just be a spacer or a product that's no longer available. The swap was done in 2000. I'm still waiting for the car to be delivered so I have done an inspection. This week!!!

Yeah, I'm doing a battery relocate or just a lightweight battery along with a mini-starter.

7991LXnSHO said:

How much do you have to spend on this project?

http://www.mustangandfords.com/parts/mdmp-0810-ford-aluminum-man-o-war-cylinder-block

Click to expand...

The swap is already done. At this point I'm only interested in bolt-on mods for the engine. The heads and intake being the most extreme. It already had exhaust.

All my money is going towards a proper suspension tune

2000xp8 said:

That's just a stock intake. Hard to to tell, but at most it has a small spacer.

If you search MichaelYount (here or just or on the internet), you will likely find volvo 5.0 info, if i remember correctly he was big on mustang volvo swap's although i heard somewhere it now has an LS3

Click to expand...

perhaps there is some terminology lost in translation. The “lower intake” was changed AFAIK... it could be a spacer, or a product that’s no longer offered. This was done 20 years ago.

I’ll get the car and paperwork in hand when it finally get to my driveway. The “upper intake”, or “intake plenum” is the stock one with a larger throttlebody.

Well, I got my hand on it finally. Yeah, it's the OE lower intake. Old Rick was confused about the fuel injection system of the 5.0L. He said it was "throttle body injection with a high rise intake". No biggy, he's just old school.

It does have a BBK 70mm throttle body... I had to adjust the idle speed to around 750-800 so it would idle nice and not be as finicky off the start.

I guess a GT40 heads and "cobra" intake are in order. I'll see if I can find a used set instead of buying new from Ford Racing.

Once I install coilerovers I'll notice the weight difference. I’m not much of a “strait lime/circle” guy. I like both kinds of corners... left and right. From what I feel it needs an adjustable pan-hard bar and stiffer rear springs. It’s solid, but wobbly.

I will need to change the final gear ratio dow to 1.31 or 1.54 (Volvo numbers). The '89 T-5 1st gear is way too short with 3.73s. I'd keep the 3.73s If I get lucky enough to find a '93 Cobra T-5... I'm not buying a new one from Tremec.