Hello all, I am a newbie to Stangnet but not a newbie to the 5.0 scene, although it depends on how you define that.
I bought my 1988 5.0 LX new in 1988 and ordered it with the idea to make it a street weapon: A/C delete, with the only options being premium sound, rear defrost and the 5.0/T-5/3.08 option. Back in 1988 noone really knew what the 5.0 was about and trying to get any modification advice was like pulling teeth. I was able to tweak some things:
cast Hurst shifter
underdrive pulleys
Ford Motorsport (see? I told you this was a while ago!) 1.72 roller rockers
BBK headers, unequal
Ford MAF conversion
65mm throttle body port blended into OEM upper plenum
K&N cone filter mounted directly on the MAF body
polyurethane bushings
Flowmaster 3 chambers w OEM tail pipes
Ford Motorsport wires, Jacobs cap and rotor
MSD 6A ignition
The car ran and looked great from day one until some time back in 1991 when I put it away with 16,000 original miles on the clock. In the mean time I have been distracted by my two great kids, two Ducatis and starting my business practice. I had the car safely put away in a garage owned by a friend of the family and it shared space with an auto body shop. Well, hard times it the body shop and I got a call saying the body guy was going to be evicted and if I cared about the car I should "rescue" it ASAP before anything unfortunate happened to it. SO, except for a brief outing in 1992 to have the cats replaced under a recall, I haven't driven the car. I did rescue it and drove it around my neighborhood (and it ran GREAT) but that has been it. Needless to say it needs some serious help. I have planned/have done the following triage procedures:
> New plug wires (old ones were chewed by mice who made a nest under the upper plenum), cap and rotor
> Oil change
> Radiator fluid change and change belts to Ford Racing blue silicone
> Bleed the brakes
> Change the fuel filter
> Update shifter to Pro 5.0
> Update alternator to PA Performance 130 Amp unit
> Change plugs
> Installed new MSD ignition coil
> Clean and re-oil K&N filter
> Clean MAF sensor
> Change transmission fluid
Is there anything else I may have been missing? Any "while you are in there" tricks? I have done a TON of reading and found Stangnet to be the best forum out there and I am looking forward to having fun here.
Here are some other questions (I did a search but cannot find any specific info):
1) I picked up a set of 1996 Mercury Mountaineer GT-40 heads that need some cleaning but are otherwise in good shape. How do I go about plumbing for the thermactor ports? How much needs to be shaved off of these to maintain my OEM compression?
2) What should it run to have 3.55 gears installed? Way back when I found a brand new Auburn diff for sale and scooped it up. It has been sitting in a box for years and needs a home. A local "differential specialist" quoted me about $700 to install including gears, oil, bearings, shims, tax and labor.
3) Will an SN-95 OEM 70mm MAF fit and work with my OEM computer and 19lb injectors?
4) Can I still comfortably run 19lb injectors with GT-40 heads, 1.72 rockers, OEM cam and an OEM Explorer intake?
5) Is there a reputable machine shop in the Boston area that I can bring the heads to? Way back when everything was experimental and I had to overexplain what I wanted in order for things to turn out right. I am hoping I can bring these somewhere and the shop will know more about what needs to be done than I do.
Sorry for the 1,000 newbie questions! Thanks in advance for your help.
I bought my 1988 5.0 LX new in 1988 and ordered it with the idea to make it a street weapon: A/C delete, with the only options being premium sound, rear defrost and the 5.0/T-5/3.08 option. Back in 1988 noone really knew what the 5.0 was about and trying to get any modification advice was like pulling teeth. I was able to tweak some things:
cast Hurst shifter
underdrive pulleys
Ford Motorsport (see? I told you this was a while ago!) 1.72 roller rockers
BBK headers, unequal
Ford MAF conversion
65mm throttle body port blended into OEM upper plenum
K&N cone filter mounted directly on the MAF body
polyurethane bushings
Flowmaster 3 chambers w OEM tail pipes
Ford Motorsport wires, Jacobs cap and rotor
MSD 6A ignition
The car ran and looked great from day one until some time back in 1991 when I put it away with 16,000 original miles on the clock. In the mean time I have been distracted by my two great kids, two Ducatis and starting my business practice. I had the car safely put away in a garage owned by a friend of the family and it shared space with an auto body shop. Well, hard times it the body shop and I got a call saying the body guy was going to be evicted and if I cared about the car I should "rescue" it ASAP before anything unfortunate happened to it. SO, except for a brief outing in 1992 to have the cats replaced under a recall, I haven't driven the car. I did rescue it and drove it around my neighborhood (and it ran GREAT) but that has been it. Needless to say it needs some serious help. I have planned/have done the following triage procedures:
> New plug wires (old ones were chewed by mice who made a nest under the upper plenum), cap and rotor
> Oil change
> Radiator fluid change and change belts to Ford Racing blue silicone
> Bleed the brakes
> Change the fuel filter
> Update shifter to Pro 5.0
> Update alternator to PA Performance 130 Amp unit
> Change plugs
> Installed new MSD ignition coil
> Clean and re-oil K&N filter
> Clean MAF sensor
> Change transmission fluid
Is there anything else I may have been missing? Any "while you are in there" tricks? I have done a TON of reading and found Stangnet to be the best forum out there and I am looking forward to having fun here.
Here are some other questions (I did a search but cannot find any specific info):
1) I picked up a set of 1996 Mercury Mountaineer GT-40 heads that need some cleaning but are otherwise in good shape. How do I go about plumbing for the thermactor ports? How much needs to be shaved off of these to maintain my OEM compression?
2) What should it run to have 3.55 gears installed? Way back when I found a brand new Auburn diff for sale and scooped it up. It has been sitting in a box for years and needs a home. A local "differential specialist" quoted me about $700 to install including gears, oil, bearings, shims, tax and labor.
3) Will an SN-95 OEM 70mm MAF fit and work with my OEM computer and 19lb injectors?
4) Can I still comfortably run 19lb injectors with GT-40 heads, 1.72 rockers, OEM cam and an OEM Explorer intake?
5) Is there a reputable machine shop in the Boston area that I can bring the heads to? Way back when everything was experimental and I had to overexplain what I wanted in order for things to turn out right. I am hoping I can bring these somewhere and the shop will know more about what needs to be done than I do.
Sorry for the 1,000 newbie questions! Thanks in advance for your help.