The Mustang is about to be the only kid on the block

[19Walt93]

Remember....hp spec changes in those years gross and net.

They switched to net hp in about 72, that wasn't the source of most of the power loss, it just lowered the ratings.
Compression ratios dropped. cam timing was retarded, fuel mixtures were leaned out, and exhaust was restrictive. Ignition timing advance curves were tightened- read that restricted. From 73-76 Ford raised the deck height of 302's(and I think 351's) by .023" which dropped the compression. The crank sprocket had 6 degrees of retard built into it. They decided it was cheaper to cast the thermactor passages into cylinder heads than to use external tubes and that intruded on the ports, my thumb wouldn't fit in the ports on my 302 heads. My 1977 Duraspark distributor's centrifugal advance wasn't all in until over 4500 rpms. The stock exhaust manifolds had 1 3/4" outlets, into a 1 3/4" Y pipe which went to about 2 1/4", into the cat, back out at 1 3/4" and into the resonator , then over the axle and into the muffler. A V8 Mustang II ran 17.7 at about 80 mph according to magazine tests and got 12 mpg- at least according to all the customer complaints we got. Low compression + retarded timing + lean fuel mix = a lot more throttle to do the job and that killed the gas mileage.

 

[bobbywalter]

Yeah.....I wasted alot of time bumping cams and recurving camper specials.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

you guys were in school to recently. in the early 90s, mustangs and camaros still were the cars. especially old ones

When I was in high school (1987-1991) the guys drove either Camaros/Trans-Ams, or 1970's boats. A couple of my friends had 1970's Toyotas. The girls, on the other hand, seemed to drive newer, compact economy cars.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Basically true. The original Mustang was based on the Falcon and was marketed as a sporty (not sports) car that had something for everyone depending on options. The Mustang replaced a sporty version of the Falcon and, some say, eventually killed the Falcon line.

What everyone seems to have forgotten about the pony and muscle cars of the 1960s, such as the Mustang, Camaro, etc., is that high-power V-8s were surprisingly rare from the factory. Most of those cars had inline-6 engines. Ford built lots of six-cylinder Mustangs then.

The original mustang was marketed as a "secrataries car"....ie a cute easy to drive car for women (remember it was 1964 lol)

It wasnt untill 67 when they amped it up as a "pony car"...alot of people use the term "muscle car" to cover the mustang or camaro (you could throw the challenger in there but in reality it kinda blurred the lines) but in reality they were pony cars.

Pony cars were meant more for "all around" performance driving, as they tender to be lighter, supposdly handle and stop better then a "muscle car"

A "muscle car" was the chargers, chevelles, roadrunners, and torinos. Stopping and steering were basically an afterthought with primary focus being going like hell in a 1/4 mi

Personally mustangs were always kinda overrated to me. The only ones i really care about are the 71-73 big bodies anf the foxes. The 70s mustang 2's looked cool with all the cobra graphics but they were basically a pinto with a wheezing 302.

Anything after 93 in the mustang world to me is "meh"

The modern camaro is ugly as piss, as were the 90s ones, dodge IMO totally owns the modern muscle market

That's what I thought.

 

[19Walt93]

The original Mustang was a sporty looking car based on the Falcon to make it affordable for the young people it was intended to appeal to.
The newer Mustangs handle better, are built much better, are faster, and are much quieter inside, and are priced accordingly.
Ford forgot the "affordable for young people part".

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I read Bobby's post as if he was saying the oil pressure problems varied from one truck to the next. But your interpretation might make more sense.

Instead of the oil pressure running like 20psi at idle and 60psi on the highway no matter what the computer fiddles with it to adjust the pressure to be exactly where it needs to be.

It goes both ways too, maybe at lower rpm under certain conditions it could use more pressure/volume than the old system could do.

If course if anything goes sideways catastrophic damage can occur.

I know the 2.3eb is variable.

 

[Roert42]

Got a little servo or something that runs it instead of a gear?

 

[superj]

When I was in high school (1987-1991) the guys drove either Camaros/Trans-Ams, or 1970's boats. A couple of my friends had 1970's Toyotas. The girls, on the other hand, seemed to drive newer, compact economy cars.

i guess its also where people went to school. i went to three high schools in different areas of the country so i did see different cars being cool depending on where i went.

1990/91 and 1991/92 school years in socal was low riders for some but most kids having hand me downs from mom or dad which were mostly 70s/80s mid level cars (though some rich kids had cool european sports cars). hardly any trucks though.

1992/93 school year was northeastern texas, in a small country school that was almost all pick up trucks. most were full size, lifted, and extended cabs. parents seem to have more money to spend buying kids vehicles that were not hand me downs as the trucks were all nicer and newer than i would have had. i got a super cool 76 buick regal to drive back and forth to work. had a v6 so gas mileage wasn't horrible and i could load it up with friends and chicks to go to the river in.

93/94 school year was south texas on the coast. mix of all types of cars and lots of trucks. most cool kids had sports cars or trucks. vehicles did also seem to be hand me downs, like socal. not alot of newer vehicles and not a lot of nicer since a lot of people hung out on the beach so we all had rusty vehicles.

the beach caused the decline of my favorite truck, my 85 f150 extended cab. surfing everyday caused it to rust through the bed terribly. i could reach in to the bed, through the bed wall, from the side of the truck to get small things from the bed.

 

[superj]

camaros and mustangs were at all schools though. no mopar sports cars, because we all know about those years and mopar cars