Restoring the old Eight Nine Stang

[AgPete139]

I'm now running 24 lb. injectors, with 1.7 Cobra Rockers and an Explorer intake. I usually get 270-290 miles out of a tank with normal driving - this is including the occasional run in's with the Ricers. But if I watch myself, I have gotten 340-370 miles (mostly freeway though). It's very hard because I've always got some fruit cake punk wanting his doors blown off. Anyway....... I actually read about this method in a magazine (Super Ford or MM&FF) some time ago. There were some guys who were battling to see who could get the best mpg's out of their hopped up rides. I remember one of them being a Fairmont. I tried it, and it worked.

Interesting. Staying off the gas and pretending there's an egg under it is one mental mindset I try to use for better MPG's. I like reading articles, and MM&FF is great. Do you have a scanned pic or an online article to the one you read? (It's prolly no different than every other article, though.)

What gears are you running?

Stock, whichever that is. I forget, but IIRC it was 3.27. I looked at it a couple years back out of curiosity, and promptly forget. My two 4.0 Rangers, on the other hand, have had 3.08 to 4.10, and 3.55 to 4.88. Now you've got me curious, and I'm gonna recheck & commit to memory. I think it's also do for a limited slip rebuild and gear oil change @ 100K.

I run a mass air adjuster too, which helps fine tune. Forgot about this.

http://www.mass-air.com/Products.htm#Air Adjuster!!

Interesting. Reading more up on this...but still, I wouldn't want my 5.0 to run lean for extended periods of time, especially with my timing advanced. What is your timing set at?

I've mentioned this before, but it finally looks like the trans is coming out next week. My friend is going to build it for me since it's sitting at his shop anyway. I'm going to have him pop a new rear seal in it while it's apart because it leaks like an SOB. The best part, I asked him how much and he said "don't worry about it". At first he told me all I had to do was buy the parts. So in the past 2 years my girls got new heads, new paint, and a soon to be new T5 (and a new LUK clutch if my King Cobra is worn too much).

BTW, do any of you have any experience with a LUK clutch in a Mustang? I've had the stock, a Perfection Hy-Test (they also make Zoom), and this FMS King Cobra. The King Cobra is BY FAR the best clutch I've ever had. The Perfection Hy-Test was a big POS and the disc actually busted all to hell on me once when I down shifted.

Awesome. I rebuilt the tranny in my 1970 Porsche with a friend for free, and he showed me a couple ways to refinish certain parts. Like the dog teeth & synchros...some couple be flipped around, 5th could be switched & flipped with 1st (since there is 0 wear on the backside of the 5th), etc.

King is a really good clutch, and I've also had the stock from Ford, and the FRPP clutch (which is good & grabby, but not as smooth for DD, IMO).

 

[shane96ranger]

Interesting. Staying off the gas and pretending there's an egg under it is one mental mindset I try to use for better MPG's. I like reading articles, and MM&FF is great. Do you have a scanned pic or an online article to the one you read? (It's prolly no different than every other article, though.)

Hopefully I still have it. I'll go through the ones I kept. I seriously through 5 or 6 apple crate size boxes of Mustang magazines last summer. I skimmed through all of them and kept the articles I liked. Hopefully that one caught my eye and it's in my stash.

Stock, whichever that is. I forget, but IIRC it was 3.27

If it's a T5 (IIRC yours is) it was a 2.73 as base, with a 3.08 option. The AOD was 2.73 base with a 3.27 option.

Interesting. Reading more up on this...but still, I wouldn't want my 5.0 to run lean for extended periods of time, especially with my timing advanced. What is your timing set at?

I have it at 13 btdc. It's really not making it run lean, just leaner than factory. It doesn't ping at all. Every single Fox Stang that myself or my friends have owned all ran rich. Mine it only set at -.02 off of the original signal. Another one of the many things I have to be installed is a new Air/Fuel ratio gauge, this will help me even further fine tune it. I also have a new Holley adjustable Fuel Pressure regulator waiting to go in - my old Paxton regulator started pissing fuel out the vacuum port, so in a pinch I put a factory regulator back in (no bueno).

Awesome. I rebuilt the tranny in my 1970 Porsche with a friend for free, and he showed me a couple ways to refinish certain parts. Like the dog teeth & synchros...some couple be flipped around, 5th could be switched & flipped with 1st (since there is 0 wear on the backside of the 5th), etc.

King is a really good clutch, and I've also had the stock from Ford, and the FRPP clutch (which is good & grabby, but not as smooth for DD, IMO).

I am very excited. I just talked to him a couple hours ago, and he said it might be going on the rack tomorrow now. I really really like the King Cobra. I almost hope it's still in good shape so I can just reuse it. Mine is one of the first versions of the King Cobra, I put it on 10 or 11 years ago. From what I understand, the newer ones have a stiffer pressure plate than mine.

 

[shane96ranger]

Hells yeah, the T5 comes out tonight!!!!

 

[AgPete139]

Whoop!

 

[shane96ranger]

Due to some unforeseen rush jobs my buddy got, he just pulled the old T5 out this morning. He just called me and said 2nd gear is shot. I wonder how that could have happened?

I should have her back on the road in the next two or three days :

Oh, and I will get some pics when I go see it tomorrow. I don't want to see someone pull this out on me:

 

[AgPete139]

Well, luckily for us, all we have to do is quote you from now on, instead!!

Anyways, keep us updated. Don't you just love a fresh tranny?

 

[shane96ranger]

Alright, here they are. My phone sucks at close ups, so they are bit blurry. The synchronizer was shot, so it chewed the hell out of the gear set. It shifted very nicely if I was behaving myself, but it didn't like me when I gave it hell.

 

[Boggin]

lol nice one dude. im really itching to get mine going again, the dude should be done building the engine in a couple weeks, should be the perfect timing for summer to be here too!

 

[shane96ranger]

lol nice one dude. im really itching to get mine going again, the dude should be done building the engine in a couple weeks, should be the perfect timing for summer to be here too!

Right on, are you doing anything extra to the motor for more go? I'm really itching to get this thing back. I should be rolling it this weekend - and the work will begin. I have badges to put on, moldings to put on, LX tails to put on......yada yada yada.

OH!!! And it needs some photos after all of that junk......

 

[Boggin]

not really just the polished Holley Systemax lower intake manifold, i think it should be better than it always was anyways with a good rebuild. i probably would have her out on the road already if it wasnt for the overlapped crank bearing lol

 

[shane96ranger]

not really just the polished Holley Systemax lower intake manifold, i think it should be better than it always was anyways with a good rebuild. i probably would have her out on the road already if it wasnt for the overlapped crank bearing lol

A new motor is in the plans for mine, but it's a couple years out. In the past I've wanted to do a 347, but I'm backing away from that a bit.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Interesting. Reading more up on this...but still, I wouldn't want my 5.0 to run lean for extended periods of time, especially with my timing advanced. What is your timing set at?

Actually, when tuning for "lean cruise", you want to advance timing as you lean it out.

 

[shane96ranger]

Paint Job - Check
New Transmission - Check
Bring Her Home - Check



The new trans shifts wonderfully, as I thought it would. For the record, Ford recommends ATF to go into the T5. I've had several people tell me it's far too thin for a T5, and had a few people suggest 10W-30 or 15W40. It had 15W-40 in before, so it got 15W-40 in it again. Anyway......

I like pics. Here's a couple I took when I got it home.


She looks like she's smiling in the top picture =) Just like me

 

[shane96ranger]

Well, the check engine light is telling me the right side O2 sensor is no bueno, and there seems to be a problem with the wiring on my ACT sensor I relocated, unless that has taken a dump too.

If it ain't one thing, it's a dozen.

By the way, any of you Stangers got a set of O2 sensors for sale?

 

[Boggin]

i will check on the o2s for ya.. and those pics make me sad, i want mine done!