1995 Mustang GT - Can we get it smogged in Cali ??? [Archive]

DCx

05-23-2022, 05:44 PM

I just bought a house in the San Bernardino Mountains and just needed another car to throw at the corners on my way home, what better way than a fox platform mustang GT with a 5 speed!

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I Picked up this gem for $1500 less than a mile from my folks house. I've been watching it dry rot for the last decade and finally decided to make an offer on it. I bought it without even really looking at it. The old lady I got it from gave me her power of attorney paperwork and a clean Arizona title. I went to AAA for a planned non-op but since its from out of state I need a VIN verification by either AAA, highway patrol, or a VIN service, but either way its mine now.

I was really surprised to see how clean the interior was and all of the notable modifications done to the car. Here is a short list of what I have found on it so far:

Trick Flow - Street heat (or burner) intake manifold
no-name Aluminum 94-95 intake throttle body spacer
Trick Flow Twisted wedge heads
Trick Flow Valve covers
Ford racing aluminum drive shaft
Aluminum radiator
30mm front sway bar
24lb injectors
Ford racing plug wires
75mm Granitelli MAF
Adjustable fuel pressure regulator
BBK cold air intake
BBK underdrive pulleys
MAC direct fit 1 5/8 shorty headers
welded Magnaflow mufflers
Way too much 90s-2000s stereo equipemt (jensen single disc head unit, 10 disc changer, jensen 4 channel amp, two sub boxes with 10s and miles of wires. I promptly ripped it all out. I was very please to see they used metra plugs and dint damage any of the factory stuff.

Everything electrical on the car works when tested with a new battery, even the old Clifford alarm starter relay and door locks functioned. I will probably rip that out too. I put fresh oil and gas in it and it cranked and cranked but had no fuel pressure. I dropped the tank and found a completely seized fuel pump with a rotted fuel feed hose. The tank vent and filler tube grommets were toast as well. I pretty much stopped right there and immediately order parts from LMR.

So far I have picked up:
BMR single adjustable upper and lower rear control arms with spherical bushings
J&M spherical dif bushings
LMR lowering springs
LMR caster camber plates
LMR bump steer kit
Steeda clutch quadrant and cable
BBK bolt in frame connectors with seat supports
KYB shocks and struts
Prothane bushings (front control arms, sway bar, end links, rack, coil springs
Walbro 155lph fuel pump
LMR NVX wheels 18x9 and 18x10 with 275/32/28 and 285/35/18 tires
Cobra front calipers, pads, brake hoses and rotors
GT rear rotors and pads
Moog ball joints
(MUCH MUCH MORE TO COME)

The car has a cobbled together exhaust. It only had one cat and the H pipe was missing. The whole exhaust from front to back was welded as one piece. Looks like I will have to bit the bullet and buy new a new CARB compliant mid pipe. My only options are a magnaflow X with 4 cats for $2600 or the rockauto special for $1700. Im thinking magnaflow...

Unless I find some CARB numbers on the intake manifold I will have to swap in the stock GT intake manifold, maf, injectors, and airbox to pass the visual. The car still has the smog pump, egr and it had a horribly welded system of tubing to connect the cats to the air pump solenoids.

I'm wondering if it indeed has the full Trick Flow top end kit, Will I find roller rockers and a cam in this thing? From the looks of it the car still has the stock 2.73 rear gears and T5 shifter. Own knows if its had a clutch or flywheel put in it? Time will tell.

More to come.

DCx

05-23-2022, 05:50 PM

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Wanted to keep a 5 spoke design wheel. Saleen wheels were out of stock and I didn't want 17" cobras so I settled for these. $1650 mounted, balanced and shipped to me.

jaybee

05-25-2022, 04:25 PM

The SN95 gets the least respect of any Mustang other than the Mustang II, but I liked the look when they were new and I'd drive one for sure...especially if I could get one in that shape for what you paid! I like the looks of the New Edge versions, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy messing with the 2v engines. On the other hand, Lincoln Aviator and Navigator engines are plentiful 4v versions which would make a good basis for a Mach I clone.

Bugzilla

05-26-2022, 11:58 AM

Glad to see another project going on in the SB mountains! You somewhere up the 18? I am close to where Waterman turns into the 18.

DCx

08-11-2022, 10:15 PM

Glad to see another project going on in the SB mountains! You somewhere up the 18? I am close to where Waterman turns into the 18.

san bernardino native here! Im up the 138 in crestline, close to cedar pines. I scored a kick a$$ house with an attached two car garage and carport with a small shop in the back. My folks and all my cars are down the mountain off waterman

DCx

08-11-2022, 11:04 PM

Its been hectic moving and renovating my new house. Ive just been collecting parts for the Mustang. I did manage to rebuild the front suspension, rear axle, and drop the T5, bellhousing and clutch.

Added poly bushings to the stock front control arms along with new moog ball joints, sve lowering springs, cobra brakes, poly steering rack bushings, kyb struts and SVE caster camber plates. Still need to install my SVE bump steer tie rods and poly sway bar bushings.

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The 8.8 went together easily with the aide of my vice. I added all new koyo beaings and a ford racing 3.73 gear set along with a gt500 diff cover, ford racing pinion flange and axle bearings. used a nifty lube locker differential gasket too along with arp cover bolts.

I re used my stock pinion shim, crushed the pinion to 23 inch pounds and set the back lash at .010 using the supplied shim packs. tooth pattern looked good. just going to send it.

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spherical housing bushings added as well.

I dumped the T5 out of the car. discovered a worn cobra clutch which had multiple hot spots, ford racing clutch fork, perfect pivot stud and a stock 50oz flywheel. Tail housing has lots of rtv like they tried to stop a leak or something? i have to remove it for speedo gears, i will use the correct anaerobic sealant.

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Tag on the T5 is correct for a 94-94 gt. fluid was clean and it shifted into all gears nicely.

I added some BBK bolt in subframe connectors and picked up a RAM hdx clutch, mcleod light weight steel sfi flywheel and a mcleod clutch fork. new ford racing roller pilot bearing and bolts. will probably switch to ARP. I also discovered this car might have a new short block in it. the oil pan has studs and all the freeze plugs on the engine are brand new. some have those melting tabs to void the warranty if it overheats.

more pics to come.

DualQuadDave

08-12-2022, 11:19 AM

DCx

08-17-2022, 04:09 PM

Neat car, brings back tons of memories. The "bolt in" sub connectors are junk, just weld them in, will learned this a million years ago on my own Fox. You have a bunch of power waiting in modern valvetrain for it. All the old school stuff is heavily and kills the ability to rev. Modern beehive springs, steel rockers, and better lifters/pushrods will make that thing rock. The intake manifold is so-so. The Holley Systemax 2 is the good one from back in the day, or go modern and put a Hi Ram on it. 75mm throttle body minimum. Times have changed, bigger is better.

I don't know what coil springs you have, but the old SVO 5300-C springs were absolutely awesome back in the day.

I made another discovery on the engine. I took a peek down the trickflow oil filler tube and low and behold I have a set of crane 1.7 cobra roller rockers. Guess these were standard on the cobra and licensed by ford racing? So in order to check everything out I picked up some steel w/ rubber O ring gasket valve cover gaskets and some arp studs for cast valve covers.

Among other things I ordered some BMR tubular torque box reinforcements and a Stifflers tubular trans crossmember with polly bushings. I also picked up the appropriate trickflow intake adaptor elbow (in black of course) and an egr tube spacer. I neglected to order the 3/8 upper intake spacer so I will order that next.

American muscle sells a 75mm billet throttle body for under $200 that seems to be the new favorite among sn95 guys. I will also pick up a new cold air intake, I thought I had a BBK but upon further inspection its a crappy ebay special in chrome that's now pitted and rusted.

Since the car is nearly a shell I will probably pull the motor out. check the gaskets and clean all the rat turds and garbage out of the intake. I also want to re-gasket whatever I can and change the thermostat. After all, I was told this thing sat for 10 years. All of the trick silicone vacuum lines added from the previous owner are cracked and junk. I will also need to tackle new fuel lines. The rubber hose is cracking and someone used a hose clamp on the plastic quick connect for the return. Will go PTFE with appropriate Russell fittings for the fuel rails.

I long while back I picked up a complete top end from a stock 95gt engine. I have a factory upper and lower intake with elbow, throttle body and EGR, Air box and stock MAF.

I absolutely need to pass California emissions! I finally got the VIN verified and the title in my name. Car is on non opp

DCx

08-17-2022, 04:30 PM

Crane rockers

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BMR Tubular upper and lower torque box reinforcement

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Stifflers T5 crossmember (possible TKX in the future lol)

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Maximum Motorsports K member brace

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Random Ignition components, ARP clutch and flywheel bolts, TFS intake elbow

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DCx

08-17-2022, 09:37 PM

I crawled under my car today to check out the back of the cylinder heads. To my dismay, they are not trick flow like I imagined. They are actually old ford racing GT40x aluminum heads. with SVO engraved on the backs and fronts. I did some digging and looks like ford offered a new crate engine with a e303 cam and these heads.. may be why the block and parts look so new. I will defiantly remove it for further inspection.

found an old post on stang.net and a user described my exact combo, trickflow track heat intake, pro m75mm maf, aluminum gt40x heads, 24lb injectors.

Ford claims 340hp, 310 torque

ford part number FMS-M-6007-XE3M

DualQuadDave

08-18-2022, 02:56 PM

DM me when you get it out and apart. If the shortblock is ok, I would change up some parts and make it mo-better. Sell the GT40x heads/rockers/E-cam. Buy some TEA TW heads and will help you pick a cam that will pass emissions. Keep the intake for now, maybe port it some. Might have to slap the stock intake ion it to pass emissions from a visual standpoint. Maybe

DCx

08-30-2022, 09:10 PM

Finally took the intake manifold off. I had to order some crows feet to remove the EGR tube from the EGR valve. Came right off with a 1" flare fitting a small extension and a long breaker bar.

I discovered the intake was missing the back nuts on the rear studs and all of the vacuum lines were rock hard and broke when I yanked them. There was absolutely no way I would have gotten this engine to idle with the vacuum lines like that. Also discovered the intake is a Track Heat, it has "2U" cast in the bottom.

I called Trickflow and they are mailing me out the CARB sticker for a street burner intake, BBK was kind enough to send me a sticker for their air intake even though I dont actually own one lol.

The heads are indeed GT40X castings sporting ARP head bolts and Crane 1.7 cobra rockers. Look how clean these castings are!

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The lifters must have relaxed because the rockers can wiggle around some.

Called it quits on the top end until I can yank it out and clean it up. I finally got around to installing my BMR torque box reinforcements. What a major pain they were to install. I had to elongate almost every hole in the brackets to get everything to align. I had to beat in the floors with a hammer to fit the upper control arm bolts in. I also had to drill the rivets out of the brake hose bracket. It needs surgery to fit up next to the cross bar. I also have to wrap the cross bar with 5/8 heater hose to protect the fuel lines. The pinion snubber bracket will get hacked up as well. Adjusted my BMR upper control arms to stock length and locked them down. Everything is loose for the time being.

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I will most likely return the top end to stock form for smog. I doubt the MAC headers will re-install, each primary tube bolts to the head and I hear they warp bad over time. Dont want to strip my heads putting them back on. I will most likely get some BBK unequal length, they are carb legal and come with a new EGR tube.

DualQuadDave

09-01-2022, 06:02 PM

I agree with what you are saying, best to slap a stock topend on it and get through smog, then figure it out. If you can find some SVO or FMS stainless 1 5/8 shorty headers, they were the best quality. I have nearly every brand back in the day. The SVO's were good for the $$$. Bassani is also super nice. For shorty headers, un equal length is fine. I do like an X pipe w/ shortys. I made good power w/ that combo back in the day. FYI, if you are going to stick with the Track Heat intake, you may. Just send out the X heads and have them ported/decked/springs. Ported they flow in the 250-260cfm range, about what the Track Heat intake flows. May be easier/cheaper to maximize the combo you have vs starting over.

MTBSully

09-02-2022, 05:39 AM

Awesome scoop up! Ive had probably 15 new edge 99-4 mustangs, cobras, mach 1s etc. Great cars and endless aftermarket support for them. Looking forward to following the progress!

DCx

09-12-2022, 09:52 PM

Progress taking the car apart has been so slow! I still havent installed the rear end or pulled the motor, just been stacking up the parts. I picked up a SVE engine lift plate, new fuel pump hanger and the last freakin set of BBK unequal shorties on the planet. I called BBK, no ETA on headers, summit, jegs, lethal, beefcake and almost all ebay sellers drop ship straight from BBK. I messaged a 6-7 ebay sellers and finally found one that had them on hand, guy was nice enough to give me a small discount and ship them immediately. I know the chrome will rust right off, but the CARB EO number is loud and proud on the #5 primary tube and I got a new EGR flow tube with them. The 3/8 thick flange looks very sturdy, gaskets supplied, not so much. Also, they came with 3/4" bolts, barely allows any thread engagement, I will have to step up to 1". I would leave the MACs untouched but the previous owner used tiny bolts to hold the dip stick on, and the bolt backed out, gasket looks burnt around the #6 tube.

I cleaned my stock ebay score upper and lower GT intake last weekend. Thank goodness for some well needed rain, I totally ruined the street out front of my remote mountain house. Used super clean, easy off oven cleaner and a pressure washer. The intake was so full of oil and crap the ports were 1/2 the diameter they were supposed to be. I had to drive a long wood screw into the PCV screen to yank it out. It was a complete solid mass of oil and crap. The harsh cleaners really tarnished the aluminum but im going to paint them anyway, if I choose to use them.

So far Trickflow has been a total let down on the customer service. I have called 3 times and spoke to customer service about getting a CARB EO sticker for a streetburner intake. They take down my name, address and assure me it will be sent out asap. Nothing yet, its been 3 weeks of bugging them. BBK was awesome to deal with and sent me a CARB EO sticker for a cold air I dont even own, 2 day turn around.

I have been wondering about the computer (EEC) in the car. I hear to properly run 24lb injectors on a GT computer it needs a chip and tune. I scored a 1995 cobra EEC, J4J1, on ebay for $200, its preset for a stock 70mm MAF and 24lb injectors. I may use it if I return the top end to stock. I removed the passenger kick panel and verified I have a GT computer, T4m0, but I found somethin odd... the same blue electrical tape all over my engine harness is wrapped around the computer lengthwise... could it be holding in a chip or tuner? wouldent that be nice to find a quarter horse or tweecer on the car. But kowing me and the lack of attention and cobbled together parts of this car it will probably be a something dumb like a JET or superchip.

It rained a lot today, I will yank out the computer tomorrow and verify.

I didnt want to open up the engine further than necessary but I need to see what camshaft is in this thing. Im reading my 302x heads were sold as bare castings, no idea who built them, springs used, valves, push rod length.

what a can of worms just to pass the Cali sniffer.

DCx

09-13-2022, 08:04 PM

Pulled the ECU today and found out it has an old DiabloSport chip installed. I emailed Diablo, have no idea if this is still supported. May have to yank it unless the car will still run with the stock intake, stock maf, installed cam, and 24lb injectors.

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DualQuadDave

09-15-2022, 04:16 AM

The GT ecu will only run the 19lbs inj correctly. I would swap the Cobra ecu and go that route, but the maf may give you some issues. Do you have an adjustable fuel pressure regulator? That would help the situation, for sure.

jaybee

09-18-2022, 02:50 PM

The ECUs for these cars are getting so old now. Is there some reason aftermarket EFI units don't have OBDII ports?

DCx

09-20-2022, 06:53 PM

I contacted Diablo via email and sadly they do not support the chip any longer, kinda figured that.

lets see if 4th time is the charm... called trickflow again today and they assured me a carb-eo sticker would be mailed out. Im not holding my breath. Guy had me on hold for a long time while he said he personally went to the "office" and retrieved a sticker. My neighbor suggested I check out a local shop up here in the mountains for my smog, his son has an old 80s nissan Z car and just got it passed there by leaving it over night, lol. im sure it was just passed without much hassle, lots of old rusted junk running around up here.

Doing endless SN95 cam and tuning searches makes my head hurt that ford would produce such a pile of crap and sensitive ecu in these cars. seems like the SN95 has endless issues with surging idle and stalling with the smallest modifications. In all honesty I will probably just yank out the cam in the car currently, buy a melling (SYB51) stock replacement and run the cobra eec with the stock maf, gt40x heads, 1.7 rockers, 24lb injectors and possibly stock intake unless trickflow can deliver on their promise. At this point I just want to drive this thing, enjoy it for what it is. I was just itching for another v8 manual trans car. I still wouldn't have passed this deal up but its looking like the old fox mustangs were just far far better candidates for upgrades. Thats a lot of struggle for 300hp when I am a die hard LS guy.

To answer your question DualQuadDave, the car currently has a crusty old paxton adjustable FPR installed, I have a new in box BBK unit as well as a new stock replacement unit. I was told an adjustable FPR would fail smog visual, additionally, I had to order it from summit and click the "off road use only box", none of the mustang parts houses will ship anything remotely necessary to upgrade this for this car to California, including intake spacers!! had to get those from summit too. in the event I run the stock intake i have a 1/2 ford racing spacer and a 3/8 trick flow spacer for my track heat. Need the valve cover clearance with my cast trickflow valve covers. Ebay wants a fortune for real SN cobra valve covers.

off topic but I was looking at cams, the steeda 19 was supposed to be made for the SN but I read all sorts of issues with it once its installed even with a 115LSA it still causes low speed and idle issues. I was looking at a comp XE258HR cam, super mild, .480 lift with 1.6 rockers and a 114LSA but I doubt that would idle nice. I can squeeze my with .4726 lift on the melling cam with my rockers and hope the heads and intake wake it up some.

Im off Friday and plan to get some work done to this thing. gathering parts is getting old.

DCx

09-24-2022, 03:02 PM

Pulled the motor yesterday. was quite challenging with the MAC headers still attached. Glad in ditching the equal length style, the bolts were a nightmare to remove.

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Going to open it up tomorrow afternoon and see what cam is in this thing. The sparkplugs were extremely fouled and black, Im sure it was running rich and terrible, probably why it was parked.

Found out the car has a fluidyne radiator and an SFI approved from balancer. I am debating pulling the heads to check the bore and see what kinda slugs were put into this thing. Might as well add a one piece oil pan gasket while im at it.

DualQuadDave

09-25-2022, 09:52 AM

Crower, I think, used to have a 5.0 HO Speed Density going that was basically a highlift stock cam w/ a narrower ls3. Worked great. Will try to find it for you

DCx

09-29-2022, 08:51 PM

Crower, I think, used to have a 5.0 HO Speed Density going that was basically a highlift stock cam w/ a narrower ls3. Worked great. Will try to find it for you

I think you are referring to the Crower 15511 cam

278/282
0.468 lift
114 LSA

stock is:
298/282
0.444 lift
115 LSA

Finally got the cam out of this thing! Its a good thing I did. It ended up having a brand new B303 cam! I guess back to stock we go?!?!?!?

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Engine and trickflow intake are so clean!

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Im pretty sure this guys combo of parts made this car run like crap and he just parked it. look how shot these sparkplugs are

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Looks like I will be ordering some new lifters, cam, gaskets, and hardware. The timing set looked stock so I will add a billet roller setup. The push rods and lifters looked re-used. I will measure for pushrod length, buy hardened units and get some new Ford Racing lifters. I will probably leave the heads as is. Debating on painting the (eww) to hide them from the smog tech.

I will be spraying the stock intake with some single stage PPG silver this weekend. Will probably spray the front accessory brackets with the same silver. I will be replacing the tensioner and idler pulleys, they are so damn noisy and rusty.

DualQuadDave

09-30-2022, 07:47 PM

No, it wasn't 15511. Specs are different, although that was a good cam. Congrats on the clean motor, looks basically new. Yeah, eBay the B cam. Take my advice and spend a few bucks on good drop in lifters. On a SBF, makes a huge difference in performance. Same with the valve springs. Let me do a little more research on the cam. Standby

DualQuadDave

09-30-2022, 08:00 PM

Ok, I could not find the grind I remembered from back in the day. Maybe it was a Lunati cam. It was basically a HO cam on roads, thick it was 212/212 and around .490 lift or so. Either way, I found these 2 cams for you. Either should run good, Both have negative overlap to get you through emissions, yet still make decent power. Comp 35-310-8 or Howard's 220238-2. I prefer the Comp.

DCx

10-02-2022, 09:49 AM

ah shucks, I ended up getting the Melling stock grind cam. Found a good deal on it through partshawk. Im just going to run that cam with the cobra pedestal rockers, should net .475 lift but not much duration.

I did order ARP everything: cam bolt, cam retainer, balancer, water pump/timing cover, intake, header, lower intake. I also got new ford racing lifters, comp hardened pushrods in stock length ($39), ford racing intake gaskets (gt40x specific) and a new cloyes true roller timing set. Oh, and I got a 1 piece oil pan gasket and new arp bolts. I am not a fan of the china studs that are in the pan. It was a royal pain to pull the studs out to remove the timing cover.

Still a no go on the CARB-EO sticker from trickflow. They wrote me an email and stated the sticker was shipped on the 20th. The 20th? what month? August or September? lol what a joke they are.

A new street burner upper is $300 from summit, in stock, ready to ship. Just not sure if the upper alone will come with a CARB-EO sticker. Im starting to think they dont exist, I have never seen on on the forums or google picture search, then again, Ive never seen a BBK sticker on the web, yet; I own one.

DCx

10-11-2022, 08:20 PM

Work on the motor and car has been pretty slow. Kind of a pain to work on it since its marooned at my folks house. I spent the last few weekends finishing renovations on my house.

Got some good news and some bad news... Trick Flow finally delivered on a Carb-EO sticker for a street burner intake, bad news is the part number listed is for a silver finish intake, not black, different part number. Additionally, all Trick Flow intakes have no part numbers on them at all. Bottom side of the intake has "TFS-SBF-EFI-2U" cast in the bottom. "2U" is a track heat "1U" is a street burner. one would need to do some deep google work and read forums and look at photos to figure that one out. Both intakes are identical to the naked eye. Shall I slap the Trick Flow back on it and take it to the smog shop with my shiny new sticker? here is a link to the executive order pdf, no part number or product description listed. 1995 mustang gt used for testing

https://arb.parts/Executive-Order/D-369-3

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okay bad news time... I think I need a new timing cover. I was cleaning the gasket surface and noticed some huge globs of RTV stuck to the gasket. After cleaning it up some I found 4 pretty large chunks out of the water pump mounting flange.

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Would you run this timing cover and just goop it with RTV or buy a replacement for $65 from LMR?

ryeguy2006a

10-12-2022, 04:22 AM

I'd say if the only difference between the two intakes is really just the color, I'd slap on that sticker. Then make sure you get a good tune on the car before you go to smog so that it passes without issues.

arcane73

10-12-2022, 05:58 AM

Would you run this timing cover and just goop it with RTV or buy a replacement for $65 from LMR?

I'm no expert, but I'd replace it. I just replaced mine with the Ford Performance one because of a minor crack. Unless you have access to a way to build that back up with weld and then have it machined smooth again, I'd spend the $65.

DCx

10-13-2022, 09:39 PM

I passed on the budget timing cover. It has mixed reviews and a dorman replacement got horrible reviews. Summit had a ford racing cover in stock so I just bought that. part number M-6059-A50

I tried to order a CARB compliant 4 cat system from rockauto and when I tried to check out it said it could not be shipped to California due to not receiving a prop 65 warning. So a California and New York emissions legal part cant ship because they didn't approve a hazardous materials warning label? this is ridiculous. Looks like all the magnaflow 2.5" carb legal systems are out of stock or built to order. I will have to make some phone calls tomorrow. I found one website that said the magnaflow system can no longer be shipped to California?

I really don't want to buy 4 stand alone cats and cobble it together myself, each cat by themselves is $400.

since rockauto ditched my exhaust setup I just bought new ac parts, suction/discharge hose, liquid line, receiver dryer, and condenser. I picked up the timing cover and a new Stewart stage 1 water pump and some remflex header gaskets from summit

Waiting on parts again...

DCx

10-14-2022, 09:59 AM

I made a few phone calls and found a Magnaflow CARB legal stainless 4 cat X pipe ready to ship. It was costly but I was able to use a 20% off coupon code. Hott exhaust hooked it up!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/10/Mx73oi7-1.jpg

I should have everything to get the car running and rolling soon. I just need to swap the cam and gaskets on the engine and swap out the front bearing retainer and speedo gears on my T5.

DCx

10-22-2022, 11:40 PM

I tore into the 5.0 yesterday and changed all the gaskets. I installed the melling cam, timing set, new timing cover, new water pump and oil pan gasket. I used ARP fasteners throughout.

I did discover the engine has some TRW or speed pro pistons. Do these look forged? part number was 255-98

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/10/1JAtXn1-1.jpg

jaybee

10-28-2022, 04:39 PM

Your piston skirts obviously have some sort of coating, but that isn't necessarily an indication. Can you get a camera in there far enough to look up into the bottom of the piston? Might need a scope for that, unfortunately. A cast piston will probably show you some casting marks on the inside. One of those might be just above the counterweight on the right side of the picture. The inside of the piston should also look a little grainy from the casting process, whereas the inside of a forged piston is much smoother. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ai2pnnTcEg

DCx

11-25-2022, 09:12 PM

Progress has ben pretty slow between work, winterizing my home and finishing some renovation projects. I did make some progress on the car on Thanksgiving. I completed the following:

Removed the Radiator and Condenser
Removed 50% of the blue tape on the wiring
Installed Steeda double hook clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster
Cleaned and degreased all the front accessories and brackets
Cleaned and degreased the bellhousing
Cleaned and degreased the T5, discovered it has a steel bearing retainer in excellent shape
Notched and relocated the rear brake line bracket to clear my BMR upper torque box bar
Installed new braided rear brake hose
Installed my BMR lower control arms
Installed the rear axle in the car

I was hung up on the rear brake line forever. The banjo bolt for the rear hose was wrecked, mushroomed out and needed replaced. Finally got a new one, took forever to ship because of the holiday.

I want to installed autometer water temp and oil pressure gauges in the dash clock pod, Thinking of drilling and tapping a hole in the trick flow intake for the water temp sensor, I want to retain the stock gauges as well. Does anyone know if an oil pressure extension adaptor will fit without interfering with the AC compressor?

I will probably order a Maximum Motor Sports steering shaft next since the engine is out of the car. I hear they really improve the steering feel but its $320!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/11/CAJuKqQ-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/11/zFQ4zJL-1.jpg

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New rear brakes, brake hoses, shocks and quad shocks will be installed this weekend. Hopefully I can get the valve train and intake manifold installed soon. Now that the radiator is out of the car I will probably install the flywheel and clutch before dropping it back in. Anyone know if the engine can go back in with the headers and trans attached at the same time? man that would save a lot of time and headaches.

DCx

11-25-2022, 09:40 PM

Forgot to add this...

Broke the fuel rail rear crossover hose while removing the injectors. Guess ill just use some 5/16 hose and clamps to fix it. I would step up to an aftermarket set of fuel rails but moving the regulator externally would probably be a red flag and fail the smog visual inspection. Among other bad things, I found extra O rings jammed in the fuel rail.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/11/uomI8uU-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/11/GHvjPTP-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/11/7I88EBm-1.jpg

DCx

12-19-2022, 09:49 PM

Finally got some projects completed. I ordered some much needed parts, package was delivered to wrong house, then recovered. Gotta love package delivery during the Holiday season.

Took the tail shaft off the transmission and replaced the speedo gears. Went with the LMR 3.73 gear kit. Yellow drive gear and Red driven gear. while I was in there I added a new tail shaft output shaft seal and replaced the front bearing retainer. There was an existing steel bearing retainer that seemed brand new, but due to the excessive amounts of RTV and questionable seal, I changed it anyway. I now realize, I should have removed the top cover and ordered some bronze shift fork pads... I did use an anaerobic sealant, so tail shaft removal should be easy.

RTV much?
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/12/vi85hFZ-1.jpg

Everything inside looked very clean and spins nicely

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/12/3h1WoS1-1.jpg

Next up was the valvetrain. I was super duper upset to find out my new ford performance lifters would not install with the heads on the engine. Just too much material to tilt into the corner lifter bores. In went the old ones... installed without a hitch. I did add new comp cams magnum stock length pushrods. I set the rocker arms up using this guide:

https://www.centuryperformance.com/valve-adjustment-procedure.html

I was able to set zero lash and lock each rocker down to 22 foot pounds with 1/4 of a turn from 12 oclock position. Engine turns over my hand easily, very smooth.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/12/nbiaIAj-1.jpg

Next up was cleaning all of the fuel injectors out with a crappy ebay kit that allowed me to spray carb cleaner through them with a 12v drill battery. All injectors opened and closed under command and sprayed out carb cleaner nicely. They received new O rings. I made new fuel lines using Fragola, Parker-push-lok hose and matching Fragola oetiker clamps. better safe than sorry. Hose was a BEAR to twist and install on the fuel rail barbs. Heated it with a hair dryer and used some lube.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/12/ZNk0c0h-1.jpg

Lastly, installed the intake T-stat, valve covers. I used some new steel core rubber O-ring style valve cover gaskets from LMR along with ARP studs and LMR's ARP intake bolt kit with water pipe stud. I used the recommended felpro intake gaskets for GT40x heads.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2022/12/RQ5jyOc-1.jpg

It probably wont last long but that summit racing timing tape is awesome, very accurate. As mentioned before, new steward water pump, ford performance timing cover, and ARP everything, including balancer bolt.

DCx

02-26-2023, 01:25 PM

Its been forever since I updated this thread. I have been busy on other mustang forums. But I am happy to report we have a runner and we are ready for smog!

Back in January I had the car hauled up to my house here in the Mountains and began thrashing on it. I basically removed all of the blue tape and re wrapped all of the electrical and replaced just about every connector for the engine sensors due to them being broken or melted. Replaced every inch of vacuum hose with silicone hoses. I cut up the supplied BBK egr tube and fabbed it up to the intake.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2023/02/nGLGA8J-1.jpg

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https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2023/02/X7dMM9k-1.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

I got the car stated today but not without a pile of diagnostics. I was having a no fuel pump issue so I tested all the wires at the CCRM. I was only getting 2 volts to the fuel pump for some reason, all other pins were good except ECU voltage was only 2 volts as well. I yanked the computer out and tested the 60 pin, everything checked out as far as constant power and grounds so I plugged in the CCRM again and tested for PCM voltage at the 60 pin. bingo, 12v. With key on I tripped the fuel pump at the diagnostic port, it ran! so conclusion, I think I didnt tighten the CCRM plug enough before hand. After all that BS, I could not get it to start. Tested for spark at the coil, good to go, votage at the injectors, fuel pressure was around 36psi. Im an idiot and had the distributor 180 out. I followed an amazing video on youtube about setting initial timing. I set the balancer at 10 degrees BTC, dropped the distributor in and then twisted it until the skinny #1 hall effect sensor lined up with the center of the PIP sensor, this placed the rotor exactly at #1. Removed the spout connector and the engine instantly came to life after doing this.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2023/02/E4ab665-1.png

I had absolutely ZERO idle hunting, it ran about 1000 rpm then calmed down to a stable 850ish idle, giving it some throttle never stalled the engine. I let it run until the low speed fan came on. I set the timing to 10* with the spout removed. Shut the car down and installed the spout. Started it back up and still had zero idle issues. Timing from the ECU is about 20-22* at hot idle.

Quick video of it running. Sorry for the smoke alarm, it was a bit smoky from the new exhaust

https://youtu.be/02GAScmyyZM