It Bleeds

[Bruntic]

First off, I'll begin by saying hello and that I am new to the forum, I'm sure that ill be thanking every one of you soon enough for the hearty welcome ill receive and the endless help that a forum like this will provide. Mostly though I'm posting to ask for help.

Somewhat recently I got a bright yellow, slightly modified, '01 Mustang GT with 120k miles on it from my father. It is deeply sentimental and for the last few months I've wanted to learn how to work on it. The main problem is it just seems overwhelming and I have no idea where to start. I know my way generally around an engine (as in i can change my own oil, have replaced spark plugs and coils, brake pads, and so forth) but I really want to know how to get into the bowels of the engine and make the car unique. I want to modify it eventually, but first off I now need to fix it.

A few days ago the intake manifold, where the heater hose connects to it, snapped off inside the heater hose while I was driving it. Coolant blew out of the gap between the hood and windshield and I turned the car off immediately. I am pretty sure there isn't any major damage, but its undrivable and I would much rather repair it myself then take it to a shop. The car doesn't need to run any time soon so I was thinking of maybe getting an aftermarket intake manifold or something, but again i just dont know where to begin in learning how to work on cars.

And help would be very appreciated, and ill add pictures of the car and the problem soon. If there are any questions or anything that would help you guys help me, or maybe just to learn stuff about each other, i dunno, feel free to ask.

 

[Mattstang04]

Welcome to the forum. There is plenty of insight to be given on fixing and modifying these cars. You will likely find it is not as difficult as you might believe.

As for your problem with the heater hose, it is all too common. Now that you are a member, use the search function. There has been a few threads related to this problem posted in the past year alone. Find those for the step by step.

Some can tell you how to band aid it and rig a small pipe inside and epoxy the whole thing back together. My best advise would be to replace the entire intake manifold with a oem Ford piece or the Ford Racing Parts replacement. It is really an easier job than you think. Pretty much plug and play. It is also a good project for getting acquainted with the engine. Best way to learn about these engines is to get under the hood and put your hands and eyes on it.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[COramprat]

If you get an aftermarket manifold spend a little extra and get the Ford Racing Performance Products (FRPP) manifold. Most other ones are junk.

 

[madspeed]

agreed, pick up a FRPP manifold and get to work. This is of course, after reading the afore mentioned step by steps to familiarize yourself with the project. I used to locate a step by step for these things, and print out the entire thing and have it with me in the garage. You'll be amazed how easy alot of this stuff actually is once you start tearing into it.

Good luck, and welcome to the forums!

 

[Bruntic]

Has anyone had any experience with the Edelbrock manifold?

 

[trombonedemon]

Has anyone had any experience with the Edelbrock manifold?

You have to buy there upper intake plenum for the Edelbrock.

 

[Mattstang04]

I think in stock form, you may actually harm performance with the Edelbrock intake. You should probably have high flow heads and cams or a supercharger to see the advantages of that manifold. The stock or FRPP manifold does incredibly well on stock to moderately modified cars.