Sounds like a solid plan. You will have about 750$ additional into heads and intake porting over the initial purchase price. Just a FYI. Check out an Anderson n41(I think that's the grind number?) camshaft. You'll see them used every once in awhile on the corral.net and it was designed for gt40 heads. Even new they are around 300$. Definitely an aggressive sounding idle but works well.Ok small update, to keep the thread alive. I've been driving the car a lot and it's running great. 150 miles around town just this weekend. I got new headlight adjusters from LMR so I can finally see pretty well at night. I also popped in the replacement corner light and it's better, but not as good as the OEM was. This second one did not require any trimming like the first one did though.
So winter plans for the car - the motor will most likely be yanked out in order to gain some access to the strut towers. They aren't in bad shape but could definitely use some cleaning up and rust proof coating put on. My buddy is looking for an explorer that he can steal the 8.8 from for his Cherokee, so I told him to look out for a 96/97 that I can take the heads and intake from. There's a few around for ~$400. Split that in half, then junk the explorer after and then the heads and intake are dirt cheap. Send out the lower to TMoss and get some alex valve springs and a cam (TFS1/lunati/comp) to round off a very budget HCI. Thoughts? I still have that pile of parts from earlier that need to be installed. Upper and lower control arms, rear shocks, subframe connectors, 3.73s, and a full rear end rebuild kit.
In case anyone didn't see it on the other thread, here's a pic:
In order to get the new s-spring in, I used a bench vise to compress it and then held it closed with some vise grip pliers. Someone here might have a better method, though. The downside to doing it that way is the pliers will leave some scratches on it.Also, the S spring that came with the trac lok rebuild kit was HUGE, much larger than the original one. I ended up reusing the original one because I didn't think the big one would fit. Did I just not try hard enough?
In order to get the new s-spring in, I used a bench vise to compress it and then held it closed with some vise grip pliers. Someone here might have a better method, though. The downside to doing it that way is the pliers will leave some scratches on it.
Also, the S spring that came with the trac lok rebuild kit was HUGE, much larger than the original one. I ended up reusing the original one because I didn't think the big one would fit. Did I just not try hard enough?
Thanks for the responses guys. I was searching on American Muscle and ran across this on the description of the FRPP carbon disk kit:
Complete Kit For 31-Spline. This complete kit includes the clutch pack, shims, s-spring (31-spline), and an instruction sheet so you'll have everything you need.
Technical Note: 28 spline Mustangs will require use of a 28 spline S-spring (not included).
Ok guys so I've been pretty quiet the last few months, but I've been searching e-bay and craigslist and waiting for the right deals.
So far I have:
Edelbrock performer 5.0 intake
TFS1 cam and ford racing lifters
bare 3 bar GT40 heads
aluminum driveshaft
Steeda strut tower brace
MM full length sub-frame connectors
I still have to pick up all the little things that go with a HCI swap like head bolts, intake manifold bolts, water pump, t-stat, timing chain, gaskets, etc. First I have to blast and paint the intake manifold and heads, and then assemble the heads.
I was looking at Alex parts valves, and the TFS spring kit. Any opinions? Or does anyone have GT40 valves they would let go?
Also, what head gaskets and intake manifold gaskets should I get for this combo? I've seen so many different recommendations. Thanks guys.
Awesome, thank you for the info. I added the 9333PT1's to my shopping list. Did some research on the intake gaskets, is 1250S3 what you're talking about?
I was planning on getting the TFS spring kit, and then just the valves from Alex's, unless some used valves fall into my lap.
I planned on picking up a pushrod checking tool to make sure everything is good. I haven't picked out rockers yet. I COULD stick with the stock stamped rockers right? I know theyre not ideal, but just as an option.
Thanks again