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I almost wish I had just held off until I could afford a good set of aluminum heads. It's not the 90s anymore. Iron heads and B cams just don't cut the mustard like they used to.
I would do as previously mentioned and address the transmission.
Cooling, shift kit and tq convertor would really wake that car up.
The most beneficial thing about an electric fan in my opinion is getting rid of the wrirrrr/woosshhh noise. Worth doing for that alone, again, my opinion.
With speed density, you are in good shape for a stocker. A nice intake and 70-75mm throttle body will give you "some" gains even on the stock heads and still be a long term keeper if the plans go to heads/cam. As previously mentioned, 1.7 roller rockers, even if you can only round up 8 of them stick them on the intake side and let the cylinders fill that little bit extra.
Does not sound like your budget allows HCI all at once, so, keep picking away at the little things and it'll all come together in the end.
Wayyy back in the day when you could buy these things off the showroom floor, one of the rags did a supercharger and intercooler on an otherwise stock mustang (had exhaust mods). Of course they did fuel pump/injectors and a radiator as part of the deal.
They got 400 rwhp/tq out of the thing. You are not going to do that naturally aspirated on the stock short block.
Something to think about.
Cooling, shift kit and tq convertor would really wake that car up.
The most beneficial thing about an electric fan in my opinion is getting rid of the wrirrrr/woosshhh noise. Worth doing for that alone, again, my opinion.
With speed density, you are in good shape for a stocker. A nice intake and 70-75mm throttle body will give you "some" gains even on the stock heads and still be a long term keeper if the plans go to heads/cam. As previously mentioned, 1.7 roller rockers, even if you can only round up 8 of them stick them on the intake side and let the cylinders fill that little bit extra.
Does not sound like your budget allows HCI all at once, so, keep picking away at the little things and it'll all come together in the end.
Wayyy back in the day when you could buy these things off the showroom floor, one of the rags did a supercharger and intercooler on an otherwise stock mustang (had exhaust mods). Of course they did fuel pump/injectors and a radiator as part of the deal.
They got 400 rwhp/tq out of the thing. You are not going to do that naturally aspirated on the stock short block.
Something to think about.
For used parts to gain power out of, what years and models and specific parts should i be looking for so i can keep an eye out? and i know this may sound very out there considering my build so far but does anyone have opinions on flex-a-lite products? specifically the black magic extreme fans and rads for the foxbody. Another weird thing i wanted to mention is when i bought my car the cold air intake is completely covered in heat wrap for obvious reasons. The thing i cant figure out though is it does not seem to have a speed density adapter or an MAF upgrade. Keep in mind it is a 88 convertible and ive been told MAF started in 89. Clearly another novice question but the filter in the fender for the CAI seems to be pretty dirty. Are there any tricks or ways to clean it or would it almost be better off purchasing a new one? Once again all help is appreciated 
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
For used parts to gain power out of, what years and models and specific parts should i be looking for so i can keep an eye out? and i know this may sound very out there considering my build so far but does anyone have opinions on flex-a-lite products? specifically the black magic extreme fans and rads for the foxbody. Another weird thing i wanted to mention is when i bought my car the cold air intake is completely covered in heat wrap for obvious reasons. The thing i cant figure out though is it does not seem to have a speed density adapter or an MAF upgrade. Keep in mind it is a 88 convertible and ive been told MAF started in 89. Clearly another novice question but the filter in the fender for the CAI seems to be pretty dirty. Are there any tricks or ways to clean it or would it almost be better off purchasing a new one? Once again all help is appreciated
- look up the junkyard search in the archives- been asked about 10000 times
- Flex a lite extreme is a great fan but pricey- you can get the same if not better results with a Taurus fan and a Flex a lite 33054 controller for about 1/2 the money, but you will need to do some wiring, trimming
- Ford switched to MAF mid year in 88 in some places
- Clean the filter - if is it a K&N or similar it needs a special cleaner and oil, Some are washable, some arent
OneWheelPeel
Active Member
If I had to do it all over again I would just super charge my car and be making more power then I am now. I also wouldn't put an E-fan in either. When I did I had no gains in the 1/4 and occasionally the relay will corrode or burn up and then it becomes more of a hassle than a gain. However it does move a ton of air compared to a stock fan. I have a typical "budget fox" with gt40 heads, intake, and a b cam and it just doesn't keep up with the newer cars these days.
Here's my reason for using a black magic electric fan, it looks cool.
Mayhaps I'm a little superficial. I blame my wife.....
Mayhaps I'm a little superficial. I blame my wife.....
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
I heard the B cam was self cooling and no fan is needed. In fact, it actually cools the engine just by installing it.
OneWheelPeel
Active Member
Really? I was told I'd be making so much power with the B cam that I would need an E fan because the stock fan wouldn't be able to keep up with the rpm's....
OneWheelPeel
Active Member
That's a good reason as long as you know it will satisfy your wants. I just wouldn't want you to get it for the reason of making more power and then you not be happy with the results.
Nah, if it's helps there, then good.
I do like the cleanliness it gives the engine compartment.
Id definitely like to clean up the engine bay but at the same time if im going to pay a crazy amount of money then maybe it isnt worth getting compared to doing what was said earlier and getting a mark viii fan and switch. All things ill have to keep in mind. Another question is based upon intakes. More so saving up money instead of a budget build and going piece by piece. Would it be a bad idea to grab a new intake (i.e. trickflow,edelbrock,etc) and run stock heads and cam. obviously id replace the throttle body as well most likely to a 75mm because thats what most of the intakes seem to want. would i end up losing power if i did that?
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
If you do buy an intake/tb you're also going to need a MAF sensor. You want the MAF to be as big or bigger than the smallest area in the intake track. Like a funnel. You wouldn't want to pour water into the small end first. It wont hurt anything doing the intake system first but again you will not see a noticeable difference in performance with just those mods.
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
YES it is not worth the time, money, and effort to swap intakes on an other wise stock motor.
im not trying to sound redundant here, but what would be the order for upgrading then? I have almost all the bolt ons possible it seems (minus the throttle body) and now the MAF which im assuming is mandatory for H/C/I whereas speed density is not usable. So far thats my understanding. Sooooooo what im getting at is where do i go from where im stuck at now lol?
That all depends on your long term goal and what your end plan for the engine is. If you are strictly chasing hp then start saving for a power adder or a hci upgrade. Personally I am a fan of always doing chassis and suspension first. If you haven't at least done subframes yet then that would be my next purchase.
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