Fox What to do with my 82 GT

[UM_Ftown]

Recently picked up a very clean low mile 82 GT which is mostly all original. Only mods seem to be springs, struts / shocks, and wheels and tires.

It runs super rich, especially when cold and I discovered that most of the emissions was taken off the passenger side (secondary air pump, valve, connections that go to the air cleaner and manifold etc). I feel like this is the reason it runs so rich currently. Plan was to find those emission parts and make it stock again but I can’t seem to find most of it, especially the brackets.

So I’m left with the idea of either returning to stock or going the route of performer intake, 4 barrel carb, shorty headers and calling it good instead of an in between emissions car.

 

[Noobz347]

Welcome aboard


--and--






Unless you're doing a concourse restoration or need the emissions equipment to register for road, I'd [foggettaboutit].

You can solve the rich/lean condition with or without it.

If it were mine...

8.8 swap
dual exhaust
induction

 

[UM_Ftown]

I do want to keep the single / dual tip exhaust just for the uniqueness and I know it was pretty rare. But the rest of that sounds good.

 

[UM_Ftown]

 

[Noobz347]

Damn... That thing looks really clean.

 

[LILCBRA]

Nice! I looked at a nice 82 GT in the late 80s-early 90s but wasn't able to get it. It's on my short list of "dream" cars....

I agree with @Noobz347 - leave the emissions stuff off, it won't really solve anything as far as what you're experiencing. My Cobra II has run rich for quite some time and I've tinkered with the carb, but ultimately decided to pursue an aftermarket throttle body injection system. What I'm about to tackle on my car now would definitely fit your application even though my Cobra is a II. I've put together an install thread that has a pretty complete shopping list if that's something you think you might be interested in tackling: click here

Other than that, there are a multitude of other options: tackle tuning the current carburetor, upgrade the induction system and tune a new carb, install a fuel injection system from another car, preferably a 5.0 HO from the late 80s-early 90s, or different aftermarket fuel injection approaches. The only real limiting factors are your capabilities and your wallet.

 

[UM_Ftown]

Thanks for the answers and comments! I’ll take a look at that thread when I have more time this evening. I did ponder a Holley electric fuel system but don’t know much about them.

 

[LILCBRA]

Thanks for the answers and comments! I’ll take a look at that thread when I have more time this evening. I did ponder a Holley electric fuel system but don’t know much about them.

So far my thread is just a shopping list, I've not been able to get out there and do anything with it yet. But there is a lot of info out there about any of the systems to do some research. The system I'm going with is a relatively new outfit, but they claim that their system is compatible with boost if you were to ever decide to go down that path and one of the reasons I chose them. Most of the others require modifications or upgrades to support boost if you add it later. Other than that, I think installation procedures are pretty standard across the board, but tuning and that kind of thing will vary from system to system.

I think you'll find a lot of people here use Microsquirt on their multiport systems which could be another option for you. There are a couple Stangnet resident tuners that could help you if you chose to do that.

 

[Noobz347]

I would be on the fence about swapping away from carb at first. I mean... Who hasn't seen the threads about folks going the other way?

The grass is always greener, I suppose?

I have to imagine that are some pretty damned nice carbs out there that will drop right in with minimal tuning and just "Go".


What carb came on your 82? Is it a 4 bbl?

 

[limp]

If your carb is like the original that came off my 83, take it off, put it on the shelf and buy a new one....
It is more tied in to pass California CARB emissions than make your car run right
I have installed this carb on my 83...
EDIT: I tried to attach a pic of my original carb and I cannot find it on my computer... I believe its a Holley...

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-m08500vs

 

[limp]

The pollution devices on your car are all PRE computer and run off of a combination of electric and vacuum solenoids... Most of the system was attached to the pass exhaust manifold with some brackets.... Had to of been a nightmare for the engineer to design it....
Look for any vacuum leaks, bad vacuum hoses as the smog system had alot of them...
Is your EGR still on the car? It attaches to a plate that fits on your intake manifold under the carburetor.... I deleted mine as its just another thing to go wrong or cause problems " in my opinion "...... No computer so nothing to program if you do......
Is this car going to be a driver or???

 

[Potomus Pete]

Hopefully a driver???? That's a really nice car especially for the year. I love that interior with that dash. !982 must have been a slow car buying year for Mustangs because you hardly see any. Maybe its the rust. Keep it a driver

 

[limp]

Found the pics of my original 83 carb... Its on the shelf...

 

[AeroCoupe]

Me personally the first thing I would do is pull the 4 speed S-Rod transmission and put a 5 speed T5 or TKX in it. If you go with a T5 you will need the correct bell housing (stock on all 85 - 93 V8 Mustangs) but if you go with a TKX then you can reuse your S-Rod bell housing. If you choose to go the T5 route then realize that S-Rod bell housing is worth around $200 or at least that is what they sell for on the open market.

I only say this as I view the S-Rod as a slush box performance wise. Here are the two gear ratios that came in Fox Mustangs (pulled the info from foureyedpride.com):

There are many sub-variants in Tremec SROD transmissions in other model lines, but with the US made Foxes, there are two ratio sets, the I6 EA suffix Ratio #1 got an 0.81 overdrive, the 5.0 V8 EM suffix Ratio #2 an 0.70 top in the Fox.

RUG EA D*** ***** XXXX Ratio #1: 3.29 1st, 1.84 2nd, 1.00 3rd, 0.81 4th, and 3.29 Rev.
RUG EM DC17 E2ZRAA 2914 is Ratio #2: 3.07 1st, 1.72 2nd, 1.00 3rd, 0.70 4th, and 3.07 Rev.

The T5's in the Fox Mustangs were geared as such (pulled the info from LMR.com):

T5 Transmission Gear Ratios
Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Reverse
1983-84	2.95​	1.94​	1.34​	1​	0.73​	2.76​
1985-89	3.35​	1.93​	1.29​	1​	0.68​	3.15​
1990-93	3.35​	1.93​	1.26​	1​	0.68​	3.15​

You can see that the S-Rod is pretty sloppy 1-3 and then the OD in the I-6 is like a road race 5 speed and the V8 one is more on par with a stock T-5. The shifting is notchy vs a T5 or TKX and they are only rated at 200 ft-lb of torque where the non-world class T5 is rated at 265 ft-lb (1985-1989), world class T5 is rated at 300 ft-lb (90-93), Cobra spec T5 is rated at 310 ft-lb (only found in the 1993 SVT Cobra Mustang), and then the T5Z or Z-spec is rated at 330 ft/lb. Z-Spec is currently available new where as the rest are going to be used so if you go that route you should look into a rebuild kit if you do not know for sure its working condition.

TKX is a monster compared to the T5. Specs from Tremec's site:

Part Number	Style	Torque Rating	Input Spline	1st Gear	2nd Gear	3rd Gear	4th Gear	5th Gear	Reverse
TCET18086	Ford	600 lb-ft	10​	3.27​	1.98​	1.34​	1​	0.72​	3​
TCET18084	Ford	600 lb-ft	26​	2.87​	1.89​	1.28​	1​	0.81​	2.56​
TCET17765	Ford	600 lb-ft	26​	2.87​	1.89​	1.28​	1​	0.68​	2.56​
TCET18085	Ford	600 lb-ft	26​	3.27​	1.98​	1.34​	1​	0.72​	3​

Pricing on the used T5's is all over the place and today I would only buy one from someone I knew or out of a running car. A complete rebuild kit is going to be in the $350 range and if you need hard parts the cost just goes up. If I were starting from scratch I would just bite the bullet and go with a TKX.

Anyhow, probably more than you wanted to know. Also, that is one of the cleanest 82's I have seen in years!

 

[General karthief]

Really nice looking ride, here's me:
Do the t5 swap as mentioned above, pop the top off that engine (remove intake), be a good time to swap the heads, this would take some more planning but in the mean time aftermarket intake/carb, short headers with a 2 1/2" y pipe to 3" or 3 1/2" even 4" if room, single back to a single inlet/ duel outlet muffler and duels to the rear, if I could I'd run twin 2 1/2" pipes all the way back on one side with duel inlet/ duel outlet muffler then duel pipes out the back but that may not work with the limited space. Next is an 8.8 with a 355 gear, update the brakes as best I could with 4 lug hubs and have fun.
If you wanted, and I would, plan a cam to go along with this but that would take a little research and planning in regards to the condition and the factory compression ratio of the present pump that's in there now.

 

[limp]

I would get it running good and enjoy it... If the trans breaks down the road, then replace it....
The SROD in my 83 worked fine with the 308 gears in the 7.5" rear end...

 

[Rcdgl]

Great find. The motorcraft 2 barrel is a bulletproof carb. Get some rebuild guides and parts and just go through it.

My 79 Still has all the smog stuff, never seemed to hurt, but it has a Holley 4v, swap. Ran great, now off road in driveway. I would save every scrap of original stuff on the car. Also have an 82 GLX that is my toy.

 

[Rcdgl]

I have a 79 capri that was an original 302 car, complete with the Motorcraft 2150 2v. Put well over a 100000 miles on it.

That carb is one of the best, easiest to service carbs ever built.

Suggest carefully disassemble, clean and rebuild. Yours, as an 82 may have some plugs over the idle screws and other emissions stuff, but it can be dealt with.

Or find an earlier version of the carb.

I did the 4v upgrade on the capri and it will get 26 mpg with no overdrive.

That said, if you are going to drive it, swap in a five speed, make sure the ac works and enjoy!