Humble Beginings 2000 - 2003

Performance wise I wanted to update the car to the Mass Air system, so I had a 89 Mass Air harness & meter I put in the car. The problem was I only had the Speed Density ECU. I ran it anyway, surprisingly the car ran fine, had more power for some reason and got great gas mileage. So that is the way I left it until recently.

As I mentioned on the previous page the motor was a stock speed density 5.0 with the air box baffle removed and a K&N filter. The first engine mod was converting the car to the Mass Air. I had a 89 Mass Air computer harness & meter I originally got for my 80 Capri conversion project.

So I removed the speed density harness and installed the MAF harness. The only problem I had with that was the Thermactor Air Diverter Solenoid (TAD)and Thermactor Bypass Solenoid (TAB) were different so I had to change them out for the 1989 parts.

As I was still new to the whole EFI scene (all my past Mustangs where carbureted) I wasn't aware at the time that the EEC-IV computer was different. All the information I had read about the conversions focused on how to re-pin & wire the Speed Density harness to work with MAF. So I used the SD-1 EEC-IV that was in my car.

I don't know if I was lucky or what but the car ran fine, it felt by seat of the pants that it had better power, I would average 18 - 20 mpg city and 24+ mpg highway. I was able to run it up above 135 mph smoothly and even ran a 14.7 sec. 1/4 mile with a 200,000 mile motor at the time. The car also had no problems passing the tail sniffer emissions testing.

As with any factory MAF car if I unplugged the Mass Air Sensor the car didn't want to run. So needless to say when I was told my car shouldn't run correctly set up like that I was a bit confused.

I ran my car like that for about 6 years with no issues, I have however replaced the computer with a proper F3ZF-12A650-DB. While I haven't got to really drive it much with the new computer or track test it, the engine does seam to run a little bit smoother.

Another modification I did early on was to hollow out my catalytic converters making my own off-road pipe. To do this on the 4 cat system I used a long piece of rebar and knocked out the 3 that are a straight shot. The fourth one because of the angle of the pipe took some work. I first marked it so I could line it back up and then cut it on the weld. After removing the catalyst I ground down the weld lined it back up and mig welded it back together. This way when I had to take the car through emissions it would still pass the visual inspection.

The difference in weight was approximately 5 lbs and the greatest benefit was a more free flowing exhaust. The exhaust tone through factory mufflers was nice, at idle and normal acceleration it was a bit deeper but not annoyingly loud. Under wide open throttle it was a 5 liter symphony!

As for emissions not only would it pass visual, with a fresh tune and good o2 sensors it would pass the tail sniffer easily.

Other than bumping the initial timing to 14 degrees there where no other early engine modifications I did to the car.

When I got the car from my dad he blown the input gear on the transmission showing it off to someone who was wanting to buy it from him. Wanting to fix it cheap to sell he got a used transmission from a salvage yard. Before the install was finished he traded me the car for the Volvo wagon I had to give to my sister. I finished the work but with in the year that transmission started falling apart. So I took a trip over to All Mustang Performance in Phoenix to have mine rebuilt. To make a long story short what I finally ended up with was a Cobra Spec T-5 with the 3.35:1 gear set and a FRPP aluminum drive shaft.

The next real modifications where to the brake system. After a few close calls in wet weather (one resulting in a broken head light and wrinkled fender) I was wanting 4 wheel disc brakes. I also wanted to make the switch to 5 lug wheels as well. As I already had the 73 mm SVO/Lincoln calipers on my car I felt the most cost effective choice for the conversion was the SVO/Lincoln 5 lug set up

After finding a donor Lincoln Mark VII LSC I pulled the front rotors & calipers. Then the rear axles, calipers, & backing plates. The one part I didn't get was the parking brake cable ends and by the time I did my conversion the car had taken a trip to the crusher so ended up fabricating my own.

Making the change was relatively easy, the front rotors where a direct swap since I already had the larger calipers. The rear took a little more time but still was a simple straight forward procedure. I purchased new flex lines and one new hard line for the rear calipers. When I did this I was worried because I didn't replace the proportioning valve that I wouldn't have proper pressure to the rear disc. Once I bled the system though I have had no problems with the brakes functioning properly and stopping power over stock was incredible. I was told I got lucky, who knows, but with a good adjustable proportioning valve they should work even better so during my rebuild I will invest in one and we will see.

My original wheel choice for this was going to be the same 5 spoke American Racing wheels that where used on the 89 Saleens. With this as my goal .

Locating the Saleen wheels I wanted has been a nearly impossible task. American Racing quit making them in the 90's and getting the special front Saleen only off-set makes it even difficult. When you do find them the fronts are damaged or they wanted a lot more than I could afford at the time.

When I made the change a friend happen to have a set of 15x8 black NASCAR style wheels they where selling for $100 off of their Toyota truck that happens to be the same 4.5" pattern as the Ford. The only issue I had was because of the center off-set and added 3/4"from the disc brakes on each side in the rear, on hard bumps the edge of the stock 225/60-15 tires would rub a bit on the inner lip of the wheel well.

I noticeable positive change due to the wider track was the rear of the car felt more stable taking corners