I've been taking my S550 to HPDE events, and driving scared since I don't want to damage it. So I decided to buy myself a dedicated track car. Since my first ever Mustang (and car) was a 1996 Mustang V6, I decided nostalgia would be my driving force. I found this 1996 Mustang GT for $1200 with mis-fires in Cyl 1 & 8 and decided to take the risk. I was hoping it was a valve issue, since I was planning on swapping to PI heads/cams/intake anyways. Plans for the car are to turn it into an HPDE/TT4 car (maybe) and go full race car on it eventually. TT4 means I'm limited to a 12:1 lb:hp ratio.
After I got it home, I proceeded to tear into it, slowly, and taking LOTS of pictures. Up until this point, I had never done more than bolt on type work. I did a timing belt/water pump, turbo, and TMIC on my Legacy GT, but that's not cracking open the motor at all. As soon as I removed the valve covers, I found the issue - the intake rocker on cylinders 1 and 8 had somehow been knocked off. I wonder if the previous owner over-revved it and had the piston hit a valve? Undeterred, I kept on with the tear down. Once I pulled the heads, everything seemed ok. The pistons, though dirty, didn't look damaged, I couldn't feel any wear or see any scaring on the cylinder walls (no lip at the top, either), and the cross-hatching looked good. After extensive cleaning, I got down to the business of upgrading the motor.
So far, the parts list is as follows:
Romeo PI heads w/ Trickflow springs/lash adjusters and GT40 rockers
PI Camshafts
PI intake manifold
All new gaskets, timing components (chains, cam/crank gears, guides, tensioners)
New water pump
New starter
Pypes off-road x-pipe
Maximum Motorsports solid motor mounts
I had purchased a set of Pacesetter long tube headers and x-pipe, but I simply could not get them to work with the stock k-member. I'll keep them around for when I swap to a tubular k-member.
Reassembly went without TOO many hiccups, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't a couple times where I had to disassemble what I had just reassembled because I goofed on something. The biggest one was having to pull the heads back off because I had missed moving an oil plug on the bottom of each. Ugh. New head changing kit had to be purchased. (Wasn't willing to try to re-torque the gaskets or TTY head bolts). After getting the heads on, I realized that MMR had sent me the wrong timing chain guides, even though I specified 96-98 (I double checked my invoice). They never did respond to my email. I get the whole - you buy it, it's yours, but when it's the vendor's mistake, and not mine? Poor customer service there... So I ordered new guides along with the timing ring from a Ford parts site.
I finally got it all re-assembled, and all the fluids replaced, and it was time to fire it up. Needless to say, given that I had never undertaken a project this involved before, I was fairly nervous. After cranking it for a bit with the fuel pump fuse pulled to oil it, I replaced the fuse and fired it up. And it worked! It was running, and running smooth!
Since then I've added 2003 cobra front brakes, and swapped the old (REALLY old), bald tires for Federal 595RS-RR tires in 255/40r17 on all 4 corners. The car came with 17x9 bullits on all 4. It is coming together. It's not my S550 5.0, but I almost like it better - it's so much more analog. Next up is suspension work - full length subframes, shocks, and springs to get rid of the 4x4 wheel gap and craptastic handling! I'll also be getting it dyno-tuned here shortly to see if I came near my power goals (260-270rwhp). Probably not, especially since I'm at 4500ft of elevation, but hey, one can hope, right?
Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. Note - the previous owner had tried to make a fauxbra out of it, and I've removed the cobra badging and rear bumper from the car. I think I'll keep the hood though.
Gotta make a blood sacrifice to the project car gods!
I'll post more as more happens, especially when it gets on the dyno!
I can't thank everyone here enough for all the help you guys have given me in completing the project. Between here and these two write-ups, I got it done!
http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/4-6l-tech/160636-pi-swap-write-up-1996-mustang-gt.html
https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/pi-headswap-write-up.717166/
After I got it home, I proceeded to tear into it, slowly, and taking LOTS of pictures. Up until this point, I had never done more than bolt on type work. I did a timing belt/water pump, turbo, and TMIC on my Legacy GT, but that's not cracking open the motor at all. As soon as I removed the valve covers, I found the issue - the intake rocker on cylinders 1 and 8 had somehow been knocked off. I wonder if the previous owner over-revved it and had the piston hit a valve? Undeterred, I kept on with the tear down. Once I pulled the heads, everything seemed ok. The pistons, though dirty, didn't look damaged, I couldn't feel any wear or see any scaring on the cylinder walls (no lip at the top, either), and the cross-hatching looked good. After extensive cleaning, I got down to the business of upgrading the motor.
So far, the parts list is as follows:
Romeo PI heads w/ Trickflow springs/lash adjusters and GT40 rockers
PI Camshafts
PI intake manifold
All new gaskets, timing components (chains, cam/crank gears, guides, tensioners)
New water pump
New starter
Pypes off-road x-pipe
Maximum Motorsports solid motor mounts
I had purchased a set of Pacesetter long tube headers and x-pipe, but I simply could not get them to work with the stock k-member. I'll keep them around for when I swap to a tubular k-member.
Reassembly went without TOO many hiccups, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't a couple times where I had to disassemble what I had just reassembled because I goofed on something. The biggest one was having to pull the heads back off because I had missed moving an oil plug on the bottom of each. Ugh. New head changing kit had to be purchased. (Wasn't willing to try to re-torque the gaskets or TTY head bolts). After getting the heads on, I realized that MMR had sent me the wrong timing chain guides, even though I specified 96-98 (I double checked my invoice). They never did respond to my email. I get the whole - you buy it, it's yours, but when it's the vendor's mistake, and not mine? Poor customer service there... So I ordered new guides along with the timing ring from a Ford parts site.
I finally got it all re-assembled, and all the fluids replaced, and it was time to fire it up. Needless to say, given that I had never undertaken a project this involved before, I was fairly nervous. After cranking it for a bit with the fuel pump fuse pulled to oil it, I replaced the fuse and fired it up. And it worked! It was running, and running smooth!
Since then I've added 2003 cobra front brakes, and swapped the old (REALLY old), bald tires for Federal 595RS-RR tires in 255/40r17 on all 4 corners. The car came with 17x9 bullits on all 4. It is coming together. It's not my S550 5.0, but I almost like it better - it's so much more analog. Next up is suspension work - full length subframes, shocks, and springs to get rid of the 4x4 wheel gap and craptastic handling! I'll also be getting it dyno-tuned here shortly to see if I came near my power goals (260-270rwhp). Probably not, especially since I'm at 4500ft of elevation, but hey, one can hope, right?
Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. Note - the previous owner had tried to make a fauxbra out of it, and I've removed the cobra badging and rear bumper from the car. I think I'll keep the hood though.
Gotta make a blood sacrifice to the project car gods!
I'll post more as more happens, especially when it gets on the dyno!
I can't thank everyone here enough for all the help you guys have given me in completing the project. Between here and these two write-ups, I got it done!
http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/4-6l-tech/160636-pi-swap-write-up-1996-mustang-gt.html
https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/pi-headswap-write-up.717166/
