today as i was trying to fix my coolant leak in my 98 GT by sealing up the thermostat housing, i realized i had a much bigger problem than i thought. it turns out my intake manifold is cracked right down the side of the thermostat housing. i heard that ford had a recall for this part, so i went to the local ford dealership, and they said the recal was a 7 year recall and that my car being a 98, the recal period ended in 05. so basically im SOL. i tried pricing out some aftermarket manifolds, only finding a few options. my first question is, is there anyway i can repair this crack? my buddy works in an autobody shop and he said that he has this epoxy like stuff that is for bonding plastic, and hardens extremely hard. can i use this as a temporary fix to seal the crack? if not is there anything else i can use? and if i cant actually repair this crack, what manifolds do you all run and/or recommend? i really need as many options as i can, and id like this asap so i can get my car back on the road my plans for this car isnt huge horsepower, so i dont need anything crazy, but if theres an aftermarket one out there that will give me a good performance increase id like to hear it. i found a BBK but theirs is a dual stage full race one which is far more than i need. i also found a ford racing one, but the guy i talked to at the parts store said that my heads wont work on this manifold, so id have to do the PI swap...is that true? please fellow mustang owners, help a brother out! :-\
Do you want to spend alot more for a complete intake kit? If so look here http://www.livernoismotorsports.com/product.phtml?p=457 PI intake kits thats is a direct fit as your current stock one i heard. Also, dont patch up that cracked POS you have now. Itll just crack in other places lol. Heres a question i asked: http://www.sn95forums.com/forum/index.php?topic=12715.0
pi intake, u will need the intake, gaskets, coolant tube, alternator bracket, and some rtv, but will give you a solid 18rwhp jump in about 3-4 hours(the first time will be much faster if you have to do it again). there is many write ups on how to do it, and brand new it will run u about 300 bucks for everything. if u dont wanna rely on the rtv, go with the livernois kit, it works great(from what i hear) and is a really good alternative and very straight forward...
well 300 for everything he would need besides adaptor plates (not neccessarily needed but i would advise it) just get on md and ask randy, it ran me 340 shipped...
with that intake ill need to get the pi heads right? thats just upping the cost even more... for now im looking into options where i can use the stock heads i got now, rather than the pi swap. is there not an aftermarket intake that i can use the stock heads with? i found one on ebay but i dunno how well i trust ebay parts.
oh really? i guess i read that wrong. i found this one one ebay: http://cgi.ebay.ca/96-98-Mustang-GT...ryZ36474QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem but im tempted to just spend the extra cash and get the livernois one, its probably more power and most likely alot more reliable. and if i dont have to get the pi heads, then it seems even more worth it..
i wouldnt waste the money on adaptor plates..you can pick up a used PI intake with an aluminum crossover for around $100. After everything is said and done with my PI intake swap, i doubt i will spend more than $150. but then again, i got my PI intake for $45 shipped. Whring around all the forums clasifieds FTW.