This page is about the engine and many changes and trial and errors ive been through with it.But im happy to say that its getting to where i want it just a few more grand and a few more mods.
First things first the engine was pulled from an 81 mustang i bought that was originally a 4 banger as well but swapped.Well after some careful decoding i found out the engine is an 1980 302 (5.0) from a Thunderbird.
Here is the before and after of the power steering delete and the manual rack and pinion conversion.While freeing up a descent amount of power this is a pain in the ass turning at slow speeds like in parking lots and will be a workout i assure you.But for those of you interested in squeezing every ounce of power out its worth it.Just be sure to have a new rag joint since the power assisted racks splined female connector is .750 of an inch and the new smaller manual measures .550 i found this out the hard way and had to wait two days for it.The worst part is ford discontinued it.So it will be harder to find.Luckily mine was sitting on a shelf in michigan.Theres also a 3 inch over all shorter difference the manual rack over the power rack which is easily made in adjusting the ball joints.
Heres the before pic with power steering.
Heres the pump gone
Heres the finished install including the new waterpump.
For the waterpump i was sort of stuck at a fork in the road.The engine turns clockwise.No problem right?Well the reverse rotation waterpump found on most serpentine setups is counterclockwise.So what to do?Well in 1983 one single year ford made a waterpump that used the reverse rotation body and demensions but was standard rotation and it came on one vehicle the 1983 COUGAR XR7.Problem solved.
In case youre wondering i used the Mr Gasket under drive crank and water pump pullies and on the alternator i used an OVERDRIVE pulley i picked from a local shop that rebuilds starters and alternators here.I tried both the under drive and over drive pulley's on the alternator and the only difference i found was the the under drive only charged when moving the over drive charges at idle.No performance loss or gains that i seen.
Then we have the NITROUS install.With the flip of a switch i have 100 extra PONIES on tap.My goal is 500 HP and after the AFR's ill be at my goal.
NITROUS install wasnt too bad and i took my time and read the directions prior to ever starting the install and again before and while installing it to insure i understood what was going on fully.But it was a basic bolt on the most complicated part was making the wiring look neat in my stripped down engine bay.
As you can see it wasnt too bad.Pretty simple and straight foward.Tuning is the tricky part!
