cema93

Hey everyone. Haven't posted in a while. Everything has been going pretty smooth. My wife and I got to talking a while back and decided to get a fox body. I found one about two weeks ago and we drove 3 hours to get it. It's a 1989 GT. We just sold a boat so we actually came out even which is awesome. It's an automatic, so she can drive it. New paint job and new wheels and tires. Pretty darn clean. I'm working now to get it to "my standards". By that I mean fix all the little problems, get the usual mods and detail it (clay bar, Polish) and get everything buttoned up. We are going to do gears, CAI, headers, cams and that kind of thing. How do these motors respond to mods? Is tuning pretty simple? I'm thinking of doing the E303 cam. Are the stock alternators pretty terrible? Mine dips rolling the windows down or having the headlights on. Also my turn signals don't work. I've been doing some ready without getting a definitive answer. Hopefully someone can talk me through this.

88 orangepeel notch

Well congratulations, post up pictures of this beauty when you get time.

As for your mods, the ol' 5.0 responds well to mods. A whole industry formed around it. But for now, I'd just do the gears first, then the exhaust if you like the sound. The gears will really do the most for you over any other mod. Best bang for the buck, hands down. Then decide if you want more.

Tuning is real simple if you don't go to nuts on the modifications. You don't have to do anything, the ECM will relearn itself to a point and try to keep everything running smoothly. Most of my mods are in my sig, and I've never had to get a tune.

And the stock alternators do suck. They're only 75 amp at max output, so at idle they're not helping much. 3G alternator upgrade here, I just bought the kit from LateModel Restoration and it was pretty much a bolt on replacement, some grinding on the atl. bracket, and running a new power cable to battery, and splicing in a new connector, that's it.

cema93

I am really surprised u have never had a tune. If you were to put cams in my '05 theres no way it would run right without a tune. This leads me to ask what the point is of getting a chip/tune thing from American muscle.

I have an alternator on the way. I think its 150 Amp. I didnt buy the power wire because $60 seemed ridiculous. I think im going to just go get some 4 gauge wire and put an inline fuse on it and use that.

the underhood temps seem high. IDK if the temp gauge is accurate or not. I just know when i open the hood its hot and its hot for a while. I will end up replacing radiator and fan i am sure.

what is your opinion on pacesetter h pipe?

65Raven65

Congrats! And pics, please!

Welcome to your new obsession/headache/joy/frustration/elation that is owning a Foxbody!

88 orangepeel notch

+1 ^^^

Well said Raven, hope you AC is still working................@#$% !!! lol

cema- Yeah, I'm not familiar with the newer Mustangs, and don't know why you have to retune for a CAI and filter. I'm thinking they're just that much for sensitive to any changes and just much more accurate in adjustments.

You can pretty much throw any bolt on mod at a Fox and it'll run pretty good. The stock computer does a great job of adapting. Now, to get every last hp and the best drivability, a tune would be needed.

Don't trust the stock gauges. They are well known for being highly inaccurate.

And any H pipe is good, they all do the same thing.

mjr46

THAT'S BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE CAMS IN a fox body....we have a cam = singular.......and there also isn't as much monitoring/controling the valvetrain such as vvt and or crank or cam phasers...ect ect....the eec iv is simple in a fox and has adaptive strategy to a degree and it doesn't know when and if a cam is added......for injector change you can trick the ecm by using a "calibrated" maf and I use that term loosely......American muscle tune = waste of money.........when you have enough mods = go dyno tune and if you really want to fine tune...stand alone tuner and you can get the a/f and all schaler tables where they should be after mods.....but for the most part the ecm can compensate to a degree and the car will run decent

cema93

I know a fox has only one cam. I'll try to get a photo tomorrow. I got it polished up and sparkly. Went to lowes and loaded up on interior push retainers and interior panel screws. Now it's fairly quiet inside. No rattles.

I'm thinking of the E303 cam, Mac ceramic long tube headers, off-road h pipe and some kind of mufflers. It will be a road of hard work and sweat but the car will come together. The car is running fine now and looks good but there's always room for improvement. Prolly be done in about 6-8 months for the most part. Thanks for comments, helpful advice

mjr46

e-303.......will only give you noise....alphabet cams are a huge disappointment if you're looking for power.........do you plan to do a full h/c/i?

cema93

What do u suggest? Comp Cam? I dont know about heads just yet. I have been looking around but the price is a little off my radar. I know they would be a great improvement but still. I am also contemplating finding an explorer intake. I read the difference between a gt40, cobra and explorer intake isnt too much power wise. all three are improvements over my stock 5.0 intake. Thoughts?

mjr46

not a huge improvement......define your budget/what hp goal you'd like to possibly see?? if it's on the low end......find an explorer intake have it sent to a guy on the corral.net to be ported whose screen name is tmoss.........look for a set of gt-40 3 bar heads and have the bowls worked/ported as well as the runners smoothed and port matched and contact ED at www.flowtechinduction.com for cam and valvetrain that'll give you the most bang for the buck with the parts you have at your disposal.......with the above parts and paying attention to detail on assembly you could easily hit 275+ rwhp.....without all the port work I did a combo for a guy with like parts and he dynoed 266 rwhp