Powdered Toast Man

I'm in the process of buying an '85 LX auto convertable. What are the engines in these babies like? What can I do to get more performance out of it?

I haven't got it yet but I believe it's still running a stock 5.0L with the CPI injection, well it all looked stock under the hood. The only mod I can see is it's running a single 2.5" exhaust instead of the factory twin (2.25"??).

What are the heads like? I've read the '86 had restrictive heads, are the '85s the same? Do I need to toss the CPI before it's worth doing anything else?

Also how hard is a manual conversion? Are the AODs on these computer controlled and if so are they linked to the engine ECU?

Sorry but there is very little info on the foxes down here in the southern hemisphere, they were never sold here. Australian Ford cars of the early 80s were fitted with carbureted clevelands and 3spd autos (or if manual 4 spd single rails). Then Ford dropped the V8 all together in 1984 until 1992 when they started using pretty much the same engines and transmissions as the then current Mustang. So I really have nothing to research into for comparison.

86 5.0L

the single exhaust was factory pre-86 i believe, maybe the 85 GT got dual exhaust factory

the 85 heads are 87+ heads, better the 86 but not by alot, and yes convert to carb before doing any serious mods

the manual conversion isnt hard, but finding the all the right pieces is, and no the AOD isnt electronic, those are AODE

ask on or google these sites

here
mustangGTregistry.org
foureyedpride.com/forum

Blckstng93

From what i keep reading the 85 heads sucked. The 86 5.0 had better heads. Or just go a step further and get an 87-92 5.0. The 85 5.0 was rated for 165hp, the 86 for 200, and the 87-92 for 225. By your post im assuming the transmission crossmember is a single hump? You can swap the single hump for a double hump so you can install a true dual 2.5" exhaust, You will need an extra hanger for the second muffler and one more for the second tail pipe. The double hump is a direct bolt in. No self respecting 5.0 should be running a single exhaust anyway. The 84-93 were AOD, no electrical crap to deal with. The AOD became an AOD-E in 94, with the E standing for 'electronic'.

You can grab everything you need for a manual conversion from Mustang shops just about everywhere. I think the exhaust hangers for the AOD and 5 spd are different which is the hanger that slips between the transmission and the crossmember, its what the h-pipe hangs from. I think the computers are different to. Ill let someone else help with that tho as its not my area.

mjr46

you have a 85 cfi motor, there is no real good thing you can do to make it perform well, best thing you could do is convert it to carb, I had a small performer cam in my 85 cfi, roller rockers, exhaust, gears performer 302 with 2 barrel adapter for cfi and ported e7 heads, best et with traction 15.4.......removed cfi and put a 4 barrel on...ran a best of 13.47....cfi sucks and since it is a cfi motor it has a flat tappet cam and my 85 had d8 casting heads...the roller motor had e5 heads which are the same as craptastic e7 heads

Powdered Toast Man

So am I making a mistake buying this thing?

I have already gone against the 2 must have priorities I set myself when looking for a Fox Mustang. They were it must have a manual transmission and must not be a convertible; and now I am buying a convertible automatic in a model with a low power, difficult to modify engine.

My dream was always to buy an '87-'93 GT but this '85 (it was advertised as an '86 by the way) just happened along and was local. I do like the raw simple look of the '85-'86 four eyes. Of course my preference would be an '86 with the more powerful EFI engine. I know pretty much nothing about the pre '86 Foxes.

What do you guys think? I know there is more of a market for modding the later model foxes. Should I give this one the flick?

mjr46

with cfi you will never be able to make alot of power if you plan to in the future and I swapped out the aod in my cfi stang in favor of a t-5 cause it was such a turd as an aod.......I could live with the convertible thing but the aod and cfi are a huge compromise..either get a 5 spd 86 if you like 4 eyes or an 89-93 fox with mass air

86 5.0L

'86 5-spd hatch FTMFW

Powdered Toast Man

Thanks for the candor guys.

Sounds like I might need to stop the sale going through. Thank god for cooling off periods. The bugger is I got a reasonably good deal on it, thats not saying it's cheap just cheaper

What sort of 0-60mph times would an '85 CFI AOD do? I'm not worried about 1/4 mile ETs as it will be purely a neat streeter and crusier, not a 1/4 mile racer. It's hard trying to track performance stats down on anything thats not '87 onward and manual.

mjr46

probably 7-8 sec range = honda territory

FivePointOhh

ouch...i'd hate to be rated in the honda catagory.

89 5spd coupe FTW!