Lazor05

So I am new to mustangs and have been looking around the site a little getting ideas. I have an 82 gt with the stock 302 in it. I was thinking about looking for some Gt40's off of an explorer. From what I have read the older explorers had GT40's and the newer ones GT40p's. I was wondering what the difference is and what year explorer I should look for to use the heads on my car. Also at what point should I be worried about my 7.5 rear end? I know they aren't as strong as the 8.8 but I dont have any serious horse power right now so at what point should I worry? I was also interested in getting new gears, should i change out the rear end before getting new gears so i dont end up buying 2 sets of gears?
Thanks for the help ahead of time

Stella94GT

the main difference is the spark plug location on the gtp's. they require a special header.

96blackbetty

IMHO, I believe you should change out the rear end asap before you throw much more power at it beyond just putting the gt40s on there.....the 7.5 will get you rolling but better safe than sorry. I would also wait on the gear selection, cuz no need swapping the gears out then snapping your rear end.


Just go pull a 8.8 out at the scrap yard....cheap and plentiful

Hope I helped

AdderMk2

If I were you, id start hunting around for a rear end out of a 86-04stang. Contrary to popular belief, you CAN use a Sn and New Edge rear end, the difference is in the axles themselves. and IIRC, the 7.5" axles in the fox are the same size as the 8.8" axles... so swapping would be no big deal if you did buy a 94+ rear.

As far as gears go, I wouldn't worry about it just yet because it seems like you are just starting to build the car. I always recommend figuring out exactly what you plan on doing with the car before you actually go buying parts.

GT-40p heads are not a bad choice, you just have to make sure you buy the appropriate, matching headers to deal with the sparkplug angle and location issue.

btw, a nice reman'ed set can be bought from www.tristatecylinderhead.com for about $600ish

Lazor05

Thanks for the help. So is there much involved in changing a rear end? Aren't the brakes on the 86-04 rear ends disc? mine are drum so what would be involved there. Sorry for knowing nothing about cars, im pretty new with working on them. So if you could be as descriptive as possible with what i need to do i would appreciate it. People say you catch mod fever eventually and i think i got it from just replacing my heater core. All i think of is my car. lol, thanks for getting me started guys

Modular_Madness96

GT40P's do not require a special header!

I have a set of BBK plain jane chrome ones on my P's and they fit fine.You will need to run a 90 degree plug boot and use a wrench to torque down the #7 plug down or trim down a plug socket.

The P's are a damn good head for being stock.I was running mine in a 89 coupe on a 308 c4 2200 stall and 4.10's and was running 8.20's in the 1/8 and 7.40's on a 100 shot.

Theyre the best factory head ford made.

red95gtconvert

Using BBK's here too, I just trimmed down a sparkplug socket for #7, as mentioned they are great heads for being stock Ford heads. I am making good power with them.

AdderMk2

as long as you pull a rear from a 93 and older stang with an 8.8, it will habe drums. 94-04 have discs. If you pull a newer rear that has discs, you simply dismantle the brakes all the way down to the axle tube. Its not hard at all, there are 4 bolts that hold the dust cover to the axle tube itself, and a bracket attached to the tube that runs to the caliper. remove the nuts on the u-bolt, and that comes off too!

if you get in there and disassembly the brake system, it will be obvious what has to come off.

Timspony

as mentioned above, swap out the 7.5" for the 8.8" rear...direct bolt in...you can also have new gears/bearings installed prior to bolting up in your car.

I've always been a fan of the orig. GT 40 iron heads!