nitrous_fed_03gt

im lookin to buy a 5.0 but am unsure which years to choose from? did they all have forged pistons???? which years have the strongest motors and trannys? thanks

ctgreddy

are you looking for between a 87-93? if so they all had the same trans. they all had forged pistons other than the 93. 87-most 88's had speed density the rest have maf. in 1990 they started with airbags and ditched tilt steering wheels. so i'd look for an 89 lx. its the lightest due to no air bags, has tilt steer, forged pistons, and maf.

1BIGMOFO

Im gonna say go for the new body style and get a 94-95, 5.0. but the late 80's - early 90's notch's are very popular because they are very light.

Timspony

...87-92 5L Mustang's have Forged pistons! ...I would go with a mass-air Pony, 1989-92 (forged piston's) and look for the best deal!

nitrous_fed_03gt

so im assuming then that the 94-95 gt did not have forged pistons??? if so, then im also assuming the other years can handle a greater deal of more power on stock internals???

5.0stang123

Lol does the air bags really make that much difference? Is it really worth the small weight savings for worse safty?

88E303stanggt

saving ~5lbs VS possibly blowing your brains out on a steering wheel in a headon collision.

But to answer OPs question. I would say, if you want a fox, go with 90-92 5.0 notch.

Timspony

Correct! 93-95 5L Mustangs had hypereutectic pistons!

nitrous_fed_03gt

thanks for making up my mind for me guys. looks like i will be going for an 87-92. so whats the pros and cons of having and not having the mass air years

OneGearhead

when you have a speed density system('87/'88), the pcm doesnt take to mods as well. you have a limited amount of cam grinds to work with and its just more picky about adding little things. cold air kits, cams, heads, etc, etc. pretty much anything top end of the engine work. the maf cars respond MUCH BETTER to mods. granted you can always get a chip and try it like that to see if it would work, but normally, people just upgrade to a maf system to be on the safe side. i think a SD to MAF system conversion is $300-400.....to make things easy, if you plan on doing engine work, just grap an '89-'92. that way, you have the maf system and forged internals.