pk222

Hey guys, I got an 89 mustang GT with around 170,000 miles on it. Other than flowmasters msd coil and a BBK CAI its stock. I'm trying to decide whether to rebuild my engine with a rebuild kit or should i get a used engine with low miles?
To me, my car doesn't really feel like it needs to be rebuilt I just want to make sure before i start doing any serious mods that i have a solid foundation.
Is their a way i can check my engine to see how much life is left in it?

When and if i rebuild my engine I was planning on getting some different heads, I was considering the gt40 heads because a lot of people use these and it seems like if that many people are using them they must be good. what cars and what years are they on? and just curious i dont know if cobra mustangs had the gt40 heads or not but if they had something else would it be better than the gt40s? I know that probably sounds stupid but my friend owns a junkyard and he said he had around 40-50 mustangs and he had a few cobras.
Thanks for any advice in advance.

pk222

ok i just looked around a little more and found that the cobras had the gt40s

pk222

bump?

pk222

come on, anyone?

OneFastEclipse

You can do a compression and leak down test on your engine to see it's overall condition. Even a trip to the dyno can tell you if a stock engine is tired or not. GT40's are a great head for a budget build. If you are looking to put a set on, consider working them over with a nice port and valve job. Other options other then the GT40's are a nice aluminum head from one of the top manufacturers such as TrickFlow, AFR, Edlebrock, Holley, etc. All of them will perform better then a stock GT40 but will also set you back about twice as much money.

pk222

alright ill try the compression test. but i dont mean to sound dumb im sorry what is a leakdown test? and were can i go to have the codes in my ecu checked? i just cant think of anywhere that can do it.
around how much would it cost me to get a valve job and porting and polishing done on some gt40s? again i dont know were i can get that done, i know these aren't good questions but i live in the sticks i dont know were to go. thank you for responding

OneFastEclipse

Leak down test is similar to a compression test. The difference being in the leak down test you are watching to see how long the cylinder holds the pressure, not what it's maximum pressure is. Any dealer can check the codes on your ecu. I think even auto zone can scan it for free, might want to check with them before paying the dealer. As for getting your GT40's reworked, it all depends on where you go. Probably between 300-600. Check out this guy http://www.hunterstyle.com/thumper/index.php His head work is supposed to be top notch.

pk222

OK thanks that helps a lot. ill try to see if they do the ecu's at autozone and if they do, what can they tell me about my engine? isn't it just to check the sensors and see if any are bad? If they are i would just buy new ones right? thanks in advance and sorry for being such a newb but im only 16

OneFastEclipse

Only thing they are going to check for would be codes on your ECU. If you don't have a Check Engine Light on, chances are they won't find anything on your ecu. If a sensor does go bad, 9 times out of 10 it will throw a code and they will find it on the ecu.

pk222

alright, so would it even be worth it to do it?