Ecomodding a '95 Mustang GT

[Canary5_0]

Ok so what's a good program to use to superimpose that image on to one of my car?

[War_Wagon]

Have you removed the silencer from the air intake airbox? They are fairly restrictive in those cars.

Also, keep an eye out for a used aluminum drive shaft for it. They are popular with the 5.0L Mustang drag race crowd, so you might find a used one cheap somewhere. I am pretty sure that your style Mustang uses the same shaft as the earlier Fox bodies, but you might want to double check. We put one in my friends '86 GT and not only did it save weight, but the reduction in rotational mass actually made a noticeable difference in acceleration. Not huge, but you could feel it.

And check your timing, those cars were supposed to be set at 8 degrees advanced from the factory, but we have found a lot of them that were at 6, and one that was at 4 from the factory. Up to 10 degrees advanced still runs fine on 87 octane, around here at least, YMMV.

An aluminum radiator / electric fan set up is another used hi-performance part that you may be able to find cheap, saves weight and cools better, and swapping the electric fans in takes mechanical load off your engine.

[Canary5_0]

Yea I have an aluminum ds in my 06 gt and It made quite a difference haven't really thought about one for the 95. The timing in my car is computer controlled i don't know if advancing the timing would benefit me or not. Also the fan in my car is already electric.

[War_Wagon]

The timing advance is computer controlled (instead of vacuum controlled like on older vehicles), but the initial timing is still set by moving the distributor. Remove the spout connector in the wiring harness near the distributor, hook up your timing gun and set it to 8 or 10 degrees advanced, shut it off and replace the connector. It will be interesting to see what effect that has on your mpg since you will have instant feedback. I know you can feel the difference in a stick car, with that automatic it might not be too noticeable to you, but I bet the MPGuino will notice it.

Oh, and underdrive pulleys should be dirt cheap used for that car too.

[Canary5_0]

Yea I'll have to either buy one or see if anyone I know has one first. My car is set from the factory at 10* BTDC so I'll try advancing it 8 when I can. I've thought about underdrive pulleys as well, just have to find some extra money first...

[War_Wagon]

Well you don't want to run it more than 10 degrees initial advanced on regular 87 octane, so I guess my point was to check and make sure that the timing was set correctly at the factory. If you pull the connector, check the timing, and it's already at 10 degrees then just leave it. I know that my '93 came set at 4 degrees when it was brand new, it must have been built on a Friday.

Also, if you are running factory gears in the rear diff, don't pull out the cats and replace them with an H-pipe. We have found that on a stock 5.0 with stock (re-highway) gears, they like the back pressure, and it gets rolling easier. If you start changing gears and putting bigger exhaust etc on it then an H-pipe will help, but if everything else is stock just leave the cats in it (as long as they are in good shape and not plugged up).

[Canary5_0]

So your saying the factory 10* BTDC is where I should keep it?

I already had to remove the cats and replace with an off road H pipe (the original cats were making the carpet really hot!). But after I replaced them it seemed to run alot better.

[War_Wagon]

Well it's up to you if you want to experiment with setting it more advanced than 10 degrees. If you only run 87 octane fuel, you could try it at 12 or 13 degrees advanced and see if 1. it pings, and 2. you get an improvement in mpgs. But make sure that it is at least at 10 degrees.

If your old cats were plugged up then yes an H-pipe would have made a big improvement over them. It's just that those cars with stock gears like the extra torque that a little bit of back pressure can provide. I have seen people put an H-pipe with big 2.5 inch mufflers and tailpipes in an otherwise stock Mustang and it actually slows them down at the track. My '93 is quicker with the cats in it than without them, as backwards as that sounds. For mileage it translates into needing less throttle to get rolling. If you still have the stock 2.25 inch mufflers and tail pipes, I would leave them there, their smaller size is probably helping you out.

[Canary5_0]

I'm sorry I guess don't understand what you're saying about the timing. What I got from what you said is that the factory setting of 10* BTDC is already the 10* advanced that you were talking about?

Also I just put 2.5" tailpipes with cherry bomb extremes and it feels faster than it did when it had the stock tailpipes and some flowmaster 40s

[War_Wagon]

Yes, 10 degrees advanced and 10 degrees BTDC are the same thing, I just always use the less technical term for it, sorry about that. So assuming you check your timing and it is set at the factory recommended 10 degrees BTDC, then if you advance it to 12 degrees BTDC, you are only moving the distributor a very slight amount to get that extra 2 degrees of timing advance out of it.

And I am sure the car feels faster with the big pipes, as once it gets rolling it can breathe a lot better, but for the sake of increasing your mileage, the stock size exhaust would have given you a bit more low end torque do to backpressure, meaning you wouldn't need to use as much throttle to get moving from a dead stop. Helpful if you do a lot of city driving. But since you have already gone to a 2.5 inch system you might as well just enjoy the sound!