• Hello there guest and welcome to our forum!
    To gain full access you must Register. Registration is free and it takes only a few moments to complete.
    Already a member? Login here then!

88 restoration help

Young Guns

Well-Known Member
my mom has an 88 gt that shes had since it was brand new. her and my dad asked me to help them do some of the restoration work. maybe someone can give me a straight answer. from what i understand, with the dual exhaust on her model the 7th and 8th cylynder both shoot the exhaust out the same pipe. so in order to free up a tad more power from the back pressure, i was thinking of putting an x or y pipe leading back to the tips. that way, 7 will shoot to the opposite on its way out and free up a clean shot for 8. which would be better to run on it? an x or y?
 

beejay31000

BULLWINKLE
uhm??? im confused... stock it has an H-pipe. you can go with a larger h-pipe, or switch to an x-pipe. as far as individual cylinders go, the 5.0's came stock with headers. they are small and restrictive, but are actual headers with individual pipes for each exhaust port
 

Young Guns

Well-Known Member
ok, thanks, ityped that wrong it has a y pipe now i meant to ask between the h and x. but i guessi was told wrong about 7 and 8 being ported one behind the other down the same side.?
 

Young Guns

Well-Known Member
while we restore the interior and the paint we are beefing up the power a bit. and my folks dint know how to do it. it hasnt run in over 8 years so pretty much everything needs redone. im not sure the the best motor would be to put in it. but first imgonna try to overhaul the original. its only got 42k on it.
 

orange395w

OG MEMBER
Staff member
If it only has 42,000mi on it it shouldn't need an overhaul. Why hasn't it ran in 8 yrs? What was wrong with it?
 
M

Mustangcwo

Guest
Best thing you can do is upgrade the engine from speed density to Mass Air. Once the conversion is complete, you'll have a lot less problems with the engine. As for the car not starting, the first thing to check is the cheap electric fuel pump that Ford installed. Just turn on the key and listen for the pump to turn on as the system comes up to pressure.
 

fangs99

Well-Known Member
ok, thanks, ityped that wrong it has a y pipe now i meant to ask between the h and x. but i guessi was told wrong about 7 and 8 being ported one behind the other down the same side.?

the only mustangs that have a Y pipe are v-6's all v-8 have h pipes from the factory. ford numbers the cylnders 1.2.3.4 on the drivers side and 5.6.7.8 on the passengerside. so headers or manifolds the 2 share the same side. but that thing you said about making one go the outher way doesn't work. i think what you ment was the fireing order, and a cam will change that.
 

fangs99

Well-Known Member
Mustangcwo said:
Best thing you can do is upgrade the engine from speed density to Mass Air. Once the conversion is complete, you'll have a lot less problems with the engine. As for the car not starting, the first thing to check is the cheap electric fuel pump that Ford installed. Just turn on the key and listen for the pump to turn on as the system comes up to pressure.

good idea on the convertion. that should open up some new mod options too.
 

Young Guns

Well-Known Member
wikedcobra312 said:
welcome back young guns, you just got back from sea?

yeah, we did a panex. it was pointless. but we're back now. till sometime next month when we go out for a week or 2. we have two more short underways to dump stuff overboard to help with the decom
 

Young Guns

Well-Known Member
orange395w said:
If it only has 42,000mi on it it shouldn't need an overhaul. Why hasn't it ran in 8 yrs? What was wrong with it?

it was her first car but when she had my sister she mead my dad trade his dodge daytona for a ford contour. and since she drives that the mustang has just sat. its not anything went wrong its just from sitting so long. they never did maintnence tokeep it in good running condition. i got it started last timei was home but i only drove it toget new tires and that wasit. ididnt want to push it too hard. even though i was tempted. lol
 

Young Guns

Well-Known Member
blackstallion06 said:
HMM would they sell the car we are looking for a W.S. race car

trust, me if they would thats what i would be driving. i got my license 4 years ago and have trying to buy it ever since. theywant to show it when they retire. so im trying to figure out why they want me to help fix it but im not complainin, it gives me something to do when im on leave. im hoping that they pull the old trick and say ok now that you fixed it you can have it. thatwould awesome. if they give it to me i would consider selling it for the race car cause what i really want is a 2010 mustang gt. the one with the 6.2 L V8
 
M

Mustangcwo

Guest
I let my 87 sit for 2 years without driving it and no issues. That 302 is a tough engine and should do just fine. Throw some royal purple in there and take it for a spin; I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised.
 

Young Guns

Well-Known Member
i call my dad and have him try it. i got it running last ime i was home. i had to replace the starter and the alternator. da had already got a new battery. it still ran kinda rough but i guess thats expected. i ccant wait till thanks giving so ican can get under the hood again. when i go hame agian since i put new tires on it as long as it starts again im gonna drive that instead of the contour they have. i would take my stang home but gas ids too high todrive to maryland and back.
 

orange395w

OG MEMBER
Staff member
Like CWO said, The car is most likely fine. It probably just needs someone to clear it's throat from any built up carbon not to mention the old fuel that's in it. If it's been sitting for that long I would drain the tank and put some new fuel in it. with some injector cleaner. Sounds like an awesome car 42,000mi ! Sweet.
 

Young Guns

Well-Known Member
it did help.i had my dad try the royal purple and he said it smoothed it out a good bit so now i cant wait to go back home and try it out for myself and do a little more work on it. luckily my unccle owns an auto upholstery shop so we dont have to worry there. lol
 
M

Mustangcwo

Guest
Remember to do all the basics first.
1) Pull plugs and make certain they are clean.
2) Clean the rotor tip and the cap spark points.
3) Fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank
4) One tank of 104+ high octane booster (assists in cleaning injectors)
All of these minor details will make a huge difference.

Good Luck and have fun
 
Top