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You know you have a 5.0 Tbird/Cougar when (I couldn't find one for ours)

52K views 143 replies 63 participants last post by  Rayo 
#1 · (Edited)
You know you have a 5.0 Tbird/Cougar when:

...Everyone finally believes you after you open the hood

...You spend half an hour trying to aim the timing light so you can see it

...The first mod you wanna do is headers

...An exhaust place you go to says "Well you'll have to come back in a few days when we have more time."
 
#28 ·
lonnie, i never said i wasnt cheap....
 
#29 ·
Cheap will get you nothing but headaches with our cars. As far as I'm concerned any MAC header isn't worth the scrap it's made from.

Example, brand new heads off the engine and only got 2 bolts out of the eight on one side that could be threaded in. Not a single other bolt hole lined up and the flanges were over 1/4 inch away from the head's exhaust flange when you tried to force the headers to line up.



 
#30 ·
i didnt have that issue, they were at least squared like that , but what a b itch doing them in the car not being able to put a ratchet on all the bolts . hey btw, i will be needign a chip to emlinate the egr , thermactor and speed limiter on a 1991 tbird harness and pcm, that i will be running in my 67 stang, is that something thats possbile to do ?
 
#31 ·
They go in the first time ok with some fuss. After they've been heated and cooled a few times they warp to no end. Busted knuckles, scratched paint and blown tempers is all you get after that besides the welds letting loose at the collectors and constant blown gaskets. Not worth the time or effort. In a 3 year time span I fought my headers 7 times for gasket leaks or blown out welds. Each time it took longer and longer to install them because the warping got so bad. I'm not the only one either. I've helped out 4 others in their same situations. Some claim that we just didn't do it right with tightening down the bolts, yeah right....what ever. I've seen dozens post the same problems on this site for years.

I've had the JBAs on the car for 4 years now and no leaks. You can hold them with one hand and every single bolt hole lines up and you can thread the bolts all the way in with your fingers. I've had them off once for a blown head gasket and they went back on just the same after uncountable heating and cooling cycles. You could never do that with a set of MACs even brand new.

 
#32 ·
im putting a set on my xmas list
 
#34 ·
.......when the guy at the muffler shop said he had to look twice when you drove by because he thought it was a Mustang.

Gosh, I need some turbo mufflers and tailpipes now. Everyone thinks it sounds great until they go for a ride.

After seeing how those mac shorties warp I'm glad mine are stainless frpp Mustang headers. I'm still running dumps and no support on the exhaust besides the four collecter bolts! That will be fixed shortly.
 
#35 ·
I still get the "5.0s were not available in the Tbird" at the parts stores. Or "you or the previous owner must have swapped that in there, they didn't come like that".
 
#36 ·
Lonnie said:
I still get the "5.0s were not available in the Tbird" at the parts stores. Or "you or the previous owner must have swapped that in there, they didn't come like that".
i haven't gotten the `how hard was it to swap in the 5L' and this is just passerby's either walking or driving.. mostly happens when i was parking the car

Now-a-days it's `These things come with a 5spd?!?'


Driving around the '96 is nice, but even in the 120miles, 2 days i've been driving it, i shure miss the 5oh and 5spd of the '91 the 4.6 and 4R combo isn't as fun
 
#39 ·
Did I say it was "as fun" as a manual? no, I said that it will be "more fun". The specifics on the site for 94/95 cars are for the sake of upgrading to the 96-97 tranny as part of the mod. Therefore it actually simpler to do on your car because it is a 96. It was easy for me, and I'm not a BMW tech either . . .
 
#40 ·
I was going to do the manual trans swap but then after all the surgeries on my hands and since I can't autocross anymore I've had a change of mind. Sold my Tremec and all the parts with it for the swap. So now it's going to be a 4R70W swap. I've got everything for either doing the EEC V or a 95 Mustang EEC IV swap, just haven't made up my mind and or have the time to really do it. Still need to get a TC for it too. My garage gets above 110 during the day also so there's no work going on in there during the summer.
 
#41 ·
mercoug302 said:
Did I say it was "as fun" as a manual? no, I said that it will be "more fun". It was easy for me, and I'm not a BMW tech either . . .
Well in that context it makes more sense
"The 4R will be more fun after you do "the" tranny mod" can be taken as it'll be more fun then a 5spd.. Specially when replying to the fact someone said that the 4R (or any Auto for that fact) isn't as fun as a 5spd...

Well hey i get confused about these things.. heck i'm not a BMW Tech either.. but with so much referring to the '94/5 cars with little info on the '96/7 cars
heh i'm still trying to get the Trans 101 thing to print out correctly either i get part of it, or the whole `page' is compressed into one sheet :confused:

Well the '96 will not become a 5spd.. it's too `soft' of a car to have anything liek that done to it..
So done up AOD with 4R internals Lonnie? Less hassles?? :confused:
 
#42 ·
The tech article isn't really that confusing if you take it in sections, valve body mods, Jmod and Bullet Proof. If you try and read it all at once then I can see where you can get confused.

No I won't do the wide ratio swap in the AOD. I'd rather have the ability to be able to change my shifts and lockups with a few key strokes rather then turn wrenchs and get covered in trans fluid.
 
#43 ·
Heh I have read the whole thing a couple times (online) But wanted to print it up and read it that way and highlight what i find that was for me.. But the format it's in, i have issues printing it out.. Some `pages' work out great and break it up over X-number of sheets.. where as other `pages' either print little of it and no more, or i can get it to print what should be over 4-5 sheets onto ONE sheet of paper......

Well yah.. that way is nice too :p wish i could do that right now with the 4R in the '96.. Also the whole TC thing is freaky :) but i the best part of the car is.. it's getting twice the gas milage as the '91 :)
 
#44 ·
Lonnie said:
I was going to do the manual trans swap but then after all the surgeries on my hands and since I can't autocross anymore I've had a change of mind. Sold my Tremec and all the parts with it for the swap. So now it's going to be a 4R70W swap. I've got everything for either doing the EEC V or a 95 Mustang EEC IV swap, just haven't made up my mind and or have the time to really do it. Still need to get a TC for it too. My garage gets above 110 during the day also so there's no work going on in there during the summer.
Hey Lonnie, you need any help in that garage?

paul :cool:
 
#45 ·
I need to Find a garage to tear into my '91 for it's complete rebuild :)

My parents have a garage.. but it's a waste of space right now.. Full of CRAP!!! and also my Comet is in it.. (which i should buy a battery for and get it running and take it for a boot... :)
 
#46 ·
--You can change the heads, headers, intake, water pump and timing chain, have it running in less than a day.
--Cops flag you down to tell you that you have a "Cool Car"
-- You buy tires every 6 months
-- You can run whatever grade of gas you want, cause it only takes 5 min. to change timing.

You think people look at your car's wierd Drive a lincoln that no one seems to remember. But will never forget about. ;)
 
#47 ·
RodKnockin5.0 said:
You know you have a 5.0 when you have a catback system and a U/D pulley kit and still run 16's.

Also when you stop at a stop light and your voltage meter drops and your temp goes up!!!

And your back wheels are extremely bald!

Last but not least when you buddy in a 4.6 is getting better gas mileage and smoking you!!!!!!!!LOL
BTW, I would be the one who smokes him yet gets way better gas milage! When we drove down to dragway42 and raced, we left my house both a having half a tank. Well he had to stop racing because he was almost out of gas ( he got about 8-10 runs before he stopped, I got 12-13 in before it closed). I managed to make it all the way home and did some running around the next day on the same half tank of gas...lol!

4.6 RUULLLEEEEEZZZZZZ!!! HAHA j/k with ya fellas!

;)
 
#48 ·
Since i own both, and only really had the '96 4.6L for like 10 days now (but nearly 400-500miles on it) I like my 5oh car better when it had the same milage on it..

the 4.6L is nice, don't get me wrong, but the 5.0L just has a `feel' to it that the 4.6L just doesn't have... the 4.6L feels `lazy' and justa good cruising engine :)

i should ask someone to drive my '96 to the track, and i'll take my '91.. and try to race them side by side... but would that be a fair race?? HMMM nah the '91 even with bad shycros would kick the '96's *** :)
 
#50 ·
but the rest is uhh.. Stock :) Well mods i see that do not make it faster... Also the '91 has 326Km on it VS 122Km that the '96 has...

Well if the '96 can beat/be close to the 15.2 i got out of the '91 with a blown AOD i'll be DAMN happy :) mind you our race track is at sea-level next to a fair sized river.. so awesome conditions can be had :)
 
#51 ·
91 XR7 said:
Since i own both, and only really had the '96 4.6L for like 10 days now (but nearly 400-500miles on it) I like my 5oh car better when it had the same milage on it..

the 4.6L is nice, don't get me wrong, but the 5.0L just has a `feel' to it that the 4.6L just doesn't have... the 4.6L feels `lazy' and justa good cruising engine :)

i should ask someone to drive my '96 to the track, and i'll take my '91.. and try to race them side by side... but would that be a fair race?? HMMM nah the '91 even with bad shycros would kick the '96's *** :)
Wow that's weird, cus when I drive my buddies 5.0, it feels sluggish campared to the 4.6! Seems as if the car just falls on its face after 3000 rpms. The 4.6's power just keeps going and loves to rev. The 5.0 screams for help past 3000. Even off the line it doesn't seem to take the edge over the 4.6...

When he first got his bird he had just the dynomax catback and I only had the PI intake on (do to the original carcking). I pulled on him from a dead stop all the way up to 70mph and got about 3-4 car lengths on him. Even got that on video...lol. Obviously your 5.0 is not stock so maybe thats why you feel it has the edge over the 4.6. But hey, happy motoring!

;)
 
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