i just bought a 1981 mustang. its got the 5.0 V8 engine in it. and we cant get it to start. but the last owner tryed when i was their and it almost ran but kept giving up. the last owner said it needed sparkplug wires fresh gas and spark plugs. and fuel pump. but i have the fuel pump. ill install that. but basically id like to make this car a drag car yet keep it street legal. whats the first thing i should do to it to have it driving faster and looking good. its just the car has so much potential that i dont know where to start.


chris

 

buy my 86 motor and E7 heads, get an RPM intake and 650 holley, bolt on some ET streets and run high 13s...not hard to make these cars fast

 

Check to see what you actually have. 1980 and 1981 Mustangs were NOT available with a 5.0L V8. The only V8 engine they had was the awful 3-year only 4.2 (255 cubic inch). That was a 302 with a smaller bore and stroke, crappy heads, and no power, but the same fuel mileage (the idea was to have better fuel mileage with less displacement.

So if the car hasn't had an engine swap, and still has the original engine, plan on changing to something else if you want to go fast.


cheers
Ed N.

 

it has had a engine swap to the 5.0 V8

 

Ah ... OK. Do you know what year and model of vehicle the 5.0 came out of? Knowing that will help to choose the proper parts.


cheers
Ed N.

 

^I agree, this will put you in the high-13 second range with decent driving, if you want, I'll throw in another set of E7's to sweeten the pot.

 

hell, i went 13.2 with this motor and E6 heads...of course that was with gears and EFI, but with E7s and a good running carbbed set up it should run 13s all day long

 

new wires,distributor, performance spark plugs,headers + exaust and a good carbirator and air filter
to start.then u can boar it over .30 and do the heads and in take

 

actualy the stoke is 3" just like the 302

 

Throw a turbo or a 200 shot of the juice on it, and you'll be going fast