[DeTomaso] whats old is new again

[Corey Price]

I had a 1991 Mustang 5.0 LX that ran like a champ at 180k miles when I sold her. Great car. Tranny (T5) was a pile and was replaced early on.  I've also heard that Ford increased the durability of the 302 block late in its life. My car didn't burn much oil and was a highway patrol car that I bought right from the state auction. 



On Dec 9, 2015, at 10:03 AM, Daniel C Jones <daniel.c.jones2 at gmail.com> wrote:

>> I think it's probably a long list of reasons, including better
>   materials, closer tolerances, better oil, better designs, EFI vs carb,
>   overdrive trans to reduce rpms on cruise, and now I need to list not
>   dumping the clutch to do smokey burnouts.
>   The 5.0L HO in my 1987 Mustang GT is approaching 250,000 miles.A  The
>   pushrod 5.0L is essentially a bored and stroked version of the 221
>   Fairlane V8 that Ford introduced over 50 years ago (1962 to be
>   precise).A  Compared to the original 221, the 5.0L HO has received a
>   number of updates (introduced over the years):
>   A sequential fuel injection with built-in diagnostics
>   A much better emissions controls (compared to 1970's stuff)
>   A more nickle content in the block
>   A hardened exhaust valve seats
>   A steel cam and roller lifters
>   A high energy electronic ignition
>   A stainless steel tubular exhaust manifolds
>   A forged pistons (low thermal expansion alloy
>   A thinner, low tension, rings
>   Add to that a better cross-flow radiator and a 5 speed overdrive
>   transmission.A  Most engine wear occurs at cold start up.A  Fuel
>   injection has much better control of the cold start mixture so you
>   don't have excess fuel washing oil off the cylinder walls like you
>   would with a carburetor and modern oil, particularly synthetics, are
>   much better than older oils.
>   I pulled the engine at 163K miles.A  It ran fine, held good oil
>   pressure and got good gas mileage but I just wanted to see how it
>   looked inside.A  I bought the car new and for the first 40K miles, I
>   ran conventional oil changed at 3000 miles, after that I switched to
>   synthetic oil (primarily Mobil 1 but also Castrol Syntec) changed every
>   5000 miles.A  The Mustang is the first and only car I've owned since
>   new, so I was curious to see what it looked like inside.A  Previous to
>   the Mustang, I had a 1979 Buick Regal as a daily driver that was
>   purchased with 70K miles showing on the odometer.A  When I opened it
>   up, it was evident the previous owner didn't change the oil on a
>   regular basis.A  The oil pickup screen was completely clogged (only the
>   bypass hole was pulling oil in), the bearings were in bad shape, the
>   timing chain was flapping in the wind, and there was carbon build up
>   everywhere.A  My Mustang's 5.0L HO was at the opposite end of the
>   spectrum.A  The inside of the engine was completely clean.A  When we
>   ran the rifle cleaners through the oil passages, they came out as clean
>   as they went in.A  The only build up was a slight amount on the tops of
>   the pistons and the exhaust valves.A  The block showed no wear
>   whatsoever: no ridge and the original honing cross hatch marks were
>   still visible.A  The valves and crank were still within the tolerances
>   for new parts.A  The roller cam and lifters were fine.A  The cam
>   bearings were like new, in fact they were a bit on the tight side.
>   I had heard the nodular iron 5.0L blocks wore quite well but I was
>   surprised to see how nice the engine looked inside.A  I was expecting
>   some wear due to the fact I was running a K&N filter which probably
>   does not filter as well as a paper filter.A  Also, I spent a year in
>   the Mojave desert and upon my return, noticed the air inlet tube hadA
>   a gap at the bottom that allowed unfiltered air in.A  Strictly
>   speaking, the only thing the engine needed was a valve job (guides were
>   fine, just the exhaust seats had some pitting) and a throttle body
>   cleaningA  (later versions got a Teflon coating, mine is an early one
>   that is uncoated aluminum).A  I re-used the pistons, rods, block,
>   crank, cam, lifters, pushrods, etc.A  I used a rotary wire brush wheel
>   to removeA  carbon from the tops of the pistons, removed the bearings
>   and stuck the pistons and rods in a 5 gallon bucket of carb cleaner
>   overnight.A  The next day, I rinsed them off with Gumout spray and
>   wiped them dry with a clean rag.A  There wasn't much in the ring
>   grooves, so I didn't use a ring groove cleaner.A  I just ran an old
>   ring around the groove to clean out any residue.A  The valves were
>   cleaned on a wire brush wheel.A  The guides and valves (the 5.0L HO OEM
>   valves appear to have chrome plated stems, BTW) checked out fine, so I
>   reassembled the heads using the valve seals from the Fel Pro gasket
>   kit.A  The intake seals from the kit were identical to the Ford seals
>   but the exhaust seals were standard looking umbrella seals with a note
>   indicating they are made of a superior high temperature type material
>   that doesn't break down like old umbrella seals.A  The OEM Ford exhaust
>   seals were some sort of hard plastic.A A  I ground out the thermactor
>   bumps in the exhaust ports and dad did a standard valve job on his
>   Sioux valve grinder.A  Since I was there I installed new rings,
>   bearings timing chain and oil pump, a windage tray, water pump, 1.7:1
>   roller rockers etc.
>   Still runs fine and still gets a smokey burnout on occasion.
>   Dan Jones
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