Hey guys. I was hoping you could help me with something here. I installed Mac long tubes when I swapped a 5.0 into my 88 T/C. They went in fine, but there IS a problem. The ball s that are welded onto the collectors are too close to the floor pan. The top of the on the driver's side collector is about 3/8" from the floor pan and the top of the passenger side is only 1/8" away from the floor pan. If I cut those ball s off and welded a 3", to 2 1/2" reducer onto each collector, I could use v band-style clamps to attach my O/R h pipe to those reducers. Setting up my exhaust that way would leave me with 3/4" of clearance between the passenger side collector and the floor pan. The driver's side collector would have about 1" of clearance that way. Another added bonus of getting rid of the ball s would be a better flowing exhaust. It's not a mystery that ball s disturb airflow.
I found out recently that Stang tranny mounts are supposed to be about 1/2" shorter than T-Bird tranny mounts. Consequently, I could gain a little more clearance between my collectors and floor pan by using a Stang tranny mount.
My question is this. How much clearance do you think I'd need to keep a collector from hitting the floor pan? I installed brand new (factory-style, not poly) motor mounts when I did the swap, so they couldn't be in better shape.
It's been suggested to me that I could solve my problem by running solid motor mounts, but I'm not willing to put up with solid mounts (and their drawbacks) on my car. I'm not building a track car. It's being built for the street.
Thanks for any help with this guys.
I had the Mac LT's in my '83 (stock K-member) with the Mustang convertible motor mounts when it had a 5.0. There was adequate room between the floor pan and the exhaust.
When I installed the 351W motor in the car with a Griggs K-member the Canton RR pan was just barely hitting the steering rack so I needed a way to lift the motor about a 1/4" to 1/2". I went back to the parts store to return the convertible mounts and get a regular set but found out that is all they offer now. I called a buddy and he suggested that I install a set of the urethane motor mounts as he ran into this on his '89 Mustang with a Griggs K-member and Canton RR pan. Ordered the Energy Suspension urethane motor mounts for a '93 Mustang and they moved the motor up enough to clear the rack. Not sure if this even helps or not but I wanted to share my experiences with the mounts.
With that said I checked OReilly's and Autozone to see the motor mounts. They appear very different between an '83 and '88 T-Bird but the '83 T-Brid and the '87 Mustang shared one style in common. I never bothered to look them up before so this is interesting.
If you are already not using the Mustang convertable style motor mounts you may want to see if they will work in your application to lower the motor a bit more. The last time I bought motor mounts for a Mustang I tried the Ford dealership but they no longer offer them so a parts store is your only bet there. Again, if you are not already using the Mustang motor mounts and they would work on your K-member it sounds like these in conjunction with the Mustang tranny mount may get you the clearance you need.
Darren
Thanks for sharing that info with me Buddy. Unfortunately, Stang motor mounts won't work on 87, or 88 TBirds like mine. If I could maybe find an isolator (like ones out of Stang convertible motor mounts) that would lower my engine, maybe that would do the trick, but as luck would have it, some of the primaries on my passenger side header are already too close to the k-member. There are two brake lines that run along that k-member that are almost touching one of the primaries. I'm already gonna have to reroute those brake lines to keep them from being overheated, or crushed by that primary. Because of that fact, I can't lower the engine any more. Even with the brake lines rerouted, if I dropped the engine much more, some of the passenger side primaries would be up against the k-member.
You have to love dealing with long tube headers. Lol
Wow! At least I learned something today about the different motor mounts. Sounds like cutting the fire cones off the system may be the best way to go.
Darren
That's one of the reasons I love coming here Darren. I learn somethin new about these cars all the time.
Yeah. I think my options are pretty much set. That might not be a bad thing though. I'm sure I'll benefit from removing those ball s.
Welcome to the forum and I'll see you around.
It's been awhile since I had mine on, but I think only the passenger side washiznitting on my car. I remember having a hammer in hand.....
Vic,
I forgot about Turbo Chuck. Go here and look at #6, really nice motor mounts. Won't solve your problem but they are very nice quality. I have his brackets on the back of my T-Bird so I can use Mustang shocks on my coil overs.
http://turbochuck.com/wp-content/motormounts.html
Darren
Lol. I've had to do that before. I'd rather not do that to the Blackbird though if there's a way around it, which it looks like there is luckily.
Hey thanks for that link Darren. Chuck actually runs this site and has a lot of goodies that I plan to buy once things get better financially for me. One of the first things I intend to get would be one of his shock adapter kits. I'm gonna trash my quad shock set-up and go that route.
Well you would think I would put two and two together now wouldn't you? Chuck W = Turbo Chuck...geez, ha ha ha!!! Oh well, at least I know now.
Darren
How about putting a piece of pipe in the colloctor and pull down on it. You can bend
all the tubes down enough to clear the cross member.
Wow! I didn't even know that was an option. I never knew the primaries would give enough to let me do that even with a pipe. Thanks a lot for schooling me on that. Consider it done! I really appreciate the help!
If the primaries are not coated would preheating them prior to bending be a good idea? I would think this will keep them from wrinkling and make the job a bit easier. This would be right upstream of the collectors.
Darren
Since I wouldn't need to move my collectors all that much Darren, I can't see there being any issues with wrinkling any of the primaries. They should be just fine.
The only thing that makes me nervous about pulling the collectors down like that, is the possibility of introducing alignment issues between the primary s and where they bolt to the heads. If that happens, I'll know it as soon as I remove these headers and go to bolt them back up to the heads.