Hello all! I have joined to gather knowledge as I work on repairing and restoring my 86 GT. My car is an orginal black exterior red interior GT - one of only 500 produced. It has just over 415K on the orginal 5.0L.
The engine had some mild intake porting and cam work done back in 87 and valve cover gaskets were replaced in 97. Other than that it has never been torn into. It runs with 14 degrees of timing, no intake silencer, increased fuel pressure, etc-- all of the late 80's and early 90's tricks for more power. It has ran in the 13 second zone in the 1/4.
Presently the factory 5.0L still runs but is no longer all that strong and it leaks oil everywhere. It also smokes due to weak oil rings and completely destroyed valve seals and guides. All of this is to be expected- the car was beat on daily for many years while accumulating a massive mile count.
What exactly does it take to kill a 5.0L that has regular maintenance performed on it? I hve no idea-- mine has simply refused to die in spite of my drive it like you stole it driving habits. I can't say the same for the other things. 40 pairs of tires, two rearends, 6 transmisions, 11 clutch jobs, etc, have all fallen.
I parked it due to yet another T5 failure - sad. That one was a D&D unit with 300 lb carbon fiber input shaft upgrade. Two of the others were Z spec T5's - so much for being "stong".
Don't think the factory 5 has any power-- how does a 1 & 7/8" twist in the unibody, a diagonal crack in the floor, and stress cracks at all four roof seams sound? That's what happens when sticky tires weaken a body because they hook high R and you don't have a cage and welded in subframe connectors. It wasn't much fun to fix, but that was 200K ago and the fix has held after the connectors were put in and welded.
The car has caster/camber plates, subframe connectors, a strut tower brace, BBK equal length shorty headers, MAC X pipe, and MAC cat-back exhaust.
The stereo is already great - one of the car's best features. The 10 disc changer and Kicker comp subs and amps are all aging but still sound awesome. This won't get touched for some time.
I'm planning an A9L MAF conversion before tearing the engine down.
So far I have bought an Explorer intake, Edelbrock Performer heads, and another T5. A quality shifter is top of mind.
I haven't decided on what I will do to freshen the shortblock yet- really want to do a 331 stroker with forged internals if the budget allows.
I am considering going to around 12:1 compression and am thinking of getting a custom chip for the A9L so I can run E85 since it is 105 octane and cheap.
When I shift my focus to the body experience with replacing metal will get put to good use. The body will be mostly new when I am done. I plan to install all new metal (hood, fenders, doors, quarters, hatch, floor). I am considering sourcing a factory moon roof car's top from the scrap heap just because it's cool and just because I can.
The interior is already customized with one of a kind black/red door panels, center console, dash pad, black carpet, etc. The black/red theme will be carried through with new carpet, head liner, and seat coverings.
I'm also looking at upgrading brakes, suspension, etc, as well. Bless all the upgrades like torque arms and watts links and the modern differentials that have come out!
Looking forward to interacting with you all. Thanks for having me.
Black 1986 Mustang GT coming back from pasture 
