50 Ford Performance Tips & Tricks

FE Diet
One of the big drawbacks to the original intake manifold found on the FE 390- 427-428 engines is weight. The original cast-iron intake weighs in at a painful 78 to 90 pounds, depending on which FE you're running. Edelbrock offers two excellent FE aluminum intake manifolds, each weighing in at 26.5 pounds. We don't need to explain how a weight reduction of between 50 and 60 pounds over the front wheels helps both acceleration and handling performance. The extra flow potential and resulting horsepower gains come at no extra charge.

Try Tri-Ys
If the K-code exhaust manifolds aren't what you had in mind for your high-performance Mustang and you still want a flavor of originality, try a set of Tri-Y headers from Stainless Works. This type of header was offered as original equipment on the '65 Shelby GT350. With Tri-Ys, you'll get both great performance and vintage looks. Info: Stainless Works, Dept. MF, 9899 E. Washington St., Chagrin Falls, OH 44023; (800) 878-3635.

Lower Temperature
You already know that unless your early Mustang came with air conditioning, it hasn't got a fan shroud. The factory shroud furnished with A/C cars isn't very deep, so you may want to fabricate your own custom shroud like this one.

Differential Difference
If you,'re running an 8-inch open differential in your vintage Mustang, you may be thinking of a performance upgrade for your rear axle. If you don,'t want the clatter and jumpy operation common to a locker-type diff, consider a Currie Torque Sensing Differential for your third member. This unit will provide smooth and quiet two-wheel traction perfect for your street car. It drops into place in your third member with no modifications, and you,'ll be laying down two black stripes instead of one. Info: Currie Enterprises, Dept. MF, 1480 N. Tustin Ave., Anaheim CA 92807; (714) 528-6957.

Secret Power
If you want to mystify the competition, and clean their clocks as well, consider a stroker kit from Speed-O-Motive. They can pack up to 347 ci into your stock-looking 289-302 block, and no one will ever know why your car is so fast. Use a 351 block, and you can get well above the 400ci figure. Use your stock air cleaner and stump the panel. Info: Speed-O-Motive, Dept. MF, 12061 E. Slauson Ave., Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670; (562) 945-2758.

Quiet Control
There's no question that anti-sway bars on your vintage Mustang or Ford will improve handling dramatically. What you may not know is that when you get these sway bar kits with polyurethane bushings, you can end up with a loud squeaking problem once the bars are installed. When we put sway bars on our car along with a whole new front end, we had loud squeaking that was driving us crazy. When we finally isolated the problem, we found that a little bearing grease on the inside of the polyurethane bushing solved the whole dilemma. Save yourself some grief and grease your anti-sway bar bushings a little before you install the bars in the first place.

Steer Here
If you've been wanting to eliminate the vintage power steering on your Mustang, but you don't want the expense of changing drag links and pitman arms, a different solution is now available. Mustangs Plus offers a manual steering adapter that goes in place of your power-steering control valve. The rest of your linkage stays in place. Besides the control valve, you can eliminate the pump with its bracketry, lines, slave cylinder, and thrust bracket. You'll have improved steering feel and lose all of the leaks and extra weight that goes with original power steering. Info: Mustangs Plus, Dept. MF, 2353 N. Wilson Way, Stockton, CA 95205; (800) 999-4289.

Greatest Fan
You can reduce the amount of noise coming from underhood and pick up a few ponies at the rear wheels if you switch to an electric fan for your primary cooling. You'll also have less problems with overheating because air velocity through the radiator is full blast, even stopped at idle.

Path of Least Resistance
Any time you can lessen intake resistance, it's a good thing for power production. One simple way to do this is to run the tallest air cleaner element your hood clearance will allow. The same logic says to keep your element clean as well.