I've been bidding on crap all week and been getting out bid at the very last second on everything, and usually higher than I want to go anyway (I've been watching, and watch myself get sniped, and do nothing because most people on ebay are retarded and will pay any price because "if it's off ebay, it must be a good deal!").
So I finally won some cylinder heads for my car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GT-40p's to be exact, off a 5.0 explorer.
See, here's the deal:
Mustangs stopped getting the 5.0 (302) in 96, when they went to the new 4.6 (which is still used today). Explorers/Mountaineers got it until 98 or 99 or something (don't know exactly off the top of my head). Anyway, 96 is when emmissions got more strict (which is why the Mustang got a new engine finally), but the Explorers weren't ready for a new engine (I have no idea why this is exactly, I guess they didn't want the 4.6 in them or something), but the current 5.0 wasn't up to standards, so they had to change some stuff, namely the cylinder heads and the intake. These were based on their previous GT-40 line of stuff, which is very similar to what's used in the Cobra engines.
Anyway, there's a bit more to it than that, but the point is they are better than the stuff the 5.0 mustangs (and older 5.0 explorers) had, and therefore make them the junkyard upgrade of choice.
I can't remember if I mentioned this in a past entry, but I also got an Explorer upper intake from a junkyard, which means now I need to get a lower >_<.
See, I'm pretty excited about this, because the Mustang's 5.0 has three serious bottlenecks: the crappy intake, the crappy cylinder heads, and the crappy headers. Now cylinder heads are basically the single most expensive thing you can replace on an engine (as far as just the parts go, and we're talking replace, so not counting superchargers), so I figured I'd never get to upgrade that (while in school), and just upgrading any one of those three bottlenecks is nearly pointless, you really have to do all three for a noticable gain (for it to be worth it anyway). So now I have some cylinder heads (hooray!), and an upper intake. Now if I can just snag a lower intake I'll basically be set.
What about the headers? Well, remember I'm going to twin-turbo my car, right? So I'll worry about those when I get to that point. Basically we'll stick some shorty headers on backwards, run them through the turbos and then out the back. This is going to be an enormous pain, but it brings me to my next bit of news.
My Dad spotted in Craig's list last weekend an ad for a Mustang parts sale. Basically everything I've ever wanted, namely the last item on the list:
Bucket full of turbos and spare parts $50
I nearly crapped myself when I saw that.
So long story shorter, remember how I already have one turbo ready? Well, now I've got 3. And enough parts to build at least 2 more. Now only two of these are really any good, but well, two works out well for a twin-turbo system.
I also picked up some mass air stuff, so now I just need an ECU (been outbid on like 3 already :( ) and I can convert from speed density to mass air!
So yeah, fun stuff.
In other news, I've been working a tiny bit on Squarediana Jones (no memory leaks, hooray!), so here's a pic that looks nearly exactly like my old ones but trust me it's better:
Now people will look in my journal, see that screenshot and think everything I just said has anything to do with it :P
EDIT:
OMG I WON AGAIN!!
I won a bid on a lower GT-40 intake!!!!!!!!!
Everything is comming together!
With any luck, by mid-next-month I'll have some new parts installed on my car!
Not sure what to expect, I think about a 40hp gain is a bit optimistic, but possible.
And if anything I ordered is messed up or not what they said it was, I'm going to jump out my roof and set my house on fire. And I live in an apartment building.
