Hey you Ford folks!!!

[gtsfirefighter]

Just acquired a 1979 T-Bird to teach my son to drive in. Needs a little work but what 32 year old car doesn't.

351 Windsor 2bbl carb. It has emissions equipment on it, i.e. pump and miles of vacuum lines and hoses. The previous owner already put a true dual exhaust on minus the cats.

Question: Will it hurt the engine to remove all that equipment? The car was never environmentally friendly even off the assembly line so please no commentary regarding that.
I'm not expecting power gains as it only has 151 hp so it's going to be gutless no matter what. Cleaning up the engine bay is pretty much my reason for asking.

 

[mecevans]

Might have a backfire on deccel.

 

[Poodles]

Might be easier to swap EFI onto it. Those crazy setups are like an analog version of an ECU and a complete nightmare to deal with.

 

[mnracer550]

me and a buddy pulled all the emissions off on a 85 foxbody a few weeks ago. ran fine. also did a carb rebuild at the time. u could definitely pick up come ponys with a 4 barrel. even a small one like the ones off carbed foxbodys. i believe there 500cfm.

 

[ae86ma70]

Get rid of all that BS. Most of it's probably not working as it should anyway. May need an EGR block off plate, but an aftermarket 4BBL 351W intake might fix that as well.

 

[Poodles]

With it being a 79, doesn't require any emissions equipment anymore, so you could rip everything off of it. Bro said it would be advisable to put a cam in it since the factory cams are usually terrible to try and hit emissions marks.

Hell, the heads and intake are probably pretty bad too, but like all american V8's, parts are abundant (hell, open up a Jegs or Summit catalog and find anything and everything).

I'm still partial to EFI though

 

[ae86ma70]

1UZ-FE ftw.

 

[gtsfirefighter]

me and a buddy pulled all the emissions off on a 85 foxbody a few weeks ago. ran fine. also did a carb rebuild at the time. u could definitely pick up come ponys with a 4 barrel. even a small one like the ones off carbed foxbodys. i believe there 500cfm.

Hmmm. That's a thought!

Get rid of all that BS. Most of it's probably not working as it should anyway. May need an EGR block off plate, but an aftermarket 4BBL 351W intake might fix that as well.

Was told today I won't.

With it being a 79, doesn't require any emissions equipment anymore, so you could rip everything off of it. Bro said it would be advisable to put a cam in it since the factory cams are usually terrible to try and hit emissions marks.

Hell, the heads and intake are probably pretty bad too, but like all american V8's, parts are abundant (hell, open up a Jegs or Summit catalog and find anything and everything).

I'm still partial to EFI though

The engine is tight and runs good. Could stand a tune up but fires right up after two pumps on the carb!
I'd have to pull the engine to remove the cam right since it's not overhead? If that's the case hell no. I'm done pulling engines for a while.

1UZ-FE ftw.

That is epic WIN. There's definitely room under that hood for it! Wonder what kinda mileage it'd get with that 2.55 geared differential?

I forgot about a very reliable Ford source I have. One of the mechanics at DFW Airport where I work is a Ford enthusiasts and has dealt with many a 351 Windsors. He said it'd be safe to remove all of it and gave him advice on what to do.

Now. The Ford T-Bird forums leave a LOT to be desired so I'd still appreciate any advice yall have with this car. I'm very curious about swaps, like a fuel injected 5.0 out of a foxbody mustang or early 90's T-Bird. Wonder what all that would entail???

 

[ForcedTorque]

Find a T-bird Turbo Coupe motor for it!

 

[ae86ma70]

I'm very curious about swaps, like a fuel injected 5.0 out of a foxbody mustang or early 90's T-Bird. Wonder what all that would entail???

For the 5L, 2.3L, and 1UZ swaps: engine, harness, and ECU, junkyard T56 (or C4/6), fab up an in-tank fuel pump bracket, EDIS setup, aluminum fuel line and some -AN fittings. Fab up motor mounts and exhaust.

-or-

Keep the 351W, get an EFI intake and EDIS-8 setup and run Megasquirt. You'll still need the fuel upgrades, but much less fabrication required. UEGO would also be a nice thing to have.

 

[gtsfirefighter]

Hmmm. This efi intake sounds appealing. Must learn more!

 

[Poodles]

Oh, and wait...

WHERE ARE THE PICS?!?!!?!

 

[toyotanos]

put a 7M into it and see if any Ford guys pick up on it...


/trollface

In reality the 4bbl intake/carby would be the easiest imo, but EFI would be sweet as well

 

[mnracer550]

is the car really nice enough for all these bigger projects? hell maybe it is, idk. but u could get a 4brrl carb for 30bucks at almost any pull. and a used aftermarket intake for 100 easily. make much more power.

 

[Kangae]

I know EFI is better, but I think that carburetors are neat pieces of equipment and shouldn't be tossed so readily.

And on the other hand, if you're gonna spend all the money an efi kit usually costs, you might just want to get a whole modern efi engine out of a junked ford pickup truck or a crown victoria or something.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[supramk3speed]

We have a 57 t-bird at the shop. Pics???

 

[gtsfirefighter]

Pics you say?? Well I'm going to warn you now it's a tank, a beater, a big ass car. I think I shall name her Monster Bitch. These pics were taken before I cleaned it up, not that a wash made it look much better but vacuuming it did.
1979 Thunderbird Town Landau
351W 2bb with C6 Auto
This car is equipped with just about every option you could get on a T-bird including a sunroof, leather and...get this...a rear defrost!!!
The turbine wheels are kinda cool but I need to get a couple of center caps, which are NOT cheap.

Here it is on the trailer:

Sitting in my driveway next to the engine-less supra. My neighbors are gonna hate me.

Engine bay

And believe it or not that big beotch fit in the garage. The Lexus is on driveway duty until I thin out the car population.

Another profile shot in the driveway

---------- Post added at 12:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:59 AM ----------

Oh I had to adjust the hood latch but the hood now stays shut.

 

[Poodles]

It's not a boat, it's a land yacht

 

[supramk3speed]

Wow, it looks like you would need a closed down runway to stop that thing. Its huge!

 

[ae86ma70]

If that yacht had flush fitment on all four corners, it'd almost look muscular.