I'm fixing to start poking around Craigslist and the local junkyards for a donor vehicle with a 5.0 MAF EFI.

IIRC, trucks got MAF in '95? Everyone wants them and they're scarce, so probably more $$ than I want to spend.

Mustangs got it ~'87, I think, but everyone always wants too much for Mustang parts too.

What about Crown Vics/Grand Marquis? When did they get the MAF? I'm thinking that's the ticket for a cheap parts car. Or maybe a Thunderbird/Cougar? Any other suggestions?

 

My 95 150 302 is mass air so 95-96 should be , i think mustangs were all mass air after 88 , not sure about the other cars ...Lew

 

Trucks started to get mass air in '94 from what I have seen, mustangs got it in '89, and the Vic/Marquis never did. The XR7 T-Bird/Cougar got the same MAF 5.0HO as the Mustangs but the regular Birds and Cats got a low output SD motor. And all these passenger cars went to the 4.6 modular engine platoform in 1991/92 anyway so 5.0 MAF versions are scarce.

The big question is what vehicle are you converting to mass air? That will determine if you can use a car EEC or if you have to use a truck computer. You could use a wiring harness from almost any EEC-4 MAF vehicle though a truck harness would fit in a truck better obviously.

 

Damn, thanks Paul, I knew there was a reason the Crown Vics were so cheap.

What about Lincolns?

It's going in the Bronco, so I'll have to swap the car EEC for a truck. Doesn't matter that it's a ZF tranny, right, any 5-speed MAF EEC will work? I've got a link to an EEC id page bookmarked somewhere...

 

The Loncoln coupe (sister to the XR7 T-Bird) also got a MAF 5.0 but they're even more rare than the Ford/Mercury cars. Basically if the car has 2 doors there's a possibility it has the HO, but none of the 4-door cars ever got it.

So you can and should use a mustang EEC in my opinion, and a truck MAF harness so that everything is laid out in convenient locations. Any truck harness(except a '96 F150/Bronco) will do even if it comes from a truck with an E4OD, you can just remove all the wires you don't need.

 

The MAF is a wiring harness thing..... all the engines are the same..... its the harness and sensors that are different.... lest time I checked FMS had a MAF harness and computer kit available for the 5.0.....

Mass Air vs Speed Air is like this..... if you are not swapping injectors no reason to pay more the the mass air setup.... Mass Air is a stangbanger thing where you want to run bigger injectors: 24lb/hr a mass air setup can do it with a new mass air meter..... whereas a speed air setup cant.....

 

The cam I like isn't "computer compatible" but the MAF shouldn't have too much trouble with it. I figure if I'm going to do it I might as well go all the way. The MAF conversion kit isn't a bad idea though. Crown Vics are cheap compared to Mustangs

 

Actually, even with mass-air sensors, you need calibrations specific to the injector size. Trying to fool them with different injector sizes always mess up something. MAF computers can more easily adapt to engine modifications, as they make no assumptions about air flow like the SD systems do.

 

if the lobe seperation is too narrow.... that cam will neigh run correctly... no matter maf map..... plus..... here is the thing.... too much lumpy cam runs like **** on a factory ford style intake..... the air inside the intake runners is all jacked up for good flow.... I know I had a stag......

Why do you think so many 5.0 guys used nitrous? After al head and a B cam there wanst much else to do to make power.... bigger on the cam ususally meant slower.... it was either pony up for a blower or nitrous if you wanted to see 11s

 

It's a Comp XE258HR, very mild, 112/108 on the lobes. Shouldn't be a problem. Going for low-end oomph anyway.

 

I would look for something with lsa 112/112..... but that is just me.... I would also seek the advice of comp cams too..... tell them what you are using it in..... I think its a bit much lift for stock EFI..... the E and B cams that were very popular back in the day with mustangs running stock style intakes had just under .500 lift.... if you want smooth operation... i assume so because you are picking a stock efi system...... you want a pretty mild cam..... the air get too turbulent in the upper plenum and doesnt like to feed down the pipeline of runner...... if you want to run larger cam.... its better to run one of those throttle bodies on a carb style intake........ I saw the rig.... a bronco with a ZF..... if you are crawling.... all you need is the stock setup with a lower lift cam for efi.... or you can save the cost of a cam and run 1.7 rockers on the stock one.... just change out the valvesprings...... If you are not going to spend a lot of time revving over 3500 RPMS..... a higher lift cam will do nothing for you... in fact you might loose some low-end..... that cam is a .544.... something better using a mustang street machine with a stick..... or a larger displacement engine with smaller valves...... like a 408W with basic 2.02/1.78 valves or less.....

 

What motor is this a 5.0 or 5.8? The motor will need valve springs and matching retainers because the stock springs won't handle that much lift, but otherwise the cam will be fine and may even run decently with SD.

 

Well, I'm actually kicking around the idea of a stroker (~5.7l) but stroked or not it will be a 5.0 block.

I ported and had a set of D0OE 351 heads machined. They've got Comp parts all around but the springs are for a flat tappet vs. roller, so new springs for sure. If I had a lick of sense I'd sell them as is and get a set of AFR's, put the AFR's on the Mustang, put the Edelbrock RPM's from the Mustang on the 351 going into the F250, and put the X303's on the 351 on the Bronco engine.

If I was made of money, anyway. Honestly, I can see the Bronco getting sold somewhere down the line. Since there's a ceiling of ~$4,000 for what I'd ever be able to get for it regardless of how much I put in I won't be putting in too much. More elbow grease than anything else. But if I can find a decent stroker short block on Craigslist...

The whole exercise is a trial run for retrofitting a MAF system into my 65 Mustang, so I'm pretty much bound and determined to go that route in the Bronco. I really like the Mass Flo EFI but three grand is too rich for me. Their ECU "learns" as you drive and is always improving the fuel/ignition map. Does the Ford MAF EEC do the same or does it have to be flashed?

 

All EFI computers learn as you drive and continually improve the calibration. It's a tradeoff with the conversion kit, they're easy and quick to install but you pay dearly for that convenience, while the DIY method may only cost a hundred buck or so but may take you days or weeks to piece together. I bought a kit for my truck years ago but after seeing how simple it is I'd definitely build it myself next time.

 

The Mass Flo EFI guys use the ford computer with a chevy air meter. An EEC-IV I think.