I have had a 1998 Explorer 5.0 sitting in my garage for quite a few years. It was actually a present from my friend who bought a spare during, “Cash for Clunkers,” and was destined for my Jeep’s engine bay ever since. Fast forward quite a few years, does anyone have some insight on these motors?

The GT40P heads were great in their day, but will require custom headers to work. Aftermarket heads ( allegedly available in 2-3 months) will also require custom headers unless Novak Conversions can help me out.

The wiring is relatively a pain, as many just abandoned the Explorer stuff and used the Mustang AL9 ECU with a distributor rather than the crank and cam sensors with the waste-coil spark ignition. The Holley Dominator set-up looks to be the best bet, but the crank sensor may not work with the factory crank trigger. Any help is appreciated - I’m trying to get this motor ready for an early summer install, and hope to install a custom cam and low psi supercharger later if eBay presents the 6 psi Powerdyne that I have have been looking for.

I was playing around with a beat up 390, and mocked up a Duraspark ignition using a parts store 1976 Cardone rebuilt distributor (using a small cap) and an NOS Motorcraft coil and and NOS blue strain relief module.

The motor would not idle and backfired some unburned gas through the carb.

I went through every electronic part, connection and wire, triple checked TDC at compression stroke. I kept having to advance the timing to get the motor running longer.

Finally, I pulled the vacuum advance hose off and plugged it with a pencil before starting the motor. It fired up instantly and ran smooth. Could this be a bad vacuum advance?

Also, any clue what Ford/Motorcraft used for the Duraspark connectors? The 1976 manual recommends a silicone free dielectric grease, but the existing yellow-white paste looks more like a heat sink compound.

I will not be using this transmission. It probably needs a rebuild. This came with my 428 engine, and I am running a manual. Looks to be all original, and in good condition.

I will try and post pictures when I get to the computer.

$250.00 or best offer, pick-up preferred. San Francisco.

Has anyone swapped springs or used a specific rebuild kit to adjust pressure on a carter mechanical fuel pump?

I had an issue a couple months back, swapping in a Holley carb, and having overpressurized pumps blow past the o-rings. Drew advised me to use a regulator, and run it at 4.5 PSI. I have all the parts to experiment with and hopefully fix the issue, but the fuel pump regulator I have advises that a relief valve is needed. Is this really necessary with a 1 to 2 psi adjustment?

I tested an old A.C. pump, and Airtex and a cheaper Carter, all in the 6.0 to 7.0 range. I have a Carter M6905 new in the box, and have not tested it yet. This is for a pickup, and I was hoping to keep it simple, without adding an electric pump and more filters.

I installed a recolored and rebuilt C9AF-9510-U on my trucks 390 that I purchased from an FE forum member some time ago. From what I know the carb was never run after the work was done, and I wanted to mock it up on my truck before I swap in the 428 that is going in with the same type carburetor.

I followed the standard Holley instructions for baseline idle mixture, etc. I fired the motor twice, and
found fuel splashed on the front of the carb and intake. The third time, I watched closely while cranking, and saw a fountain of gasoline coming from the front vent tube. Before I take the front bowl apart to check the float and anything else that might be the culprit, is there something else I might want to look for?
 
Also, is the rubber vent/plunger on top of the bowl supposed to sit flat at idle?
It sits cocked at a bit of an angle, not seated, but this is exactly how it looks in the Holley photos of reproduction Cobra Jet “M” carbs.

I have a stock looking (except for FPA headers) 390 4V  about to go back into my Z code. Many parts were lost before I bought the car, but now I have almost everything. It seems the stock bellcrank - this is a CruiseOMatic car - hits the air cleaner, exactly where it has a clearance indent. With the stock parts, this should be retained where it will not interfere.

I have located the two return springs; one from the bellcrank to the firewall, and the other from the bellcrank to . . . ?

The service manual shows a small tab near the front of the engine, but not if it is mounted to the carburetor or a bolt on the intake or valve cover. This is a 9 3/8" or so extension spring, so I was hoping someone might know.