cheap way to upgrade to a 73 mm MAF meter
 

Loose that restrictive stock MAF meter (56mm) on a tight budget.....Go to your local junkyard and get a 73mm MAF meter from a 3.8 cougar or t-bird. they are easy to spot the sides are not dimpled like the stock 5.0's. And for even better flow cut the center bar out and file smooth. Drill out the sensor tube to 15/32" and use your stock electronics. You will have 85mm going in and 73mm out. I bought them for about $20.00 and about 20 minutes of cutting filing and drilling. Stock look with performance feel at a fraction of the cost.

awsome tip!

how is it holding up..car runs normal or lean/rich?

I have not had any problems at all. I have a stock 5.0 motor with a Kenne Bell supercharger and I went from 14.1 @ 102.4mph with the stock MAF to 13.7 @ 104.6mph with this upgrade. There is a guy trying to sell the housings on Ebay from $75.00 each.

question
 

How does the the computer know how to recalculate for the changes since you have gone to the new MAF? Doesn't the computer expect the MAF to be a 54. Don't the after market MAF give less restriction and fake the EEC-4 into thinking they have a 54 by doing the recalculating. I thought I heard some where what you just did was make your engine go lean to fast.

That is why 93 cobra used a different computer.

Mountain Main.

It doesn't. This mod isn't such a good idea. Especially the shaving of the post. All that will do is lean out your fuel mixture, causing unnecessary long term damage.

This allows air to flow better. Your calibration stays the same. Name for me then one after market company making a MAF sensor with a center post. Also look them up ,please, and tell me then why can you buy from C&L, Pro M,,......... a 73 mm MAF sensor calibrated for 19lb injectors. I would just love to here your answer! And actually Kenne Bell recomends an 80mm MAF cal. for 19lb injectors w/ a 75mm throtle body and EGR spacer.

Pro-M and C&L make meters that are calibrated for the cross-sectional area that the air has to flow through. Factory meters which included the post are not calibrated for the area without the post. So there will actually be more air flowing through a stock meter with the post removed than the meter believes. This means there is more air flowing than the fuel system will be providing for, this should be fairly easy to understand. This leans out your mixture, and I'm sure you know what leaning it out does.

On another note, does anyone know what size a factory '94 Mustang 5.0 MAF is? I tried measureing the inlet mouth and came up with 80mm but that seems a little big for stock. Even with the post.

My vortech housing accepts the stock sensor, why wouldnt it work?
It will simply tell the computer there is more air entering the engine, MAYBE CUZ THERE IS!:rolleyes:

I guess it just can't be explained to you:rolleyes:

I guess not.

Maybe it's a bit more complicated, than a housing that air flows through, and a sensor. :confused:

I have known about this mod for years and yes it does work.

Dyno proven Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ADAM WHAT DO YOU THINK A SUPERCHARGER DOES? It forces more air into the cylinders and raises the compresion. The post in the center... What do you think that does? Its about as useful as the factory silencer on the air box. Oh wait based on your logic removing that may cause long term damage it alows the engine to breath easier. So I guess if you use bigger veturis on a carb motor you will cause the same problem as well?

I believe the stock MAF on 94-95 is 70mm. Also I cut the center post out of mine, bumped up the fuel pressure, and keep an eye on my A/F ratio. And haven't had the CEL come on as of yet.

That's exactly what you should do if you remove the post, raise fuel pressure.

In case the rest of you didn't know, a MAF measures airflow by the air that blows into the tube itself and cools the thingy in there, it then sends a certain voltage to the computer depending on how cool it is. The computer figures the post is in the way (Not exactly like that, but it is calibrated for having the post) and thinks so much air is flowing through the rest of the meter which isn't directly measured by it, without the post, more air is flowing than the computer believes is flowing through, and not as much fuel is being sent that should be sent. Causing a lean condition.

In case you twerps (Shouting at me, you had it coming.) didn't know, leaning the mixture can raise HP, but at the same time can cause long-term damage to your engine. So not only are you gaining HP from more airflow, but from a leaner mixture.

2tone, superchargers and other performance mods don't alter your EECs measuring devices, so it knows to add more fuel to match the increased airflow.

But if gaining performance at the cost of potentially harming your engine is your thing. Then more power to you, it's not my car. Sorry I cared.

What year cougar/T-bird? Does it have to be the supercopue or just the 3.8L? Will you have problems if you do not cut the post out? What if you just keep it at the 73mm?

I'm not sure what years but you can see the difference. You do not have to cut out the post.

Anyone have an Inexpensive one they wish to sell. Send me an Email.

The post is there for low speed air flow. I am sure you guys have heard of rotating your MAF to "find" the air. In my opinion, and modification that can potentially damage a motor should be check with a wideband.

That T-Bird MAF is the same one used in the '93 Cobra. I can't remember the part number, but it started with "F1SC" which originally sources it from a '91 (and later) T-Bird. I know Pro-M used to cut the center post out and RE-CALIBRATE it for around $200!

I got one!
 

So I got a T-Bird MAF for $5 Canadian, almost free! Now I just will have a problem calibrating it, since drilling out 15/32 works for a supercharged 5.0 which needs more fuel it may not work well for naturally aspirated 5.0

Any ideas on how to do this??? I was thinking of buying a fuel pressure gause, air/fuel mixture gauge, and an adjustible fuel pressure regulator.
Would increasing fuel pressure mean that I would not have to modify the MAF???

Would it be better to play around with the sampling hole in the MAF -OR- buy a "variable resistor" and play with the voltage coming out of the MAF sensor???

If we get this idea working properly then after-market MAFs will be history.