An ascMcLaren forum for 84-86 Capri and 87-90 Mustang based cars modified by Automotive Speciality Corporation, a Division of American Sunroof Corporation. (no affiliation)
svo413 wrote:Ok, I may be wrong on the 86 Capri. I assumed they would be the same as the 86 Mustang.
I bought a new 86 Mustang and had to wait 3-4 months for delivery because the v8s were not being produced. The 86 mustang came with finned valve covers.
Well, then something happened along the line somewhere.
svo413 wrote:Ok, I may be wrong on the 86 Capri. I assumed they would be the same as the 86 Mustang.
I bought a new 86 Mustang and had to wait 3-4 months for delivery because the v8s were not being produced. The 86 mustang came with finned valve covers.
Maybe you had a SUPER early car with leftover finned one's. Very rare if they are factory...all 86+'s were supossed to come with the aluminum one's posted above...
svo413 wrote:Mike, look closely at the photo. It has the raised oil fill tube on the right and finned valve covers!
I enlarged that photo on my PC and it does have the raised oil fill but the valve covers do not appear to have any fins. The vavle cover almost looks like the flat top type aluminum valve cover that you see on the 87-93 5.0 HO Mustangs like the ones shown below:
Yes, those are the ones I was referring to. I thought I recall a rib or two on the sides. There were no fins on the top of the 86s as in the older styles. Often the bare aluminum ones from 86 show up polished due to some personal efforts of polishing the plain originals.
I believe the roller rockers were taller and hit on the inside of the older covers. The baffles could be removed and maybe work.
Sorry for any confusion on the fins.
Kevin Gold card MCA Judge for Fox Body
85 ASC Vert #612205
88 ASC Vert #542 20,550 miles
84 SVO 24,000 miles, 84 GT Turbo Vert.
03 Mach I, 89 LX Vert, 74 Mustang II
14 CA Special, 69 Mustang coupe, 07 GT500
67 T-bird, 15 F150 Tuscany, 16 F250
I also believe the heads on an 86 efi 5.0's are diffrent and restictive and are the least fav of the 5.0 crowd mayby the valve covers are diffrent in some way because of this
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The 86 heads were to be the better design of the day but later I think the 89 truck heads ended up being better (for the stock design). The taller roller rockers caused some valve cover issues. The 86 heads were the best to date in 86. I think there is still some discussion about the 86 vs the 89 heads as to which one is best but the 86 are not bad.
The 86 cast aluminum valve covers had the fill on the right side where the 85 steel covers had the fill on the left side.
Kevin Gold card MCA Judge for Fox Body
85 ASC Vert #612205
88 ASC Vert #542 20,550 miles
84 SVO 24,000 miles, 84 GT Turbo Vert.
03 Mach I, 89 LX Vert, 74 Mustang II
14 CA Special, 69 Mustang coupe, 07 GT500
67 T-bird, 15 F150 Tuscany, 16 F250
svo413 wrote:The 86 heads were to be the better design of the day but later I think the 89 truck heads ended up being better (for the stock design). The taller roller rockers caused some valve cover issues. The 86 heads were the best to date in 86. I think there is still some discussion about the 86 vs the 89 heads as to which one is best but the 86 are not bad.
The 86 cast aluminum valve covers had the fill on the right side where the 85 steel covers had the fill on the left side.
Actually it was '87 that Ford decided to use the E7TE truck heads. You can find a wealth of information that is being discussed here at the link below. Just pick a model year.
I think we have this valve cover thing sorted but to be sure...
On my 85 Vert AOD CFI car it had the black stamped valve covers
On my 85 Vert 5 Speed it has the finned valve covers
On my 85 5 Speed Coupe it has the finned valve covers
I think by the way that all the 86's had the same valve covers as pictured in this thread.
The 85 heads by the way are far better than the 86's. They are nearly as good as the 87 and up E7's. The reason Ford used those horrible swirl design heads on the 86's I still don't understand. I did hear that Ford didn't swap back to the E5's because they lost the castings in 86.
mandra wrote:I think we have this valve cover thing sorted but to be sure...
On my 85 Vert AOD CFI car it had the black stamped valve covers
On my 85 Vert 5 Speed it has the finned valve covers
On my 85 5 Speed Coupe it has the finned valve covers
I think by the way that all the 86's had the same valve covers as pictured in this thread.
The 85 heads by the way are far better than the 86's. They are nearly as good as the 87 and up E7's. The reason Ford used those horrible swirl design heads on the 86's I still don't understand. I did hear that Ford didn't swap back to the E5's because they lost the castings in 86.
Basically that link confirms what you are saying about the heads. The 86 were far better emission wise but worse on performance so perhaps they were trying to meet emission standards for that year. References below.
However, there was a downside to the changes to the ‘86 5.0L. From 1968 through 1985, the 302 small blocks had used a wedge-type cylinder head. When that head was dropped in '86 in favor of a new casting which Ford called a high-swirl, shrouded valve head, (although the new head greatly improved emissions ratings) performance fell because the head design restricted volumetric flow.
http://www.mustanggt.org/87gt.htm
Needing to correct its poor decision to change the heads for the 1986 model year, Ford realized the casting molds were gone for the pre-'86 heads. Fortunately, Ford found a solution within its truck division. The 302 trucks used a cylinder head similar in design and performance to the old wedge-type heads and, being a direct fit, the E7TE truck heads were matched to the H0 5.0L Mustangs beginning with the '87 model year.
mandra wrote:I think we have this valve cover thing sorted but to be sure...
On my 85 Vert AOD CFI car it had the black stamped valve covers
On my 85 Vert 5 Speed it has the finned valve covers
On my 85 5 Speed Coupe it has the finned valve covers
Sorry for the monkey wrench in the theory, but here's a picture of my early '85 Capri GS 5.0L with CFI/AOD where you can just make out the Powered by Ford aluminum rocker covers:
MHISSTC, So you are saying your car has the original Power by Ford raised aluminum valve covers? Is is possible a previous owner maybe put those vavle covers on it because they thought they looked better than the stamp steel ones?
YUP. The rocker covers are original to the car. If you are unfamiliar with this car, it's an EARLY '85 Capri GS 5.0L with CFI/AOD and 50,xxx miles on it. Again, the emphasis is on EARLY, as in scheduled build date of 10/84. That's probably the key in this case. It has several features that were carried over from the '84 model year like the dual tip single exhaust and the seat upholstry to name a few. Now it appears the rocker covers are another item I didn't previously know about that was carried over from the '84s.
I tracked the ownership of this car back through the two prior owners in Colorado. The one before me was a clueless young man who owned it only a few years and sold it to me on eBay. I think the back glass got broken at which time the original hatch was replaced with a Mustang LX hatch and it was painted an el-cheapo dark blue at MAACO. He also put on a set of Mustang Pony rims. The owner prior to that was a little old lady who owned it since '86. She's the one who kept it original and unmolested in her garage for many years. She bought it from a used car dealer in Denver. I couldn't track it back any further than when she bought it in '86, but I know it originally came from Wyoming since the prior title had a Wyoming title number. It also originally sold with the TRX wheels, but the old lady verified she acquired it with the 14" steel wheels and hub caps that the clueless young man also passed along to me when I bought the car.
This car is built strickly by the book. It seems there are more GS 5.0 cars built exactly like an RS with a GS on the hatch, than there are GS cars built according to the book.
I've never seen an '85 with stamped steel rocker covers. I'd like to see some pics if anyone has any.
In reference to the '86 rocker covers, I thought they got those smoother topped ones with the ridges on the side because the earlier finned "POWERED BY FORD" ones interfered somewhere with something on the F.I. intake.
