My question is what happened to the GT intake .In the early shots of the motor it had this cool looking intake with the mustang running on the top and now its got this black turbine look to it and no crome and stang on it .Will this crome stang be avalable or will it be a ford aftermarket item later ?

 

Here's the other pic.

 

Apparently ford has decided to not include the cover for the intake plenum! It was a cost consideration, or so I read in an earlier post! B)

You'll have to wait for an aftermarket product!

 

are those plastic intakes any good?

 

Doesn't plastic melt under high heat? Are you talking about plastic instead of metal for that nifty chrome cover?

 

If you were under the impression that the Mustang had metal runners under the cover, well, you were mistaken.

I've got 140K miles on my Explorer, with plastic intake runners. They are actually better than aluminum runners in non-supercharged situations, because the plastic holds up just fine (it is not carrying any stresses, and is made for high heat), and it doesn't transfer as much heat into the intake charge. And it's lighter.

Performance over looks.

 

M1Rifle is so right

 

Thermoplastics (i.e shopping bags, etc) melt

ThermoSetters do not,

I remember this from Chemistry when I was 16.......such a long time ago...

 

I have no problem with NOT having the intake cover, as it did not do anything other than look pretty sitting there. Modern engines that have covers are usually hiding an otherwise UGLY looking engine or installation, which in turn hides wires, cylinder heads, practically the whole engine, etc... whereas the pre-production '05 Mustang only covered the intake itself. Pretty useless IMO, and fairly easy to see why Ford Mo Co decided to scrap it, $$$$$ in their eyes.


*** To add the plastic intake reliability question, the 4.6L was introduced on the Lincoln TownCar back in '91 or '92. My grandfather had one and never had issues with it. So back 12 years ago, the 4.6L still had the plastic style intake and Ford still uses them today. Don't expect to see this change anytime soon at all for OEM stuff.

Even the bad ***** GM LS1 has a plastic intake.

Plastic intakes are smoother inside, weigh less, and does not transfer as much heat as aluminum would. All of the characteristics are a good things, EXCEPT....

Drawbacks: The plastic style of intake can be bad if you are running really high boost levels with centrifugal blower, Vortech/ProCharger/Paxton. The intake can crack or blow apart altogether. Secondly, if you wanted to port the intake or do some matching due to head work or a head change, you can't.

 

Brought back from the basement... COVER or NO COVER?

 

96-98 4.6's had HUGE problems with the plastic intake. Basically they cracked and spewed coolant everywhere. Ford refused to replace them until it happened too, which was nice. Basically it was just a time bomb that you hoped went off before the car was 6 yrs old and the TSB expired. The replacement intake had a metal lining where the coolant entered which strenthened it. It's not that plastic isn't good, it's that the plastic Ford used wasnt any good.

 

I personally will be shopping aftermarket for the intake cover... it definitely adds a nice touch when someone asks you to pop the hood and see the engine.

 

When you find one, acadian...be sure to post the link so we all can order one.

 

Yes ,if anyone knows if this will be an aftermarket product please let us know as I feel this adds more to the look of the stang.

 

yay engine cover thread #45

 

Hahahaha!

Any biters on #46?

 

Ive noticed another change also,,,,,,,the plastic covers on top of the Shock Bolts are missing too (pretty sure thats what they are??)

That another cost reduction????

Edit: After looking closer, almost looks like its was painted bolts before?,,,now chromes??

 

It also looks like they got rid of the strut brace.

 

I doubt those bolts are chrome. Probably just a silver/zinc plating typical of most fasteners on vehicles for some time now. The picture with the intake cover does appear to have plastic covers over the shock towers IMHO though. To my eye they look like they were made to resemble what is actually underneath though. Not uncommon I suppose, as the Mk VIII had an intake cover designed to look like the intake it was hiding if I recall.

 

This is a Mark VIII engine w/cover.

It's from a '97. The earlier years ('93-'96) had a HUGE cover covering nearly the whole engine. :notnice: