Howdy!

SUB FRAME CONNECTORS!!

(Was that loud enough?) :)

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Really? How odd.

Jim S.
'82 Mutant

Welcome to the group, Johnny.  There's lots to learn from this group if you
ask the right questions.

First off, congrats on the purchase.  Sounds like a great project/toy.

Beware - this is going to be long-winded... you may want to get a
sandwich...

As Jim S. is alluding to, there are no leaf springs on your car, and if
there are, you may be in for more than you bargained for.  I have seen
traction bars come stock on '83 GTs and such, and perhaps this is where
these bars came from.  Your shock setup should be 4 in the rear
(quad-shock) - 2 vertical and 2 horizontal to stop the hopping.  In stock
form, this does a pretty good job at stopping wheelhop, but not as good at
planting the wheels as the traction bars will do.

On the mods you have suggested, I offer the following:

Cold air intake - mostly eye candy.  If your car still has the air silencer
(remove the air box and check the fender well - if there's a black piece of
plastic there in the inner fender, that's it), remove it.  The stock air
system will flow adequately enough for a mostly stock engine, and would
probably be the last of my worries.  Without the air silencer, you're
already scooping up air from the significantly colder inner fender.

Injectors and throttle body - Your computer is designed to understand that
at this pressure, this much air comes in, and this much fuel should be
added.  there is no direct metering of the air.  Though some suggest it's
feasible and/or practical to make changes such as these, it may cause overly
rich situations that the oxygen sensor will not be able to compensate for.
The O2 sensor is in charge of keeping the A/F ratio in a range, but the
computer wil only adjust so much before it thinks the sensor is bad.  Larger
injectors will increase the amount of fuel going into the engine with no
significant increase in airflow - the throttle body and CAI kit aren't going
to yield that much greater flow.

The headers are a good idea - anything to remove exhaust restriction will
gain you top-end horsepower, but you may sacrifice bottom end torque.

Swapping the '86 heads with '87 ones doesn't seem like a very good swap.  At
the very least, get a pair of E7TE heads (available on the Mustang in 1988).
These heads were used through '93 (and perhaps '95) and were decent as far
as stock heads went.  '87 Mustang heads weren't much better than the '86's.

Note that the '86 was the only year with flat-top pistons, and there is some
valve clearance consideration to observe.

Personally, I would spend the time with the chassis first - stiffening up
the frame.  While it is feasible to make your own, make sure you use a thick
enough material to make it worth your while.  Spec out some units on the
market already before making your own.

A rear end gear swap will make your pony feel much more alive.  It'll cost
you more for gas, but it'll definately wake your car right up.

After you have the chassis set up the way you like (frame, braking - which
sucks on these cars to be honest, and suspension)... then it's time to play
with the engine.

Expect to either pay a lot to tune your speed density system or to convert
to a Mass Airflow system if you plan to make any large changes.  The heads
are a big stopping point in these engines.  Intakes, injectors, exhaust, etc
may yield you some, but a set of heads will do more with the stock
components than all of these combined, and with these components, even
better still.  Again, watch the valve clearance if you swap heads or cams,
or anything in the valvetrain.

This is where you ask yourself exactly what your goal is for the car, and do
what it takes to get you there.

Good luck in your quest...

JS