my friend has a MAF sensor from a 1989 Formula 350, I was inspecting it and noticed that instead of it having one thin metal sliver sticking up, it has 2 little rods in theshape of a V with a piece of metal connecting the 2 on top to make it look like an upsidown triangle, I decided to put it on my 87 so see what the difference was and it noticably gave my car a smoother acceleration.

besides the fact it sounds like my maf is going out, does the 89 maf read better or is it the exact same as my MAF but with a triangle instead of a sliver?

 

They all have the same part number, must be a replacement/rebuilt unit of some sort. One or the other, not sure which is stock without seeing a picture.

 

The 89 MAF sounds more like a stock unit, but it is hard to tell without seeing a picture.

 

they are all the same basicly except the 85. i just installed a new wells maf 2 weeks ago for cheap.

 

Even the 85 is the same.

The "triangle" one is the stock heated wire maf, the other one sounds like a "film" type by your description.