Tallcoolstang

Hello, first post on this site. My oldest son is turning 18. Have told him if he keeps his head on straight I would help him get a car. He's a Ford kid, so we're looking at some edge body Mustangs. Quite a few listed in my area, most around the $5-6K range with 130k or more miles. Pretty much narrowed it down to a couple. Both are 5 spd cars.

An '04 with 160k on it. Overall ok condition, current 65 year old owner bought it about 7 months ago on a whim and got the raw end of the deal. Since he bought it, he's dumped $2k in it for needed suspension components and tires. Pretty much original car except for cold air intake and updated manifold. Several small cosmetic issues, like a faded red rear bumper, cracked interior pieces, runs very strong. Has the mach 1000 system, new clutch. Owner wants to get out of it before it costs him more money. Said he will take $5800 for it, I haven't made him an offer yet. Feel this car is pretty solid now, but probably neglected somewhere along the way. I would want it for around $4800.

An '00 with 130k on it. Really good condition, silver, original car. Current owner has had it 4 years. He put 4:10 gears in it and replaced all components in rear end while in there...I would swap in 3:73 gears.
Added/replaced items:
-Steeda tri ax shifter
-Spec stage 1 clutch with steel spec flywheel,
-Steeda adjustable cable and firewall adjuster
-Ford Racing springs (standard rate)
-Steeda x2 ballljoints
-Sve lower control arms
-Koni orange shocks and struts
-Steeda rear sway bar
Body is straight and solid, interior is all there, everything works as it should except heater core is bad. Owner says there is a slight lower end noise when car is warmed up and at 65-70 mph. I didn't notice this on test drive. He has lowered his price to $3500, I would want it for around $2700, not knowing what's going on with the engine. Leaning towards this one if I can get it for my price, have buddy check lower end through oil pan, and figure worse-case scenario we'll be swapping in a different engine after my son drives it for a while.


Share with me some wisdom, advice, what else to look for, etc. Is there a typical mileage where these 4.6's should be rebuilt?


Thank you.

Z28KLR

Both sound like ok cars, and yeah worse case scenario on the '00 you could find a gently used engine out of a CrownVic or Towncar to swap in. I would lean toward the '00 due to the lower mileage and lower price, but if the overall condition of the '04 can justify paying a little more then it's worth considering. I think $5800 is a little high; I'm sure he's trying to recover a bit of what he invested in the car but unfortunately it's still only a $5000 car on a good day.

Taken care of and not overly abused, these engines will go well past the 200K mark before needing any real attention. We've had a couple Towncars in the family that were sold near 300K and still ran like new; Mustangs tend to get ran a little harder so I don't know that an engine it it could be expected to go as long.

The real question is if your 18 year old son is responsible enough to handle a car like this? These aren't super powerful or fast, but they do have just enough power that a guy his age could get himself in trouble. Knowing how I was at that age, I would never hand my 18 year old self the keys to a car like this.

Tallcoolstang

Thanks for the info. Will see how low the guy will go on the '00 and proceed from there.

As for my son, wouldn't be considering this if I didn't think he was mature enough. Boys will be boys for sure, but he's been a great kid so far and does respect power, etc. This will be one more opportunity for him to prove himself to us, so far so good. This will come with conditions for him, and he will have to pay us back, for at least some of it. I was 17 when my dad helped me buy my first Z28, and I never made him regret it. Hoping my son will follow suit. He gets good grades, stays away from the "wrong crowd", and we receive positive comments about him from faculty and other parents routinely. I will likely get as much joy out of this as he will.

So, what's different between the Mustang 4.6's and all the other applications for the same motor?

dawson1112

This is my 00 with 241k miles on it. Listen to that 4.6l still purres like a kitten and runs strong.

Camster

I guess that par for the course when looking at Mustangs that are 12-16 years old.I'd keep looking however.
I see 5800 as too much for the first car.I agree with you-5k tops.I occasionally think of selling my pampered 04 GT vert,and think it's only worth about 7500,with half of that mileage.
Car #2 sounds like it was driven hard.No one is putting in 4.10s unless they intend to beat it.Loose bottom end confirms that.Bonus point for the guy being honest about it.

chipss36

just keep in mind, the age of these cars, will take time and money, and even more money if your not doing your own work, 14-16 year old cars are like that, and mustangs even more so, who babys a mustang?
I flog mine daily, not abuse, but it gets ran, daily, and eats its fair share of parts.

I have also learned if you go cheep on replament parts, you will do it again....the second time around with a better part.

if I could start again, it would be with a 65,66.....or the like,perfomance parts are cheeper, inspections are much less of a hassle, and there value will only increase over time.

got my eye on a 65 right now....

Tallcoolstang

Well, we do have a 64.5 convertible, with a 6 cyl. Maybe we should just do a v8 swap and suspension upgrade on that.....

Camster

I guess I'm the exception.Mine is babied-the tach rarely goes above 3k,most days probably 2k max.I'm not the only old guy that has one either.I learned a long time ago to do repairs with oem parts if possible. I have a talented friend who did a full resto on 68 vert.Ended up changing most of the body.The money would have gone a long way toward buying a new Mustang GT vert.The damn thing is always having issues,never mind that it's nowhere as safe as a later car..Not for me.(though I could almost be tempted by a 66 vert that I see running around town.Six with a three speed.What could be simpler?

chipss36

I think a 351 winsor swap and disk breaks would my direction.
That said, even with a 6 in it , thats one cool classic car.


One day ..
I am no spring chicken myself, till I am riding or driving , and pretty much build with the 1/4 mile in mind.

My best freind is over 300 mph on salt, thats living....

Z28KLR

I've done a fair amount of homework on swapping a V8 into a 6 cylinder classic (see the other car listed in my sig). It's pretty far from simple or inexpensive.

You need different springs, different front spindles, the 7.5" or whatever rearend has to go, if you have a C4 you can keep that but I don't think the 3 speed manual trans a lot of 6'ers had is compatible. You're a few grand in so far and we haven't even discussed what you're gonna do for an engine....