Dilley

As most of you can see I'm new here so i need a little help from you guys here. I'm going to look at a late 80's mustang gt 5spd tomorrow. My buddy that works at a ford dealership told me that the mustang tech has a friend that is selling his car. I have liked fox body mustangs since i can remember so i really want to get this car but i don't want to get ripped off. So if you guys could just give me some ideas of what could be wrong and what to look for like common problems. All i know about the car is its late 80's red with some primer spots 5spd 4in cowl and hood pins. sorry for the short notice but any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

302army187

basic things, a car's a car.


mustangs are almost always beat on pretty hard, considering he has a cowl hood, might mean that he has alot of perfomance things done to it, or he just wants attention.

but just make sure all the normal wear is "ok"

make sure the tranny shifts fine, clutch feels good, no over heating issues, no grinding or crazyness from the rear end, no major leaks (most 302's will leak oil, mine does from the pan and head gaskets)


id say the only thing to look out for is stuff that would break due to alot of hot-rodding around.


good luck even with all the lil' issues due to the age of them, i love fox's!!!

Juanizzle

make sure the gas tank doesnt leak like mine. and also that the reverse doesnt grind. and that all the guages work. mine didnt, $15 for sensors to make them work.

jimkaray

Here a few suggestion of things to check.
Check the torque boxes were the rear control arms attach to the unibody. If the cars has seen lots of hard launches there may be separation or stress cracking to the unibody.
Also, check the unibody where the driver's seat mount to the body, they mounts often crack around there as well.
Check under the passenger side rug for dampness. If the heater core is leaking it will be wet under the rug.

1988GTstang

check for rot on the body...around and behind the quarter panels is usually a common area....like jimkaray said check the torque boxes....and see how it idles ive always had problems with surging

Explosive

Check for rust, check the floor pans, rocker, door jams, torque boxes fenders, the hatch, look real good for rust.

1988GTstang

defiently agree wit explosive....rust is a PITA...look real good