terboracer

what is up all. I do not yet own a mustang, however I will be purchasing one by the summer. I am thinking of a mid 80s model 5.0 GT. I have found a bunch of these on the internet for under 3 grand. my plan is to create a muscle car. i have never worked on fords before. im afraid to admit the only kind of cars ive worked on are VWs, but i have done a bunch of those. i hope to do all work on the mustang myself, and teach myself as i go. here are some initial questions I have.

what should I look for when buying the car? obviously a clean motor and no leaks, anything else?

any particular model/year from the 80s that people tend to prefer? keep in mind im in the 3k and under price range.

I will most likely be buying a stock 5.0, what mods should I begin with? intake? suspension?

anybody have any experience with Nitros in a mustang?

sorry if these Qs are repeats of recent posts. feel free to answer any or all questions. i love to get replies!

4fit?

what should I look for when buying the car? obviously a clean motor and no leaks, anything else?
Just look for the normal stuff. Rust, Leaks, Bondo, etc. Keep in mind that a great deal of these cars have been driven hard all their life.

any particular model/year from the 80s that people tend to prefer? keep in mind im in the 3k and under price range.
You said Mid 80's. Well, the body style change in 87 and the induction setup changed from SD to mass air in 89 (88 for CA cars). That being said, you probably need to determine which body style you want. The 86 and prior models had square headlights and are commonly refered to as "square-light" cars. 86 was also the first year of fuel injection, if that is important to you.
Most folks that I know of would look for a 89-93 model. Those cars are mass air and more easily accept h/c/i changes.

I will most likely be buying a stock 5.0, what mods should I begin with? intake? suspension?
open up the exhaust. gears. suspension. etc. There is no predetermined order of mods. However, most that I know open up the exhaust and remove the air silencer first thing.

anybody have any experience with Nitros in a mustang?
I think you mean nitrous. (lol) I am currently running a 80 shot and there are several others on the forums running it as well. What all do you want to know?

roundman

I would definitely go with an '86 or later model so you get the fuel injection engine. '86 has flat top pistons and bad heads, so go with at least an '87 if possible for the money you have. inspect any car closely for rust, especially underneath if it is a car from the north where they use lots of salt on the roads in the winter. first mods are usually to lose the air silencer on the intake in the fenderwell, then add headers and open up the exhaust. 3.73 gears are real good on 5.0 Fox body Stangs also. the sky's the limit when it comes to what mods you can do to one, just depends on how much you want to spend.

terboracer

excellent info, and very prompt replies. thanks guys.

whats a fox body? is that the one with the hatchback?

it sounds like i will be looking for an '87 or so. keep in mind that i want this to be a project car that culminates over several years. the first thing i will do once it is in the garage is register it as a no-op, and pull out most of the engine to be cleaned and inspected. i will also gut the interior and remake a custom one.

i do plan to run NOS in my car. what engine modifications will be needed to enable this? ive heard of people getting their cylinders sleeved to increase endurance. ive also heard you need a better head gasket. any info you have on installing and maintaining NOS will be useful to me.

how have your cars performed against the rice rockets? fastest car i have been in to date is a mitsubishi 3000gt twin turbo with NOS. i dont know if cars get much faster, but my buddy said the only cars that could take him out were modified stangs.

ive been a stang lover my whole life, since my buddies dad got a powder blue 67 coupe when i was 12.

roundman

the Fox body Stangs cover the model years '87 - '94 (I think) no matter what model, hatch, notch, or vert, the car is.
if you're going to run NOS, then you need to used a forged crank and forged pistons and if you're really going to be serious about it, you should get a stronger block, like the R302 from FRPP or the iron eagle from Dart or the newest one from World Products. stock 5.0 blocks tend to break around 500 HP or so depending upon lots of factors. I would not mess with sleeving a block unless it was an aluminum one who has to run sleeves. sleeves don't add any bottom end strength IMO. as far as sealing the heads, you need to have the block O-ringed and use O-ring head gaskets and better head bolts or studs like those from ARP. a well built Stang will give most rice rockets a run for the money! but don't street race, go to the strip instead where it's safe for you and others to race.

pipeliner

Fox bodys are 79-93. Dont limit yourself to just the FI ones. A decent 85 would put you right in the 3k ball park. They made the same power stock as the FI models. Im more of a 4 eye guy my self. I also like carbs so maybe its just my preferance.

Dan89lx

if youre gonna buy one and modify the **** out of it, it may be cheaper to find one with some basic mods and pay a little more than 3000 for it. Thats kinda what I did, mine had gears, exhaust, rebuilt engine with cam and much more. I know it gives you a certain sense of pride to perform the modifications yourself, but you can buy one with mods and keep doing stuff to it, a lot of times you can save a lot of money this way. I have contionued to build mine since I got it, so I still feel like I have contributed to it to make it what it is. Just my opinion. Good luck.

4fit?

Yep, Fox Body is 79-93. 94 was the first year of the sn95 platform. I do dig those 85 5.0s. That is one strong running car straight from the factory.
O ringed gaskets have pluses and minuses. Bad thing about putting in O ringed head gaskets is that you stand a better change to cook a piston that to blow a head gasket out.
Make sure that you have the fuel system to feed your nitrous needs. You need to decide whether you are going to go wet or dry. Retard the timing 1-2 degrees for every 50 hp (general rule of thumb) and run colder plugs when necessary. Best thing to do when it comes to the bottle is to get on the dyno. You could run a 150 shot with your timing set at 8* when you could be running 11*. That could leave a lot of hp on the table.
If you are wanting fuel injection, with everything it sounds like you want to do, I would strongly recommend that you find a 89-92. That way, you get the mass air and forged pistons instead of the hypers they went with in 93+. If you shop around enough, you should be able to get into one of these cars for $3k. Then again, it depends on which body style you are wanting. Around here, the notchbacks (coupes) bring top dollar. Lets just say that I paid more than double what you are wanting to spend, and that was 2 1/2 years ago! But, not to sound conceited, I feel that I do have one of the nicer foxes in my area.

Dan89lx

4fit- thats a nice coupe man, It reminds me a lot of my car, only yours looks better. But the old hatch is ok i guess. I like both. What do u think of the black body moldings on our cars?

bobby

y not get a 89-93?