CID Vicious

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I just bought my first 5.0l/Fox body Mustang, an 89 'Vert that was owned by a friend who's anything but a gearhead. He couldn't get it to pass California smog and wanted to get out of it for 500 bones. I'm not normally in the market for these cars but at the price I couldn't resist.

I'm used to lightweight imports like the Civic and Nissan SE-R, and I've gotten spoiled by their tossable handling out of the box. The SE-R was even fast, for a naturally aspirated four cylinder, but my cousin bought an 88 fastback with a Paxton and all of a sudden that Nissan wasn't so fast. However, the car, even on 16" Ponies and running Toyo Proxes, was less than confidence inspiring in the corners.

I've done a fair bit of research on Fox bodies over the years for my cousin and I've looked at the 5.0 as an option for going fast for cheap even though I'm not a Ford guy. The reason I never pulled the lever on one was because of the rear suspension and the car's notorious penchant for snap oversteer.

I'm very much more of a road racer than a drag racer - I like flying around corners, fast. Drag racing is cool and all but it's not my thing.

I'm looking specifically at two fixes for the rear end: one is adding a panhard bar/fifth link, and the other is modifying the Cobra IRS to fix the Fox chassis. I've seen these done before and I like the idea of a 5.0 that's confidence inspiring in the corners.

The panhard bar is largely responsible for the 2005-present car's remarkably better handling, and I like the idea of having the rear axle there because I'm lazy and don't want to have the car torn down for long to do the IRS swap. Plus, the Cobra IRS doesn't launch very well by comparison.

However, the IRS would make the car handle very well and add a lot of value to the car should I want to sell it later.

I've seen 5.0's set up for road racing (American Iron, etc), and I've seen the IRS conversion done in MM&FF. If anyone wants to chime in and point me in the right direction to do either one of these mods, I'd appreciate it. I'm more concerned with handling than I am power right now, I know the power will come in time.

Thanks,
CID

mjr46

I have full suspension mods on my 85 front and rear and a panhard bar is one of the things I have, try maximum motorsports for suspension mods for road racing

CID Vicious

Thanks! I just found this googling my way around, right before you posted. It's a lot more of what I'm looking for than the IRS, I've actually been more or less converted to rear axles as long as they're done right.

Here's the link for anyone interested, about $350 or so. http://www.maximummotorsports.com/in...ex&cPath=21_90

Kick ***

Also, what other mods are you running?

Shelty

keep in mind, if your running anything other than a flowmaster or stock exhaust, it will need some modifying in order to clear the panhard bar, unless you run dumps...

alos, upper and lower control arms are a good investment, and as you would know larger sway bars

a full coilover setup with the panhard bar and tourqe arm, tho pricey is the best you can go with on a fox

mjr46

alot!! here is the underside while motor was out:

http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/f...t=DSC00033.jpg

motor is a 347 with 185 afr heads, rpm air gap and 650 dp with comp xe 282 cam and 100 shot of no2 ect ect ..........

86 5.0L

wheres that link of a Maximum Motorsports $3500 package for the mustang that makes it outhandle $100,000+ supercars?

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/co...pdf/Slalom.pdf

my bad it was $2000

lolollolol

aode08

I know that feeling "ITS SCARY" and didnt know such a Product ever existed.

It feels like you cant control the rear as its doing whatever the hell it wants to do and you cant predict it.



Im very happy to see that companies are going out of thier way to help our weak outdated design and pinpoint the causes of the problems.

CID Vicious

That's a sweet fookin' kit. I'm probably going to have to piece it together bit by bit, but it's nice to see it can be done.

83ttopgt

Thats the way I am building mine, piece by piece. I have a bunch of pesky little imports around here, and I can't wait to stomp them in the twisties!

CID Vicious

Well, yesterday was all about the research on the Fox chassis. I'm in the middle of some serious temptation here - there's two ways to go with this. Keep the 5.0 mill right where it is, and swap in a T5, and gradually work my way through the process of turning this turd chassis (donning flame retardant suit, but hey, even guys who write for 5.0 mag and MMFF will say the same thing) into a fitting example of what can be done with an American muscle car.

Or...

Take the 5.0 out, still get the T5, and go for the gusto: 5.0 RX7. The 7 is lighter, the chassis needs a LOT less work (supposing that I find the right Turbo model for cheap, which is easier than it sounds because those motors are constantly blowing up), and it creates, essentially, a unique car. Factory IRS, a rear end that's capable of supporting up to around 450hp with no problems, and way better weight distribution (the 7, even with a SBC weighing in at 100lbs heavier than a 302, still has near-perfect 50/50 weight balance).

However, my 5.0 is (supposedly) in very nice condition, and I've always wanted a convertible...choices, choices...

I might still end up with the Fox in either case - I could always swap in a carb'd 351 and just cruise it.

Of course, this assuming the money comes in like it's supposed to, which nowadays is assuming quite a bit...