Hello all, I’m brand new to the car community. I been on machines my whole life but never learned to fix them. Video games are kind of crappy when you get to your 20’s and my dad often reminisces on his fox body.

I am fairly good with my hands. Recently replaced the wheel bearings on my 08 Impala and everything seems to be running fine. I know how engines work and the basic concepts. But that’s it.

my point in getting all that out is I want to find a sn95 that needs home garage work done and not anything professional. What models should I look for/avoid
94-98 or new edge. Any specific things to check when looking at a mustang etc.

most importantly what repairs or problems should I steer clear of all together? I am a very patient person so if I have to wait to buy parts that’s fine. I’m worried only about technical difficulty. Thanks all and if not allowed, sorry.

 

Just to save people time. I’m not buying a V6 so don’t worry about anything that’s specific to those.

 

I've owned 3 Fox-bodies, all 5.0HO with 5 speeds, an '89,'90, and '93 Cobra. I bought 6 brand-new 5.0HO engines from Ford Motorsports back in the '90s when they had a ton of them left over unused after the SN95 went to the 4.6L in '96. Learned a lot then about differences between the SN95 5.0 and the Fox. They were subtle differences, but could lead to real pains in the *** when interchanging things.

I finally bought an SN95, a 1994 GT w/5.0 and 5-speed. Here is a current view of under hood, showing the difference in upper intake manifold, which swoops downward to allow the much more sloped hood line of SN95 than Fox, and changes I did to include a clutch fan and movement of the coolant overflow bottle, Constant Control Relay Module (CCRM, new in '94), and ABS Module.



The car as I bought it, May, 2014:






Here is a view of a Fox 5.0, showing the much higher intake manifold:


The 1996 and up Mustangs used the 4.6L OHC engine, much wider, more efficient, but differing in several ways to the 5.0L, some good, some not so good. 4.6 of course has timing chains driving the cams on each bank, rather than one short chain driving a central camshaft using pushrods and rockerarms to actuate the valves. The 5.0 is a basic, long-lived design, around for many years, and easier to work on. It is my choice, personally,so if I were looking (as you are) I would stick with a 1994 or 1995 model.

Ask if I can be of any more help.

 

should I prioritize low mileage over rust/damage or should I try to find a solid body and worry about a new motor down the line?

what to listen for on test drive. What to look for under the hood. Rust spots to check. Pipes to rub and check for leaks. Anything that can help avoid buying a falling apart hunk of junk. I know it’s almost 20 year old cards were talking about so I expect to fix and replace some stuff

 

94-95's are a bit easier to work on if you're looking to do upgrades, that's what I would get.....well I guess I did. The 5.0's are pretty reliable and even if they do go wrong, they're pretty cheap to replace (I'm on engine number 3 right now, it was a bit more than a stock one though lol) One of the drawbacks to the 94-95's is the computer though, they can be a challenge to tune compared to the 4.6's but that doesn't really come into play until you start getting into some more serious modifications, and may not be an issue if you are willing to learn yourself or if there is a tuner in the area familiar with their computers.

 

good info. I am actually really good with computers so I’ll probably learn to tune at some point. Thanks boss

 

I personally like the 94-95 GT because of the 5.0 that came in them. The 95-98 mustangs got the 4.6 but did not get the PI heads, cams, or intake that the new edge mustangs did so they are down on HP. They did however get OBDII which does make tuning a lot easier.

 

whats OBDII

 

The cpu interface, the 94/95's have an obd1

 

So if not a 94-95 gt you would recommend that I look into new edge if I want a sn95?