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-   -   the fox body (http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57639)

79TA 07-13-2008 03:33 AM

the fox body
 
Sooo, as some of you might remember, I was looking for a cheap/fun car with a manual transmission back in February and I bought one, this 1987 Ford Mustang GT, back on March 9th. I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of it more than 4 months later. Oh well, here they are.

can't forget the custom pic . . . my old JW printout got kind of thrashed
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/3...6680il8.th.jpg

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8...66cduj4.th.jpg http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/9...6676wv1.th.jpg http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2...6663eq0.th.jpg

The car is BONE stock. The only things I've done to it have been for the sake of repair . . . so far. I do have a set of 3.73's i could throw in sitting in the garage but I really do value low rpm freeway cruising in a car that I use to commute with. (I still have the Olds by the way and intend to keep it.)

Here's the car just after it was towed home.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8...4399pi0.th.jpg http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2...01cdvd4.th.jpg http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/7...4422ox3.th.jpg


I recommend ripping things apart and vacuuming right away when one has bought a used car. I think I found about 2 dollars in change among differing kinds of filfth.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2...4421tw8.th.jpg http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/1...4424ug4.th.jpg

Here's my Mustang next to my family's (soon-to-be) racer Fox Body (no, not a drag racer)
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/6...4437mm9.th.jpg


repairs:

I bought the car barely running and had it towed home. It's biggest problem was revealed when my cousin was able to easily twist the distributor by hand. The timing was off by at least 30 degrees so it's not wonder that it didn't want to run. I went through my usual used car ritual of changing the fluids, spark plugs, timing chain, and water pump. This time, it turned out I didn't need the timing chain as the Mustang already came with a metal tooth double roller, but by the time I had opened it all up to discover that, it was too late to turn back. Lastly, when tearing things apart, it's a good chance to clean things up . . . like my radiator that looked as if it had eaten a bush.

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/9...4440xl0.th.jpg http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8...4441mk2.th.jpg http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8...4442io2.th.jpg http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3...4444qv8.th.jpg

Also, the car's rear brakes were shot, so I put on new drums and shoes (and of course bled the brakes and changed the fluids.) Then there were a couple of niggling little things. The black car has the same exact interior and is a perfect parts car. Because of it, I was able to find many random things that I needed to fix my car. For instance, the prop rod and bushing thing needed for the trunk to latch properly.

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/5...4563ic6.th.jpg http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1...4566tr1.th.jpg http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3...4470pp7.th.jpg http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/7...4471xa4.th.jpg

All of this was finished way back before April and I've been commuting with it since. I've just been uber lazy about getting pictures up.

aaaand two more pictures for good measure
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3...4487gu5.th.jpg http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/5...4488pt6.th.jpg

Spiffu 07-13-2008 06:08 AM

If you want to turn that Fox body into a race car,

Talk to these guys.

http://agentfortyseven.com/


graywolf624 07-13-2008 06:37 PM

Actually he should probably visit the griggs websites... Then again a fox body isn't the best basis for a track car. Too many people want them driving up the price out of the affordable track car bracket, and they arent good enough to run with the big dogs.
Good cars don't get me wrong, the demand just has their prices artificially jacked up.

Get a good deal I hope?

79TA 07-14-2008 01:37 AM

My car was $2120.00 plus the price of parts.

The black car was $400.00. Now, before I glorify/hype it further with the label (misnomer) of "race car", I'll clear things up now with these two links:

first off, remember that this was a rolled car
http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54287

secondly, remember that it hasn't yet cost us 500 dollars
http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/
We're going for Thunderhill in December. We would have raced at Pahrump but it was cancelled after some miscommunications.

Assuming the car makes it through mostly intact, well find a new home for the drivetrain (the possibilties are pretty open . . . another fox body, an old 60's V6 Mustang, Factory Five Cobra etc etc.)

Also, if it turns out the car would somehow pass safety inspection (ie hide crash damage and/or show that the chassis is somehow straight to the NASA/SCCA type folks) it could become a legitimate track car that we might lug up to the streets of willow every now and then.


On a more hopeful note, the most tempting thing to modify on my red car would be the exhaust as the stock pipes are pretty holy. It did pass smog like a champ though, so there's no urgent need.

RC45 07-14-2008 04:14 AM

That car is looking good for a 21 year old Ford ;)

graywolf624 07-14-2008 06:54 AM

Quote:

Also, if it turns out the car would somehow pass safety inspection (ie hide crash damage and/or show that the chassis is somehow straight to the NASA/SCCA type folks) it could become a legitimate track car that we might lug up to the streets of willow every now and then.
Very cool. Good luck with poth cars!

Quote:

My car was $2120.00 plus the price of parts.
There is a mustang premium in there for sure. But if you like the car then thats what matters. (paralells with my C6 versus C5Z06 discussion with Paul a year ago, sometimes the price is worth the price for other reasons besides performance.)

79TA 07-15-2008 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RC45 (Post 840946)
That car is looking good for a 21 year old Ford ;)

I was lucky to find an unmolested car with a caring owner. He had owned it since '91 and parked it two years ago when it didn't want to run (loose distributor!) The mileage is higher than others I looked at, but the maintenance was all documented and much better than anything else I had seen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by graywolf624 (Post 840962)
Very cool. Good luck with poth cars!

Thanks :-)

There is a mustang premium in there for sure. But if you like the car then thats what matters. (paralells with my C6 versus C5Z06 discussion with Paul a year ago, sometimes the price is worth the price for other reasons besides performance.)

Yea, since we got the black car, which I began calling Little Dianne . . . I suddenly got much more attached to fox bodies. I called on this car the first day it was on Craigslist (as I did for many other listings) and after talking to the guy it sounded promising, despite there being no pictures in the ad. It's fun to have a smaller, lighter car with some decent power. 500 or so fewer pounds, a stick, a higher seating position, and 7 inches off of the wheel base make it radically different from the TA. The fox is a pretty much my Trans Am and Olds averaged into one car, but with less weight and stick. The biggest dissappointments are the lack of AC (very trans am like in the respect . . . soon to be addressed after a heater core change) and the mpg. Lately I've been getting about 18-19 on average which is a bit off of the 20-21 I'd hoped for. Then again, since I don't have the TA running right now, this car has become "the fun car" so that doesn't do much for fuel savings. :twisted::laugh:

hmm, I really didn't mean to start rambling. Oh well. :mrgreen:

HeilSvenska 07-15-2008 11:09 AM

Little Dianne... that was your problem. No wonder you're "attached" to fox bodies. You should've called it "Big Bertha"... or Lily...


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