Progress Thread 1986 Ssp Budget Build

[bigo5552000]

Hello all I am new to this forum, well to be honest I have been trolling for sometime now and it is time for me to make my first post! I would like to make this my build thread and this first post will be very long and full of pictures!!! Welp here goes nothing...

Well I guess I will start from the top. I have been trolling for quite sometime now, reading and learning as much as I can. During this time I have been looking for a Mustang. I have looked at daily drivers, projects, and race cars not being able to decide what I truly wanted. After a 3 year long search I have finally found one! A 1986 Mustang SSP!!

A coworker of mine mentioned to me he had a 1986 SSP in his garage that was a dead project and he wanted to see it living again. I looked at some pictures he had taken(attached below) and discussed what he had planned for it and where he left off. When I saw the pictures I fell in love and could see the diamond in the ruff. The next step was to get it for the right price.. After a few days of talking about it on and off we settled on a price $500 with the stipulation I take him on a ride and let him drive it when it is done and I said SOLD!!

Now that we had settled on a price I went with a few buddies and we picked it up Christmas eve! When we arrived the former owner was waiting and ready. I walked into his shop to see the car sitting on wheel dollies and several large boxes sitting next to it. He said he had found some parts that he had bought for the car before the project died and he was going to throw them all in. I was completely OK with him doing that!

After the holiday festivities Christmas day I decided to open the boxes and try and figure out what I have and don't have. It was a great Christmas present opening all these boxes and seeing what was in them! Here is a list of the parts that came along with the car.

New Parts Unopened/Uninstalled:

Maximum Motor Sports Parts:
Standard Torque Arm Main Tube w/ Hardware
Panhard Bar Polished Aluminum
Standard Torque Arm Cross Member
Panhard Bar Chassis Mount
Aluminum Steering Rack Bushing, 12mm
Panhard Bar Hardware
Panhard Bar Axle Mount and Hardware Kit
79-92 Subframe Connectors

BBK

EGR Plate, 70mm
Power Plus Series Throttle Body, 70mm

MISC

RJs Racing Equipment 4 Point Harness
Pro 5.0, "Power Tower" Short Throw Shifter
Energy Suspension, Polyurethane Transmission Cross Member Bushings
Echlin, Air Control Valve
Ford Adjustable Pinion Snubber - Maker unknown also not really familiar with this part.
Ford Chrome Water Neck
Sanden, A/C Compressor
AGR Performance Power Steering Pump, maybe broken one plastic piece is broken.
Ford OEM Motor Mounts
Transmission Speedo Gear for 3.55s
Baer Brake Master Cylinder

Aftermarket Used/Installed Parts:

FRPP Aluminum Drive Shaft
FRPP Shorty Tubular Heads
Summit Battery Relocation Kit
Lincoln Electric Fan (I have to look up what Mark it is from)
K&N Cold Air Intake
Baer Brakes 4-Wheel Disk Brakes
Accel Coil
Rebuilt T5 to the specs of a 1990
Eibach Springs, not 100% sure which ones
Heavy Duty Lower Control Arms, Unknown Maker
X Pipe, Unknown Maker
Flowmaster Mufflers
Cobra R Wheels, 17X10
Maximum Motors Caster Chamber Plates
Adjustable Shocks All Four Corners, Unknown Maker
Steering Wheel, Unknown Maker
A-Pillar Gauge Pod, Unknown Maker

Once I made it through all the parts I had to decide where to start. I needed to acquire a motor so the craigslist shopping began..

In the mean time I pulled out the rest of the interior and gave it all a good cleaning. It really needed it as it seems several small animals had made a home in it at some point in the past. A few days later I came across a motor from a 1988 Mustang GT for $225 with 140k. I owned it the next day! Since then I have blown the motor apart and I am debating the path forward.

Ok now for plans for the build. This is truly a budget build that I want to complete the build for $2k out of pocket. What I am wanting is a hot street car that will be hit the strip on occasion. I would also like to have a small shot of nitrous maybe a 75 shot. I am considering converting the car to carb and finance the rest of the build with the sale of EFI stuff but I haven't decided yet. Thoughts on that are greatly appreciated!

Also I am trying to decide what to do with engine. I was thinking about getting this http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fem-mk6115a-000/overview/year/1988/make/ford/model/mustang
and refreshing the motor then installing GT-40 or GT-40p heads and a cam which is unknown at the moment.

Sooo I know that was super long and I hope I haven't missed anything but I am sure I have.


Please comment and tell me what y'all think!!

Thanks in advance everyone!!

 

[bigo5552000]

More pictures. ...

 

[bigo5552000]

and some more..

 

[bigo5552000]

The interior clean up..

 

[bigo5552000]

Lastly the engine pictures! Sorry for the multiple posts I could only upload 10 pictures at a time! I hope you all enjoy!

 

[A5literMan]

Well parts alone are worth that price. As far as a 2k budget goes...good luck! But if you can continue to find good deals you might. Hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like a fun project. I love 4eyed coupes!!!

Oh and welcome to Stangnet!

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

It has potential, $500 with that list of aftermarket parts is a good entry point however a $2k budget? Try $3-4k bro just to get it functional, running and driving safely on the road. Good luck and keep the progress coming!



P.S. You weren't trolling, you were lurking. Trolling is a bad thing and isn't tolerated much especially in the Tech forum

 

[Noobz347]

It has potential, $500 with that list of aftermarket parts is a good entry point however a $2k budget? Try $3-4k bro just to get it functional, running and driving safely on the road. Good luck and keep the progress coming!



P.S. You weren't trolling, you were lurking. Trolling is a bad thing and isn't tolerated much especially in the Tech forum

See? Like that. THAT is trolling.

:trollface:

 

[90lxwhite]

Can't out run a Camry for 2 grand, and yes trolling is not tolerated.

 

[bigo5552000]

In retrospect trolling was a poor choice of words.... Lurking!

I will keep a running total on here of what I spend and we will see where I come up.

 

[RangerJoe]

2k for a motor refresh is reasonable, keeping it pretty stock. Is $2k the whOle budget, or just the motor?

BTW, that's a nice score for sure.

Joe

 

[bigo5552000]

2k is to get it back on the road and be road worthy. No body work, no paint, and whatever I can do to the interior.

 

[Noobz347]

The pieces and parts will end up totaling more than that in the end. $2k in hand will get you well on your way if you're careful. With luck, $2k will get you rolling. Another $500 on that for incidentals that in your head, don't count because they're small amounts that you pay with what's in your pocket.

If you end up keeping the car then you'll spend another 4 easy on upgrades, power, and insufficient supporting mods.

You will then drop the family fortune on a REAL motor.

After that, you'll move, drive it occasionally and keep it stored (needs an oil and fuel swap by now).

Then when you have the time and cash (at once... like together at the same time) you'll detune it a bit and spend some more cash on those previously mentioned supporting mods.

One day though...

 

[A5literMan]

^^^ what Noobz said is spot on. Not saying you can't get it on the road for 2k(depending on drivetrain'a condition) but it's going to be very hard to do. You will have to find some more good deals on used parts if it needs much attention. Definetly have a good starting point for a good build.

 

[bigo5552000]

Thanks for all the input guys! I understand the budget is tight, but I am always up for a challenge that is half of the fun! As for the drive train, everything is new/rebuilt except the motor and I need a clutch. Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[bigo5552000]

Does anyone know what these seats came out of? They came with the car and the previous owner wasn't sure if they would work it not.

 

[90lxwhite]

Budgets: the killer of dreams. Have you been pricing cylinder heads? Are you going to do the machine work on them yourself (assuming you go used)? My stockish rebuild was around $3,500 reusing the e7 heads. (Should've done my homework.) But anyway if you can rebuild an engine that $2k will get ya going. It's nice that your trans has been rebuilt and it sounds like you have fresh suspension and brakes. As far as the clutch goes I wouldn't spend too much. You're not going to need anything super high performance.

 

[bigo5552000]

I have done some pricing. I was thinking gt-40/40p. The local you pull junk yard has several older v8 explores and heads are like $35/per. I am thinking I will get them worked at a shop. Yeah I am trying to do as much research as I can! Yes budget are dream killers, but this is an initial budget! I need to bring it back to life and have something fun to drive quickly; I don't want the project to die in my garage!

 

[elarm1]

What a steal!!! gt40 would be the cheapest and easiest solution. Pretty much plug and play but by the time they see a shop, your in the used aluminum head price. I say steal a gt40 setup from the yard with a new spring and cam package and drive on. TFS1 with that set up would play nicely. @bigo5552000

 

[A5literMan]

The gt40's are no good without a spring upgrade and cam change. You can get into the 500$ range including purchase,parts,and machine work. If the engine you purchased doesn't need much you can probably do a rebuild under 1000$ at the cheapest.