Yes, you will be ruining the 86. I'm going to be completely upfront and honest with you. tell your friend to hold off on converting that front end. FYI, the 86 is debateably THE most sought after fox body period. You personally are not used to the four eyed look, but it's got more old school look to it than the aero cars ever could. The front end simply looks mean as hell.
I'm also going to be upfront and honest with you, when I say that this is SERIOUS taboo, and is almost considered ricey in the mustang world, making the car what it is not. This is serious, serious taboo, and it's so bad, that I can gaurantee everywhere he goes that have mustang fans will give him a lot of ridicule, a hard time, and a ton of **** for doing that. He'll get absolutely 0 respect once anyone finds out he converted to that style front end. Those cars are getting harder and harder to find, and yes, the aero cars are still a dime a dozen.
My best suggestion is to tell him to hold off and wait, and search the gallery at
www.foureyedpride.com. I promise you, he'll see some badass foureyed mustangs that will change his mind in a minute. If he must have an aero car, seriously, please have him buy one. this thread is going to create tremendous response, and your buddy must know with absolute certainty that he's not only ruining the car, but throwing out any and all respect from fellow stangers.
To answer your question, YES, it can be done, but everything has to be changed, including the rear bumper, all mouldings on the whole car (beltline mouldings) front inner bumper, bumper cover, maybe fender extensions, and it's going to have to be rewired. It's pretty detailed, and most people who do it wind up with hackjob cars that look like ass.
Please tell him to reconsider, and do keep us informed. As I requested, can you at least tell him to look at the foureyedpride picture gallery??