A 'bit' Of A Mustang-a-holic

Nick94657

New Member
Jan 26, 2017
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Hi! I'm Nick.

I've grown up in a mostly Ford family although maybe it's just a coincidence. But a majority of the cars have been, you guessed it: Mustangs! I grew up with a 1994 Vibrant Red convertible GT with white top, and white interior with bits of saddle/black pieces thrown in and a 1996 Mystic Cobra.

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But the Cobra was totaled by my dad and the remains were brought home and garage kept from the time it was wrecked. The '94 convertible was t-boned with me driving. It was a total loss but the insurance check from that let me buy my next Mustang which was a 1995 Crystal White GT and buy the 1994 back for parts.

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I worked on my new daily a bit and decided that with a running car I needed a separate car to work on in my down time, and so I bought a 1988 Fox body LX roller. So fast forward to today: I've dropped a decent bit of money into my 1995 for suspension upgrades and repairs, and a bunch more into my Fox to try and build it.

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Mods for my 1995 Crystal White GT:
-Previous owner had it bored out to .30" if I remember correctly, deleting the cats and putting a set of flowmasters under it. I'm not sure which ones but I think they were the 40 series.
-e303 cam
-75mm BBK throttle body
-BBK shorty headers
-BBK CAI
-Ford Performance lower intake
-Cobra upper intake
-Eibach Sportline springs (around a 2" drop)
-Polyurethane energy suspension bushings in the axle and control arms. Never got around to the sway bars.
-KYB shocks and struts
-Extreme Bump Steer Kit from UPR
-Just recently installed some Michelin Pilot Sports A/S 3+ on there, so she grips nicely! :)

Currently it is in rough shape, however, so my plans are to 'restore' it and add to it. I'm not 100% on what body pieces I want for the hood and front bumper, but I was thinking of going with a Cobra front bumper, a Cobra R hood, a Saleen spoiler, and painting it either back to Crystal White (I'm a sucker for keeping the car semi-true to it's roots!) or changing it to an undetermined shade of blue. The seats and paint are awful, and in general could use some TLC.

But she is my daily so it works! I would love to make it a true hot rod, but with a less than favorable income and situation I have to just leave it as a pure daily for now. Still, I get 20-25 mpg depending on the situation so I'm not too unhappy. It gets better mileage than a family members '04 Sable. :)

In the future I would like to drop a built 351w in using premium parts. I'm hoping to get around 500-600 N/A, or maybe add a turbo afterwards. I just want a good, low, fast car to toy around with on the track. When I add that sort of power I will of course upgrade the suspension to the next level and upgrade the brakes with larger rotors/calipers. I want this car to remain a manual as well, and would love to bolt in a 6 speed in the future.

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As for my Fox parts list (installed and waiting to be installed)
-5 lug swap using parts from the '94 and master cylinder
-awaiting a 302 from the '94. going with an old AOD I picked up off craigslist because driving to work in the winter months is brutal with a manual and sitting in traffic
-BMR suspension springs (about a 1" drop)
-SVE aluminum radiator kit

I still have a long way to go including paint on the Fox. A few parts are rough and I want it done right, so when the money comes in I'll get it done as soon as I can. I'd like a 2" fiberglass cowl and I'm planning on probably leaving the body as a LX as far as bumpers go. I want to do triple black for the paint, interior, and wheels. I also want to find smoked/black LED taillights and do smoked headlights. In the future I'd like to add a little power to it, but I want to make this my future daily with A/C and all.

And finally, and probably the most insane part of my thread, is my goal to rebuild the '96 Cobra. I know it's probably not worth the time and effort at all, but this car holds a very special place in my heart as it was one of the last cars my father thought of as 'his,' as well as the gorgeous paint. I want to fix it in memory of him and add to it of course. I'd love to build it with an '03/'04 Cobra motor, independent rear suspension, with the wheels we always had on it, but get custom versions made with the 8.5x18 in the front and 10x18 with 315s at the least in the back, and of course a big Kenne bell supercharger to top the motor off. I know it's a stretch, especially on my budget, but I want to pull this off.

I'm here seeking info and maybe to give back in that same form. I've done almost all my own work on the '95 and the Fox, so I have quite a bit of hands on experience with both platforms. That's all I can think of at the moment, but if you have questions or suggestions for breathing more life into this thread then by all means let me know.
 
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Welcome to stangnet.

Since the majority of your thread is devoted to the '95 and prior mustangs, I'm going to move your thread to the '79-'95 general talk subforum. Lots of us guys would love to follow your builds. This will also save you from having to retype all of that.

It would be helpful if you would start a new progress thread for each build. This will help bring in the people that specialize in those areas better.

We do have a seperate set of subforums for the mod motor mustangs as well, so snoop around a bit.

It's good to have you with us.
 
So far I'm working on getting the Fox partially painted so I can put the engine in. I would do it but I don't have a lot of time to mess with it or energy. My only concern is under where the cowl goes. What would they have to do to get in there?

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So far I'm working on getting the Fox partially painted so I can put the engine in. I would do it but I don't have a lot of time to mess with it or energy. My only concern is under where the cowl goes. What would they have to do to get in there?

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This is the fox cowl? It's really not bad from what i can see in the pictures.

Get in there with a vacuum and a small wire brush. Brush the rusted areas to be sure you don't have any rot. Fox bodies will have problems with the two air horn areas in the cowl. If all that is is surface rust (that's all it looks like in your pictures), then your golden.

Do you want that area to be body color? You won't really see it with the cowl trim back in place. I do understand wanting to get rid of the rust though.
 
Yes it is. I'm taking it to the body shop next week anyways, so I'll have them hit that area up. I'm only concerned with preventing future rust since it's exposed to water.