Buying a 87-93 Stang

[RiceBurner13]

Hey everybody im new to the forums so just shoutin out. I had a 2000 Civic SI that i just recently sold in order to buy an 87-93 body Stang. I always loved the 302 engine, the light body, and the civic just didnt have ANY torque, and im all about some musclecars. Anyway i have heard alot of different things like 87 is the best year for this body, the 93 body is alot hevaier than the other year's, etc etc. I was also wondering about the mileage, at what mileage do the 5.0's usually start to lose power if they havent been driven terribly? Any recommendations on what year, body, etc would be a big help, i cant wait to get behind the wheel of my first V8, thanks in advance.

 

[bmo37]

best fox body stang to buy is between the years 1989-92. pre-89 have a speed density computer as opposed to a mass air type system. 93 they switched over to hyper pistons from the previous forged ones. Which in itself isn't a bad thing just that forged pistons are more forgiving when it comes to tuning and denotation than the hypers.


As far as weight goes its so negilable when comparing 87-93 against each other. But comparing models is the way to do it. The convertible GT is the heavist, followed by GT, next is the lx hatch back. Finally if you can find one in good shape the notch back (coupe) is the lightest of them all (a little over 3000lbs I believe). also I am talking about the v8 versions.

Also milage means nothing if a car was taken care of. Some guys on here will have over 150K miles on there car and have no problems what so ever, and some with 30K miles will have all kinds of problems.

One thing I advise is doing a complete tune up on the car, new spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, new air filter (or wash if k&n) new pcv (its on the back of the lower intake near the firewall) and change your fuel filter (located under the car in the rear mounted in front of the gas tank.

Anyway hope this helps a little and good luck

-Brett-

 

[SynMan5.0]

'89 is probably considered the 'best' year because it was the first year for mass air and airbags weren't introduced until '90 (therefore '89s are a tad bit lighter and they have tilt steering wheels). LX 5.0 coupes are the strongest and lightest, GT convertibles are the heaviest. Automatics are pretty slow in stock form, but a set of 4.10 gears and a higher stall fixes that. A well maintained 5.0 will run well past 150k miles and still perform at it's best. Good luck!