Finally got my Stang

[STP72]

Well guys, I guess being 34, I have decided to re-live my highschool years, I just bought my first Mustang, Its a 1988 LX (Hatch) 4 speed with OD. The car is stock except for a K&N Drop in filter
and A Magnaflow Cat-Back system. The Car has about 140,000 miles on it.

It has had 3 other owners besides me, the guy I bought it from had it for over 10yrs. And had it has been rust proofed for the last 15+ yrs. The body is in good shape a few rust spots here and there.. The front of the hood has alot of stone chips that turned into rust. Undercarriage looks pretty clean also.

Interior is in good shape, but could use some new carpet or a good cleaning. I paid $1500 cdn for it. I thought I got a good deal on it, very disappointed it isn't a 5 spd though.

I pick it up on tuesday am, then its going right into the shop for a safety inspection, and then I will change all the fluids and do the repairs if needed to pass the inspection, then its off to get the emissions test done. Then after that I am hoping to find a place to work on it during the long crap canadian winter and do all the body work and paint so it will be ready to roll in the spring.

Where should I start mod wise? I have read alot of things about a shift kit and 4.10 gears will bring the auto to life. I sure hope so when I took it out for a test drive I wasn't that impressed, but mind you the owner was in the passenger seat haha.

I am hoping a set of headers, a full tune-up, proper gears. shift kit, Cold air intake, Underdrive pully's will bring this Auto to life. And any other mods I may have missed please inform me.

Thanks for reading guys, And thanks for any input you may have..

Also if there are any canucks on here where are you buying your goodies from
Prices in the US are awesome, but we get screwed with duty and tax

 

[90]

lol... Glad to here theres another stanger out there...
Good luck with your car... and plz post pics ASAP...
Take care!

 

[Darkwriter77]

I'd say, go with the basic cheapies/freebies first:

- Bump up timing from the stock 10* to 12* or 14* (depends on what your car likes - some folks can get away with 16*) and start running 89 or higher octane fuel
- Remove the air silencer, if it's still in place
- Remove the MAF screen, if it's still in place (kind of a redundant item, since nothing big enough for that screen to catch is gonna get past the primary air filter, anyway)
- Delete the back seat and scrape that stupid tar-like OEM sound insulation from out of the rear seat and trunk/hatch area (lay in some thin carpet or just spray-paint it to match)
- Give the car a thorough tune-up - plugs, wires, cap/rotor, all fluids/filters
- Knife-edge your throttle body butterfly (if you're reeeeeally anal about air flow)
- Clean that K&N panel filter, if it needs it
- Keep the OEM clutch cable, but invest in a triple-hook clutch quadrant and a firewall adjuster. The OEM plastic quad/pawl will inevitably break and/or ruin your clutch and leave you stranded.

Next step is to dig into the more pricey stuff...

- Underdrive pullies
- Off-road X-pipe or H-pipe
- GOOD lower control arms and torque box plates
- A quality shifter (Pro 5.0 and the Hurst Billet Plus are my picks) and handle/knob of your choice
- A good set of gauges (oil, volts, and water temp are a good pick, a tach is kind of pointless on a stock AOD-equipped car)
- A good shift kit and/or valve body (Lentech reverse-pattern manual valve body = )
- Subframe connectors
- A spare pair of rims and drag radials
- Lots of track time

There. That should keep ya' busy for the next couple o' years.

 

[Nopantz]

 

[Shakerhood]

You can always convert it to a 5 Speed and ditch the Automatic.

 

[grey5.0beast]

4 speed w/ OD is 5 speed isn't it?

I thought AODs were 3 speeds w/ OD or something.

 

[1985 5.0]

4 speed w/ OD is 5 speed isn't it?

I thought AODs were 3 speeds w/ OD or something.

4 speed w/ OD is 4 gears
5 speed w/ OD is 5 gears

 

[dragnazz5.0]

well what tranny is in the car if its an 88 that is basically stock and has a 4 spd with OD?

 

[grey5.0beast]

4 speed w/ OD is 4 gears
5 speed w/ OD is 5 gears

That's what I was wondering, I always thought the t5 was 4 speed with 5thgear being OD

 

[STP72]

I pick up the car tomorrow morning, I will find out what tranny is in it If someone tells me how to find out that info lol.. and yes I will have pics posted when I get it home.

 

[grey5.0beast]

is it manual or auto?

 

[STP72]

Auto with OD

 

[Shakerhood]

That's what I was wondering, I always thought the t5 was 4 speed with 5thgear being OD

Your close, the T5 is a 5 speed because it has 5 gear ratios, 5th happens to be an overdrive gear.

 

[Darkwriter77]

OD = 4th gear. If you just keep the car in "D" with OD locked out, you'll only have three gears. (More or less, the AOD is just a C4 with an extra gear.)

As far as swapping trannies goes, I wouldn't qualify that as a "starting" mod. Really, if you're going to go through that much trouble, you may as well put all that time/money/effort into just building up the motor and making sure the stock AOD can hold up to it - maybe a better torque converter, shift kit, and a couple of updated internals, but it'd likely hold up better in the long run than a T-5. I sometimes find myself wishing that the original owner of my notch had simply elected to leave the AOD in place, instead of swapping in a T-5 - namely when I'm stuck in downtown Phoenix traffic on the Loop 202 at 4:30pm - but the weight savings and the fun factor of rowing through the gears is a nice bonus. Well, that and I feel confident enough that I could probably fumble my way through rebuilding a T-5, myself, whereas if an AOD took a dump on me, I'd be totally lost...

I'd spend that extra money on a good set of tires/rims rather than a tranny swap, if I was you.