Fox Fox Body Frame Rust-- Scrap or Save?
- Thread starter Alldegree
- Start date
-
Sponsors (?)
The up-side is that you're in Chicago... The up-side is that you can get cars shipped to you from pretty much anywhere in the country fro about $500.
Look for good buys in the southern states. Take your time and you'll find a good deal on a solid car.
Look for good buys in the southern states. Take your time and you'll find a good deal on a solid car.
- Mar 7, 2002
- 9,432
- 5,380
- 224
Quit telling northerners that! Good stuff's getting expensive here too because of them!
What I meant to say was, "Oh the rust is terrible down there with all the desert and low humidity". Cars just fall apart. 
Sold, for $500! Guy came and picked it up today, said he was going to use the parts in his 86.
I decided that it would be too much work for an inexperienced person like myself to do on his own with the amount of space and time I have. I had paid 1000 for the car, a roller would have been another 1500-2000. For 3000-4000 I could get a pretty solid driving GT. That combined with the fact that I had never worked on a car before, would be doing everything alone, and will probably move out within a year or two, I just decided it wasn't worth it.
I want to thank everybody on here for sharing their advice and personal experiences in this, it really helped me see the size of the mountain I would have had to climb.
I decided that it would be too much work for an inexperienced person like myself to do on his own with the amount of space and time I have. I had paid 1000 for the car, a roller would have been another 1500-2000. For 3000-4000 I could get a pretty solid driving GT. That combined with the fact that I had never worked on a car before, would be doing everything alone, and will probably move out within a year or two, I just decided it wasn't worth it.
I want to thank everybody on here for sharing their advice and personal experiences in this, it really helped me see the size of the mountain I would have had to climb.
Sadly true. The subject car in this thread would likely be listed on CL for $2k in the northeast.
I’ve given up on owning another fox. People want too much.
This is true in a lot of cases. People always seem to think that they're sitting on a gold mine. But there are decent buys out there if you're patient and diligently on the lookout. Like this one:
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/cto/d/dacula-price-drop-1989-ford-mustang-50/6982789303.html
It looks fairly unmolested but beat to death by a teenager. I don't think it to be a bad asking price, just all depends on what kind of shape it's in beyond the pics. If I had the cash and was ready to start on my Fox I'd consider going to take a look at it. I have a lot of what it needs on my convertible already, so I'd look into doing something like what was mentioned before in this thread - swap the good parts onto this one if it's a better body and sell what's left.
- Mar 7, 2002
- 9,432
- 5,380
- 224
I meant here in Texas. Too many people from up north are coming down here to buy fox-bodies and shortbed Chevy C10 trucks, and it's driving the prices through the damned roof.
I've been thinking about just throwing a ridiculous price at mine and seeing what happens. Then find a roller and start over or an SN95.0 cobra. Or maybe this. I think this is the best value in my area and actually very reasonable.
1983 mustang notchback coupe for sale
I’m selling my 83 mustang coupe, this car is one of the cleanest in New England. Has a little bit of motor work, 300hp car. Runs strong, drives tight, always garaged. The car speaks for itself. I’m...
boston.craigslist.org
HotFox
15 Year Member
Yeah but of course! 10 years ago when I was looking, I looked down south. My fox came out of Florida and was bought new in Missouri. Anything of age I would be doing the same thing. Our stuff up here is trashed from the road salt from our long winters. My BIL pickup a 5 lug parts for me in the Phoenix area could not believe the conditions of the dust shields, they were 20 years old and looked like new!
I'm sure of it. For too long guys would make a road trip with trailer in tow, buy a $4K fox from the south and flip it for $8K or so up here. Decent profit for a few days of driving and maybe a few hundred in fuel costs.
I'm sure eventually people catch wind of this and try to do the same and demand causes the prices to climb.
Northeast cars are just terrible. There's a reason why MA did away with emissions testing on pre-2000 cars. There aren't any on the roads up here. They just rot out.
Any Fox bodies you find for sale in the northeast are garage queens, or rust-boxes. Even a lot of the garage queens have issues because they were probably driven a few years as any other normal car before moving onto a 2nd or 3rd owner as a weekend car and stored.
Hell, i'll even admit my own car has a few minor issues that could be address due to it's early life as a daily driver.
I hate to be one of those northerners looking for a car, and this is probably for another thread, but what do you guys think of this one?
Is it too good to be true? It looks awesome.
Is it too good to be true? It looks awesome.
That thing is rough. Being an automatic, I’d try for $3k but that rust on the rear wheel would have me checking the floors and strut towers.
- Mar 7, 2002
- 9,432
- 5,380
- 224
It's in Virginia, they salt their roads too, and this car shows it.
Have a professional look it over before you buy it, and not one working for that dealership.
Don't sweat it man. They're the Banana Republic.
Only reason we sell cars down there is so we have classics. 
Here’s a cheap local (to me) GT very. I might have jumped in this if I didn’t have other plans.
1988 Mustang GT Convertible
1988 Mustang GT Convertible. 5.0 302 , 5 speed Transmission. All power options Blue exterior, white interior. Has been in indoor storage for last 10 years. Car has not been started. Body is in great...
boston.craigslist.org
Here’s a cheap local (to me) GT very. I might have jumped in this if I didn’t have other plans.
1988 Mustang GT Convertible
1988 Mustang GT Convertible. 5.0 302 , 5 speed Transmission. All power options Blue exterior, white interior. Has been in indoor storage for last 10 years. Car has not been started. Body is in great...boston.craigslist.org
I've heard the convertibles are a good way to get into a nice fox body for a good price. That one looks really clean.
The one from virginia I posted is one of a couple of cobra swapped lx's I'm kind of looking at. The other one is up here by me and is worse as far as rust is concerned. I asked the owner about the frame rails and he said he didn't know (sounds promising), but somebody looked at the shock towers and told him they would need attention in the future, so I think that one's a pretty solid no.
I contacted the Virginia dealer to ask about rust and they just sent me a pre-written email saying I should book an appointment so that they could better understand my "new car needs." I'll definitely have someone take a look at it if I do anything, but I really like the way it looks. There's also a stock aero lx that looks pretty solid on craigslist but it's all the way up in Washington state.
Here's the one up in Washington. When he says "tabs," does he mean "tags," as in license plates/registration?
1988 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 AOD
1988 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 AOD. Stock unmolested car which is hard to find with these cars. The car has the following new parts: Timing chain Harmonic balancer Water pump Radiator, thermostat and...
kpr.craigslist.org
Last edited:
I think that in the price range you’re looking at, it’s going to be a real hit or miss. You may get an honest seller, and get a decent start to a project, or you could get seriously burnt. But either way, at that price, it WILL need work.
Is there anyone you know that can help you look at these cars without the “emotion” getting in the way? For me, those “I want to be a cobra things” on a regular LX would raise some flags, meaning they beat on it like they wished it was a Cobra.
Is there anyone you know that can help you look at these cars without the “emotion” getting in the way? For me, those “I want to be a cobra things” on a regular LX would raise some flags, meaning they beat on it like they wished it was a Cobra.
