Fox Fox Body Frame Rust-- Scrap or Save?

Rdub6 said:

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.

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I'm ok with some work, but I understand what you're saying. I do know a few people I could talk to, so I'll definitely be sure to ask/listen to them so I don't focus on a couple of good aspects of the car and forget about the others like I did last time. Oddly enough, I could probably talk to the buyer of the dumpster fire that I had. He said he does a lot of work with foxes, and that if I was ever looking for another one he could help me find it. I don't know if he meant it or if he was just making conversation while we waited for the overheating winch to drag the car onto his trailer, but it could be worth a shot.

The cobra badges are why I was kind of leaning towards the one out in Washington, but the listing for it just expired, so it probably sold awhile ago. It's going to be a month or so before I have the time or the money to actually pick any of these up, so it might be worth it to just wait for the right one, I suppose.

Mstng93SSP said:

I think he's talking about the guy who bought his rust pile, not the one who sold it to him.

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You are correct, I don’t have any intention of dealing with the original seller again.


I’m still looking at cars, I'll post some of them as I find them so you guys can give me your opinions if you want and point out anything I might be missing.

Mustang5L5 said:

Buy a solid body car above all else

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I was thinking about that, and I found an extremely clean lx 4cyl out in Washington:

The car is almost perfect based on the pictures, but the only problem is it's a 4 cylinder. I know they're still fun cars, but it would require a swap for the car to really get to where I want it. I found some other ads that I'll list below with my thoughts.

This one's local, and it looks pretty clean. I could do without the flame job, stickers, and smoked headlights, but you take what you can get, I guess:


This car is in Texas, and looks pretty solid aside from the hatchback, but the interior looks like a frat house:


Finally, there's this convertible. I'm not really a huge fan of soft tops, but after seeing how clean this one is and how many there are for sale the idea is kind of growing on me:


I know that at this price point, there are going to have to be compromises, it's just a question of where and what I'm willing to sacrifice to get a decent car. If tacky exterior mods, a bad paint job or a worn-out interior are the worst of my problems, I think I could live with that. Of course, I also thought I'd be able to live with the state that my previous car was in, which is why I'm asking for your opinions.

I also just kind of like talking and learning about these cars. I wasn't especially interested in them before I bought the blue monster, but now that I've owned one, I'd really like to be able to drive one as well.

Thanks for the feedback.

Rdub6 said:

All that said..... very tough to judge a car through pictures on internet. I would want to see anything I buy, in person with time to really look it over.

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That's the hard part of this, most of these cars are pretty far away for me, so the best I'd be able to do is ask for pictures and pay a shop or some other inspection service to send someone out to look at it.

LILCBRA said:

How about this one? It may need a little TLC since they've mentioned it's been in storage for a while. But if everything they're saying is true it could be quite the find.... It almost makes me want to take a trip to Chicago! You know, if I had the money to spend..... Lol It would be nice to have more and better pics though.

1984 Ford Mustang convert blue brand new convertible top brand tires

This car was originally bought in Texas was in storage for 19 years low miles odometer says 1700 original owner too old to drive

chicago.craigslist.org

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I'd prefer a V8 hatchback, but unfortunately so does everyone else and the market reflects that. I've toyed with the idea of buying a really clean 4cyl, enjoying it for a year or two, upgrading the suspension over time, and then do a v8 swap when I (hopefully) have more time, money, and space. But I think it may be better to just spend a little more on a decent 5.0 that doesn't need a swap.

It's incredible how lazy some sellers are. I saw an ad one time where the title was just "Car," and the only picture posted was a blurry shot taken from their 5th floor apartment window. No description. No make or model.

Speaking of craigslist, I contacted the seller of that green mess down in Texas. He sent me some pictures of the shock towers. He said there was no rust in the ad,



I don't know how bad it is, but it looks like there's quite a bit of rust on the inside of the tower. It would be one thing if it was just surface rust, but the area around the bottom bolt of the strut mount scares me. I think this one's out.

CarMichael Angelo said:

But,...like I said. If the rest of the body isn't a rusted out hag-mess, I'll take a neglected GT/LX over a well care for rust pile any day.

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The rest of it doesn’t look too bad, just kind of crusty and gross. I’m just concerned about the passenger’s side, some of those holes look pretty flaky.

The fact that he has two febreeze air fresheners in the vents is...alarming.

Here are some more photos:




There are a few more, but I’m on my phone right now, and uploading photos from mobile takes forever.

I also heard from the seller of the local black flamejobbed lx with the iffy transmission. He said the car has no rust on the frame rails or the shock towers, might be worth a look this weekend. He lowered the price from 4000 to 3800.