Fox Fox Body Frame Rust-- Scrap or Save?

[Rdub6]

I’ve been following along. I don’t if anybody mentioned this (I don’t remember hearing it) but another place to look, if you can, is under the battery. I’ve seen some rusted out pretty bad under there.
I figured while you’re learning what to look for, I’d throw that out there .

 

[General karthief]

No inner fender panels. No cats. I didn't see 02 sensors but they maybe up higher on the head pipe. Look under the dash to see if any wiring hacks have been made. If you have a code reader take that with you next time you look at it.
around here for the money not bad deal, talk him down some though. JMO

 

[Potomus Pete]

Blue car is not a good first Fox . You can do better wait a little longer. Paint jobs are too much money. Try to find good paint . You will need your money for lots of small stuff . Never ending small stuff . Luckily parts are inexpensive . I cant believe how cheap compared to Toyota aftermarket parts .

 

[90sickfox]

That car needs a complete quarter. That pucker crease is all the way up at the quarter window. Without being able to weld it yourself you'd be in for a couple grand there without paint.

 

[Alldegree]

That car needs a complete quarter. That pucker crease is all the way up at the quarter window. Without being able to weld it yourself you'd be in for a couple grand there without paint.

That's what I was afraid of. I was looking at it and was surprised that it hadn't sold yet, but I think that quarter is what's scaring people away. That combined with the fact that somebody just randomly primered half the car for some reason. Another thing I noticed was that there was a lot of overspray on some hoses in the engine compartment and on the cowl vent. It makes me wonder if there is some rust on the shock towers and that shiny blue paint is covering it up. I honestly think I could live with the dents and the paint for awhile as long as the car runs and drives, but if it's going to cost that much to replace the quarter panel, I don't know if it's worth it.

The car looks and sounds like so much fun, though. The whole thing shakes and rattles and feels like it's about to explode under acceleration. Granted, the only thing my daily does when I hit the gas is make a lot of noise and "advance," so maybe I'm just not used to these cars .

around here for the money not bad deal, talk him down some though.

I don't think he wants to budge. He's already lowered the price from 3500, and he said a 2500 offer he got earlier was a lowball, so he seems pretty much at the bottom of where he wants to be.

On a side note, I was talking to the seller about the 85 that I had, and he actually knows the guy that bought it from me. He says he's stripped it and sold almost all the parts already, so that's some good news. I know I could have made more money parting it out myself, but I have no established clientele like these guys do, and I also have no idea what the individual parts are worth (or even are, in some cases) so it would have taken forever.

 

[Alldegree]

Blue car is not a good first Fox . You can do better wait a little longer. Paint jobs are too much money. Try to find good paint . You will need your money for lots of small stuff . Never ending small stuff . Luckily parts are inexpensive . I cant believe how cheap compared to Toyota aftermarket parts .

I've heard that the general rule for project cars is take what you think you'll spend and double it to get what you'll actually pay. One of the reasons I've been looking at foxes is because parts are cheap. I drive a Subaru, and I can't believe how expensive OEM parts are. I don't need to get anything replaced very often, but my power steering pump wore out a couple years ago and it was something like 700 dollars. Granted, that was including labor, but still a lot more than I was expecting.

 

[Mstng93SSP]

I would buy that, especially if he would take $2500 which I think he would. The "low ball" offer comment is a common thing guys say trying to make you think he wouldn't accept that. He probably does not in fact have a $2500 offer. Yes the car needs work, and I admit that quarter isn't great. BUT, it does appear to be rust free, has some good stuff like the trick flow intake, 3G alternator and probably some other engine goodies I don't see listed. This is a project for sure but $2500? Worth it if you ask me. You could spend some time cleaning it up, sanding and priming panels etc. and get a cheap paint job for now (Maaco etc.). I can deal with mechanical issues all day long if the car is rust free. The AC/Heat thing to me is no big deal. A heater core fixes the heat and the AC is not that complex or costly. (at least by my standards) You will learn to drive 5 speed and LOVE it.

 

[Alldegree]

It looks like I have a healthy mix of evaluations. I guess it all kind of depends on what I want to do with the car. I'd like to do with this what I was planning on doing with the 85, which is keep it for a long time and restore/upgrade small things as time goes by. The fact that this car runs and drives is a huge plus, and it really doesn't look all that bad considering it's age and location.

The major negatives that I can see are the quarter panel and the potential valve seal issue, as well as the lack of heat/ac along with all the parts that go with it. Like I said before, I can live with the quarter and lack of heat/ac flr awhile, but the smokey exhaust concerns me a bit. It could just be a cold engine, or it could be valve seals, or I've read that it could even be piston rings or a ton of other issues. The fact that the car runs as strongly as it does gives me some hope that it's nothing major. The tires are also a little dry rotted, but they hold air.

The positives are that it runs and drives, seems to have minimal rust, along with the fact that most of the performance mods installed are things that I would have wanted on the car anyway, particularly with the engine. A trick flow intake, bbk shorties, straight h pipe, and flowmaster cat-back is pretty much to the letter what I would want to have, other than maybe a mild cam and gt40 or trick flow heads. The seats, although they look awful and rub against the doors, are actually pretty supportive and comfortable. The shifter is a short throw (seller thinks it's a hurst, but he's not sure), and it seems to bang through the gears just fine from what I saw on the ride-along. It also has slotted rotors and eibach springs, as well as a Saleen spoiler which I don't particularly care for, but that can be replaced.

When I talked to him yesterday, the seller told me he would be willing to go down to 2500 if he swapped the trick flow intake for a regular stock setup. How much of a difference does it make? They seem to be a really common mod for these cars.

I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty solidly in the "buy it" camp, but knowing the issues it has will definitely soften the blow if it sells by this friday.

 

[Rdub6]

It looks like I have a healthy mix of evaluations. I guess it all kind of depends on what I want to do with the car. I'd like to do with this what I was planning on doing with the 85, which is keep it for a long time and restore/upgrade small things as time goes by. The fact that this car runs and drives is a huge plus, and it really doesn't look all that bad considering it's age and location.

The major negatives that I can see are the quarter panel and the potential valve seal issue, as well as the lack of heat/ac along with all the parts that go with it. Like I said before, I can live with the quarter and lack of heat/ac flr awhile, but the smokey exhaust concerns me a bit. It could just be a cold engine, or it could be valve seals, or I've read that it could even be piston rings or a ton of other issues. The fact that the car runs as strongly as it does gives me some hope that it's nothing major. The tires are also a little dry rotted, but they hold air.

The positives are that it runs and drives, seems to have minimal rust, along with the fact that most of the performance mods installed are things that I would have wanted on the car anyway, particularly with the engine. A trick flow intake, bbk shorties, straight h pipe, and flowmaster cat-back is pretty much to the letter what I would want to have, other than maybe a mild cam and gt40 or trick flow heads. The seats, although they look awful and rub against the doors, are actually pretty supportive and comfortable. The shifter is a short throw (seller thinks it's a hurst, but he's not sure), and it seems to bang through the gears just fine from what I saw on the ride-along. It also has slotted rotors and eibach springs, as well as a Saleen spoiler which I don't particularly care for, but that can be replaced.

When I talked to him yesterday, the seller told me he would be willing to go down to 2500 if he swapped the trick flow intake for a regular stock setup. How much of a difference does it make? They seem to be a really common mod for these cars.

I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty solidly in the "buy it" camp, but knowing the issues it has will definitely soften the blow if it sells by this friday.

If you’re that set on it, I’d negotiate more to keep the intake. Mostly because I’d rather not have someone ripping things apart on a car they know they are getting rid of. Shortcuts will be taken, and the attention to detail will most likely not be there.

 

[Olivethefet]

I agree that the AC/heat isn't that big of a deal. If the heater box is still in the car that is. If it is then for about $500 you can buy all the major components, replace them, and get it charged. If the box is gone it's going to be more of a project to locate all the bits that go on it then figure out how it all goes together with nothing to use to go by. We'll take all the pics you need to help out though! The body issues would worry me. I'd say you'd be in $5,000 to get that stuff fixed if you cant do most of it yourself. Don't let him swap the intake. If he wants the car gone that would be a must for me. You're buying a grab bag. No telling how good the condition of the motor is. I've seen cars run like a scalded dog and be on there last leg.

Driving stick is no big deal. Find someone that can drive stick and let them teach you. One Saturday afternoon in a big parking lot and you'll be good!

If you're set on getting it, go for it. If it was me I'd sit back and wait for something with a good straight body that didn't have the go fast bits on it. I'm bad about getting all worked up about something and then jumping before I really think it through, so I hope I don't sound like the pot calling the kettle black! That's how I ended up with my car... I like my car by the way.

 

[Mustang5L5]

The valve seals aren’t a big deal. Are they stock heads? If so you can find em for practically free. Spend a weekend cleaning them up and installing new seals and swapping the heads is another weekend project.

Mechanicals are easy on these cars...it’s rust/rot and body work that gets complicated

 

[90sickfox]

If you're set on buying it there are some inexpensive things you can do yourself to straighten the quarter out until you have the money to replace it. It will be hard and a huge learning curve to make it straight. Body filler is sold everywhere...just like sand paper. It won't look perfect but can easily look better for about 100 bucks.

Don't let the guy pull the intake. That's where you're making the most headway. He'd have to spend 100 bucks just to pull it and put another one on.

No rust is always the most important. My car has no rust....but has a ding or two on every panel. Got mine cheap because it was a 4 cylinder and I already had all the swap parts from my 89 GT.

 

[Mstng93SSP]

DO NOT let him swap intakes. Even if you have to go $2700 I would still do it but you don't want anyone taking good parts off a good running engine before you buy it. The "care factor" of swapping will be next to none and the "close enough" monster will be present. I agree you could straighten that quarter out to be "presentable" for now.

 

[Potomus Pete]

I have a different opinion. Try to find one that hasnt been fooled with . When you buy a car that a guy modified , unless the guy is really good you deal with all kinds of issues that a young man like yourself may not be able to deal with. Bolts that are not torqued right , and parts that dont match. As mentioned before the Ford wiring that could be something that only a garage can fix . Still , I like your attitude. After all this you better get a fox . No better car for showing off . Except for a maybe a 72 Camaro.

 

[General karthief]

A 72 what?

 

[Potomus Pete]

72 Camaro is a super looker . the whole front is a work of art . 78 Mustang in perfect condition is just as nice . 78 Cobra get one of those kid .

 

[Alldegree]

A 72 what?

I actually have been looking at some camaros and firebirds of the same vintage as the foxes I'm looking at, as well as some other cars. There's an imperial 440 that looks interesting, and it would be fun to build it into a "lead sled" type of thing. Only problem is I don't think it would fit in the garage, and restoring it would be like rebuilding a house. I'm really looking for a fox mustang, though. They look better than the camaros of the time, and I think they're the more desirable cars of the two. They're also becoming harder and harder to find, and the prices are starting to go up because of it.

That being said, the 72 Camaro is a beautiful machine. I really like the Javelins of that era too, those are a dream car of mine.

I think, depending on what my paycheck looks like on friday, I might put an offer in on this one first. If I can talk him down to 3200 or so, I could probably swing it. Might not be as much fun, but it looks like a better driver.


View: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2401860093474780/

 

[Rdub6]

Hit him at 2600 and he leaves the intake. At the the end of the haggling, you’ll be under 3k.

 

[Alldegree]

I found a couple other listings in the same price point as the blue car, but they have straight bodies.

This one doesn't look as clean, but it does look more original and complete. Seller says it originally came from Georgia:


View: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1079395105564360/



This one looks pretty much complete, although why the seller thinks Montana doesn't get rust is beyond me. Looks good though:


View: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1464985083654918/



I still kind of prefer the blue car simply because it's closer and I've already looked at it, but if you guys think either of these would be a better bet, I'll definitely consider it. Lafayette isn't too far away, the one in MO might be a bit more of a hike.

One thing that's been eating at me about the blue mustang is the fact that it's been listed since September 19th. Is that a red flag that people are seeing something that I'm not, or is it just because he had it priced too high?

 

[General karthief]

The second one with the carb conversion is a no go.
i think the blue one was priced too high that is why it's still around. I like it better than the other two.