Help build my dream car

500hp+ said:

Wow my calculations were way off ..what would you look for when buying a complete project?? I know the typical stuff to look/inspect for when buying a normal DD but have no knowledge on what to watch out for when buying a completely built muscle car.

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To be honest just stay away from a fully built muscle car especially If you have no knowledge your better off building your and knowing what's been done to it but that's just me. I had mine fully rebuilt and at least I know what's been done to it

IMO there's not a lot of difference in picking a built car to a normal one. Some ideas:

These mustangs flex like a wet noodle when they make any kind of serious power and are put on a slick. Subframe connectors and torque box reinforcements are a must if the car is used for this purpose. Look for obvious signs of engine damage: smoking, missing, etc... Pick a car with quality parts, and as a general rule, don't add more than 1/2 value of the parts to the car's overall value. Don't take comments indicating low mileage on the parts seriously as it cannot be verified. Instead, drive the car to ensure the suspension feels solids, pay particular attention to the drivetrain (clutch slip, tranny issues, and the state of tune in the engine).

Unless they can verify with a dyno, and even sometimes when they can, don't take hp claims seriously. Right now, I've got a guy with a "311 rwhp" n/a 5.0 with E7 heads offering me a trade...gimme a break! To me, any dishonesty brings into question everything else he's representing about the car.

Chris

GT 00 said:

To be honest just stay away from a fully built muscle car especially If you have no knowledge your better off building your and knowing what's been done to it but that's just me. I had mine fully rebuilt and at least I know what's been done to it

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Well, one definite advantage if you do know what you're doing is that you can end up with a hell of a lot more car for the same price, and another is that the car is done and is running.

Building a car comes with its own set of problems to diagnose and fix. Getting everything right can be frustrating. When you're buying the car already built, you can wait and choose one that's already had the bugs worked out for you.

I think you got good advice here. Here's my .02
if you want the car to have your hand print on it and you can do the work, buy a NICE roller with everything but the motor/trans....they are out there esp this time of year. Id jump right into a 351-based windsor with a strong 5 speed
OR
Like fastdriver said...wait for a solid car with quality mods and go from there. Keep a few k around to make it your own car...I have never found a modded car that is 100% to my liking. If you go this route, be picky...it's your dream car and most of your funds could be close to gone with a finished car
BUT REGARDLESS OF ROUTE.....buy a clean, solid, car! Like mentioned above, body work/ paint/ etc...will easily take out all your funds and TIME! Best of luck and welcome to the biggest money pit frat known to man!

I can't tell you what your own personal preferences are, but here are some of mine:

Behind any built motor, I'd want to see an aftermarket transmission, as the T5 is like a toothpick and actually rated, for some years, lower than the torque that the 5.0 put out. A TKO of any kind or a T56 should do the trick.

I'd personally be looking for a fuel injected motor, not a carbed motor, but that's certainly personal preference. A premium set of heads is a must for me. I'd want to see a set of AFRs or Trick Flows on the car, because you can't go wrong with those brands, but there are other nice brands like Edelbrock, FMS, that can make plenty of power and are reliable proven combos. The size of the heads should be big enough to support the engine. For example, an AFR165 head on a 302 is an excellent part. However, an AFR165 on a 347 is a mismatched part, because it's going to give up a lot of power on the top-end to a AFR185, or a ported Twisted Wedge head. Premium heads are big money items, and pretty much requires complete removal of the top end of the motor and accessories to replace. The intake and cam are less expensive, but should match whichever heads you have. Post the combos up here and we'll give you 20 different opinions, but the consensus will certainly let you know if you're headed in the right direction.

As a general rule of thumb, a standard 331 has no inherent advantage over a 347 until you reach big-boost big-power aftermarket block engines. If you're looking for a stroker, the slight preference should be to the 347, but if that can easily be outweighed if you find the right combo/car in the form of a 331. Realistically, a 331's only giving up 20-25 hp at best over an identical 347, but a 347 with a mismatched or poor combo will be a turd compared to a 331 with the right parts.

Other expensive parts: forced induction kits, premium suspensions (MM and Griggs can cost 10 G's or more for a complete build), aftermarket blocks w/ internals, complete disk brake systems, built rear ends, and I'm not just talking gears w/ axles which are both easy and only a few hundred to do.

That's all I've got for now. gotta get to sleep.

For a first mustang definitely buy something running. It's like any other project, if you don't take it apart yourself, there may be a chance you can't put it back together.

After some thought, if i had the money all at once to spend as you suggest you do, i'd buy a real 89-93 saleen. They are going to be the best condition physically and mechanically. Not to mention in all likelyhood if you bailed on the car you could get most if not all of your money back (as long as you don't butcher it).
Take the car, add some twisted wedges or afr 165's with the right cam and intake and enjoy for a while that way.

One more thing, foxes are not aways the easiest cars to drive, particularly at 500hp. Remember, no antilock brakes and traction control.
Everyone thinks is so easy to pilot a 3200lb car with tons of torque and hp, trust me, there's a learning curve, there is a reason so many have been wrecked. So starting with a h/c/i setup will let you grow into it.
330rwhp in a fox is like 450 in a newer car.

Going with a Saleen, is actually a really goood idea. If I were you, I would really look into it. Plus they are sick ass rides.

wow I wish I would have seen this thread sooner. I bought my hatch about a month ago and I've dumped about $1100 into getting it back to near stock condition cap/ rotor/ wires/ spark plugs/ ignition coil/ cleaned the EGR and IAC/ new tires all around/ trans service/ diff service/ fuel filter/ front brakes, rotors,wheel bearings, rear drums and shoes repalced the rear cats and mufflers (magnaflow)/ sway bar bushings/ sway bar endlinks/ 3G alternator/ 3 core aluminum radiator and electric fans with fan controller.

all this and the interior is still after 21 years falling apart and is my next project.

Several years ago I sat down and spent several hours creating a spreadsheet of every item and their costs that I would need to build my car exactly how I wanted it. Now, this was with a n/a stroker motor and AFR heads using a stock block....no Dart block, blowers or turbos. Including paint, interior fixes, motor, trans, rear end, suspension, brakes and wheels, the total tally was somewhere in the high $20k range. Thats why this hobby is a life long endevor for most, its very expensive.

Yeah, there's no free lunch. If you want a fox to turn heads, don't kid yourself, it takes a clean car, tasteful mods, and a lot of TLC to get it there and none of those things are cheap.

500hp+ said:

I've searched for saleen's after reading above reply and they are in my range and mostly all I seen have low miles and in super mint condition . I personally think something like that I will hate to tear into the motor I will like to keep it stock as possible thats a collector if you ask me.Is the motor in a saleen any different HP/TQ wise? I know they have different suspension and a body kit

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Most saleens other than sc's and ssc's have stock engines. As long as you keep the original parts and you don't use crap aftermarket parts there is no shame in modding one (just don't mod the outside). In most cases with low miles there will be no need to work on the shortblock at all.

In the long run you may save a ton.
They are already 5 lug, no need for body work, they have their own wheels, and they come with rear discs, most have sweet flofit interiors.