I'm new to 5.0, how does this deal I found sound?

[RedRocketMike]

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum, you might recognize my name from another mustang site I've been on for 5 years. I've never stepped foot in a 5.0 before. I saw one that caught my eye, and having sold my 03 Cobra a few months ago I have the itch to go fast again. I wanted to hear if this is a good deal and what are some things to watch out for in a fox body.

I've got the owner down to $4,000. It's a 87 Lx hatch The car is clean and straight, lots of newer interior parts, door panels, dash, seats. Repainted a couple years ago, decent paint job, non factory grey. Around 100k on the body, claims it has a few thousand on a rebuilt 306, gt40 heads, e303, long tubes ect, switched to a Holley carb. New Zoom stage 2 clutch, 3:55 gears, flsfc's. Recent 5 lug conversion with big Cobra brakes. Only downsides for me are no A/C and it has a low profile cowl hood with hood pins. I hate hood pins. But it comes with extra paint so I can remove them. Car runs and drives well, no bs, nice and dry inside.

I'm going to do a compression test on it but is there anything specific to these cars that I should be looking for, and strange spots for rust or something a regular car guy wouldn't think to check?

 

[VibrantRedGT]

Check the strut towers inside the engine bay for rust (under the master cylinder) both sides. I'd get under it and go through it thoroughly since it's 20+ years old.

 

[LarsD]

Look under it to see if the floor pans are torn from the seats (not a deal breaker, but good to know). If the body is solid and the engine isn't monkey'd together sounds like a pretty good buy.

 

[foxbodymike87]

look at the front of it from a distance and see if it leans. If it does probably has a twisted unibody

 

[stdyhand]

Deffinately get under that car and look for rust. Climb under the rear of it and check the frame and body area for extreme rust from salt on the roads. If you live in a northern state you are likely to find a problem here. Salt will eat up a car in no time. If you live in the southwest like Arizona or New Mexico this probably will not be a problem and the car is likely to be solid.

I made the mistake of paying 4000 for mine only to find out later it had some serious rust issues. Well now I am paying the price. But I refuse to junk a Fox since there getting harder to find so I have made this car my life long project. One day I will leave it to which ever of my children seem to appreciate it the most, which I think is probably going to be my second daughter since she is always wanting to take it when we leave. All she ever talks about is other Mustangs.

Anyhow, you might also look at the torque boxes. If their starting to seperate you can bet the car has been driven hard (not that many of them haven't).

 

[SlammedGT]

You got him down to $4000, and now you are thinking about looking into it

 

[2vNotch]

If its clean, straight, and has proof of money spent, BUY IT! Depending on your location even if u didnt wana keep it u could make a few bucks on it...Ill tell u this tho ive always drove foxes of all combinations and i wont stop building and selling them til i can afford a termi! Long story short, comin from reversed directions, dont get ur hopes up too much on the n/a 5.0 based engines in comparison to what u had