Mustang5l5's Progress Thread - Archived Progress thread '08-'20.

[Mustang5L5]

eBay snag.

Technically it's a contour radio, which is why it flew under the radar and I got it for $50.

It's a backup for my OEM 1993 mustang CD player. Those radios sell for $300+ these days. If mine ever dies, I can swap the faceplate and bottom tray and it will slide right in

Yeah, I know it's a crappy oem radio...but it's a rare crappy oem radio. I don't even own CDs anymore

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[Mustang5L5]

Welp, found my battery troubles. Battery tested fine. Trickle charger was working, but 3-4 days of sitting off the charger and there wasn't enough power to crank.

Well. Discovered that's because one of the vanity mirror lights wasn't turning off. Hard to notice cuz I keep a cover on it most of the time. I had discovered I had never plugged then in a few weeks back..so I did. Now I know why I left them unplugged. Anyway, glad to sort that out. Now to chase down my vac leak.





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[Mustang5L5]

Finally got around to addressing the sagging map pockets. Bought some 1" elastic, and restrung the pocket after disassembling the door card.

Drivers side done. Will do pass side another day.

Before

And after

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[Mustang5L5]

Craigslist score. $20 and the guy lived around the corner from me. Absolutely mint. Couldn't get myself over there fast enough.

I'll eBay my other set, which are in worse shape. Part of why I wasn't in a rush to get them on.




Oh, also been negotiating with Haggarty since last week. I may have some plates for the car shortly. I hope soon as our nice 70-80 degrees days will be turning into 10-20 degree days soon.


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[Mustang5L5]

Ok. Still haven't settled on my wheel scenario, but I keep going back to a classic favorite. I had these on my 2003 GT and loved them.

I had a single wheel so I threw it on. I think I like it. Need 3 more though...and tires.

I know everyone and their mom has Bullitt wheels, But I like it...a lot. I'll have to dress up the brakes though.

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[Mustang5L5]

That's why this decision has taken so long. I can't make up my mind. I do know I want new wheels because:

1.) the cobras have been on my car for over 15years, I just want a new look

2.) they are in so-so shape. Maybe 6-7 out of 10 in terms of condition. I want better condition rims.

3.) I'd like to show off the brakes more. These cobra wheels tend to hide them


I agree that if I'm going to spend money, there are other options out there. But everytime I find a wheel combo, I sit on it a few days and find myself getting over it. Bullitt wheels are a wheel I've always liked. When I had themon my 03 GT, I had no desire to ever get new wheels

Over the winter, I plan on cleaning up the brakes. The rotors are all rusted up front sitting, and the calipers are a bit dirty/greasy with some chipping/peeling paint. I want to dress them up for show really. Zinc washed X-drilled rotors, and repaint the calipers. I'd like to throw a new set of wheels on that make the brakes MUCH more visible and in your face. I like the way Bullitt wheels do this.


Yes it's common, but in my area, most Fox mustangs still ride on 4-lug wheels and rear drums. I haven't seen a 5-lug, Cobra brakes Fox in my area in years.....


I'm still holding off from listing the polished 04GT wheels I have on CL for now. I have all 4 bought and paid for, and they are 10 out of 10. Those wheels are pristine and would really gleam against the black paint.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Ok. Well I lucked out. Scored 3 bullitt wheels, with relatively new Toyo Proxes Plus tires on them for pretty cheap. They were the 03-04 versions as well.

He gave me the 4th rim, but the rim was trashed, and the tire was sliced. Not sure it's usable. I'll get pics later, as he nailed a curb.

So anyway, I'm just 1 tire away from a set of 4.

Haggerty also approved my coverage after sending them pics and mod list. Got it covered for $8500, which I think is reasonable. Still waiting on a plate from my insurance agent though.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Home and cleaned up.

So assessing the damage. Rims are round and no dents. So with the one I already had and these three, I have a full set.

Tires? They were toyo proxes 4 plus. $200 a tire. When I replied to the CL add, thought all 4 were good. On site. The tire on the trashed wheel had a cut in sidewall. Upon getting home, looks like one tire got scraped up pretty good.

It's like that all the way around. Mostly shallow but a few go to the full depth of tread block. Not worth risking in my opinion.

Other two tires are good, so looks like I need two tires. What should I get?

Oh, as for the 4th rim?

Not sure if that damage is all the way through, but again not taking a chance. I'd rather just buy two tires. Maybe get some 255/45/17s for the rear


$150 for the three rims and 2 good Toyos


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[Mustang5L5]

Got my plates. With rain forecast for the next week, I took it for a spin while I had dry roads. First drive in almost 4 years!

Was definitely fun. Took me a while to get used to driving such a small car. But it was like riding a bike.

The good?

2nd gear power. Each time I rolled on it in 2nd it would spin the rears up.

The bad?

From sitting, the brakes are crap. Rotors have a lot of surface rust, and that translates to a lot of pulsation on braking! I'll see if some more miles burns it off, but I think I want new rotors anyway.

Steering. Needs alignment. I want to do sn95 rack, so I'm going to hold off. But there is no sportiness to how it drives. I think it's a 2.3l rack as way back in the day I had a shop replace the rack. Either way, it's loose, sloppy and has dead spot.

Going to get inspection sticker next week, and then I'll get the Bullitt wheels on and start working on the brakes.

Just happy I can take it for a spin now


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[Mustang5L5]

Oh and because we always need pics

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[Mustang5L5]

I can still stop with mine, they just rattle the fillings out of my teeth when I do so.

I found out O'riellys can resurface rotors, so I might go that route for now. I'd like to change my rotors out for some nice zinc-washed x-drilled stuff for show, but don't want to buy cheap stuff. Rather than dump a ton on rotors and pads right now, I'd rather just get the brakes usable, and then focus on my Sn95 steerting swap...which I really want to do now after driving the car.

Fox steering is very...sloppy

 

[Mustang5L5]

I bet with that cobra set up you could not put enough pressure to clean those rotors off. My PBR stop on a dime and a 2" smaller rotor.

Pretty much. I don't need much brake input to stop, so normal driving really doesn't put much pressure on the rotor. After 20 miles or so of normal crusing around, the brakes were still cool to the touch...and still rusty.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Let's see how good this stuff is.

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[Mustang5L5]

Well, that iron X is nasty smelling stuff, but works well. Smells like cat piss and skunk spray mixed into one. Anyway, did a great job cleaning the wheels up.

As for the brakes, got them cleaned up. Since I couldn't put evoigh pressure on the brakes for long to clean them, I instead just pressed the brakes while driving to "scrub" them. Worked pretty good and the pulsations are nearly gone.

Decided to toss the Bullitt wheels on today. Still need rear tires, but wanted to see how it would look. I like

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[Mustang5L5]

Cobra wheels cleaned up, and put away

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[Mustang5L5]

Gotta say, that iron-X is some good stuff. I cleaned up the cobra wheels with it, and they haven't looked this good in a while. The entire wheel turned purple when I sprayed it down, and they were spotless when done.

Almost temped to get some polish and shine then up.

Here's a good shot of the backside of one of my Bullitt wheels. This was black when I got them. Now you can see the bare rim behind the spokes. They look practically new.

Highly recommend this stuff. Just don't use it on painted calipers. Ended up flaking it off a tad. I need to redo them anyway


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[Mustang5L5]

Some resto tonight.

Busted door seal since 1998. Never knew where to get one back then, now they are easy and cheap to find.

Set of 2 for $20 at American muscle

Cut is identical to OEM.

Pretty easy to install

No more jagged edge


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[Mustang5L5]

That is on my to do list also.

Been on my to-do list for 18 years.

Ended up ordering the hatch seal last night after doing this. Not in bad shape, but figure it as cheap enough. I honestly hesitated on this because I figured torn OEM seal > new aftermarket. I was wrong. The seal is pretty damn good.

After the install, the door is slightly harder to close due to the old seal being compressed and this new one still being springy. Rather than adjust the striker, i'll just let the door naturaly compress the seal slightly for a period of time and readjust the striker at a later date.

Going to go through the rest of my seals and trims. For the most part everything is in good shape as it was replaced with OEM stuff back in 2000 when I had the car repainted. I think my sunroof seal could use a new seal.

I still gotta tackle replacing the door spring as well.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Well, my sunroof seals are in really good shape. Tough to justify replacing them.

Got the hatch seal in. Didn't install yet because I need to pull the tops of the rear panels off slightly, so I'll do it another night because I'll probable also need to adjust striker.

But, cut is pretty good. Looks and feels like oem.

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[Mustang5L5]

So I caught wind that this could be done on someone's Instagram page. Of course, I had to look into it.

I'll test fit in the next week or so, and if it's going to work, I'll detail out how and why.

Yeah...I know they say corvette


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