New here, would like a few suggestions

[DaSouthWon]

I recently picked up my first Ford, I'm a natural born Chevy guy but have always liked the notchback fox body stangs' so I picked one up the other day from a buddy at work trying to free up garage space. It's a 92' notchback with a 5.0 and a 5 speed. It's got 120k miles on it but it still pulls pretty hard. My plan is to have a comfort car for the 09' Power Tour. (Just got back from the 08, 2k miles in a 40 year old car with no a/c is no walk in the park) Just not sure exactly where to start. Original plan was to do a total strip out and start over after a rotisserie blast and paint. Time is my biggest enemy so I may take an easier, less complicated, less expensive route. I always restore my cars back to as close to stock as possible, but I wanted to take a little different route on this one and get a little creative with a few things, mostly interior. Ideally, when this car is complete it'll be smoothed out on the exterior with a pretty subtle metallic color. Interior is a different story, I would like to pull the entire interior and make it look like a new, late model car (not necessarily a stang, more custom). Engine wise, I've looked at both the 351w swap and stroking the 302. I want it dependable on long hauls so if I stroke it I don't plan to go any bigger than the 331. Any input on the 351w vs. a stroked 302 would be greatly appreciated. What kind of head aches will I run into with the EFI? Trans wise I've looked at putting a 6 spd in but it doesn't appear to be cheap, at least from D&D. I know the T5 is pretty disposable, and I'd like to put in something I don't have to worry about crapping out after a few missed shifts. What, if anything, is a good bolt in to replace the T5.

What are the weak points in this car? Such as, body flex issues, suspension shortcomings, brakes, electrical basically the things that should be addressed first. The car is completly stock except for a couple flowmasters and a K&N filter, oh and some totally rad 15" chrome ponys. J/K they won't be there long. Thanks for taking the time to read my novel of a post and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dresmnkaos]

well let me start off by saying welcome to :SNSign:! im glad you mad the move from the darkside and decided to join the MUSTANG family. you will not be disappointed! there are guys on here that seem to know these cars from bumper to bumper.

ill give to you the knowledge i have obtained over the past 7 years of owning foxes! im sure i will leave something out, but the others will fill in the gaps.

SUSPENSION:
*get some quality subframe connectors w/ the seat braces. they will help in the body flex of the car while supporting the floor pans under your seats. i went with maximum motorsports.
*i aso have MM strut tower brace. keeps the front end in good geometry. i bought mine to keep the strut towers nice and square. a car with high torque and hard launches may make the towers buckle a lil. makes for a lil stiffer cornering i think.
* these cars are very nose heavy. anything that you can do to get the weight tranferd towards the back of the car will help your weight transfer. im not too sure what upper/lower control arms most guys go with ( crossed that bridge yet). im sure a quality set of control arms will plant more rubber to the ground.

BRAKES:
The brakes on these cars suck i.e. small disc up front, drums in the back, four lug.

*the braking system can be upgrade through what is called five lug conversion. it involves parts like 94+ 5 lug spindles, 94+ calipers, 5 lug axles, master cylinder, brake booster, and a few other odds and ins. you will have better braking power and a lot more wheel options with the 5 lug change over. its a big list to compile and takes more than a couple hours to install but the benefits is well worth it! do a search on five lug conversion and you'll gegt more info than you will want to read. i went with the cobra 13" brakes and it was worth every penny, every drop of sweat, and busted knuckle.

ELECTRICAL:
* the alternators on the foxes aren't up to the job of electric fans, nice stereo system, aftermarket ignitions, shoot they are barely up to the task of completing the factory duties. so my sujestion is to go with a 3G alternator upgrade. simple to do takes only 30 minutes to and hour to complete and you wont have to worry about your volt gauge dropping when you cut your lights on and roll the windows up at the same time.

ENGINE:
this is where the mustang legend was made. the 5.0 is a great foundation to start with. the motor from the factory is very restricted, mainly through the heads. if budget is in mind, search GT40. these intakes and heads cam from the cobra's, explorers, and lightnings. an awesome upgrade over stock.

well thats a brief introductory to fox mustangs. hope this has got your imagination sparked to someday have a magazine mustang. good luck in you experiences with the tang! if you need help just make a threadf and people will come "running" to lend there brains. -GREG

 

[justagt]

Congrats

Congrats on the Mustang. You will be pretty happy with everything a Mustang provides in the fun department I think.

My short version of what you NEED to do on these cars.

Suspension. More than likely the shocks and struts are toast. Replace them with a quality aftermarket piece like Koni or Bilstein. I run Bilsteins and can't recommend them enough. Get MM full length subframe connectors welded in too. They make a world of difference.

Electrical. Get a 130A alternator. Even if you don't run a big stereo, the factory piece is BARELY enough to get the job done. I run a PA Performance one with the wiring kit they sell.

Shifter. You will have a lot more fun shifting and you can save your tranny from a bent shift fork if you get a good quality aftermarket shifter. I run a MGW and I can't say enough good things about it. I have run a few other brands and they are all an improvement over stock but the MGW is definitely the best I have tried.

 

[jrichker]

Welcome to Stangnet...

Not all of us know how to fix everything, but some of us know how to fix some things with excellence!

If you want to do the fix up & power up thing, make sure that you have some other form of reliable daily driver. That way the stang can sit while your wallet and hands take a rest from the last project that didn't quite get finished on that 3 day weekend. Things always cost more and take longer the first time you do them. Having some other working vehicle makes life easier since it isn't the big crush to get it running for the Monday morning drive to work or class.

Plan on spending some money on tools it you don't already have them. The stang has both metric and american fasteners, so you really need two sets of wrenches. A timing light, digital voltmeter, vacuum gauge, compression tester, fuel pressure test gauge and fuel line coupler tools are some of the test & tuning tools you'll need. Visit the pawn shops and sometimes you can find a deal on tools & test equipment if you stick to well known name brands.

A sheltered work area is almost a must, someplace that you can leave the car in pieces without upsetting anyone. Some guys here have changed a transmission in the parking lot of their apartment in a rainstorm, but they will tell you it wasn't fun. Depending on where you live, a warm dry garage is a nice place to do the winter projects that stangs tend to become.

EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) Computer - every stang after 85 has or had one: don't let it intimidate you. The computer based EFI systems are not hard to fix and most of the time they tell you what's wrong with the engine. Here's a book that will get you started with how the Ford electronic engine control or "computer" works.

Ford Fuel Injection & Electronic Engine Control 1988-1993 by James Probst :ISBN 0-8376-0301-3.

It's about $25-$30 from Borders.com see http://www.amazon.com/ . Select boo...d.php?t=643651"]Useful Technical Thread Index” sticky at the top of the 5.0 Tech forum.

Things that break often:
T5 5 speed manual transmission (syncros go bad, mostly 3rd gear)
TFI Module (Thin Film Ignition module - mounts on the distributor)
Electric door locks (see the link in my sign for a cheap & easy fix)
O2 sensors(oxygen sensors) They are good for about 60,000 miles and start to go down hill after that.
TPS Sensor (Throttle Position Sensor) causes flaky problems with idle & acceleration.
Fog lights They overheat the wiring and cause the headlights to flicker. The fix is cheap and simple if you can do electrical stuff.
Harmonic Balancer – they separate between the hub and outer ring. A harmonic balancer puller is a must have to change it. You can rent or borrow a puller from most of the larger auto parts stores.

Things that are very durable:
Engine - as long as it hasn't been abused, it will run good for 150,000-200,000 miles without an overhaul
Rear axle other than an occasional case of worn clutches in the traction lock, they almost never have problems.
Computer - believe it or not, the computers seldom have problems of their own. Most of the problems are with the sensors and the wiring.
Suspension – the front and rear suspension has very few problems if the car hasn’t been wrecked or seen a lot of drag strip runs. The drag strip runs tend to distort and tear the mount points for the rear axle control arms. Revving the engine up to 4000 RPM and dumping the clutch with slicks or drag radials tends to break things.

Things that don’t break often but are hard to fix:
Water pump mount bolts – they corrode and shear off when you try to change the water pump.
Rear oil seal on the engine – lots of parts to remove to get to a $20 seal.
Power steering pump – the pumps are noisy and the pulley requires some special tools to remove and install. If you have the tools, they are easy to do. Again, the larger auto parts stores will rent or loan the tools for the pulley.
Power Steering rack - it is hard to get the toe in set so that you can drive the car to the shop to get it properly aligned.
Starter – the top bolt is hard to get a socket on if you don’t have the right combination of socket, universal joint and extensions.

Everything considered, 5.0 Mustangs are not hard to work on. They just require some patience and though before you get started.

A Tremec 3550, TKO 500(500 ft/lbs torque) or 600 (600 ft/lbs torque)is the best replacement for a T5. You would need a new bellhousing for a 3550, and a mod to rear crossmember.

A Tremec TKO 500 needs a new rear transmission yoke, new bellhousing for a 3550, and a mod to rear crossmember.

A Tremec TKO 600 needs a new rear transmission yoke, new bellhousing for a 3550, 10.5 inch, 26 spline clutch disk and a mod to rear crossmember.

 

[DaSouthWon]

I have done a few small things in the week that I have had it, one of which included picking up a set of tokico illuminas. They weren't my first choice but I had purchased a set for my Maxima and the dude gave me a little money back to swap them. I haven't put them in yet but I'm sure anything will be a drastic improvement over the worn out factorys that are still in there.

Other than that I put in a new drivers side window, bought a new headlight set, and plan on replacing the door bushings today.

I've looked everywhere for a replacement a/c clutch assembly and can't seem to find the right one for my car. The system is still pressurized and I would venture to say it probably works minus the clutch assembly. Any ideas on where to find the right one?