I have always been a fan of Fox Mustangs but never had a muscle car in my life until 2018 (always had pickup trucks). My brother offered me his '82 which was super clean with a 5.0 5-speed and nitrous, but I had five vehicles in my driveway and it was 800 miles away, so I passed. When my son moved out in 2018 we went to a car show and he said, "Hey Dad, now that I have a garage we can get a Fox Mustang." He quickly found one on Craigslist, a 1992 LX 5.0 with 151,000 miles. The ad said replaced the tranny with a World Class T5 at 123,000 miles and a King Cobra clutch. Also has cold air intake with 70 mm Cobra mass airflow sensor and H-pipe with flowmasters. I don't see any cats under there either.
The car was pretty rough, but we got it for $3200. It passes a quart of oil every 250 miles out the rear cylinder on the driver's side. It was fouling plugs but I put a non-fouler in and so far has not fouled in 700 miles. We had to replace the radiator, water pump, fuel tank, oil pan, clutch, flywheel, clutch cable, brakes, transmission cross member, and have the drive shaft balanced to get rid of a shake on the freeway. Most of the work was done at a local shop. My son deleted the AC which didn't work anyway. You would think that with 150,000+ miles and blowing all that oil it would be pretty sad, but it gets up and goes really good and if you look in the oil filler hole it is clean as a whistle, though all you see is to a baffle plate, can't see the valves.
The best mod we did was to have the 2.73 rear gear replaced. It was horrible. It is a 5 speed but was like having 3 speeds for the city and two overdrives. A new 3.73 made it a whole different car. Not only does it get out of the hole a lot quicker, but you can actually drive in 4th gear on a main road in town, or cruise through a parking lot without the engine bucking. Still turns only around 2250 at 70 mph on the freeway. (Anyone need a competent and honest shop for rear end work on the west side of Detroit, PM me.)
The previous owner had the transmission replaced from a remanufacturer. Transmission tag number is 1352 251 06706, which according to this site Identification Key to Borg-Warner T5 transmission ID Tags it is a World Class, and possibly a Super Duty. The gear ratios are,
2.95, 1.94, 1.34, 1.0, 0.63. Many T5s had a 3.35 first gear, but with the 3.73 in the back the 2.95 is a nice combo as it keeps from completely breaking traction on the street and still moves out hard and you don't have to shift in the middle of the intersection but can actually get through it.
So here it is:
My brother's '82 that I should have bought even though I had no room for it. He offered it for $3000 in 2012 and ended up trading it for a Harley.
The car was pretty rough, but we got it for $3200. It passes a quart of oil every 250 miles out the rear cylinder on the driver's side. It was fouling plugs but I put a non-fouler in and so far has not fouled in 700 miles. We had to replace the radiator, water pump, fuel tank, oil pan, clutch, flywheel, clutch cable, brakes, transmission cross member, and have the drive shaft balanced to get rid of a shake on the freeway. Most of the work was done at a local shop. My son deleted the AC which didn't work anyway. You would think that with 150,000+ miles and blowing all that oil it would be pretty sad, but it gets up and goes really good and if you look in the oil filler hole it is clean as a whistle, though all you see is to a baffle plate, can't see the valves.
The best mod we did was to have the 2.73 rear gear replaced. It was horrible. It is a 5 speed but was like having 3 speeds for the city and two overdrives. A new 3.73 made it a whole different car. Not only does it get out of the hole a lot quicker, but you can actually drive in 4th gear on a main road in town, or cruise through a parking lot without the engine bucking. Still turns only around 2250 at 70 mph on the freeway. (Anyone need a competent and honest shop for rear end work on the west side of Detroit, PM me.)
The previous owner had the transmission replaced from a remanufacturer. Transmission tag number is 1352 251 06706, which according to this site Identification Key to Borg-Warner T5 transmission ID Tags it is a World Class, and possibly a Super Duty. The gear ratios are,
2.95, 1.94, 1.34, 1.0, 0.63. Many T5s had a 3.35 first gear, but with the 3.73 in the back the 2.95 is a nice combo as it keeps from completely breaking traction on the street and still moves out hard and you don't have to shift in the middle of the intersection but can actually get through it.
So here it is:
My brother's '82 that I should have bought even though I had no room for it. He offered it for $3000 in 2012 and ended up trading it for a Harley.
