Novice here...need all of your help!! :-)

welcome to the boards Jeremy. you have made a wise choice - stangs are very wrench friendly compared to some other cars.
first thing i would recommend is getting a repair manual and reading it cover to cover. that can give you a feel for the workings on the car. reading in here can help a ton!

that is what i would do anyhow - good luck getting a stang and again, welcome.

I agree with hissin50 but I don't think your first project should be a big conversion like 4 banger to an 8.Buy a cheap, 5.0 (higher mileage will be cheaper) and work on waking it up and cleaning it up. Just my advice?????

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 $20 from Borders.com see http://www.amazon.com/ . Select boo...very good, and I found it to be very helpful.

jricher....beautifuly said!!!!