Fox Project "what Year Is Your Escort Again?"

I've actually had a few people ask me that question. Funny thing is, I had an 88 Escort GT I had bought new...same color even!


This is my first mustang. So it has been a learning process for me. I have always been a VW guy. Both aircooled and watercooled. I've goofed around with some turbo cars in the past. Aside from a Charger SRT8 I had, this is my first real dive into the V8 world. I like it

some of this is out of order so bear with me.

When I bought it, it was a stock blocked 302 with alum heads, shorties, catted, and basic bolt ons. Stock rear gear, terrible ebay race seats that were on their last leg, and was in need of some basic TLC. Ran well and shifted well. Body was zero rust and car had 54,000 documented miles. Factory V8 car, no cruise, no AC, roll up windows, T5, and manual locks. Rear gear was a 3.08.

Soon, I added a 3.73 rear gear and really liked the added oomph.

Not much after that, I added a Zex wet kit, 125shot, bottle warmer, MSD6AL2 programmable, bottle heater, and a remote bottle opener.

Went through a serviced the transmission with Royal Purple, flushed the radiator, and replaced all the bushings with poly (minus the steering rack bushings)
Replaced the rear upper control arms with a nice set of Steedas and replaced the lower ones with J&M non adjustable.

Installed a set of Eibach sway bars, converted the rear drums to disk, wilwood proportioning valve and braided lines.

Drove that around for a while and had a blast. I really loved the scoot the car had esp on the bottle.

I later found a nice set of stock front seats out of a very low milage car and swapped out those.

I found a place in NY that sells refurbished OEM wheels and snatched those up as well. They look amazing (for 10 holes)

Over the winter I decided to supercharge it. After some thought, I decided that maybe I'd just go with more displacement. So against all good judgement I ordered a Ford racing Boss 363 stroker.
Naturally, I needed supporting equipment.
Edelbrock EFI intake (extrude honed by previous owner)
BBK 80mm tb
Anderson Power pipe
90mm maf
42lb injectors
zero balance flywheel
BBK shorties
Custom H pipe
American Thunder cat back
(not pictured)
SVE twin fan set up
SVE programmable fan control
SVE alum radiator
silicon hoses

Found a brand new AL driveshaft bought off a friend
and re-hooked the nitrous. Though I haven't sprayed it yet.

I am really happy with the motor in the car. It runs great and pulls very hard.

So, that's the abbreviated tale of my 88 LX.


I think it will stay this way until things start to break. I've never run it down the track or had it dynoed, but I plan on doing both of those things this year.

It's just a very fun street car.

The stock hood is something I am fighting to keep. My intake hits it. Which was sweet. New scarred up intake.

I was looking for an 8-12 inch lift off with a clear lexan scoop so I can see.


Kidding

larrym1961 said:

I had an 86 Escort GT that was traded in on the 87 5.0 LX I still have today.

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That's awesome. I wanted a mustang back then but my mom was against it strongly. She had a 65 and was well versed in the art of shenanigans to be had.

Nope. That pic was right after the install. Aside from degreasing the engine bay with the motor out, I did little else. It was that clean when I bought the car several years ago. Since the pic I have touched up the areas where the strut bar rubbed off the black paint.

The car was resprayed but is original in color. Respray good quality paint, but their ability to tape trim was meh.

Ford Z heads. It was a long block from Ford.


http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=9203

through all my web searching I only found one other guy running the same motor. By luck of the draw, I am running his exact set up with the exception of him running long tubes. His car made 451/390 but I am unsure on what type of dyno.

88LX5.Oh said:

All that money and still running a 2G alt. You sir have bigger balls than I do. I'd be afraid after all that money spent on a nice engine, the alt would burn the car to the ground

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Keep in mind I am still a newbie to mustangs. What's the detriment to running the alternator that I have? If there's legitimate concern, point me in the right direction. I have no qualms about running something safer. I prefer it honestly. This is the first I've heard of it being a bad set up.

Never mind. I see the concern with the 2G. I also have no desire to burn this thing to the ground. I checked my plugs and they are ship shape. I'll look into a 3g in the very near future. Thanks for the heads up.

I will monitor it closely. A $170 item is cheap insurance.