Questions for my build

[SetofAces]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum so I hope I'm not posting in the wrong place. I've been looking at building a foxbody for about a year now, with the ultimate goal of track days out at Laguna Seca or Infineon, or maybe just autocross. I sold my gsxr 750 last summer to buy the car, but couldn't; I'm currently going nuts without a fast toy so I'm getting an fbody (88-93) in the next week or two, as soon as I find something that looks right.

So basically I'm just looking for a reality check, for someone to tell me if they think I can pull off what I have in mind: 275-300 whp on a seriously (for now) tight budget. Total budget for the car stands at about 3-3.5 grand right now, including purchase of the car, so I guess I need to find a deal or wait on some of the upgrades. The only thing that I'm dead set on getting from the start are subframe connectors and probably bushings, but what I need to know is the order of the other mods if I can't afford them all at once (which is likely). I'm not too concerned with smog at this point; and I've reconsidered starting with suspension mods as I'm itching for a fast car as I've never had a quick "cage" before.

So I'm thinking:
88-93 GT -- $1500-$2k -- 225hp
GT40ps -- $200-300 -- +??hp
RR's . . . not sure what kind I need -- $150
Amateur porting/polishing from a friend on heads, maybe intake -- $150-300
Cobra or explorer intake (same thing, right?) $200-350 -- +15hp
F303 Cam -- $180-250 -- +??hp

and eventually a full exhaust (w/ x-pipe), headers, TB, injectors, fuel pump etc., and a blower next fall or next year. . . after I do the suspension.

I figure I should do the cam and heads at the same time, also RR's/springs and I guess headers are needed(?) but is there anything else that I need to do to accomodate those mods? As these mods alone fit into my budget (I think) I wanted to do them first, but will I need to tune the ecu or upgrade fuel/ignition too?

Also, what price range should a decent used off-road full exhaust fall into? Should I get the best car I can find for under $2k or am I better off finding one closer to $3k with lower miles or a rebuild and waiting on the other mods? Did I ask too many questions??
Anyways if you're still reading and have any input, I'd love to hear it.

 

[SetofAces]

BTW I know more torque is better for autocross, but I love the sound of a high revving v8 and I've got bigger aspirations than racing through cones . . . and I know I should probably be focusing on the suspension and brakes more at the start of the build, but I just can't help myself.

 

[strtrcr50]

Quick and cheap? Find one with a hurt motor and swap in an explorer motor with a cam change.

 

[25thmustang]

Explorer motor is a great idea and cheap... but finding one with aftermarket stuff already is easy enough as well.

 

[parrish5o]

GOOD; FAST; CHEAP. Got to pick two because as much as it sux you can't have all three.

 

[25thmustang]

I thought it was reliable, fast and cheap?

It depends on your definition of these things really. I consider mine to be more or less all 3 of them . But Im biased.

 

[Shaolin Crane]

sorry but coming from the point of restomodding my own fox get the nicest candidate you can find it will save you so much time and money

 

[SetofAces]

Quick and cheap? Find one with a hurt motor and swap in an explorer motor with a cam change.

Explorer motor = 215 hp according to wikipedia, stock 5.0 = 225 (or 215hp) + more with the heads and intake . . . so why is the stock explorer motor rated lower? Does just a cam bump it up 50-60hp (which is where I'm guessing the mustang motor would be with the intake/heads)? I kinda don't want to do anything as major as a motor swap as I need to replace my daily driver ASAP and I don't want the mustang to be down for more than a day or two until next summer/fall . . . however, I have seen some nice shells going for cheap lately; it's just that I've never done a swap before and I don't want to chance it taking too long to complete because my school semester starts soon and I won't have much time.

Also, I've noticed people swapping FI for carburetion, what is the advantage of this? Is it easier to tune/make more power? Or cheaper?

And getting back to my original question, does it make any sense at all to drop in gt40p's, explorer intake, and an f303 cam into an otherwise stock motor? Or should I just focus on getting a full exhaust first and do the heads/cam/intake swap when I can? To reiterate, the car is going to be a (CA model) 88-93 5.0 GT hatch 5spd. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[strtrcr50]

Explorer motor = 215 hp according to wikipedia, stock 5.0 = 225 (or 215hp) + more with the heads and intake . . . so why is the stock explorer motor rated lower? Does just a cam bump it up 50-60hp (which is where I'm guessing the mustang motor would be with the intake/heads)? I kinda don't want to do anything as major as a motor swap as I need to replace my daily driver ASAP and I don't want the mustang to be down for more than a day or two until next summer/fall . . . however, I have seen some nice shells going for cheap lately; it's just that I've never done a swap before and I don't want to chance it taking too long to complete because my school semester starts soon and I won't have much time.

Also, I've noticed people swapping FI for carburetion, what is the advantage of this? Is it easier to tune/make more power? Or cheaper?

And getting back to my original question, does it make any sense at all to drop in gt40p's, explorer intake, and an f303 cam into an otherwise stock motor? Or should I just focus on getting a full exhaust first and do the heads/cam/intake swap when I can? To reiterate, the car is going to be a (CA model) 88-93 5.0 GT hatch 5spd. Thanks for any thoughts.

For what you pay for gt40p's and an explorer intake, you could get the whole motor. I don't know why the explorer is rated lower, perhaps the tune affects it also. The gt40s with a cam and intake won't get you 300 rwhp, but it'll be a lot better than stock. As far as swapping a motor, if you hustle, you should be able to do it in 2 days. Maybe not though. I just saw you haven't done one before. I don't like carburation, so I don't have an answer for that one.