Restoring a FOX Mustang, I need your help suggestions PLEASE

[Gofast12]

FOX Lovers help me please? I'm looking to restore it on a buget, i just want a street car/ daily driver. I plan on restoring a fox mustang between the years of 89-93, I want to do upgrade the engine of course: a new tranny, new suspension, 3.73 gears, throttle body, MAF, injections and a nice lopey CAM, GIVE ME ADVICE ON THAT PART. I know the suspension comes first then the engine tell me they best way to go about it

Question 1: What is the best way to take a stock 302 with 225 HP and add 150-200 HP to it without making the engine a stroker motor? I have seen top end kits you can get that says they produce 350+ hp, is that a good way to start, if so i want to add a supercharger down the road so whats the best way to build it: please tell me some good Cam and head Combinations.

Question 2: instead of a tranny rebuild i want to just get a brand new one any suggestions. i was told by a speed shop that the TK600 would be good. the Aluminum Drive shaft, will that improve the car?

Question 3: Suspension, are the complete suspension kits any good. For waht im trying to achieve i want to keep the A/C but have it fast at the same time, should i keep it or take it out to gain more HP. Can you mustang guro's help me out.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Don't remove the ac. When it's off it uses 0HP, and only contributes 30 or so pounds of weight to the car. Not worth it for 0.03 of a second in the 1/4

 

[2000xp8]

Might want to say what your budget is, because just by your list of desires you are already over 10 grand.

For the engine, the basis for all the parts is the heads you choose, can't pick the intake or cam until you pick the heads.
As far as i'm concerned there is only two choices Twisted wedges or afr 165's.
A quality heads cam intake setup will net you around 325rwhp, which is around 125rwhp more than stock. That's quite a bit in a car this light.

Suspension? The maximum motorsports kits are great, but in a budget build do you have $2500+ all at once?

Trans? The tko500 or 600 is great, again, 3,000 bucks.

 

[Gofast12]

im still doing my research, but engine buget is 5K "not tryin to go all extreme", the goal is to take the stock motor and give it a little kick, im not going extreme and have no plans for track use just a nice street machine is all i want but at the same time if need to spank some ass on the road i can do that too. I no when it comes to building the people you have doing the work can be a factor. and when it come to restore, with this project its a work in progress, so im trying to get the "do's and dont's" when it comes to do it.

So should it be suspension first then the engine?

 

[chrisboss429]

Fast cars are only as good as their stopping power and considering the fox's anemic brakes I would start with a brake upgrade, then suspension, then drive train & exterior. Nobody wants to see the fruits of their labor and hard earned dough in a junk yard! Just my humble opinion. I wish you the best in your venture and congratulate you for picking a fine choice in pony car!

 

[oldfox]

If you are going to build a street car then you may want to think about staying close to stock --dependable and reliable-- And ad some boost turbocharger or supercharger if you want a little kick. All you need on the street. JMO And keep that air when the air is off your just spinning a free pulley. No real power gains and you will be glad you kept it when it gets 90+ outside.

 

[jrichker]

Brakes and suspension first if you plan spending any big money. Traction and handling are two of the main faults with fox body Mustangs. If you can't apply power to the ground in a consistent and controlled manner, all that HP won't do you any good. Big HP numbers sound great and give you bragging rights, but if you can't turn all that HP into controlled forward motion, it's just a lot of hot air.

 

[Mustang5L5]

sounds like you want to do more of a resto-mod, vs a true restoration. That's what most of us here have done.

For brakes, look into the Sn95 5-lug conversion. More options with wheels and braking setups.

For trans, the TKO600 is a stout trans. What are your goals? Do you need a trans this strong?

Nice simple engine setup? get this

Trick Flow Specialties TFS-K514-360350B - Trick Flow® 360 HP Twisted Wedge® Top-End Engine Kits for Ford 5.0L - Overview - SummitRacing.com

Sounds pricey at first, but after putting it all together yourself, you'll be in the same ballpark anyway. Toss a nice 3550, TKO or TKO 500 behind it and you'll be all set. A TKO 600 is overkill at this level IMHO. still doesn't hurt to run one though.

 

[Shanna144B]

Transmission

I personally didn't do this, but my dad knows a fellow who bought a very good quality AOD tranny and put a manual valve body on it. I'd like to do this to my stang down the road as well. Also, I'm not 100% positive all my dad did to my engine, but he freshened it up with bearings, valves and put some racing heads on it and it went from 15.50s in 1/4 to 14.00s with the same torque converter. A converter is a must and I'm looking to buy one really soon. Hope this helps!

 

[Sharad]

FOX Lovers help me please? I'm looking to restore it on a buget, i just want a street car/ daily driver. I plan on restoring a fox mustang between the years of 89-93, I want to do upgrade the engine of course: a new tranny, new suspension, 3.73 gears, throttle body, MAF, injections and a nice lopey CAM, GIVE ME ADVICE ON THAT PART. I know the suspension comes first then the engine tell me they best way to go about it

Question 1: What is the best way to take a stock 302 with 225 HP and add 150-200 HP to it without making the engine a stroker motor? I have seen top end kits you can get that says they produce 350+ hp, is that a good way to start, if so i want to add a supercharger down the road so whats the best way to build it: please tell me some good Cam and head Combinations.

Question 2: instead of a tranny rebuild i want to just get a brand new one any suggestions. i was told by a speed shop that the TK600 would be good. the Aluminum Drive shaft, will that improve the car?

Question 3: Suspension, are the complete suspension kits any good. For waht im trying to achieve i want to keep the A/C but have it fast at the same time, should i keep it or take it out to gain more HP. Can you mustang guro's help me out.

1. ATI ProCharger. I put a ProCharger on my stock 302 and dropped from 12.91 to 11.36 in the quarter. If you're set on doing the H/C/I first, I'm partial to Trick Flow Specialties.

2. I personally think T-5s shift a little smoother than Tremecs. You could look at Astro or ProMotion.

3. If you're looking for a street/strip setup, I'm partial to UPR Products (I've had good success with it, and I work there) but the main thing to say here is that in 2011, a Fox's suspension is completely worn out. You should really replace all of it, and that's not as expensive as you might think!

 

[Gofast12]

Thanks guys for all of your insite, i have been researching parts and prices. I kinda figured when i get the fox i want to replace the motor with a new one that has 0 miles on it. I seen on DSSracing they have a 302 block for $925 and a 331 stroker kit for about $800 and some change, if i get that set up with a trickflow top end kit willl that be 2 extreme and a gas drinking car or can i do that and it still be a daily driver and still get the desired HP of 350+. On the other hand i dont have to make it a stroker motor and still get something on the bottom end that will handle the HP im looking for. Suggestions PLEASE