Fox Convertible Update - sold!

lol. Nah... logistically I can't support this many cars, especially at my next duty station in DC. I've gotta ask for 2 friends/family to drive across the country with me in December as it is. So, I didn't mean it like that. I just like the car. Gonna enjoy it.


You're doing it all wrong. :nonono:

Fix one up and stash it. Soon enough, you'll have cars stashed all the way across country. Every PCS, you'll get to drive a different Mustang. :shrug:
 
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Really? Is a silencer worth the time?

edit: $25-50 apparently


You'll probably have to sit on that auction for a while, but apparently people are buying these things.


I mean if you think about it, everyone tossed them in the trash. So now people getting into stock restos need one. No such thing as a worthless fox body part anymore.
 
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Damn... I haven't seen one of these since the '90s. I didn't even remember how it looked, lol. I apparently got the only fox left in America that still had one. I removed the conical "hot air" engine bay filter (cut off on the left side of the picture), and replaced the stock airbox with a K&N flat panel filter. Plugged 2 exhaust holes, found a loose header bolt and tightened it down. The throwout bearing started making some noise, so I hit it with some lithium grease. Hopefully, that'll keep it going for a while. Replaced broken temp knob, wipers, & door striker bushings. ID'd that the clutch is nothing special. It's a LuK, and it looks pretty plain jane. LuK doesn't really have performance clutches. So, I'm actually a little surprised it's holding the power.

I filled up the tank and really topped it off. The smell of gasoline lingered in the cabin longer than I liked. I was worried about a gas leak, but I couldn't find one. I wonder what's causing it.

It'll be my daily driver, this week. So, I'll get to monitor everything.

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Yeah that's crazy, my car still had it too. I was shocked to see it in there still. I thought about selling it too, but, im going to hold on to it.
 
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So, excuses first:

- I took a stab at setting base timing at 16*, but I've found optimal with the GT40X heads and A9L at closer to 18*.
- 2.73 gears make it tough to come out of the hole well
- Only made 1 attempt

And with that:
ET.jpeg
Trap speed.jpeg


Last time I broke out this gen 1 G-tech that I've had since the 90s was shortly after I bought the C5 Corvette back in 2006. If memory serves, the ET usually was pretty close, never more than .2s off, but the trap speed was always 2-4 mph high. Drag strip trap speeds are the average of the last 66 feet of the run.

That seems about what I expected. Honestly, I was expecting a lower trap speed of 102-104. I'm very happy with the ET, though. There's all kinds of room for improvement there with more seat time. I launched at ~3,300 RPM, where I used to with my first stock geared '89 LX back in high school. It was a pretty good place to launch, IMO. The tires didn't spin until the 1-2 shift when they only chirped. I revved out to near the limiter, and I could really feel it falling off. Did the same into 3rd gear until I was through the 1/4. This car needs gears pretty bad. It's kinda strange going back to a stock geared car since I haven't had one in over 20 years. It was a blast, though. If the ET is as close as I think, I really think this car could go 12s with gears and seat time.
 
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So, excuses first:

- I took a stab at setting base timing at 16*, but I've found optimal with the GT40X heads and A9L at closer to 18*.
- 2.73 gears make it tough to come out of the hole well
- Only made 1 attempt

And with that:
ET.jpeg
Trap speed.jpeg


Last time I broke out this gen 1 G-tech that I've had since the 90s was shortly after I bought the C5 Corvette back in 2006. If memory serves, the ET usually was pretty close, never more than .2s off, but the trap speed was always 2-4 mph high. Drag strip trap speeds are the average of the last 66 feet of the run.

That seems about what I expected. Honestly, I was expecting a lower trap speed of 102-104. I'm very happy with the ET, though. There's all kinds of room for improvement there with more seat time. I launched at ~3,300 RPM, where I used to with my first stock geared '89 LX back in high school. It was a pretty good place to launch, IMO. The tires didn't spin until the 1-2 shift when they only chirped. I revved out to near the limiter, and I could really feel it falling off. Did the same into 3rd gear until I was through the 1/4. This car needs gears pretty bad. It's kinda strange going back to a stock geared car since I haven't had one in over 20 years. It was a blast, though. If the ET is as close as I think, I really think this car could go 12s with gears and seat time.


Just add more torque :shrug:
 
Looks like the roll bar is welded to the floor pan, but only behind the back seat panel... How annoying. Can't believe it's bolted into the floor pan on a thin strip and welded to the back. I guess I have to cut it off. Ugh!

I had a run with a friend in an '07 Lexus IS350. Our mutual buddy, who weighs around 300 lbs, rode with me and another mutual friend, who's probably 140 lbs max, rode with him. I came out of the hole a little better, but the lexus ran a little harder in 1st gear and we were about dead even going into 2nd. At that point it was a door-to-door race with the IS350 eeking out by a fender towards the top of 3rd. My passenger actually thought we won the race, but we didn't. It was that close. Now, for some inexplicable reason, my passenger thinks that the Lexus is the stronger car, because he didn't get a good start. So, we've put a friendly $20 wager on the outcome of the race, and I'm making some minor tweaks.

Since that race, I've added the stock airbox back on and pulled out the silencer, bumped timing another 2*, swapped on stickier tires. I also dropped the driveshaft vibration dampener "dog bone," spare tire, lower back seat (to work). My Gtech Pro reported a [email protected] today, showing that the car might be running slightly stronger. I plan to pull the fan, and ice the intake before the race, because those are the only other tricks in my kit bag (I generally don't like pulling the belt entirely). I expect that will give me as much as 15 hp.

If I pick up a total of 3-4 mph, I should have a nice advantage unless they've pulled a fast one and installed nitrous or something.
 
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According to what Ive read if you were carrying 300 pounds extra, on that day you were the same weight within 50 pounds or whatever the extra weight of the passenger riding in the Lexus added to that car.
In other words, get rid of both passengers, and you'll have a 200 pound weight advantage. That Lexus IS rated at 3527 lbs a cv notch is about 3300.
 
According to what Ive read if you were carrying 300 pounds extra, on that day you were the same weight within 50 pounds or whatever the extra weight of the passenger riding in the Lexus added to that car.
In other words, get rid of both passengers, and you'll have a 200 pound weight advantage. That Lexus IS rated at 3527 lbs a cv notch is about 3300.
Exactly. I honestly think that just the weight difference without our passengers alone was enough to give the vert the advantage. If that's right, then all my little tweaks are just building a buffer to the advantage. Given that he's an auto, he'll be pretty consistent, whereas I bog or spin on the launch with the 2.73 gears, though I've done alright for the most part, so far.

I don't know what a convertible without a/c, with aluminum heads, Al D/S, and the parts I have removed weighs, but I suspect it's an advantage. I don't know what a cv notch is, but I'm pretty sure this 4-door lexus isn't one. So, he's probably the full 3500 lbs.
 
Passenger door lock and Driver's quarter window motor replaced.

Remaining known issues with Kandi:
- A vacuum hose or 2 are leaking
- Speedo bounces around 20 mph, is accurate until around 60 mph. Then it goes up way too fast thereafter. At 75mph, it reads 100. (speedo gear, is my guess)
- Cruise control doesn't work (probably the same issue as the previous line)
- T/O bearing squeaks when warm (won't fix unless it gets worse)
- Quad shocks still need replaced. My friend is giving me a set.
- Exhaust leak that I believe is coming from the EGR-to-head connection (plan to make a gasket with copper RTV
- Emergency brake front bolt tore from body. Plan to reinforce with bolt/nut/washers
- Overflow tank is cracked (replacement on order)
- Top seals and window alignments need work (may or may not get around to this)
- Alignment out of whack & tie rods have loose non-stock spherical bushings/bearings. I will most likely let the next guy deal with this.


I haven't had an EEC-IV to run codes on in a very long time. But I broke out my old $20 scanner and it came up with these codes, the scan tool book's interpretation, plus my plans to address them:

11,10 - normal I think: no action
Code 29: VSS related. Plan to start with replaceing the speedo gear (17 tooth IIRC, but will check first)

Codes 44 & 94: Air system faults. I don't really care about this system as it's neither performance related, nor do I have to pass emissions. I will fix the vacuum hoses that are leaking, though, and maybe that will help

Code 21: ECT sensor out of range: plan to replace sensor

All in all, not too bad. I expected worse. Are my code understandings & fixes about right?
 
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I do not expect it to sell any time soon, but I figure why not list it high and roll the dice? I firmly expect to enjoy it through the summer for a few more months before I get serious and start lowering the price. Eventually, I just want my money back out, which is ~$4,100, at this point. I figure $4,500 is easy money, but I wouldn't let it go for that while I get to enjoy driving it.


Updates:

1. replaced VSS and then put the original back on after it tested good. The new one, $11 from summit, I think, wouldn't spin the speedo cable and the speedo read 0. Thought I broke the cable on instalation or something, until I realized it was just a :poo:ty part.
2. Replaced the Speedo driven gear
3. Replaced ECT
4. Repaired emergency brake mount
5. The 0W-40 Mobil 1 Synthetic has not induced any new leaks in the month or so since the oil change. Oil still looks good, and does not seem to be burning anything, either. Motor runs strong
6. Added copper permatex to EGR port. Not sure if it sealed. The leak still seems audible, but diminished. May try it again with more.
7. The lack of t/o bearing preload caused a minor screech when warmed up. Didn't want to replace quadrant, install firewall adjuster, or adjustable cable. So, I added a spacer between the cable and the bellhousing to take up the airgap. Haven't tested it, yet.
8. Cleared the codes after the above. All codes are now gone except 94 (hopefully just still need to fix a leaky vacuum hose). It might need a little more time for any of the other codes to come back.
9. Raced a blown Harley F150 with gears, and tore him up, even though I spun off of the line. Same guy has a blown New Edge and wants me to run it next. Bring it on! (Might be more than I can chew, but will be fun!)
 
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