What Ever Happened To...

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I just bought my Fox in August. What have I spent money on? Tune up, maintenance, water pump, and a few small repairs. The only performance parts I've bought was just a few days ago and that was because I was drunk internet shopping. I honestly don't plan to do much performance upgrades at all. 153k miles on a abused police car, I'm sure the engine is worn out and I just don't see the need to be buying all those kinds of parts just yet. I want to get as most out of the engine as I can while doing my research on engines and what I want to do with it so when the time does come I know what I am doing. I want to start on upgrading the suspension and brakes next.

Every time I get into the Fox to drive I feel like I need to get used to it again because it's not my daily driver and drives nothing like my daily driver. Brakes are the biggest difference along with handling and how the clutch feels. I just mainly use it for cruising around though. I did however scare the crap out of myself one day. Sometimes I feel like I need to be a cool guy(which really I look like a loser) by making a turn and stomping on the gas to get the rear end out. Nothing too crazy, just having it in first gear(3.73 gears help) and just hitting the gas. Well one day I did it while in second gear and next thing I knew the rear end was coming around a lot more than I was expecting. I was pointed towards cars sitting on the other side of the road at the light, I over corrected and was then pointed at a curb. I turned it back the other way and got it straight again but damn, it was scary and I felt like the biggest idiot ever. Long story short, that was the last day I did anything stupid. That's just with a couple of bolt ons and gears, doing something like that with 300whp is a lot more dangerous when you aren't used to it. So I understand where the more experience guys are coming from when they see newbies posting about their engine plans.
 
Take a step back a moment fellas. Here it is; why are people aka noobs,asking questions about strokers, turbos, etc, etc? It is simple, reality sucks and asking questions about brakes and fuel filters are boring. No one is day dreaming about the brand new pcv valve they need or the b!tchin egr vac reg solenoid. The forums serve two purposes: purpose number one- to learn and purpose number 2- to pass the time day dreaming about things that may and may not ever happen. I'd be willing to bet that for majority the never happen is more likely the most probable scenario but such is life. Without daydreams all one has is the mundane; punching the clock, changing a diaper or two, eating supper and going to bed. So be ez on the "noobs" who don't wish to chat about master cylinders and harmonic balancers. Also I do agree that an H/C/I is probably fast enough to scratch most "noobs" itches but once again here comes good ole reality, for some or possibly most even that is out of reach financially. As for the rebuttals I'm sure to recieve about the fore mentioned comment, "be smart by used," I'm with the other guy that said buying used would/could cost you in the end. How many of us have neighbors selling a set of heads? Most of the guys who recommend buying used say to check online classifieds. Buying heads or anything motor related for that matter, power adders anything, sight unseen, for me I think not. So guys n dolls I'll leave ya with this, dream big noobs dream big. Without em all we have is reality and she can be one bad mother. Ps: without the dreamers there would be very little traffic on the forums so don't knock em and don't take em for granted. Or else ole J would not have stickies to post, the cat who has the hulk as an avatar wouldn't have anyone to argue with, and madspeed and noobz would have no one to regulate and guide which topic gets talked about where.

That is all
Mike
 
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I've had a fox for 12+ years, and never even made it to the HCI stage! I think a lot of it is day dreaming, and as stated above, dreaming of big power.

I can say I was the kid with the list of high dollar, high power parts that I wanted way back in the day.

Reality is, I just placed an order for new seat belts, some interior retaining clips and screws, finished my ash tray door fix, scrubbed my seats, carpet and floor mats, and am planning on adding sound deadener and coating the interior to knock down the noise!

How the dreams and realities differ!!
 
I've had a fox for 12+ years, and never even made it to the HCI stage! I think a lot of it is day dreaming, and as stated above, dreaming of big power.

I can say I was the kid with the list of high dollar, high power parts that I wanted way back in the day.

Reality is, I just placed an order for new seat belts, some interior retaining clips and screws, finished my ash tray door fix, scrubbed my seats, carpet and floor mats, and am planning on adding sound deadener and coating the interior to knock down the noise!

How the dreams and realities differ!!

Re-installing air conditioning moves higher and higher on my list as I get older... :nonono:
 
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I have a 1968 mustang fastback sitting on my driveway. I got it from a famliy friend when i was 16. It was the very first car i ever owned, and i had dreams of turning it into an eleanor clone. big plans, and im sure i posted all over this forum in the classics section asking about different parts and such. that was way back.


Now, it still sits in my driveway, covered up, havent done anything to it. Why? because the scope of the work is daunting, which is fine, but the money to do it isnt there. I got sidetracked when i got my 98 GT. I got it from a police officer here in Honolulu. It was his personal patrol vehicle ( HPD allows thier officers to use thier personal vehicles for patrol use..i think fox mustangs were approved back in the day!) the motor was blown, and it had some other small issues. I sourced a used motor from a 96 GT, and did the swap with my dad. It was the biggest project ive done, and i was super proud of it. I traded that for my fox now, and i couldnt be happier. I still had big plans for it then, procharger, crate motor, build AOD, all kinds.

But now, as i get older, im less concerned with raw power, and more concerned about getting the damn thing looking good and running decent. Fastest mustang i owned was a 2011 V6 (i regret getting rid of it BIG TIME) but looking forward to having a nice cruiser with my fox.

I think as we all get older and we learn more about different ways to customize our cars to reflect who we are, our dreams get shifted into reality, and we look to more realistic ways on how to make those things happen within our skill levels and given budgets.

And we eventually make it happen.
 
Look, while i can appreciate having big aspirations, there is a difference between dreaming and just being clueless.

Many seem to just be plain old clueless these days.
Some of these guys suggest their budget is a few thousand bucks and they want to build 20k setups.

I have alot of hobbies, so i visit various forums, first thing i do is read and search, then read and search some more, so i'm at least in the ballpark with my finances and what i want to do before i open my mount (or start typing)
It doesn't take a genius to figure out you can't build a 351 stroker that makes 500rwhp from the ground up for a couple of grand.
 
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Some even neglect the normal maintenance needed for basic car functions. I tend to like a clean foxbody with a stock engine than one with a ton of horse power and looks like garbage.

I guess I'm showing my age but a well running stock fox with a well balanced suspension does more for me than a h/c/i car that has mismatched parts and reeks of gas from a cat less exhaust.
 
My perfect idea of a daily driver Fox would be GT40P headed with 1.7's, nice exhaust set up, lowering springs, 3.55's and a 4R70W conversion. I'd much rather have that than a 500 horse death trap
 
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