what to do

[r_fin]

my parents just got me my 91 mustang lx convertable and its has 80k orginal miles on the 2.3L and its in great shape. since they got me the car they said for my 18th bday which is the 27th of this month they are gonna get me somthing for the car but they're only gonna spend about $200. what should i get? should i go performance? or looks? and if ne could make a list for me prioritizing what i should do to the car and with prices that would be much appreciated. also i was looking at later down the road putting a turbo on that motor instead of getting a 2.3T only because i think it would be a waste of a good standard 2.3L. wouldnt it cost the same to turbo a non-turbo 2.3L as it would to buy and install a 2.3T from a t-bird or something. one other thing... about how much would it cost to change an automatic tranny out for a manual

heres my car:
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<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/finmasta/CIMG1530.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br>
<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/finmasta/CIMG1529.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br>
<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/finmasta/CIMG1527.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br>
<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/finmasta/CIMG1531.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br>
<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/finmasta/CIMG1525.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br>
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[95&Modified]

200.0 would be a good start on a nice head unit if it needs an upgrade. I think that there to are to many options to list as far as performance goes. I'm sure others who have done a swap will chime in soon. Very nice looking car by the way. Esp. for it's age. What was the price on it?

 

[Red_LX]

Might look at replacing that corner light so you don't get pulled over.

Anyway...bud, there's a reason people don't just put a turbo on the stock engine. It's gotta be on this forum about a thousand times by now and yet people ask about it every other day.

The stock pistons are weak (cast). Yeah, you can put a turbo on a stock engine, hell it might even last awhile. But there's two fundamental problems with this approach:

#1. You can only run about 10 psi max (even that is really pushing it) which will give you maybe 30-40 hp over the stock engine

#2. One little hiccup and the engine runs lean and bye bye pistons!

Nice thing about the turbo engines is that it's really easy to make good power with plenty of room to grow later. I threw mine together for about $1200 including plenty of go-fast goodies that I didn't necessarily "need." I'm running a close to stock boost level (stock is 15, I'm running 17), stock T3, stock fuel system. I guesstimate the car at 250 hp and 300+ ft-lbs, and it's still dead nuts reliable.

I was gonna find out what it could actually run last week, but the track event I was gonna go to got rained out, and with the closest track being an hour and a half away, it's harder to coordinate stuff.

Oh, the automatic to manual tranny swap is more about parts gathering and labor than cost. I don't believe the price of everything you need is much, you just need a small pile of little bits, and some time to crawl up under your dash to install some fun stuff like the quadrant and clutch pedal...blech. There's probably FAQ's all over for the swap.

 

[sleeper_inc]

Its cheaper to do the 2.3 turbo engine swap then it is to get the 2.3 N/A ready for turboing.

ex: You need forged pistons, better valves to take the heat, different head to keep the CR down, E6, and the turbo itself

The manual trans swap cost all depends if you do it or someone else does it for you (way cheaper if you do it)

Check stingers site for the how to on swapping to a T-5 and what parts are needed (cross member, drive shaft, etc)

 

[glowstang93]

I think most can attest that I am more into the cosmetics than the power. I would suggest buying some new headlights, parking lights and turn signals. Get Ford headlamps, but KRS reproduction parking lights and turn signals would be ok from www.50resto.com Then with what is left put in Sylvania Silverstar bulbs.

This will really add to a clean new look for the front and make driving at night a pleasure not a strain.


My last suggestion is to thank your parents over and over, they deserve it.

 

[ptfoxbdy89]

thats a nice car man.. great paint as well.. i think mine was recked and the jackhole who repainted/repaired it went the bandaide route and now i have a stress cracked front bumper even though i only have maybe 5 year old paint.. but hey i only payed 800 for mine and it is in pretty good condition..

 

[r_fin]

thanks for the tips everyone and to answer one question i got the car for $500

 

[t3t4_4g63]

hey red_Lx, do you mind telling me what all you have done to your car for $1200? thanks!!

 

[Red_LX]

I was referring to the engine only...

But, when I did the rebuild this is what I had done-

Block hot tanked & honed

Head ported & polished by me; hot tanked, valve job, new steel valve guides & cam bearings installed by shop (not the best job in the world either)

Crank hot tanked & journals polished

Basic rebuilt kit from Advance Auto Parts (Fel-pro gasket set, Sealed Power rings & all bearings).

I rebuilt the engine with the stock pistons, in fact I reused pretty much all of the rotating assembly and valvetrain.

This is some of the other stuff I got-
ARP rod bolts
Crank scraper
Windage tray (built by me)
ARP head studs

Also ported & polished my intakes...bought a phenolic intake spacer from a guy on turboford, one of bob's log manifolds, reman T3 center section, a ranger roller cam (which I upgraded to a Ford Motorsport A237 shortly afterward) Racer Walsh Stage 1 valve springs, Starion front mount intercooler and some pipe to hook it up, '95 GT throttle body, adjustable cam sprocket, and a new clutch kit. I dunno if I'm forgetting anything or not.

Beyond that it was your basic rebuild stuff...new oil pump, new water pump, etc.

Man, it's been so long since I finished that engine, who knows what I'm forgetting...I have a bunch of pics on my cardomain page. if you want to see a few of the in-progress pics. I spent 2 years building the engine due to budgetary constraints, it's a really easy engine to build though.