My other non-Jeep vehicle build thread

Ever since before i could drive i've loved 1979-1993 Ford "Fox Body" Mustangs.

What blows me away about these cars is they're more or less the size of a Toyota Corolla & not much heavier yet can swallow a V8 with ease. Even with the 5.0 liter option, they weigh roughly 3000 lbs & have a 100" wheelbase. Perfect for spirited driving in my opinion.

My love began when my brothers' friend Shawn stopped by our house in his new '88 GT hatchback & took us for a cruise. From that point i knew i had to have one of my own.

Back then, i couldn't even afford an abused one much less used & needing a vehicle to drive to my new job, settled on the 1st car i ever owned:

a 1986 Renault Le Car purchased from a chinese food delivery driver which looked just like this:

It idled poorly & the floorboards were soaked in sticky soy sauce. "LE CHAT" was last registered in California 5 years prior to my purchase & i found out the hard way ADOT wouldn't re-register it. I learned a lot about the DMV during that time.

Fast forward two years, i finally got my paws on my first Ford; a 1986 Mustang LX 5.0 w/ manual transmission, windows, door locks & a sweet trunk rack. I took it home and promptly lowered it, cutting the stock coil springs w/ my dad's 4" grinder:

Next drain on this dishwashers' bank account was the Boomin' system

I put the woofers & speakerbox on layaway for months before i would see this set-up in my vehicle. With 2000 watts i thought it was pretty bitchen but really, i was just a kid. Not long afterward i grew tired of no rearview mirror & vision impairment due to vibration from the speakers merely inches from my head.

Around that time is when my brother's friend Shawn took me to the SCCA races @ Firebird raceway for my 1st time. He showed me the ropes of what would soon become a life long passion, fast cars.

First i r&r'd the worn out clutch in my folks' driveway. A relative success except i neglected to get the flywheel turned & so for the first 1000 miles the clutch cHaTtErEd when disengaging in 1st gear.

Next i enlisted another buddy Scott to help install cast iron cylinder heads i bought which had been re-worked by "Mustang Mike" originally out of a '93 Ford Lightning truck w/ a 351 engine. We also bolted on 1.72 roller rockers & Mac unequal length shorty headers.

I topped off the intake w/ a 65mm throttle body, drop in k&n filter & moved on to the chassis & exhaust.

I installed a Mac off road h-pipe & FRPP aluminum driveshaft then took her to Mighty Muf'ler in Cave Creek to weld up the axle-back 2.5" Flowmaster exhaust, subframe connectors & bolt on my new G-load brace while on their lift:

CONTINUED...

..Sourced a set of newer 16 inch "Pony" wheels, lower profile tires, KYB gas charged shocks & real Ford Racing lowering springs.

Then another friend "Bondo Britt" obliged w/ his bodywork expertise (that's his 1990 purple SSP coupe pictured below) & we got to work. By this time my parents had finally escalated me to "garage status"

After the bodywork i took it over to Javier Munoz on 22nd st & Washington to apply the gun metal gray paint. She was complete and i was stoked.

After paint I'd had the car back just 2 weeks when some other dude who owned his own construction business happened to see it & make an offer i couldn't refuse. The car was sold before i got a chance to really enjoy it.

This is also about the time the import car scene took off & i purchased a 1988 Honda Civic sedan which led to a long list of other custom honda's & acura's before years later i stepped my game up to Audi's. CONTINUED..

Around 1997 i traded the '88 Honda Civic straight across for this 1985 GT hatchback my friend Jamie had just re-built the motor on at the time. He also added an 87-93 front clip, tail light lenses and rear quarter glass to update its looks. I found these photos of it last night:

Never took any photos of the engine bay unfortunately

Around that time I got accepted to ASU & the daily commute to Tempe without air conditioning was brutal. Even though i could now beat LT4 powered Corvettes, my second Mustang was sold quickly again, this time for another import with creature comforts & increased fuel economy.

...

I thought this was going to be a build thread.

...

12 years later, after finding a buyer for my last Audi, i began daydreaming of the old gray '86 again. With nostalgic thoughts, i longed for another clean example to pick back up where i'd left off. The thought was if i didn't have to daily drive the next one, i'd keep it forever because I have always wanted to build a "Pro Touring" style Mustang.

Now that I had my Jeep w/ air conditioning, i began perusing google images checking on "Notchback Mustangs For Sale" & ran across this

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/fox-body-mustangs-402/768772-1989-ford-mustang-lx-5-0-coupe-fully-built.html

Is that your baby? Did you/are you getting it back?

Is that your baby? Did you/are you getting it back?

I wondered that for a moment too, but his first Mustang was an '86. The Mustang in that link (am I the only one having problems getting that page to load?) is an '89.

i think you need to get an 86 Le Car again and let's wedge a Hemi in it... my first car was an I-Mark, but not even the wanna-be-kewl hatchback, it was the lame 4 door sedan

Sweet write up Scotty, nice work.

Is that your baby? Did you/are you getting it back?

Not exactly, but you're getting the right idea;)

I wondered that for a moment too, but his first Mustang was an '86. The Mustang in that link (am I the only one having problems getting that page to load?) is an '89.

The one i found is an '89. You can tell the difference by the headlights. Very similar to my '86 with a lot more stuff done to it.