Fox body mustangs

Does anyone have one of these? I know basically nothing about cars and I'm trying to figure out which model I should be looking for if I want something that I can learn to tinker with.

Buy a 1987+ 5.0 LX

Get preferably a 5.0 with manual transmission. The 302 is old as fuck and parts availability is a major plus.

Lx is lighter/faster, but I also like the guy and body kit. Notchbacks were even lighter and had more body ridgity. Even though all have mean body flex.

Can't go wrong with a foxbody. However, they are actually reaching collector status. So a newer SN-95 would actually be a better buy if you just want a v8. Newer ones will also be more reliable.

GT, not guy lol auto correct

>53% of weight on the front
>highest performance trim made 205 HP

When will this meme end?

...

Same amount of horsepower as your Scion brz. You mad?

>Buy an LX
Did I do it right guys?

Yeah I would get a newer one but I have a very specific boner for this car for some reason.
Also does reaching collector status mean that buying one for ~$2500 could be considered an investment if I treat the car right?

They were down rated to 205hp in 1993 when they switched to hypereutectic pistons.

1987-1992 were rated at 225hp and 300tq.

My '87 5.0 made 220whp and 280wtq with an offroad h-pipe, 2.5" catback and timing adjustments.

>non HO 302

How's that 150hp treating you?

Honestly the Fox interior is better quality, SN-95 door cards are flimsy and the door pull area breaks. The passenger side airbag covers don't fit well, no telescoping light between the mirrors and the seats aren't as comfy.

If you get a fox you should get subframe connectors for your first mod assuming they're not already on the car. Then simple things like exhaust and gears(stock a fox had 2.73 or 3.08 as the performance option). The stock T5 is pretty fragile and can't take much extra torque than the 302 already puts out(that's why GM only offered 5spd 305 Camaros and T/As) so you'll see a lot have been swapped with world class T5s. The stock 8.8" axle has 28 spline shafts, if you're going to be launching hard with sticky tires upgrade to 31 spline shafts. As far as the engine is concerned there are huge gains to be had N/A and tons of used parts available. Just research what combos put out the power you're looking for.

Sup

Lol. Good luck finding a fox body mustang that hasn't been fucked with though. People are worse with fox bodies than they are with MR2's. Something about the car just screams "fuck me in the ass, oh please, oh please, I hate being factory original".

You want something you can tinker with you say? You will have to tinker with whatever you get just to keep it running. And fix everything that whoever fucked with before you broke.

Welcome to today's episode of Capri or Mexistang.

See if you can find an F-body with a 350 as an alternative.
It does everything a foxbody does, but better.

Maybe something to do with them being thirty year old cars? For nothing to have been worn out, replaced or modified you're going to have to pay an increasing premium.

I kind of like the silhouette of the foxbody but the weight and general build quality/fit & finish leaves so much to be desired.

>2900 pounds
too light?

Pic related just taken from my living room while i watch baseball op

I couldn't recommend a better dollar for performance car except for the next gen, now fox's are going up in price. I never liked the fox's but once i hit college they grew on me. Always a big mustang fan. Bought mine sophomore year after saving since i was 12. Couldn't be happier

>fastest stock car in its price range
>endless cheap parts and labor if you need it
>endless aftermarket
>looks are growing with age as the boxyness gets more and more rare
>lowest price it will ever reach was a few years ago so not the worst investment
>that god damn affordable 5.0
>incredibly easy to work on
>so many examples you can find a good one relatively quickly but still be a snowflake with an older car
>can be modified for any type of driving

It is the absolute perfect starter fun car if it's your style

Can't go too wrong with a fox

Wow it's almost like the stock engine is super choked because 80s or something. Its not hard to make huge gains with literal bolt on parts.
The t5 in the fox is different than the t5 in the f bodies. The WC t5 in the foxes is good to about 300 wheel if you're not launching hard with slicks. Agreed on gears and SFCs, but the torque boxes shouldn't be neglected either.

...

I had a 1989 5.0 GT convertible in high school. I fucking loved that car. You wanna burn through tires like it's going out of style? You wanna refill your tank just to get across town? You wanna drop panties around every corner? The fox is for you friend. Good luck finding one that hasn't been driven into the ground by some Mexican. If you do find one that's in decent condition it's gonna be "mechanic owned I know what I've got" $10000 bullshit

n i c e

aaah so many other foxbody fags

>Non HO 302
The LX wasn't just body trim in the LTD my friend
That doesn't mean the numbers are much better though... It was the 80s after all :-\

>when Ford wanted to make a shitbox edition of the Mustang

no thanks

Weekend drag toy, 7.40 in the 1/8th haven't run it in the 1/4 since engine swap. Maybe mid 11's

God I should copy pasta this for fox body threads.

87-93 5.0's are basiccally identical.
They all come off the same assembly line and use the same (important) parts.
LX is listed as "LX sport".
GT and LX use the same engine, same transmission, same posi diff, same exhaust.
They even have the same wiring harness. Pull the light switch out of your LX with the dummy below it, get a GT switch from the junkyard- the plug for the foglight portion on the bottom of the GT switch is hanging in the instrument cluster, the pigtails to plug into the foglight themselves are hanging behind the bumper. Stop cutting holes for a friggin universal switch.

Cobra used GT side molding.
Saleen used LX.
The profile is slightly different. You can bolt them together but it won't look right.
Body kits are interchangable if you want to swap EVERYTHING (the rub strips on the doors, the quarter panel moldings etc), if not- then stay within those two family's. Its 10-14 pieces, depending on model.

Engines and transmissions varied slightly.
Even though all the 5 spds use Borg warner t-5's, some are world class models, some aren't. Difference is grenading when you do a h/c/I swap, or not.
87 and 88 non California are speed density sefi.
88 California and 89-93 everyone is mass air sefi.
Mass air is much, much better for modding.

87-90 has slightly smaller front wheel openings, which obviously means 91-93 are larger.
You can swap later model fenders but you have to change the trim pieces also.
90 got an airbag, which deleted the tilt column because they reinforced the column without doing a major redisgn of the interior. The small "command center" light panel on the right side of column was removed. It had things like low fuel light and seat belt indicator. Some lights were repositioned/nestled in between the gauges in the main cluster, some were just deleted.

88 was last year for t-tops.
89 is rarest year for convertibles. There was a machine that cut the roofs off of coupés to make a vert (I swear that's how they did it). It was on the fritz- it either held the chassis too tight and bent it, or too loose and fucked up the cut. It took them 6 months to fix it and orders were backlogged into 1990.
90 got a "25 years" pony emblem on passenger side of dash. Halfway through 89 they started putting on the emblems, but they did not have the 25 years text (although the additional block underneath to inscribe it on was there). Fords official unofficial way of saying that the car was born in 64 1/2 as a 65 model...
Sunroofs were a popular option- that piece of glass will cost about a grand to replace nowadays.
Do not buy a replacement clutch cable from vatozone or even the dealer, get one from saleen or steeda..
The plastic self-adjusting clutch quadrant WILL strip eventually. Its a 30 year old piece of plastic. Buy an aluminum quadrant and a firewall adjuster.
Fuel pumps fail around 130k miles
T5 and diff's are 130-150k

CHECK TORQUE BOXES BEFORE PURCHASING

I'll say that one again

CHECK TORQUE BOXES BEFORE PURCHASING
Go on YouTube, find a video. Stick your head under the ass end and look at those suspension mounts. Torque boxes are where the 4 link rear suspension bolts too. They rot and fail. Also check strut towers up front.

That button in the glovebox releases the trunk latch.
Keep your retard girlfriend out of there while youre driving.
Convertible motor mounts are stiffer than hatchbacks/coupes. But not as bad as solids. Good and easy mod to stiffen up the chassis. They also lower the engine about 3/4 and inch for those that have intake/hood clearance issues.
5 lug and rear disk conversions (in 4 or 5 lug) are too numerous to explain here. Check corral.net for a listing if you need to go that route. There's plenty of brembo type aftermarket support, but many donors like crown vics to do junkyard swaps.

What is the best way to find a fox ECU? I've been to all the junkyards around me, and I can't find much more than smoke online.

>keep your retard girlfriend out of there

Did she push your button, user?

There was a failed 7-up promotion that left ford with a bunch of emerald green metallic convertibles with white leather interiors. These were rebadged as 25th anniversary issue cars.
Road and track tested an un-regulkated 89 LX hatchback.
They hit 149 mph in fifth. Ford said it would do 151 in fourth. The next day they blew the engine trying.
Factory regulated at 127.5
So when your buddy says he's hit 140 and is running a factory A9L/A9P computer, you know he's full of shit.

Although the stock ecu (the aforementioned mass air models) compensate for mods well- one of your first serious mods should be a piggyback ecu.
Moates quarter horse or twEECer RT are the best choices. Plug into laptop and go to town.
Moates has a 7-10 battery and CMOS memory.
TwEECer uses flash.
Moated has better interface program but you have to repurchase it every time you install it.
TwEECer's program is free.
Moates is easier to use.
TwEECer has a steep learning curve and you actually have to understand what your changing (or pay someone to do it).
Either is better than getting a one-tune chip burned.

*moates has a 7-10 year battery
A9L for a manual, A9P for an automatic.
Best source is mustang forums. Corral.net, westsidemustangs.com
Ford used C.A.F.E. standards to make the mustang the best bang for the buck during those years, while sacrificing power in F-series, crown vics, etc.
No I don't date retards.

You can disable the speed regulator with the piggybacks. You can do ALOT of cool stuff.
You can rewire the egr to another 1-5 volt device (like boost gauge) so its data logged with everything else. Pic related.

Do not rely on "tuned" injector/air meter setups

They
Do
Not
Work.

The maps are much more complicated. It will run, but poorly.
Don't go overboard and throw an 80mm throttle body on it.
You'll lose power.
Stock is 50mm tb and 55mm meter (because screen in meter lowers airflow so they're actually balanced). Dyno tests have proven 65mm is the sweet spot, 70-75 if boosted.
245/45/17 front and 275/40/17 rear on 9" wide wheels is as large as you can go without (serious) rubbing issues. 2" drop will stuff them in nicely but you won't be driving it as a daily anymore.

Hatch vs notch?

Notch has more body ridgity and is lighter. More expensive to buy though.