Older mustang 5.0... looking to buy

[kingranch]

I've been wanting to get an older mustang for some time now. Always been fascinated with the early 90s gt 5.0
Love the way they sound with good cam and exhaust.

Any info on this would be appreciated as I'm thinking I will try to buy one in next couple months to use as a weekend driver or just to do some wrenching on. I'm thinking about a bone stock manual transmission and do some basic add ons like pull the heads off and have them reworked and add bigger cam. Exhaust and intake etc.

Any certain years I should avoid? Any input on this car?

My budget would be 10-12 grand all in

I'm very mechanically inclined so anything that you think is feasible i am open to ideas. I've rebuilt alot of big block Chevy engines just never have tinkered w ford

[999]

Save some cash for a brake upgrade! I had an 89 LX 5.0 and loved them, except they I always wished it stopped faster.

[eradicator]

They were fun. My buddy had one( 93 GT) Good luck finding a stock one though, everyone I knew had tinkered with theirs. I never had one, but did have a SuperChicken for a while. Hopefully I'll hit my mid life crisis here shortly

[TejasNW]

V8 on a go kart... Be safe.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McW2NwWtR9E"]Drive-By Truckers - Daddy's Cup - YouTube[/ame]

[waterspiderpd27]

V8 on a go kart... Be safe.



Drive-By Truckers - Daddy's Cup - YouTube

Heck to the yeah man!

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[RifleBowPistol]

The 87 and 88s are speed density, which the factory speed density does not work as well as the factory MAF or aftermarket speed density, when modifying the engine. The 87-88 have 85 mph speedos, unless they are police package cars, then they will have 140 mph speedos. The 87-89s have tilt wheel option on most of the cars, very few without tilt wheel. Then they don't have air bags. The 1990 model was fairly close to the 89 model, but with a air bag steering wheel, so no tilt. The 90-93 cars all had air bags and no tilt columns. The 89s are one of my favorites, they have MAF computers, 140 speedos, which the 89-93 had 140 speedos for the 5.0 cars, unless they were police package, then they had 160 mph speedos. The 89s had MAF, tilt wheel, no air bags. So they were the lightest cars to come from the factory with MAF. Bone stock or slightly modified, the 87 and 88s were sometimes faster, with the same options, but the 89s were very close, to the 87 and 88s. But when modifying them the 89s should be the best But it's not hard to convert a 87 or 88 to MAF. The 87-90, had 15" wheels from the factory. The 91-93, had the 16" pony wheels from the factory. The K-members are different, along with the front control arms and the front fenders. The fender differences are, the 91 up wheel openings are shaped differently, to give more tire clearance for wider front tires. So the 91-93 fenders work better with wider front tires. If you put some 17X8" factory 93 Cobra wheels on a 87-90, the tires will rub the fenders. The changes to the k-member and front control arms on the 91-93, is supposed to help handling.
The 93 Cobras have many differences and cost quite a bit more, than other foxes. They have different heads, cam, intake, throttle body, MAf, computer, seats, suspension, tires, wheels, rear disc brake, body kit. They are still four lug cars, unless, it's a 93 R code. Don't count on finding a R code, there were only something like 103 made, those go for a lot of money.
The 92 and 93 have better dome lights. The 87-89 or 90 have a map light option, that is mostly a waste of time. The 93s have different emergency brake cables and cable mounting tabs, so doing a rear disc brake conversion, using factory 94 up rear brakes, is easier, to hook up the emergency brakes.

If you just try installing big brakes on a stock suspension, near stock tire fox, you will just slide more often. My 89 GT, will lock up the stock brakes with ease. I have flat spots on my front tires to prove it.
I only listed the differences on the 87-93, because most people think of those when they think of a fox body. But the fox Mustangs go back to 79. My favorite foxes are the 85 and 86 four eyed coupes. Body parts for any car older than 87, are very hard to find, unless, it's something like fenders, which are the same up to 1990.
Some of the other bad things, all of the fox computers are very hard to find in good working condition. Very hard to find, **** near impossible to get a remanufactured fox computer. They used to be the most durable computers around in the 80s and 90s, but now those computers are very old and fail, if you look at the car wrong. I plan on replacing the computer in my GT, with a aftermarket computer, hopefully before it fails. Also, the wiring harnesses in most of the cars, should just be ripped out and tossed in the scrap pile. I have found that most of the harnesses, have high resistance, corroded wires, corroded terminals and pins. Brittle wires and some have insulation problems. Then many of the cars wiring harnesses, have been hacked and butchered to death. You can buy complete harnesses for those cars.
There are more parts out there for the fox Mustangs, than just about any other car, you can do just about anything with them. One of the greatest things, is the foxes are probably the best drift cars ever made. They are easy and a blast to drive sideways. They make great drag cars. They can make good road race cars, just got to know what you are doing and what the problems are with the foxes. Whatever you do, probably no wider than a 8" wide wheel in the front, I know of guys who have put 9" wide wheels on the front, for the most part, those cars are a pain. Your steering radius is greatly increased, the tires and wheels rub all the time.
Had you started looking for a car six years ago, you could have gotten a GT hatch much cheaper than you can now. Used to be everybody wanted a coupe or a 93 Cobra, nothing else. Now the LX and GT hatches are becoming very popular, with the GT hatches being possibly more popular than the LX hatches. I have had three or four hatches, one convertible and multiple coupes. By far, I prefer the coupes, I like the coupes because in my opinion they make better race cars, most other people think the same. I have to admit, the hatches have quite a bit of room in the rear of the car, where the coupes, only have about enough room in the truck for a couple of nitrous bottles.

[kingranch]

Holy smokes this is exactly what I wanted to hear
Thank you riflebowpistol.. let me know when you are in Austin.. bbq and beers is on me

[100%TtId]

To add to RBP's post above, the 89-90ish (I think?) GT models had front seats that had an adjustable knee bolster on the seat bottom that would slide in and out and I believe also had a remote fuel door opener in the glove box that was decontented by Ford on the last couple of Fox-body years ~91 to 93. Lots of aftermarket parts and tuner shops with 5.0 experience are out there. You can almost build an entire new car from parts from www.lmr.com

[Hart8]

Man,there was a really nice one on Facebook marketplace a week or so ago.It was a grey coupe.Dallas/Ft.worth area.$10k if I remember right.

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[kingranch]

Man,there was a really nice one on Facebook marketplace a week or so ago.It was a grey coupe.Dallas/Ft.worth area.$10k if I remember right.

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i dont have facebook
if you find it send me info plz

[kingranch]

https://austin.craigslist.org/cto/d/austin-1989-ford-mustang-gt-convertible/6996373405.html

thoughts on this one?

[Hogwild84]

5.0

https://austin.craigslist.org/cto/d/...996373405.html

thoughts on this one?

I know where a mint hatchback GT is right now. It is not mine but I do know the guy. It is 100% stock which makes it really hard to find. I have had several coupes... Recently just sold the super clean silver 91 that was on here in the classifieds section. Call me if you want that info on the hatch:" 281-271-2515

[Raypo]

The 87 and 88s are speed density, which the factory speed density does not work as well as the factory MAF or aftermarket speed density, when modifying the engine. The 87-88 have 85 mph speedos, unless they are police package cars, then they will have 140 mph speedos. The 87-89s have tilt wheel option on most of the cars, very few without tilt wheel. Then they don't have air bags. The 1990 model was fairly close to the 89 model, but with a air bag steering wheel, so no tilt. The 90-93 cars all had air bags and no tilt columns. The 89s are one of my favorites, they have MAF computers, 140 speedos, which the 89-93 had 140 speedos for the 5.0 cars, unless they were police package, then they had 160 mph speedos. The 89s had MAF, tilt wheel, no air bags. So they were the lightest cars to come from the factory with MAF. Bone stock or slightly modified, the 87 and 88s were sometimes faster, with the same options, but the 89s were very close, to the 87 and 88s. But when modifying them the 89s should be the best But it's not hard to convert a 87 or 88 to MAF. The 87-90, had 15" wheels from the factory. The 91-93, had the 16" pony wheels from the factory. The K-members are different, along with the front control arms and the front fenders. The fender differences are, the 91 up wheel openings are shaped differently, to give more tire clearance for wider front tires. So the 91-93 fenders work better with wider front tires. If you put some 17X8" factory 93 Cobra wheels on a 87-90, the tires will rub the fenders. The changes to the k-member and front control arms on the 91-93, is supposed to help handling.
The 93 Cobras have many differences and cost quite a bit more, than other foxes. They have different heads, cam, intake, throttle body, MAf, computer, seats, suspension, tires, wheels, rear disc brake, body kit. They are still four lug cars, unless, it's a 93 R code. Don't count on finding a R code, there were only something like 103 made, those go for a lot of money.
The 92 and 93 have better dome lights. The 87-89 or 90 have a map light option, that is mostly a waste of time. The 93s have different emergency brake cables and cable mounting tabs, so doing a rear disc brake conversion, using factory 94 up rear brakes, is easier, to hook up the emergency brakes.

If you just try installing big brakes on a stock suspension, near stock tire fox, you will just slide more often. My 89 GT, will lock up the stock brakes with ease. I have flat spots on my front tires to prove it.
I only listed the differences on the 87-93, because most people think of those when they think of a fox body. But the fox Mustangs go back to 79. My favorite foxes are the 85 and 86 four eyed coupes. Body parts for any car older than 87, are very hard to find, unless, it's something like fenders, which are the same up to 1990.
Some of the other bad things, all of the fox computers are very hard to find in good working condition. Very hard to find, **** near impossible to get a remanufactured fox computer. They used to be the most durable computers around in the 80s and 90s, but now those computers are very old and fail, if you look at the car wrong. I plan on replacing the computer in my GT, with a aftermarket computer, hopefully before it fails. Also, the wiring harnesses in most of the cars, should just be ripped out and tossed in the scrap pile. I have found that most of the harnesses, have high resistance, corroded wires, corroded terminals and pins. Brittle wires and some have insulation problems. Then many of the cars wiring harnesses, have been hacked and butchered to death. You can buy complete harnesses for those cars.
There are more parts out there for the fox Mustangs, than just about any other car, you can do just about anything with them. One of the greatest things, is the foxes are probably the best drift cars ever made. They are easy and a blast to drive sideways. They make great drag cars. They can make good road race cars, just got to know what you are doing and what the problems are with the foxes. Whatever you do, probably no wider than a 8" wide wheel in the front, I know of guys who have put 9" wide wheels on the front, for the most part, those cars are a pain. Your steering radius is greatly increased, the tires and wheels rub all the time.
Had you started looking for a car six years ago, you could have gotten a GT hatch much cheaper than you can now. Used to be everybody wanted a coupe or a 93 Cobra, nothing else. Now the LX and GT hatches are becoming very popular, with the GT hatches being possibly more popular than the LX hatches. I have had three or four hatches, one convertible and multiple coupes. By far, I prefer the coupes, I like the coupes because in my opinion they make better race cars, most other people think the same. I have to admit, the hatches have quite a bit of room in the rear of the car, where the coupes, only have about enough room in the truck for a couple of nitrous bottles.

Wow! There you go...