[Isambard]

Hello!

I've been a lurker here for awhile now and decided it was time for another post. My daily driver is currently a lightly modded 2001 V6 mustang. I've styled the car to my liking and changed the gears and tuned it to where it's a fun car to drive but I've always craved a fox.

Prayers were answered yesterday. There was CL add for a 1990 LX 5.0 for around $2000. I took no real interest when the owner mentioned it was having engine and transmission problems. Then the car happened to break down near my work.

Yesterday I stopped to take a look at it. No rust, original turbine rims in fine shape, interior is rough but there was only 120,000 miles on the car. Car was going to be towed the next day at 6 am. So I call the owner up and he says $1200. I counter with an offer of $900 IF he can get it started. He can't. I offer him $600 and he takes it and I have title in hand. $75 and a tow later and it's at my house.

Today I went over it. the "transmission" problem turned out to be a broken shift knob bracket and a clutch cable readjustment and the "engine trouble" turned out to be a stripped starter solenoid bolt and a broken MAF clip.

!20,000 mile Fox body mustang for $700 that just needs a polish and some interior work. Some times life is amazing.

So now the question: 4.10 or 3.73 gears?

Edit: Picture of the car taken unwashed from the owner. Will show in proper glory in due time!

[nolife]

If I remember correctly, the only LX with turbines was the 90 7-up model, all other LX had 10 holes. Not that it matters...
Looks like a great deal and now you don't have to lurk anymore.

[hfjeff]

Lucky!! Awesome deal. Drive it like you stole it.....cause you did. Depends what you want it for- if DD then 3.73. Just M.O.

[Dap1991]

thats a crazy deal, your a lucky guy

[Isambard]

Thanks guys! The best part is it's a manual so once I do a full tune-up on it I can start modding it without having to worry about a T5 swap.

Unfortunately the first part that has to be upgraded is the interior. Because someone forgot to change it from burgundy after going to a championship orange paint job. The car looks like a grapefruit when you open the door right now.

[40thanvblkgt]

That's a friggin steal I wish I was that lucky I paid more for the shell of my 95 lol I've always loved an lx hatch and that thing looks fantastic I'm sooo jealous lol

[ReverendDexter]

Awesome score, man Were it mine I'd keep the Grapefruit theme, but I'm weird like that, hahaha.

[Timm10221]

Holy Shit Batman! Your lucky as hell!!!! Let the modding begin!!! I would do 3.73's since it is a stick car and a 5.0.. it is was a Mod motor then 4.10's all day long.. My Mach loves the 4.10 but you can tach them out to 7K lol. what are your plans for the car, NA, Boost, Nitrous?? Are you going to keep it a 5-speed, swap a C4 in there?? Knowing that would help you choose the correct gear.. NA 3.73's or 4.10s would be a great choice and like stated above if its DD I would most likely go 3.73, Boost 3.55's so you can stay in the boost longer and depending on your shot I think I would go with 3.73's as well. Enjoy your newest toy!! & Welcome to the 5.0 section! haha

[Isambard]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I'd live with the burgundy interior but it's far too worn for that.

Originally Posted by Timm10221 Holy Shit Batman! Your lucky as hell!!!! Let the modding begin!!! I would do 3.73's since it is a stick car and a 5.0.. it is was a Mod motor then 4.10's all day long.. My Mach loves the 4.10 but you can tach them out to 7K lol. what are your plans for the car, NA, Boost, Nitrous?? Are you going to keep it a 5-speed, swap a C4 in there?? Knowing that would help you choose the correct gear.. NA 3.73's or 4.10s would be a great choice and like stated above if its DD I would most likely go 3.73, Boost 3.55's so you can stay in the boost longer and depending on your shot I think I would go with 3.73's as well. Enjoy your newest toy!! & Welcome to the 5.0 section! haha

Current plans are 3.73 gears. My 01 currently has 4.10's in it but most people have said that a manual tends to be a little more street friendly with 3.73's. I've always begun pricing 351 non-p heads and intake and a new cam. I'd love to boost it but I"m not sure how comfortable I'd feel boosting a car with 120,000 on the odometer.

Still, plans change. Maybe if I find a kit for the right price. For now just bringing it back up to spec and making the interior look new will keep my hands busy for the coming month.

[ddotbxxx]

Daaaammmmmnnnnn you stole that car! Lucky you, sometimes people are just in the right place at the right time!

[Timm10221]

I wouldn't do the 351 heads... You wont gain to much from them... and they are Iron.. Try and find a good Aluminum head Used if budget is an issue "As it always is" I would go and recommend TFS because Thats what I ran in my 302 based h/c/i swap but the afr 165 and 185's are great heads too, the Edelbrock heads are a good bank for the buck and my buddy runs them cause he got them for 600 used but the TFS and AFR will out preform them. (I say this cause we have similar mods and I beat him at the track by I think .5 if I remember correctly) I personally like the TFS cause they are able to Fit a 2.02 intake valve in there and the rest use the 1.9 intake valves. But I think if I were to do another 302 based h/c/i swap I would go with AFR 185's or TFS 190's...

I just don't want to see you go though a tun of work swapping out heads for another Iron head and get maybe 35-45 rwhp when you can double that with a good flowing Aluminum head. Plus is shaves off weight on the front end.. Cam's are one of those things that "Yes" custom is always going to be better but anything but a Letter cam is a good otb cam, my buddy loves his Comp 274 and I love my TFS stage II.. Cant go wrong with a Anderson Camshaft either. Use the search button and read up man, lots of info on here..

Tim

[40thanvblkgt]

^ I agree spend the money and go aluminum I personally love the trick flow high ports, you just gotta get different headers accufab sells them they are a tad pricey but you get what you pay for and the 192 high ports are a very resonably priced aluminum head and they flow extremely well

[Dap1991]

i personally wouldnt worry about the 120k on the motor, almost everyone on here with the stock block has atleast that much( i believe) and they throw parts/ boost on them with great results it seems, keep us updated.

[recore]

Score! Like someone said before, the turbines only came on GT's through 89 but who cares. You made a good buy. I had an 85GT with 3.73 gears and it went like a raped ape. Anyway, congrats on a smart buy.

[Isambard]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I haven't had much experience working with engines yet. Luckily I have a wealth of knowledge here to sift through and a mechanic of 20 years who's willing to help (good ol' dads yea?).

The car is responding well to it's garage kept treatment so far except that the brake pedal feels very stiff and I'm suffering fade while stomping down on the pedal as hard as I can. So until the brake issue is addressed I don't think another 50hp will help the car stop any slower.

Well it might actually. But it would be a very sudden stop. Involving a tree.

[Timm10221]

You want it to stop faster and go faster... not stop slower

[Isambard]

Originally Posted by Timm10221 You want it to stop faster and go faster... not stop slower

Thanks for catching that

And a brief question: The car accelerates much harder than the 95 GT I used to own and the speedo is off. When I'm going around 30ish it reads 40+ mph. I'm wondering if there's a way to check if the differential gears have been changed at some point. I have GPS that can tell me my actual speed if I hook it up in the car.

Or do I have this wrong and when you go to a higher gear ratio the speedo reads slower than you're actually going?

[Dap1991]

im not sure about how the speed is wrong but there is another thread going on now about the rear gear.

one way to test is to mark a spot on your tire and mark a spot on the driveshaft, have some one spin the tire one turn while you are under the car and count how many turns the driveshaft makes, and what ever number that is is your ratio

[Isambard]

Originally Posted by Dap1991 one way to test is to mark a spot on your tire and mark a spot on the driveshaft, have some one spin the tire one turn while you are under the car and count how many turns the driveshaft makes, and what ever number that is is your ratio

Thanks for the suggestion. We're going to put it up later and try it out. Unfortunately the steering wheel had about 2 inches of dead play in it and we went hunting for a culprit. Apparently this car wasn't well maintained and the linkage at the bottom of the steering column snapped. It looks like a ring with four bolts and it's broken in two places on one side. This jackass was going to get someone killed with steering in this condition.

In any event I'm stumped when it comes to finding the name of the part after running searches all over and describing it to the parts shop. Any guru out there know what the heck I'm talking about?

[Smirnoff]

It's a rag joint they sell them at Vato zone in the help section