[FenderStrat]

Hey all. . . I'm new to the forums. . . been reading the forums for a few days though, pretty nice site ya got here. ANYWAY...

I've been wanting to start a stang project and finally have somewhat of a budget to do it. My budget is 4,000 dollars and I think I found the perfect car. . but wanted some opinions on it.

It's a 97 GT, 5spd, 120,000 miles. . . clean title, but has been wrecked. . when wrecked the front bumper was crushed and right side fender, exploding the airbags. . . the front bumper and right fender have been replaced. . no frame damage. . i've test drove it. . . drives fine. The asking price is 2,500 . . . here are the problems with it. . .

Needs new windshield
Needs back rear tires, front tires are about due too
Front replacement bumper came from donor gt and does not match color of car, needs repainted
The interior door panels are really loose and look pretty worn out, and cracked in a few spots
The front leather seats are absolutely THRASHED. . . cracked and worn to the extreme
The airbags have not been replaced but rather they just decided to gorilla glue the steering wheel back together and the passenger side dash piece back in

the good:
has flowmaster dual cat back with h pipe
4" cowl hood, which does match body (lol)
rebuilt transmission with documentation
meh, 120K on motor. . . no leaks, no knocks, starts and idles smooth
still has clean title


Therefore. . my dilemma is. . . to eventually get this thing looking the way I want it to . . . within my budget. . . can I do it?

Remember...budget = 4K, car = 2.5K . . . 1.5K to work with

I KNOW IT'S BEEN LONG BUT I NEED SOME HELP HERE. . . .

any advice and suggestions is highly appreciated

thanks
-Will

[neverfastenough1]

Nothing personal, but if you happen to like the sn95, why not just get a nice unwrecked 94-95 for the same price. The 96-98 are the low power mod motors. A 4000 dollar fox body will run circles around it. If you really want to get that one though, I think you could manage to make it look good with 1500.

[FenderStrat]

Originally Posted by neverfastenough1 Nothing personal, but if you happen to like the sn95, why not just get a nice unwrecked 94-95 for the same price. The 96-98 are the low power mod motors. A 4000 dollar fox body will run circles around it. If you really want to get that one though, I think you could manage to make it look good with 1500.

Therein lies another problem, I've searched for 94-95's for my price and can find none here in Ohio for under 5K

[neverfastenough1]

Man that sucks, people are usually practically giving them away on ebay. By the way, welcome to MM! You might get more answers form the guys in the mod motor forums.

[FenderStrat]

thank ya i'll copy/paste there

[neverfastenough1]

No problem. If you get it, the heads and intake is whats holding the power back. Get you some used heads form the J.Y. and stick them on there.

[PONYMAN]

Welcome to the board.
Price doesn't sound too bad, but keep looking also.
For a few dollars more, you might can get a nicer Stang with less to fix up.
Here in Houston, Stangs are pretty easy to come by.

[kreil45]

i dont think its worth it. i work in the parts business and replacement parts are high dollar especially interior parts. i check ebay it would woth it to save another grand and get one from some were else. even if you have to travel. cause alot og them on ebay all ready have the mods on them. my brother did something simular. he bought a wreck 94GT had to replace the front clip head lights paint job and some other things. plus some modds. so far hes spent about 6k. still has more to do. check ebay and good luck and welcome.

[tording92lxnotch]

I would stay away from the 96-98 stangs with the 4.6. Quite possibly the slowest V8 mustang ford has ever made. Keep your eyes open on ebay for a good deal. Talk to whoever is selling it on the phone. Get him to take gobs of pictures of it. If it sounds like a great deal, buy yourself a plane ticket and go get it and drive it home. I did it with my current 92 notch and I couldn't be happier. If the person selling the car really wants to sell it they will go above and beyond to accomandate you in the deal.

[usmcsawgunner]

fenderstrat i feel your pain i was in the market about 2 months ago for a fox body for about 5000 and theres NOTHING in Ohio.....i bought mine for 9500...def worth it tho when i get traction its gonna be a low low low 13 second car
and it will autocross the heck outta anything! well not anything

[fogged306]

Originally Posted by tording92lxnotch I would stay away from the 96-98 stangs with the 4.6. Quite possibly the slowest V8 mustang ford has ever made. Keep your eyes open on ebay for a good deal. Talk to whoever is selling it on the phone. Get him to take gobs of pictures of it. If it sounds like a great deal, buy yourself a plane ticket and go get it and drive it home. I did it with my current 92 notch and I couldn't be happier. If the person selling the car really wants to sell it they will go above and beyond to accomandate you in the deal.

While notch got a great deal, I got burned. I bought my car on ebay 3 yrs ago and the motor blew in 3 months. I took it apart and it looked like the guy assembled it outside during a dust storm and used rock powder for lube. Almost every bearing was smoked. He also said it was a 400 hp car and I didnt know shit about mustangs at the time so I believed him. I got the car and it was slower than a stock 5.0

Not trying to deter you, because I actually own an ebay business, but just cover your ass if you do buy one on there, ask for dyno sheets, paperwork, carfax, ect. any documentation you can think of.