1988 Foxbody Summer Project

[302'Stang]

Forum Newb...here's my project. Just bought it Friday 5/11! Paid $1800.

The morning after getting her home. Got a nice bath.







Let the work begin. Fresh set of Eagle GT's and replaced a bent tierod.



I ordered new headlamps and Sylvania Ultra headlights.





New vs. old







I ordered chrome flashers and parking lights so that no amber color bleeds through like they are right now...should be here maybe tomorrow.

Also got some fresh badges for the wheels.













This is where I'm at so far. I'm making slow and steady progress on her. I've also begun to peel all the purple, bubbling window tint off. All of it but the rear window because I don't wanna screw up my defroster. I'm hoping to get my hands on a steamer for this.

I have to replace my brake lines because they're rotted and cracking and something in my left rear drum brake is cracked completely in half. After that, I gotta start working on the motor so it'll stop getting 12.8 MPG.:nonono:

 

[302'Stang]

Beauty shot.

 

[slo-poc]

Nice and congrats. What's the plans for it?

 

[302'Stang]

Nice and congrats. What's the plans for it?

Thanks! I don't really have any solid plans for it, so I'm open to suggestions.

This is what I had in mind for summer though.

New headlamps and lights. (done)

Replace badges. (done)

New tires and alignment. (done, but probably switching to 255/50's in the rear and 225/50's in the front while still within 30 day warranty. They are already rubbing with the new tires I got and I want to drop the car.)

Replace bent tierod. (done)

Replace dry rotted brake hoses and cracked drum brake shoes.

Replace rusted cat-back exhaust. Looking at SLP Loudmouth and Flowmaster American Thunder. Also interested in H-pipe/X-pipe.

Find and fix exhaust leak. Seems to be coming from either end of the passenger side header. Not sure which end yet.

Dyno tune.

Get what's left of the damn puple, bubbling window tint off my rear window!

Ford Racing lowering springs.

Install small Rockford Fosgate system from my old car. Nothing heavy, just a little beat.

Fresh window tint.

Steam clean/shampoo carpet and upholstery along with buff/wax paint.

Maybe wrap/paint the Cervini hood.

 

[302'Stang]

Did a brake job on the Stang yesterday. The left rear brake shoe or whatever the hell it's called was cracked in half and my front hoses were dry rotted. I decided to just replace all the pads all around. I ****ing hate drum brakes even more after putting those on.





Old hose.



New hose installed.





New pads!





As so for the other side.





Redneck safety.





The real fun begins.



And the crack.







Ended up getting 225/50's all around because of Goodyear's shitty selection. Won't buy tires from them again. They have good service though. Fortunately, I now have room for lowering springs.



Chrome plated flashers and parking lights = no amber.

 

[302'Stang]

A small update for today. I got my other car sold for $2650, so I have a little play money now. First order of business was that damn purple, bubbling window tint. I got a very reasonable price from United Solar in Midlothian. They did a great job, were friendly, and gave me exactly what I expected. I got the old tint removed from the rear window without destroying my defroster and the rest of the glue residue I didn't/couldn't get off for $95. I got my car tinted 35% all around including the sunroof and a 20% tint strip on the windshield for $170. Then, I got big ass Phi Kappa Sigma letters on the back window for $40. Total bill: $305. I will get more pictures of the window tint tomorrow. It started pouring right after I got home.



Next was my fresh supplies for my system reinstallation. All Tsunami product. Also got a new dash kit and a set of 4 awg ring terminals. I still need to find my soldering iron...

-50 ft 16awg speaker wire
-20 ft 4 awg power
-5 ft 4 awg ground
-150 amp fuse

They should be on the way soon...

 

[302'Stang]

Aright, here's some better pictures of the fresh tint and super fratstar letters. Plus some goodies that arrived Friday. The rest should hopefully all be in tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[Shotchacokov]

Looks like you have a nice complete car to start with. Excellent choice! Good luck with the build

 

[5spd07gt]

I'd love to have a foxbody project. Great work so far although I'm not really into giant window stickers. Keep the updates coming. :beer:

 

[Boomer182]

Honestly I would Restore it back to factory specs. Repaint it, clean the interior up, put some exhaust on it, and just enjoy it.

 

[Hwy. Chile]

Congrats looks like a fun project. How bout a radiator flush for that hot summer in Virginia? How many miles?

 

[Almighty-One]

Honestly I would Restore it back to factory specs. Repaint it, clean the interior up, put some exhaust on it, and just enjoy it.

This

all my friends with moderately modified foxbody's enjoy driving my mostly stock fox because it has such good manners (little to no bucking, turns and stops good,ect..) their only complain is it obviously isn't as powerful as theirs.

 

[frdmstnggt]

Congrats! As the Navy has tought me for the past 10 years... MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE!!!!! Get it all done... every last detail.

 

[k98dave]

Doing the brakes first was a good call. Then start with regular maint. stuff (hoses, belt, fluids filters, tune etc).
My guess is Struts and shocks should be replaced too.

If it were my car I would restore everything using stock Ford parts as much as you can. You can get just about everything from Late Model Resto or NPD

Clean stock FOX cars are very hard to find and have really gone up and will continue to go up in value. Even stock they are still fun and always draw a look!

 

[302'Stang]

Standby, messed up.

 

[302'Stang]

Couldn't figure out how to multiquote. I'm not really going to change too much about the car, but it probably won't be very stock. Just not the route I'd like to go, but body wise it won't change much. I actually love the paint color on it for some reason, so when I get it repainted, I will likely do the same color. Restoring the interior is definitely in the works. It really only needs a good shampoo and a few panels replaced and it would look really good again.

Here's a little update. I was a very bad photographer with my audio install, as I was in a hurry to get it done before going to the beach for a week. I'll get some finished product pictures tomorrow. Also got Eibach Prokit lowering springs and KYB struts and shocks installed, along with new bushings and ball joints.



Finally got the other set of speakers one day before I leave.



A few more supplies to get started with.



The classic wire hanger for phishing wire through tight spaces. Doors suck.







Getting those wires through there is always a pain, but definitely worth it.



Neoprene for an airtight seal, or close enough.



Rear speaker wire was a cinch.



150 amp fuse should do it.



Both amps installed and wired.


Right before new suspension.



After.

 

[Taylor_SVT]

keep the mods comin!

 

[FISHTAIL]

Definitely looking better. Keep it up! What are your plans for the power train? I'm just curious...

 

[302'Stang]

Yepp I plan on it! My only plans for the powertrain right now is just to get all the flaws smoothed out, since I'm focusing more on restoring the car since the last owner neglected the simple things that really mattered. Even dumb stuff like the wiper blades were dry rotted, the washer fluid tank was bone dry, there's not even a damn overflow tank hooked up for my radiator so all my fluid just spills on the ground when it heats up.

I have a new tank on the way, along with a new speedo cable because mine bounces around alot and is quite noisy. Once it settles out, it also appears to be reading wrong, so I think I may have to change out the gear for the speedo to match the 3.73 gears.

I need a few new interior panels, new window seals, a new headliner because the current one is like a blue zebra stripe or something, the interior needs to be shampooed, the steering wheel needs new pins in it to hold it still. It wobbles around. The engine has a tick to it that sounds like an exhaust leak and after tightening the bolts at the cats and checking for leaks on the pipes, it seems to be coming from the block right by the headers. To top it off, my smog pump isn't hooked up, so I need to get hoses for that. And the driver side door lock is jammed.

Things I have already fixed that were broken:
-Headlamps.
-Headlights.
-Blown strut on passenger side (all were replaced with KYB struts/shocks).
-New ball joints and bushings. The old ones were so beyond replacement time that my steering was basically about to just fall out of place. Probably part of the reason why my inspection sticker is from another car and glued to the windshield.
-New tires, old ones were dry rotted and balding.
-Purple bubbling window tint.

The guy that I bought it from said he was about to put Edelbrock heads on it and a bunch of other stuff. Funny how he didn't find regular maintenance on the car to be at all more important. Damn rednecks.

Once the car is "restored", then my real fun can begin, although I am enjoying restoring it and taking care of it like it desperately needed. I saved this car from a shitty owner.

 

[Boomer182]

This

all my friends with moderately modified foxbody's enjoy driving my mostly stock fox because it has such good manners (little to no bucking, turns and stops good,ect..) their only complain is it obviously isn't as powerful as theirs.

My car likes to buck, with the cam and gears.