A few parts for my Fox right after tuning is complete.

[99MustangGTman]

I've actually had all these parts since January of 2022, and wanted to lower my car ever since I bought it, but it was a good idea since my buddy helped me tow it home on a U-Haul trailer and if anyone has used one before, you know they have the deepest tracks and a giant hump the front of the car has to clear to be fully ln the trailer.

Since then I didn't do anything too crazy to the car except install the ram air section of my home made CAI which cost me $50 all in (except the price of silicone couplers and T-bolt clamps, some of those I had already) of 4" piping which is basically my own Anderson Power Pipe for less than 1/4 of the price, but in gloss black. I still need a bigger hole saw than the one I have to fit the other end of the pipe into the fender well. I removed this stupid Sony head unit, along with this custom carpeted giant box in my hatch obstructing the view in my mirror that had two subs I think and twin amps. All I know was it was damn heavy and i'm happy to have removed it. I'm trying to find the OEM Ford Premium Sound head unit that lights up red with a cassette player. My Dad has a bunch of cassettes from around the time he bought his 86' GT new. I'm trying to keep the interior of my 86' GT as 80's as possible. I'm only replacing the steering wheel and perhaps change the seats to Corbeau GTS II's. I would love to put my Halos on them if I could. Other that, just typical restoration pieces for a 37 year old car.

I already installed a few parts like a PA Performance Alternator, Holley Terminator X, 75mm BBK TB, Drake Diff. Cover, DUI Hot Forged Distributor, DUI Screamin' Demon plug wires, Ford plugs for aftermarket heads ( I can't remember the part #), they were only around $18 for all 8 of them. Kirban Adjustable FPR, TF 28 oz. balancer, and it already had a Flowmaster 40 series C/B, O/R H-Pipe, old school FMS Shorties, full TF Top End package -Track Heat Intake, cam, 170cc heads, 1.6 Roller Rockers, stock 302 S/B.

My car should be back from my tuner soon and then i'm going to install my my suspension parts and order anything else I might need. Then by the end of summer my friend's co-worker has a 347 stroker LB which i'm considering buying it or finding a 351 block and stroke it to a 363 or 408.I plan on going N/A for this car. Most all these are the parts i've had new in the box, the FP/Sparco steering wheel and MoMo hub I just picked up last week.

-Ray

 

[CobraBob]

You're going to be busy this summer, Ray. Nice bunch of mods there. I'll be looking forward to seeing photos of your Fox after the project is complete.

 

[bird_dog0347]

Nice parts setup there, might want to reconsider the upper control arms as it's recommended to use stock rubber bushing uppers as opposed to poly to prevent binding.

 

[triple-s]

What tuner did you go with?

 

[SID297]

I need one of those steering wheels.

 

[99MustangGTman]

I need one of those steering wheels.

I could've sworn they were way more expensive a while ago, then a couple weeks ago I saw them for a bit under $270, so I said WTH, and bought one and got a correct hub/ My car didn't even come with a OEM steering wheell. It has some garbage Grant PepBoys steering wheel.

 

[99MustangGTman]

What tuner did you go with?

JJ@ Woodbine. He tuned a Vortech New Edge I had some years ago.

 

[99MustangGTman]

Nice parts setup there, might want to reconsider the upper control arms as it's recommended to use stock rubber bushing uppers as opposed to poly to prevent binding.

I will look into that. I've been out of the Mustang game for quite a while. I was very into my DD, a WRX, so I spent a ton of time on the NASIOC forums. I bought the car new in 2013, and honestly would still have it if I didn't total it in a freak accident in 2020.

I did plan on buying a Fox before I totaled my WRX since my buddy bought a pretty well modified 86' GT the previous summer and I specifically wanted an 86' GT for years since that was the car my Dad bought new in 1986 (he also had a mint 89' LX, but that was a track only car). As I was growing up, I worked on the car with my Dad, adding all kinds of performance mods, and we drove to many Mustang events and to our local dragstrips, sometimes every weekend. To me, that car represented my childhood, the fondest memories of my Dad, and looking back, all that time I bonded with my Dad showed me what it means to be a great Father now that he's no longer with me and i'm older.


It's not that I don't know about the newest trends/mods/news about which companies went bankrupt or stopped making certain products and so forth, but a bunch of my technical knowledge involving mods on Mustangs is rusty. I just need to get my hands greasy and start doing more mods and it'll all come back to me. I even bought a laptop specifically to hook up to my Terminator X and use it for all future tuning endeavors for the car. It's just some crappy HP laptop that was $200.

 

[Tob]

Nice parts setup there, might want to reconsider the upper control arms as it's recommended to use stock rubber bushing uppers as opposed to poly to prevent binding.

I struggle when I see anything quadrabind related. Put a panhard bar on it and some quality rod ended LCA's. A torque arm if you wanna get serious. The stock four link was an absolute abomination. You're spot on as stiffer bushings in the stock configuration only makes things worse.

 

[99MustangGTman]

I was debating a Watts link vs. a MM Panhard bar/Torque arm style set-up. I landed on MM because I got to talking to one of the members on foureyepride who also happened to work at MM. So I gave him a call and he talked to me all about it. My problem with it, well not like I have a fundamental problem with it, is that I am doing brakes on the car first.

Also, since I have a 1986 GT, the spindle is a different size than 87-93s, so very few struts will fit in there. That isn't the biggest problem since I plan on doing a complete 5 lug conversion with SN95 spindles & hubs. I'm putting on Wilwood or Baer brakes on the front with 03/04 caliper on the back since my friend that also has an 86 GT has an IRS on his car and said I can take his 8.8 whenever i'm ready to do the 5-lug conversion/brakes. The 8.8 my friend has already has the brackets for an 03/04 Cobra rear brake set-up (most likely because the previous owner had 03/04 brakes on that SRA before installing an IRS). The 8.8 also has 5-lug Moser axles already installed. I'm not sure which gears are on it, but I can always put my Ford Racing 3.73s in it and I also have a billet aluminum diff. cover.

When I do the 5-lug conversion i'll have to get new wheels even though I like my 17" Chrome Pony wheels that only have 10k miles on them. I could just buy the same ones, but in 5-lug, but kind of want to try something different. Then comes the SN95 spindles, hubs, installing my friend's SRA, or swapping over the parts to mine. I'm not sure, but I think the tubes are welded, so i'll probably just install his. I also need a newer style master cylinder, and a proportioning valve. So that is on the books for me to do first, then the suspension, and then engine work. I'll also do some restoration along the way, pieces like my dash have cracks in multiple areas, I need to order an entire gray carpet, and a bunch of random pieces that have broken because of the car just showing its age. The one thing I don't have to worry about is rust, this car was always garage kept. The fact it was rust free and had a very clean underbody and not even any beginning stages of rust under the carpet in the interior is the reason I bought the car despite it not being as modified as I wanted, plus it's an 86' GT, which took me a long time to find since I only wanted one specific year.



What I have right now, is not my final suspension set-up, but it's supposed to be enough after I finally lower my car and just drive the car for the summer/fall. You have to understand, I bought the car in December 2020. I drove until, about October 2021 when it started running pretty bad, and at the very end of the year I lost my Father. So, for around half of 2022 I didn't touch the car and just left it in the garage and I was feeling like complete shit, I really didn't care about the car at all. In the months following I was feeling better and started to work on my car again. I made an appointment to have my car tuned and to fix any electrical issues. The previous owner was a moron and would splice into all kinds of places. Even if you're slightly into cars, you must know that splicing into the harness that plugs into the ECU can't be a could idea. Yet this guy did, and he even spliced into 3 different wires about 2-3" from the connector at the harness. This is just one of the many idiotic things he did. I started finding a bunch of his "work" all over the car, usually hidden under loom, or tucked up under the dash.

I know that part was a little off topic, but what i'm trying to show is that i've barely driven the car since I bought it, and would love to just drive the car hassle-free without starting another project after project. That is the story of my 99' GT, first just bolt-ons, then I added N2O, then I put on a Vortech, then I put in a turbo kit and pulled the engine and trans to put a forged shortblock in. I drove the car a lot up to when I placed the Vortech on it. After that, I was always pulling something out of the car, or adding something else. It was just project after project and I never got to enjoy it, except for a few times once the turbo kit was in. I don't want that to happen to my Fox, although I have big plans for it, I want to still enjoy the car.





Is there something else you recommend for the UCAs in the meantime? Ride quality doesn't matter to me. On my WRX I replaced all the bushings with polyurethane ones, and did a ton of bracing. At one point I had Bilstein Vorschlag PSS9 coilovers and with all the other suspension mods, I could feel every pebble on the road. At least the car handled amazing, which was my goal in the first place.

 

[99MustangGTman]

Sorry for any grammar mistakes, i'm watching TV while typing. I went back and fixed a few, but it will take forever to fix every single issue. Thanks!

 

[9397SVTs]

I was debating a Watts link vs. a MM Panhard bar/Torque arm style set-up. I landed on MM because I got to talking to one of the members on foureyepride who also happened to work at MM. So I gave him a call and he talked to me all about it. My problem with it, well not like I have a fundamental problem with it, is that I am doing brakes on the car first.

Also, since I have a 1986 GT, the spindle is a different size than 87-93s, so very few struts will fit in there. That isn't the biggest problem since I plan on doing a complete 5 lug conversion with SN95 spindles & hubs. I'm putting on Wilwood or Baer brakes on the front with 03/04 caliper on the back since my friend that also has an 86 GT has an IRS on his car and said I can take his 8.8 whenever i'm ready to do the 5-lug conversion/brakes. The 8.8 my friend has already has the brackets for an 03/04 Cobra rear brake set-up (most likely because the previous owner had 03/04 brakes on that SRA before installing an IRS). The 8.8 also has 5-lug Moser axles already installed. I'm not sure which gears are on it, but I can always put my Ford Racing 3.73s in it and I also have a billet aluminum diff. cover.

When I do the 5-lug conversion i'll have to get new wheels even though I like my 17" Chrome Pony wheels that only have 10k miles on them. I could just buy the same ones, but in 5-lug, but kind of want to try something different. Then comes the SN95 spindles, hubs, installing my friend's SRA, or swapping over the parts to mine. I'm not sure, but I think the tubes are welded, so i'll probably just install his. I also need a newer style master cylinder, and a proportioning valve. So that is on the books for me to do first, then the suspension, and then engine work. I'll also do some restoration along the way, pieces like my dash have cracks in multiple areas, I need to order an entire gray carpet, and a bunch of random pieces that have broken because of the car just showing its age. The one thing I don't have to worry about is rust, this car was always garage kept. The fact it was rust free and had a very clean underbody and not even any beginning stages of rust under the carpet in the interior is the reason I bought the car despite it not being as modified as I wanted, plus it's an 86' GT, which took me a long time to find since I only wanted one specific year.



What I have right now, is not my final suspension set-up, but it's supposed to be enough after I finally lower my car and just drive the car for the summer/fall. You have to understand, I bought the car in December 2020. I drove until, about October 2021 when it started running pretty bad, and at the very end of the year I lost my Father. So, for around half of 2022 I didn't touch the car and just left it in the garage and I was feeling like complete shit, I really didn't care about the car at all. In the months following I was feeling better and started to work on my car again. I made an appointment to have my car tuned and to fix any electrical issues. The previous owner was a moron and would splice into all kinds of places. Even if you're slightly into cars, you must know that splicing into the harness that plugs into the ECU can't be a could idea. Yet this guy did, and he even spliced into 3 different wires about 2-3" from the connector at the harness. This is just one of the many idiotic things he did. I started finding a bunch of his "work" all over the car, usually hidden under loom, or tucked up under the dash.

I know that part was a little off topic, but what i'm trying to show is that i've barely driven the car since I bought it, and would love to just drive the car hassle-free without starting another project after project. That is the story of my 99' GT, first just bolt-ons, then I added N2O, then I put on a Vortech, then I put in a turbo kit and pulled the engine and trans to put a forged shortblock in. I drove the car a lot up to when I placed the Vortech on it. After that, I was always pulling something out of the car, or adding something else. It was just project after project and I never got to enjoy it, except for a few times once the turbo kit was in. I don't want that to happen to my Fox, although I have big plans for it, I want to still enjoy the car.





Is there something else you recommend for the UCAs in the meantime? Ride quality doesn't matter to me. On my WRX I replaced all the bushings with polyurethane ones, and did a ton of bracing. At one point I had Bilstein Vorschlag PSS9 coilovers and with all the other suspension mods, I could feel every pebble on the road. At least the car handled amazing, which was my goal in the first place.

If you go with the MM TA/PHB, you don't need upper control arms. I would suggest adding their adj. anti-roll bar also.

If you need something between now and then, factory replacement or one with a heim joint will work.

 

[bird_dog0347]

I was debating a Watts link vs. a MM Panhard bar/Torque arm style set-up. I landed on MM because I got to talking to one of the members on foureyepride who also happened to work at MM. So I gave him a call and he talked to me all about it. My problem with it, well not like I have a fundamental problem with it, is that I am doing brakes on the car first.

Also, since I have a 1986 GT, the spindle is a different size than 87-93s, so very few struts will fit in there. That isn't the biggest problem since I plan on doing a complete 5 lug conversion with SN95 spindles & hubs. I'm putting on Wilwood or Baer brakes on the front with 03/04 caliper on the back since my friend that also has an 86 GT has an IRS on his car and said I can take his 8.8 whenever i'm ready to do the 5-lug conversion/brakes. The 8.8 my friend has already has the brackets for an 03/04 Cobra rear brake set-up (most likely because the previous owner had 03/04 brakes on that SRA before installing an IRS). The 8.8 also has 5-lug Moser axles already installed. I'm not sure which gears are on it, but I can always put my Ford Racing 3.73s in it and I also have a billet aluminum diff. cover.

When I do the 5-lug conversion i'll have to get new wheels even though I like my 17" Chrome Pony wheels that only have 10k miles on them. I could just buy the same ones, but in 5-lug, but kind of want to try something different. Then comes the SN95 spindles, hubs, installing my friend's SRA, or swapping over the parts to mine. I'm not sure, but I think the tubes are welded, so i'll probably just install his. I also need a newer style master cylinder, and a proportioning valve. So that is on the books for me to do first, then the suspension, and then engine work. I'll also do some restoration along the way, pieces like my dash have cracks in multiple areas, I need to order an entire gray carpet, and a bunch of random pieces that have broken because of the car just showing its age. The one thing I don't have to worry about is rust, this car was always garage kept. The fact it was rust free and had a very clean underbody and not even any beginning stages of rust under the carpet in the interior is the reason I bought the car despite it not being as modified as I wanted, plus it's an 86' GT, which took me a long time to find since I only wanted one specific year.



What I have right now, is not my final suspension set-up, but it's supposed to be enough after I finally lower my car and just drive the car for the summer/fall. You have to understand, I bought the car in December 2020. I drove until, about October 2021 when it started running pretty bad, and at the very end of the year I lost my Father. So, for around half of 2022 I didn't touch the car and just left it in the garage and I was feeling like complete shit, I really didn't care about the car at all. In the months following I was feeling better and started to work on my car again. I made an appointment to have my car tuned and to fix any electrical issues. The previous owner was a moron and would splice into all kinds of places. Even if you're slightly into cars, you must know that splicing into the harness that plugs into the ECU can't be a could idea. Yet this guy did, and he even spliced into 3 different wires about 2-3" from the connector at the harness. This is just one of the many idiotic things he did. I started finding a bunch of his "work" all over the car, usually hidden under loom, or tucked up under the dash.

I know that part was a little off topic, but what i'm trying to show is that i've barely driven the car since I bought it, and would love to just drive the car hassle-free without starting another project after project. That is the story of my 99' GT, first just bolt-ons, then I added N2O, then I put on a Vortech, then I put in a turbo kit and pulled the engine and trans to put a forged shortblock in. I drove the car a lot up to when I placed the Vortech on it. After that, I was always pulling something out of the car, or adding something else. It was just project after project and I never got to enjoy it, except for a few times once the turbo kit was in. I don't want that to happen to my Fox, although I have big plans for it, I want to still enjoy the car.





Is there something else you recommend for the UCAs in the meantime? Ride quality doesn't matter to me. On my WRX I replaced all the bushings with polyurethane ones, and did a ton of bracing. At one point I had Bilstein Vorschlag PSS9 coilovers and with all the other suspension mods, I could feel every pebble on the road. At least the car handled amazing, which was my goal in the first place.

Nothing wrong with doing it in stages and doing the suspension later, my only comment on it would be to NOT install those aftermarket upper control arms at all as that will make the bind issues worse. You can do the PHB and possibly TQ Arm later but it is not recommended to use all 4 control arms with poly bushings.