Mirage's new (36 year old) Build!

[Mirage775]

Well, it's not a Ranger, but at least it's a Ford

I picked this up Thanksgiving weekend. '88 Mustang LX 5.0, 5-speed Coupe. I have big plans for this car and I will continue this build thread, if it's allowed and if anyone's interested in seeing more? It seems like the majority of the popular Mustang forums are all 99% dead...

Sponsored

 

[Cmar]

I was never a fan of the Fox bodies, but that one looks nice and clean.

 

[Mirage775]

I was never a fan of the Fox bodies, but that one looks nice and clean.

Thanks! I like all sorts of cars & trucks, but I grew up with the Fox bodies, along with 80's Vette's, Firebird's, Camaro's, etc., and this is only my 2nd one in almost 20 years since I owned a '93 GT! I know a lot of people use them for drag racing, especially in the US, but that won't be this ones' fate. I actually never cared for the Coupe/Notchback Fox Body until a couple of years ago, when I couldn't find a nice 87-93 GT, there were a lot of 87-93 Coupes and I started liking that body style And they're all getting expensive now, so, I found this one on Facebook and decided to get it. I drove it home about 2-2.5 hours, with original intentions of rebuilding the engine, but I have decided to just buy a built, Dart block Stroker 347

 

[Danager]

Love it! Thats THE car for me. Fox body notch-back 5.0. Maybe the convertible…. My GF in high school had a 92. The first year for the nicer headlights too. I always liked the side profile, where you could see about three feet of tail-pipe. I wish the interior was a little nicer though. And this year looks good with any of the factory wheels. Are those the SVO?

Definitely interested in following a build.

 

[Muscleford]

I want to see what your plans are and how it develops. I have two fox bodies. An 85 Merc Capri 5.0 has 30,000 miles on it. I am the third owner. I have an 84 Merc Capri I bought new. and it has 50,000 miles on it..

 

[9zero1790]

nice find! it looks to be in clean shape esp for age. i didnt appreciate the fox body cars when they were current but they have slowly grown on me over the decades. more so than the gm offerings of the same era.

 

[Mirage775]

Love it! Thats THE car for me. Fox body notch-back 5.0. Maybe the convertible…. My GF in high school had a 92. The first year for the nicer headlights too. I always liked the side profile, where you could see about three feet of tail-pipe. I wish the interior was a little nicer though. And this year looks good with any of the factory wheels. Are those the SVO?

Definitely interested in following a build.

They are indeed SVO wheels, '03 Cobra to be exact! After owning both a GT and an LX now, I definitely agree with you on the exhaust! Plus the car just looks so much cleaner than the GT. I liked all the 80s/90s "ground effects" when I was a kid, but now not so much...

I want to see what your plans are and how it develops. I have two fox bodies. An 85 Merc Capri 5.0 has 30,000 miles on it. I am the third owner. I have an 84 Merc Capri I bought new. and it has 50,000 miles on it..

Cool, I'll try to post my pics tonight. It definitely looks a lot different now, haha! I know these odometers only go to 5 digits, but looking at the car, I honestly think it only has 70k miles on it, instead of 170k'ish miles, like most would assume!

nice find! it looks to be in clean shape esp for age. i didnt appreciate the fox body cars when they were current but they have slowly grown on me over the decades. more so than the gm offerings of the same era.

I always liked them when I was a kid, but my dad was a Chevy guy, so that's pretty much all I could have, when learning how to drive. I always wanted a Fox though, but they were way out of my price range when I was 16 and they were still in production back then! I'm now almost 50 and the prices are getting insane on them, so I grabbed it before it got higher!

 

[ranger 2020]

I was working at Ford stores during the Fox years. Those 5.0 Mustangs were a hell of a car for the money. Had a guy order one, got a notchback, 5.0, 5 speed, and premium sound sound system. nothing that hindered straight line performance. It ran very well. I wouldn't mind owning one myself, only with a bored/stroked 351 Windsor. I think that would be a killer combo.

 

[Dpg123]

Love me some fox bodies especially the coupe. My pal had a 93 coupe thru high school. Then we turned it into a 8th mile drag car. Put a 351 with a blower in it. Fckn car was fast…..5.50 8ths was what he could run. We put a lot of work into that car….he no longer has it and regrets ever getting rid of it. I begged him not to get rid of it at the time…..Im in for your build! Looking forward to it!

 

[Joeiconic]

I had an ‘89 GT. I don’t have a pic but it was like this one…

https://www.motortrend.com/uploads/f/36466128.jpg?fit=around|875:492

 

[Grandaccess]

80% of the vehicles I have owned in the last 40 years were Ford, they have all served me well, I had an Explorer with that engine and a 6 speed, it got me 283k hard miles before it gave up LOL, the one before that was a sport trac all the way back to a 72 Comet when I was 16 with the factory hood scoop
probably why by now the rangers have become a Cult more than a car, we will see where Ford is going good or bad in the next few years if they stay a good company or not

 

[Cmar]

Thanks! I like all sorts of cars & trucks, but I grew up with the Fox bodies, along with 80's Vette's, Firebird's, Camaro's, etc., and this is only my 2nd one in almost 20 years since I owned a '93 GT! I know a lot of people use them for drag racing, especially in the US, but that won't be this ones' fate. I actually never cared for the Coupe/Notchback Fox Body until a couple of years ago, when I couldn't find a nice 87-93 GT, there were a lot of 87-93 Coupes and I started liking that body style And they're all getting expensive now, so, I found this one on Facebook and decided to get it. I drove it home about 2-2.5 hours, with original intentions of rebuilding the engine, but I have decided to just buy a built, Dart block Stroker 347

Very nice!

 

[Dpg123]

And yea the prices for fox bodies are insane now…..it seems ones that are for sale are convertibles and that’s a no go for me……anything decent is priced way too high imo. But people are paying those prices for them so I guess it’s warranted?

 

[Mirage775]

And yea the prices for fox bodies are insane now…..it seems ones that are for sale are convertibles and that’s a no go for me……anything decent is priced way too high imo. But people are paying those prices for them so I guess it’s warranted?

I paid low teens for it and was told by an aftermarket Mustang parts company in CA, that my car would bring close to $30k as is! That's silly!

 

[Dpg123]

Are you not in the states? Yea a lot of fox bodies went to drag racing which ultimately led to a bunch of ‘chopped stangs’ that aren’t anywhere close stock

edit-Just looked back at some of your posts. You are in the US. Your one reply to another post had me thinking otherwise

Sponsored