Newbie questions (long)

Greetings all,

Through a twist of fate I am about to take ownership of my first Mustang, an '85 that is by no means (well, in my opinion) average. Purchased from a good friend who is out of work for a price that I just could not pass up.

It went something like this ...*ring*...*ring*.... "Hey friends Dad, do yo know how much friend wants for his Mustang? I know it's been sitting for a while." "3700.00." "Really? Wow gee I'm surprised he hasn't sold it. Well, I'll call back later, thanks friends Dad"

......later that day......"Yo, friend, how's things? Yeah, I'm interested in it....your Dad said you wanted 3700 for it?" "WHHAAAA???!??!!? NO FSCKING WAY!!!blah blah rant rant" "Oh, geez.... I'm sorry....look man I was only looking to spend 3 grand on something for myself anyway...so that was a stretch...but for 3700 I figured I would take it off your hands."

*long pause*

"How soon can you send me the money?"

So now I own a Mustang and friend doesn't

While I'm a "general car guy" (I have an idea what year Stangs had what engines, suspension changes, last year for carbs, when disc brakes appeared, etc. the basics of the Fox platform) I grew my wrench turning abilities on VW's. I've done engines, trannies, clutches, drivetrain suspension brakes, I can weld and do body work etc etc but I don't know the fine nuances of RWD cars, or Mustangs. I'm going to have to learn to drive again too I guess.

So on to the car... I went with friend to look at it initially 2 years ago. This particular car had been built bumper to bumper and the craftsmanship was absolutely outstanding. Every clamp, bolt, grommet, wire wrap...everything, all in place and installed with obviously deft care.. No overspray. 100 percent devoid of cheese. And this car pulled - past 7 grand - it *sang*. Friend stood on the throttle for 3 gears and I was flat out mortified.

I don't know off hand the details of the drive train other than its a "balanced and blue printed 302" and pulls "high 13's". That being said, I based my purchase on the build quality. The car morphed into it's present state in the mid 90's after spending the first part of its life as a garaged automatic 4 cyl...(a whopping 85 horse those cars had, if memory serves) so the body lacks the appearance of having given birth as I've seen on other Fox-Stangs. The car had about 60k on it, and the build less than 5. The thing was perfect, the paint, the interior, the undercarriage, thing was totally impeccable. It's decayed somewhat over 2 years under poor care of friend, but he put less than 10k on it and its nothing I cant undo.

I've been googling a lot to learn about my new car but I could use some opinions.

1) Pending some research, the drivetrain itself will likely remain unchanged.

2) In the interest of preservation and structural enhancement, it occurs to me that the first thing this car needs is some sub frame connectors, G-Trac bar, strut tower brace, etc, etc? What is the thinking on this stuff? Am I tracking here? I've been picking around Steedas sight and they have what looks to be some good, fairly priced apparatus to do this.

3) Once this is done, the car will need brakes. Call me crazy, but 11" front rotors and rear drums (4 lug) on a car with a claimed 385 horse (is that a little far out for a naturally aspirated 302?) is a recipe for death. My 2500 lb VR6 VW had 11.7's on the front so I would like my Mustang to have braking that is on par with that. From what I can tell the asking price would be around 2 grand to achieve this.

4) Suspension. To the best of my knowledge, it basically has stock '85 GT suspension with lowering springs and 15" wheels with whatever tires. The car may be called upon for daily duty at times so I don't want to go with anything too radical. The roads where I live right now are shitty, too. I'd also like it to handle fairly decent and put the power to the ground (as opposed to simply converting the tires into a airborn particulates). I'm thinking 17" wheels/tires and a nice suspension upgrade.

Fortunately I will not have to drive the car in rain or otherwise poor weather, and the car will be kept under a cover in a garage when I am not driving (any suggestions on a decent fairly priced cover?).

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get into the thing. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Jason

Reply to
Jason Mc New
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Yeah, ever read a post and think . . . hey, I thought I was in the *other* newsgroup!

(Sorry, nothing to add, I mostly lurk here . . . I just saw a familiar AMR name, so I thought I'd same something stupid!)

- Max - =======

2001 GT Coupe, El Imán de Chicas

Unmod . . . by the grace of God!

Reply to
Max C. Webster III

I used to bump into Drewe in some other news groups too. It's cool that you remembered me since I have not posted in a long while now. Now tell me how to make my car better, you bastard. Or I will beat you with Ged's wooden leg. :)

Jason

Reply to
Jason Mc New

Congrats. Love the 85's. Is it still carbed?

Good idea that googling thing. Lot of good help here.

You are on the right track. Alot of people here swear by Global West products. Installation can be very important on these items. Go with an experienced shop if you can't do them yourself. Sounds like you might though.

There is a web site dedicated to Mustang brake upgrades. Both used and new kits. Sorry I no longer have the link bookmarked. There are a couple of upgrades from later model mustangs and other Ford cars and trucks. You can even change to 5 lugs if you want more wheel options.If you just want decent stopping it can probably be done for about 1/2 what your are thinking. Try this site as a good mustang starting point

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Congrats and good luck. Claud

Reply to
Claud Spinks

Thanks for the suggestions. The car is still carbed with $BIGNUM CFM carb and it has an MSD igntion. Some reasons why I think it's a keeper.

Jason

craftsmanship

Reply to
Jason Mc New

You can't . . . that leg is in an evidence locker in Naples, Florida

These guys (and gals, I ain't forgot about you, Kate) in RAMFM are good. They'll answer all your questions (eventually) about 'Stangs.

Me . . . I just hang around and cause trouble.

- Max - ======= The most favorable posthumous history the stay-at-home traitor can hope for is--oblivion.

- Ulysses S. Grant

Reply to
Max C. Webster III

Now you have my attention.

Eventually being the key word. The OP researched his issues pretty well, that goes over great with the crowd. Nothing quite as miserable as answering the age old "what can I do to my (insert year here) Mustang (insert engine and transmission here) to make it faster / make more power"

Everyone's gotta be good at something. My mom always told me to find something that I was good at and stick with it.

Well, I wouldn't have ever left the bathroom, so I settled for my second best trick... ;-)

JS

Reply to
JS

Nothing like poluting another group with AMR-ness. Maybe I will start posting using "fecal tarzan" as my name :)

Been digging around GlobalWest.net, (thanks to Claud) it looks to be a lot friendlier toward the pre 86 Mustangs. Since that is a key change year I'm going to need to educate myself on what changes were made. At this point I'm definitley leaning toward the structural enhancements as a starting point.

Jason

Always cheat. And if you loose, start a fight.

Reply to
Jason Mc New

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