Hello All,

I will be in the market for buying my first Fox Body mustang in about 6-8 months. It's actually a surprise for my wife. She has always wanted her own Fox but never really had the opportunity to do so. Now that we have our son she's stuck driving her new 2013 Hemi Grand Cherokee. I decided that I wanted a cool project car my son and I can work on over the next couple of years restoring to give to mom.

I know I want to buy a 90's GT since they would presumably would be less rotted away than their older predecessors. The car will get a 100% top to bottom front to back restoration but at the same time I do not want to spend too much money on fixing rust holes and the such.

I have a few questions though before I begin my search.

• What are the areas that are prone to rusting out? (ie: Where should I give a lot of attention to when checking out a potential car?)
• Any specific model years that are better equipped than the others?

The car will be a street car 100% of the time.

Thanks for your help guys. I am a total noob when it comes to a Fox body. In fact my first mustang ever was this new GT/CS I recently bought myself.

 

IMO The year doesn't matter. I spend a good amout of time looking for a worthy resto project at a resonable price. I found plenty of crappy '92 and '93 fox mustangs with delusional owners. Don't rule out the '89. The '89 has most of the upgrades w/o the air bag and tilt wheel option.

They are prone to rust along the pinch weld on the firewall, the front frame rails along the strut towers, under the rear hatch/trunk lid and the rear panel behind the tailights, behind the rear bumper, an d around teh door hinges/behind the body/door seal and under the gas tank. They also rust in the tranny tunnel area and floor boards.They can rust in the front cowl area and just like the front frame section this is a costly fix. T roof cars leak so the rug can smell and the floor can rust behind the front seats. The front drivers seat is known to break the seat track, tear the floor ( manual cars ) and get the geto lean. T5 cars with a mileage will have a 3rd gear grind. If it has some decent mods look for torn rear torque boxes . also look for rust bubbles around the front and rear window trim. small cracks can show up on the A-pillar at the corner of the windshield on abused cars.

If you have ?'s, need advice on a car or help shoot me a pm I'll be glad to help.

 

Thanks for the in depth insight!

Right now I'm in the saving and planning stage. It's not going to be a mod heavy car. Primarily just restored to be a weekend cruiser for her with maybe a 331 and a 6spd.

When I get to the stage of actually buying a car I will shoot some more questions your way.

Are all Fox body mustangs equipped with the "HO" 5.0?

 

Any reason why GT over LX or do you just love the cheese graters and body kit?

I prefer the LX but that's just me.

 

Gary he wants a GT because they RULE compared to the plain Jane LX..... duh everyone knows that.

 

The car isn't for me. Plus I don't know anything about fox bodies so I have no idea what the difference between an LX and a GT are. However she likes the deck wing on the GT so that's why I asked about the GT.

 

But GTs are slower

Fair enough

Just adding an opinion

How about a 93 Cobra? Best if both plus you'd be really restoring something that needs it. Although all V8 foxes are awesome. Even GT ragtop chick cars like Tom's

 

LOL touche.... glad someone gets my warped since of humor once in a while.

Seriously to the OP, Skunk gave you some great insight on these cars, so good luck with your search and let us know how it turns out.

 

GT's are roughly 200lbs heaver or just under ( hard to really say since true weight numbers are hard to nail down) over the lX hatch. tail lights can be changed, cheesegraters are nostalgai love it or hate it. really wouldn't worry about the GT being slower.

 

I love me some cheesegraters. Wouldn't have it any other way on my car. Paranoid about being rearended though.

 

What is a "cheese grater"?

 

A descriptive term for GT tail lights . .

GT


LX

 

I like that yellow LX. It has much nicer body lines than the fox. It even has the hatch spoiler she likes.

The search is on.

 

 

IMO, I'd try to find a '89 because it has mass-air and NO air bag system. Would be a lot simpler adding front fenders and extensions from '91-'93 if wheel/tire upgrades are in the future vs. looking for parts trying to fix a malfunctioning SRS for a older car when they do go bad. Plus you can upgrade the steering wheel w/out worrying about "the law".
But most importantly, don't be afraid to spend a little more money up front if it means getting a Fox in the best condition you can find. You could probably make it a bigger project converting a 4 cyl. car to V8 since they tend to be less beat to heck.

 

Clarifying, all 1979-1993 Mustangs are "fox bodies" or "foxes," V-8, 4 or 6-cyl, GT or LX, coupe, hatch, convertible. All are Fox-bodies. That was/is Ford designation of the model. I also suggest spending as much time (or money) possible buying the best, non-abused 'Stang you can find. I waited 7 years for the one I wanted to come up for sale and I finally got it, when the ignition switch started going bad causing inoperative turn signals and other annoyances for the original owner. New switch=all good.

 

I forget what years had forged motors but that would be a plus.

 

85, 87-early 92 all had forged pistons. Late 92-93 had hypers. Not sure on the 86

 

'86 had pistons (flat top, IIRC) that don't have much piston to valve clearance given the crappy OE heads with their small valve sizes. Limits selection and use of aftermarket cams and cylinder heads. If the rotating assembly is going to be upgraded or replaced, then no problems there.

 

All '79-'93 fox mustangs have forged rods

Forged pistons where used in the H.O. motor from '85 - early '92 ( side note: non H.O.- 5.0.'s do not have forged pistons but cast pistons)

all '79 - '93 mustang have cast iron cranks

The hypereutectic pistons worry was over rated. most problems where on boosted motors and the tune was the problem on most issues. If you look at most long blocks the aftermarket and ford sells they are in there and imo for n/a builds are fine.