Newbie 2021 Challenge Mustang Build Thread

What's going on everyone. I'm new to the $2000 dollar challenge. I tagged along with Jonathan this year with his rx7 and it made me want to build a car and join in on the fun. I'm going to be building a ls swapped 97 mustang for the event.

here she is in all her glory

1997 mustang gt roller I picked up for 500 bucks with out the wheels. Car has some 3:73 gears and some lowering springs. It has a bunch of other little goodies that are useless to me and will be selling to recoupe my $500 back

starting to get it stripped down already

wasted no time starting to search for an engine and got lucky found this complete 5.3 with the harness, ecu, and accessories for $400. Was told it came out of a Tahoe with 165k on it. Hoping to post some more progress soon

Nice to see that Central FL is trying to take over the Challenge.  I just sent the 350z down that way this evening.

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

Nice! yeah I've been trying to get some other people to build a car too dont know if they will but it's worth a shot lol

Welcome to the forum!  Good luck with the build.  Make sure you know the rules on budgeting and recouping costs for the Challenge.  Document *everything*.

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

Yeah I've Jon helping me quite a bit so far with rules and stuff I'm starting to get a pretty good understanding of them

The mustang is a good base for a challenge car. Decent suspension, not too heavy, good rear end, and can fit wide tires easily. 

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

And not even to me. :(

Excited to see the progress. Im glad i could convince at least 1 person lol. 

In reply to surfshibby07 :

I was told it's coming to about 5 minutes from you.  I have a feeling you'll be seeing it.

Hey! Advice from a former first timer on recoup:

Sell the junky BS stuff first and then keep the goodies for trade. You'd be amazed how much the ticky-tacky interior crap will go for on ebay, but it's almost impossible to trade that stuff for the go-fast goodies you'll need. 

BUT! The more valuable/rare stuff can be used to trade for go-fast goodies...as long as you don't sell it first. If you do this backwards you'll be trying to find somebody to trade you a turbo for dozens of plastic interior panels, dome lights, connector switches etc...which isnt' going to happen. So sell all that small crap on ebay first, and use the valuable stuff for trade stock.

Make sense? Stampie might be able to explain this better than me.

In reply to CrustyRedXpress (Forum Supporter) :

You did a good job of it.

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

Really. Was it the guy with the turbo miata that bought it? He lives walking distance from me lol. 

In reply to surfshibby07 :

Yep

im going to swing by. that way when he gives up on it, i can end up with it in the end lol

In reply to surfshibby07 :

Probably not going to happen......1 day in and almost fully gutted......looking for a LS and trans if you know of one

In reply to Fixer :

I will trade you 1 ls motor for 1 350z. Haha, jk. Ill keep my eyes peeled. You probably already know, but black friday is generally 50% off at lkq.

Scored some eBay coilovers for the car today for $100!

got the fronts installed so I could put the old lowering springs for sale. Also found out the car has a brand new rack with a bump steer kit on it which was a pretty cool bonus ( you can kinda see the bump steer in this picture 

picking up some other goodies tomorrow for the motor!  Should be picking up a cam too if the guy doesn't flake on me

Picked up a set of ls swap headers today for $75 and the guy gave me the rest of the exhaust for free! saves me the trip to the exhaust shop

now I just need to find a cheap bump stick and can see about getting the motor installed
 

Got some other goodies in the mail this week

picked up a Howard's cam for 150 bucks and some valve springs on eBay for 60 bucks

and cooter on here hooked me up with a brand new microsquirt for 275 shipped to me

In reply to Kbags :

You spent in one post about what I spend on my entire car.

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

You only spent $500ish on a whole car?

In reply to Kbags :

I'm pretty sure the Q45 was around that the first year it ran.  You full budget guys are too rich for me.

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

If i could go fast for less, i would. Although i know i could. Look at the nelsons lol

Everyone is finding cheap camshafts except me. I must need to work on my search terms. 

Stampie just profits off being cheap when people like me stop caring about cars collecting mold in their basement. 

In reply to Andy Neuman :

I got a new takeout ls3 cam with chain, gears, and tensioner for like $80 shipped for my $200 2017 6.0. They're out there sometimes.