Foxbody Mustang GT (Restomod?)

I'll start by saying that I don't know a whole lot about Mustangs. So any advice and resources will be greatly appreciated. 

I'm finally home for a consistent amount of time, no more trips until at least February. I've been waiting a few months to finally make a thread and start improving on the car. 

1988 GT with nearly 200k miles. Has been in my family since brand new. This car was the reason I started my love for cars when I was a toddler. Garage kept it's entire life, zero rust it seems. 

Absolutely fun to drive and it gets so much attention everywhere I go. You can't help but to drive the hell out of it. Not fast by modern standards but loud, rowdy, and runs strong!

Things I want to fix:

- Drivers door handle broke on the first day. WTF? 

- Exhaust leak, I don't like smelling like rich exhaust fumes after driving my car. 

- Pop/backfire during high rpm shifts. 

- Drone at certain RPM between 55 and 65mph, if I cruise over 70mph it's gone. 

- Instrument panel gauges are almost completely dark at night. 

- Shifter must be original, it's terrible. 

- AC kind of works, heat doesn't at all. 

- Suspension needs some love. I don't know what it is but it feels flimsy and light in the rear. 

- Headlights don't do much as far as lighting the way lol

- So many squeaks and rattles. I expect some but it makes my 190e feel like a bank vault. 

I want to fix all of this by April/May. HELP!

I apparently have a 3 car garage. Still have room to work on the Mustang. I need to get rid of those boxes and add more wall storage.

The drone is very common when you put aftermarket exhaust on those cars. Does it have cats? If not, that could explain the smell. The headlights look aftermarket, and if they are cheap ones, I'm not surprised they don't work well. Stock shifters aren't great, replace with a Hurst or Pro 5.0 and that will help a lot. As for the suspension, well, it was never great to start with and now it's 36 years old, so... Fixing that will depend on your budget. As for the squeaks and rattles, it's a Fox body. Chassis stiffening like subframe connectors can help, but it'll never be like your Merc.

You said it's been in the family since new, do you know the history of mods?

Fox hatch! Excellent. They're fun even when they're really slow, not that you need to worry about that. Just good, honest cars. Surprisingly practical with the rear seat folded. And as you said, a universal conversation piece. And a few small tweaks can make them handle surprisingly well. Springs and bars and such. Have fun. 

Started autocrossing this in 2004

So, to run down your list.

Things I want to fix:

- Drivers door handle broke on the first day. WTF?  - https://lmr.com/ is a good source. You may be able to find cheaper, but they have everything there. 

- Exhaust leak, I don't like smelling like rich exhaust fumes after driving my car.  - Check for catalytic converters. Check general condition of exhaust and tune up engine. 

- Pop/backfire during high rpm shifts.  - check tune-up

- Drone at certain RPM between 55 and 65mph, if I cruise over 70mph it's gone.  - common for many aftermarket exhausts. Flowmasters are notorious for this. 

- Instrument panel gauges are almost completely dark at night.  Many options, but LMR has LED upgrades at https://lmr.com/products/1979-1993-fox-body-mustang-gauge-clusters

- Shifter must be original, it's terrible.  - There are many aftermarket options. Pro-5.0 is a great one. 

- AC kind of works, heat doesn't at all.   Heat not working, usual diagmosis. Check thermostat, check heater core, etc. 

- Suspension needs some love. I don't know what it is but it feels flimsy and light in the rear.  Much depends on what you want to do with the car. If autocross and/or trackdays are in the future, I would basically only consider products from https://www.maximummotorsports.com/ There are quite a few suppliers that build shoddy products that are downright dangerous for track use. BUYER BEWARE! If you just want to street drive it, start with replacing bushings with a note DONT GO STIFFER THAN STOCK ON THE UPPER CONTROL ARMS (could tear the floor, needs the compliance for the suspension to move through its range). 

- Headlights don't do much as far as lighting the way lol - all kinds of upgrade options out there. Look at LMR, but look around. 

- So many squeaks and rattles. I expect some but it makes my 190e feel like a bank vault.  - When you look at maximim motorsports, SERIOUSLY consider doing their full length subframe connectors. The cars are flexy flyers. So much so that normal track/autocross use can bend the floorpans. I am not exaggerating.   That and the usual chase loose/broken plastics, etc of old car stuff should get you right.  The Subframe connectors also provide a nice place to jack and put jackstands. 

What do you want the car to be able to do?  I'm happy to advise if you want more particulars. 

Congrats! They are fun cars with huge aftermarket offerings. 
 

My build thread (a gt hatch with family history as well) might be of use, though it's not much recent activity. 
 

exhaust smell is usually no cats, no tail pipes or both. You may also have a leak if the smog pump pipe is damaged 

For the high RPM break up it could be tune up or could be a a dirty MAF sensor. These cars are sensitive to it. A MAG swap was helpful on mine on correcting some drivability issues. 
 

In reply to Apexcarver :

Thank you, this is very helpful.

For intended use, street mostly. I never enjoyed autocross before but I might in this car, so maybe I'll give it a try. This car has never been on the track or autocross in its life, hard to believe given how many miles are on it.

I do not want it to feel like my Mercedes 190e at all, so I try not to compare them. The rattles etc are just kind of surprising (especially one in particular) given my experience with cars from this era, I'll chase them down and do what I can.

Full sub-frame connectors look like its a must from the advice I've been reading and with new bushings will hopefully make a significant improvement.

In reply to Cooper_Tired :

Do you have a link? Search feature is trash. Our cars look like it has the same interior.

Get an MGW shifter, you'll love it. 

In reply to yupididit :

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/project-boomerang/259787/page1/
 

not much of a build so far, but did a bunch of issue chasing to get it running and driving well 

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

Sorry, I didnt see your post yesterday.

No cats!

There's documentation of the mods, they're just not with me or the car at the moment. 140 miles away. I need to grab that folder though.