First post here, but I've been thumbing through the GRM magazines at my local stores for a couple years. I plan to start autocrossing next year with my widebody Mustang known as The WideFox. I've been building it for the last 3.5 years from a delapated car off Craigslist for $700. I still need to replace a few suspension pieces to better handle a true track, but it's been a fun driver to shows and events the last year and a half.
This better not be your only post...
More please.
K-falls? Nice. If you make it up to PIR, ORP, Pacific Raceways or The Ridge, drop a line here. There's more than a few GRM'ers in and around Oregon/Washington.
So Rad!
ebonyandivory said:This better not be your only post...
More please.
I have 120+ videos on YouTube on the build, plus Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Tons of info out there, but if there's anything specific you want to know let me know.
Stefan: Not sure I'll get up to PIR, but I have been invited out to ORP. I plan to mostlly run Medford's track since it's about 2 hours away (I'm technically in Sprague River, but no one can ever find it on a map). Where is Pacific Raceways and The Ridge? I follow the Eugene (Emerald group) group on Facebook, and may get out that way in the future. Otherwise I'll try for Good Guys in NorCal also.
In reply to BasinMotorsports :
Pacific Raceways aka Seattle International Raceway is in Kent, Washington
The Ridge is in Shelton, Washington.
MORE!!! MORE!!!!
AnthonyGS said:MORE!!! MORE!!!!
This was the day I brought it home in April 2016. Barely could drive itself on the trailer, but we made it!
This is where it is today. I just put it in storage this past weekend.
Even has its own theme tires. 
Looks nice!
MadScientistMatt said:Even has its own theme tires.
Yes, they were a present from the company that made them. They wanted to do something a little different.
I bought a brake kit for the car, which came yesterday. I also have a Maximum Motorsports rollbar coming in the next couple of days. With two project cars in the garage, it's getting hard to walk around again. Too many parts.
I berkeleying love this!
Those flares are gorgeous! They compliment the fox body perfectly. Any pictures of the story behind the fenders? I can't access youtube or faceblargh from work so I'm limited to just here.
infinitenexus said:Those flares are gorgeous! They compliment the fox body perfectly. Any pictures of the story behind the fenders? I can't access youtube or faceblargh from work so I'm limited to just here.
The fenders are originally a 3" widebody set from Maier Racing made in fiberglass. These are off their old molds made in the 80s (they have since made new molds). When I bought them, I didn't like how they fit. They were really curled on the edges, which you can see in the initial pictures. It took me about 6 months to cut them up and fix the fiberglass to my satisfaction. After that they were painted flat black, then I wrapped the car.
This was my first time fitting the parts to see what challenges lie ahead.
This was in process and I think round #2 of the Kitty Hair filler.
This was the first wash just to try and get all of the sanding dust off the car. I think I sanded and did 3 or 4 rounds of fillers over the course of a month.
This was the finished product. After the wash I took it all apart again to coat it with 2 layers of paint. That was sanded to 1,500 grit to give the vinyl wrap something smooth to adhere to.
The last bit of filler applied to smooth the transition from OEM Ford bumper to the Maier fiberglass fenders.
This really makes me wamt to build an 80 Cobra or 82 GT version. You coupd always do this front end too.
What's going on with the wrap? Is it like a clear one with green flake? It reminds of that mystic paint Mustangs had for a hot second.
thatsnowinnebago said:What's going on with the wrap? Is it like a clear one with green flake? It reminds of that mystic paint Mustangs had for a hot second.
No, it's all inclusive in the wrap (one basic layer of wrap). There is a blue/purple called Gloss Lightning Ridge that looks similar to the Mystic paint. I wrapped a Chevy Avalanche in it last November.
As for the engine, it's a simple 1992 drivetrain (5.0L + T5 trans). Complete fuel system, 8.8" rear, etc. I had a '92 coupe that was rear-ended and it donated the drivetrain and fuel system as the body was beyond repair.
As for going to the Pace Car (also '82 GT) front, not going there. The original bumper is less loved and has grown on me personally. I like it being different.
BasinMotorsports said:thatsnowinnebago said:What's going on with the wrap? Is it like a clear one with green flake? It reminds of that mystic paint Mustangs had for a hot second.
No, it's all inclusive in the wrap (one basic layer of wrap). There is a blue/purple called Gloss Lightning Ridge that looks similar to the Mystic paint. I wrapped a Chevy Avalanche in it last November.
As for the engine, it's a simple 1992 drivetrain (5.0L + T5 trans). Complete fuel system, 8.8" rear, etc. I had a '92 coupe that was rear-ended and it donated the drivetrain and fuel system as the body was beyond repair.
As for going to the Pace Car (also '82 GT) front, not going there. The original bumper is less loved and has grown on me personally. I like it being different.
It's not an entire front end just a lower valence... it's the same front end you have now.... only better :p.
AnthonyGS said:
It's not an entire front end just a lower valence... it's the same front end you have now.... only better.
Sorry, I thought you were talkng about the grille section. I originally had a 2000 Cobra R bumper that I had planned to cut in half and graft to the lower section below the molding. But I've recently thought about doing the Xenon lower bumper as your picture shows. Thankfully they are aftermarket parts, but I would like to find an OE set in a random junkyard some day.
This was a request off of Facebook, but here is what the WideFox started from in April 2016 when I unloaded it from the trailer. Since then, roughly 3.5 years later, it's been through a significant transformation. It was a rough $700 car off Craigslist. Widebody, V8 EFI drivetrain swap, and vinyl wrap. This covers about 80 videos off my channel and around 1,000 man-hours of labor. Hope y'all enjoy.
BasinMotorsports said:AnthonyGS said:
It's not an entire front end just a lower valence... it's the same front end you have now.... only better.Sorry, I thought you were talkng about the grille section. I originally had a 2000 Cobra R bumper that I had planned to cut in half and graft to the lower section below the molding. But I've recently thought about doing the Xenon lower bumper as your picture shows. Thankfully they are aftermarket parts, but I would like to find an OE set in a random junkyard some day.
I agree, I think your grill is really cool. I like the look. I just don't like the way the front slopes under. I know this will cause lift at high speeds. I could see this being a Optima series car or just Pro Touring type one day, and I want the flat style lower front of the 80 Cobra, Pace Car or 82GT. Finding the original Marchal fogs is a pain now too. If you had the time and skill to graft an 00 Cobra R front end to this that would be total WoW. I work with fiberglass on airplane models that fly, but what you are doing is on a much different scale.
I have to admit this car keeps me thinking about doing a Pro Touring style Fox myself with a Cobra IRS and MM tubular front. I keep thinking I want to do this with a new Ecoboost 2.3 though..... dreams.
AnthonyGS said:I agree, I think your grill is really cool. I like the look. I just don't like the way the front slopes under. I know this will cause lift at high speeds. I could see this being a Optima series car or just Pro Touring type one day, and I want the flat style lower front of the 80 Cobra, Pace Car or 82GT. Finding the original Marchal fogs is a pain now too. If you had the time and skill to graft an 00 Cobra R front end to this that would be total WoW. I work with fiberglass on airplane models that fly, but what you are doing is on a much different scale.
I have to admit this car keeps me thinking about doing a Pro Touring style Fox myself with a Cobra IRS and MM tubular front. I keep thinking I want to do this with a new Ecoboost 2.3 though..... dreams.
Part of my intent with the car was to eventually graduate up to Optima. I'll use SCCA to fine tune the car, and also run some Good Guys autocross to see how competitive it will be. Optima is starting to get a little out of hand with what is competing currently. 500hp is the minimum with full suspension and the biggest of eveything.
I'm still deciding between a Xenon lower bumper (similar to what you're mentioning) or the '00 Cobra R. I have the Cobra piece already. Once I have my current project done (an '86 hatchback), I'll get back to working on the widebody. There is a guy out of NJ I believe that has a track car that he's putting an EcoBoost in.
I hadn't touched the widebody in about 3 months, but I had some guests come out to the garage to see the WideFox. I cleaned up the mess that has become the '86 hatchback project, and removed the car cover from the widebody. I had a Brembo kit in the boxes, a new panhard bar, and a new distributor for this year. With the garage cleaned up, I decided to get everything installed on the widebody before going back to the '86.
Here are the calipers and rotors side by side. I look forward to testing the new setup this year.
I also installed the new distributor, but it stops working after 2 minutes. If the car reaches close to operating temperature (~165 F), the electronics stop working. Let it cool down a little, and it starts right back up. Not sure if it's the new distributor, or a bad install at this point. I'm going to work on it some more, but also have a new replacement coming just in case the new one is the suspect. I'll get to the panhard bar install this week or next. The goal is to have the car ready to drive at the end of the month.
Sweet Jesus.....a four eyed wide body. Thank you sir between this and your youtube, this has made my day.
A couple weeks ago I wanted to get the widebody done by the end of March and have it ready to put some test miles on it. This was before all of the cancellations of everything for a while. I put the Brembo brake kit on about 2 weeks ago without any fanfare. Everything fits very well as expected.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Q_U2hQMko[/video]
I also spent a little time trying to build my own TFI ignition module relocation kit. I had a bad distributor (refurb from Rock Auto) that didn't play nice, and I think I had a bad ground for the module where I put it. I decided to abandon the project for another time, and put another distributor in. Everything fires right up and seems to run well idling in the garage. I haven't had time to get it on the road yet. But, the goal of having it done by the end of March has been achieved.
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