Fox body question

novaderrik wrote: no Mustang GT ever came with anything that wasn't a V8 of some flavor...

I'm pretty sure that's not 100% accurate. Make that statement on turboford.org and see what happens.

[edit: oh...I see It's already been mentioned.]

Ok, I give. I can find the torque box reinforcement kits- but where do they go on the car?

phaze1todd wrote: Detroit a salt state? Torque boxes. . . Torque boxes. . . Did I mention to check the torque boxes???

Mine is a NE car and torque boxes were fine

paranoid_android74 wrote: Ok, I give. I can find the torque box reinforcement kits- but where do they go on the car?

phaze1todd wrote: Detroit a salt state? Torque boxes. . . Torque boxes. . . Did I mention to check the torque boxes???

Under the car, behind the front wheels, in front of the doors. Connects control arms to the unibody. I have seen fox bodies that look mint, without a lick of rust except there. Good hiding spot for salt and rust.

IMHO and never owning a fox body, but having friends who have raced them, I wouldn't concern myself with reinforcing the torque boxes unless they are already damaged. Instead concentrate on tying in the subframes.

In reply to phaze1todd:

Behind the front doors, underneath. The front boxes don't do E36 M3 compared to the rears. Agreed on the subframes. Twisted the trans tunnel in my GT hard launching on drag radials without any reinforcements.

Ranger50 wrote: In reply to phaze1todd: The front boxes don't do E36 M3 compared to the rears.

In terms of rust or performance. Agree for performance, disagree for rust.

If it lasted this long, it's probably not rusty.

Looks like a neat car for the coin, but you ALWAYS have to worry about rust on a Fox Body.

I bought this for the drive-train, drove it all summer, and didn't notice that the strut towers had been totally rotted through at the bottoms and covered over with seam sealer and paint until I pulled the engine/trans this Fall.

noteworthy. The 85 5.0 was the first year with roller cam. I believe it was the only year with roller cam and a carb.

edit: oops, already noted. Carry on GRM.

MadScientistMatt wrote:

novaderrik wrote: no Mustang GT ever came with anything that wasn't a V8 of some flavor...

Not quite - I believe there were a couple years in the early '80s where they had a 2.3 Turbo variant of the Mustang GT, before the GT Turbo received a bunch of upgrades and became the SVO. They were about as quick as the V8.

oh yeah... forgot about those... i've never seen one in person, and i imagine that 99.9% of the ones that didn't get wrecked or rot out in 5 years got a 302 swapped into them..

Conquest351 wrote: The 1985 is sought after due to the fact it was the last year of carburation and first year of roller cam.

i don't think any of the pre efi 5.0 cars are too "sought after" by most people. there might be a few goofballs out there that like to have the oddball stuff that other people don't have, but the 86 and earlier cars will never be as "sought after" as the 87-93 cars.

it's kind of like how my 84 T Type in perfect condition would be only worth as much as an average 87 T that shows signs of being driven for the last 25 years- they are almost the same car, but the later car has a more powerful engine and is much more desirable and thus more valuable than my much rarer (one of 2000 made) car to all but a few weirdos.

It is true, you can get a GT with the 2.3 Turbo. Looks the same as a 5.0 but dual exhausts exit the same side instead of both sides like the 5.0

I was always under the impression the fox body to have is the later fuel injected models with the 8.8 inch rear end, even better if its a notchback.

In reply to TeamEvil:

Quick question.. I remember there being an ~86 GT vert that was for sale in Newton, MA for like $700 last spring. Is that it?

Kenny_McCormic wrote: I was always under the impression the fox body to have is the later fuel injected models with the 8.8 inch rear end, even better if its a notchback.

a solid notchback roller is almost worth more than a complete running beater hatchback... doesn't matter what engine it used to have in it, either...

Thanks guys for the feedback.

If I do go ahead with a fox body, and God forbid have to pull the engine, I will have to go buy new garage equipment. Everything I have now is rated to handle a 300 lb engine and trans setup...

Might have been. I bought this one in Plymouth from the father of the owner who was keeping it at his Dad's place while it was off the road. Possibly the same car brought South for storage.

I bought it for maybe $400 and it came with a second rebuilt engine with an F-series cam, and roller rockers installed. A long block with the intake installed.

I wanted the 5.0 and AOD trans out of it for my MGA. Gave the remainder to a local body shop that was restoring a Fox body and needed lots of small parts that would have been an expensive pain to find separately.

The stripped shell is still in the local junkyard.

novaderrik wrote:

Conquest351 wrote: The 1985 is sought after due to the fact it was the last year of carburation and first year of roller cam.

i don't think any of the pre efi 5.0 cars are too "sought after" by most people. there might be a few goofballs out there that like to have the oddball stuff that other people don't have, but the 86 and earlier cars will never be as "sought after" as the 87-93 cars. it's kind of like how my 84 T Type in perfect condition would be only worth as much as an average 87 T that shows signs of being driven for the last 25 years- they are almost the same car, but the later car has a more powerful engine and is much more desirable and thus more valuable than my much rarer (one of 2000 made) car to all but a few weirdos.

The guys I used to hang with all wanted that combination because they were all drag racers and playing with carbs was easier back then than trying to figure out the EFI. We were young and dumb. Swapping intakes and carbs and exhaust systems was easier on a carb'd car than it was on an EFI car because we didn't have to really worry about tuning.

I would buy this car. But I disagree with those who say that 85 was a desirable year. I had a black 86 five speed GT and it was a much better car. Fuel Injection, bigger rear end, "true" dual exhaust, all around the 86's were better especially considering that the styling started getting worse in 87. Trouble with my 86 is that I could not get it to stop vibrating when I hit about 80 mph. The thing felt like it was going to fall apart. No matter how many suspension experts looked at it, no one could ever figure out the problem.

I thought it was a pretty cool car though. I had subframe connectors welded in (didn't notice a difference) I had flowmasters put on (didn't notice a difference with that either lol) and enjoyed the car. I know it wasn't the fastest in the world but it was still fun. I distinctly recall traveling down the road one day, thinking I was going pretty good only to have a firehawk formula pass me like I was standing still.

grafmiata wrote: B). It's Aussie, and he doesn't do things half-assed... He's a whole-assed kinda guy.

so you know him do ya ?

Plance1- did you race the car at all or just DD it?

plance1 wrote: I would buy this car. But I disagree with those who say that 85 was a desirable year. I had a black 86 five speed GT and it was a much better car. Fuel Injection, bigger rear end, "true" dual exhaust, all around the 86's were better especially considering that the styling started getting worse in 87. Trouble with my 86 is that I could not get it to stop vibrating when I hit about 80 mph. The thing felt like it was going to fall apart. No matter how many suspension experts looked at it, no one could ever figure out the problem. I thought it was a pretty cool car though. I had subframe connectors welded in (didn't notice a difference) I had flowmasters put on (didn't notice a difference with that either lol) and enjoyed the car. I know it wasn't the fastest in the world but it was still fun. I distinctly recall traveling down the road one day, thinking I was going pretty good only to have a firehawk formula pass me like I was standing still.