Can't Make Up My Mind What I Want To Do

[5.0Torx]

Hey y'all,

So I have been out of the game for a little while getting through college and getting a full time job. I had a 93 fox 5.0 5 speed which crumbled to its current hibernation zone in a garage under a tarp with its blown motor and lots of other small issues. I looked all over for a suitable replacement and ended up not liking what I saw so I gave the 94/95 cars a look and found a very nice, bone stock 94 GT black on black with 59k miles and got it. It has treated me fairly well, especially after its latest transformation where I gave it autometer gauges (water temp, oil press, fuel press) and most important ly, moates qh to lower the fan temps, and this also led to the most amazing discovery of a bad ect sensor and dirty maf sensor. I cannot stress enough how 30 minutes to clean the maf and $16 for a new ect changed the car. It no longer knocks and pings and it feels like it got 30 hp. I bought this to get my 5.0 kicks while I got my fox running again but im beginning to feel torn. On one hand, my 94 is the 5.0 that actually works, and works well. But it does not feel as responsive as my fox did in its heyday. Such is life for a 94 car, stock.

What would you do? Keep the 94 stock ish and drive it as is, pour the time and money into the fox for a kick ass toy car? Or part the fox out and give the 94 some ponies it deserves?

 

[revhead347]

Depends on what you want. They are basically the same car. The SN is about 150lbs heavier, but it has a few mechanical advantages like rear disk brakes. The computer is set up a little different, and that is why they feel more sluggish compared to the fox bodies, but once you put a chip in they perform the same. Other than that, it's just a matter of taste.

Kurt

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

I never liked the look much when the SN95 first came out, but now I love them. And now that I own one I like the fact that the interior is a tad roomier in the SN95. I feel the same way that the SN95 isn't quite as peppy. But you know what? That is what the aftermarket is for.

Having a good base to start with makes a lot of difference. Your Fox sounds like it needs a lot of work. And you sound like you can't share your Stang love between two cars. I would say goodbye to the Fox if it were me. I love them, but I think I am loving my '94 even more.

I have noticed my car gets a lot more looks than my Fox ever did. They are rarer. And in my opinion that makes them a better choice. Because everyone has a Fox. Not many 5.0 SN95's are running around out there.

 

[revhead347]

He has a good point. I would also take into account which car is a better start. If you Fox interior is all trashed, then it's going to be a lot of money and time just fixing that.

Kurt

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

I failed to notice the 59,000 miles. Definitely keep the 94. God I wish mine only had 59000 miles. Good find.

Got any good pics of the two cars?

 

[Husky44]

I'm partial to SN95s, so my opinion is biased. That said, what is the sentimental value of your Fox?

 

[5.0Torx]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I really should stop lurking and make a thread on my '94 as I have done alot of upgrades that I'm pretty sure would inspire some of the folks out there.

The sentimental value to my fox is that its my first car. I've had it 8 years, although, unfortunately, it has been dormant for the past 3. Still, those 5 years were some of the best times I've had in a car. The fox is such a muscle car. Not that I'm complaining, but the '94+ just doesn't have that same feel. But, the flip side of the coin is, the chassis is much more solid, etc. I'm not about to bring up almost 20 year old information. Truth be told, I have the best of both worlds, or, I would, if the fox worked. I have been out of the loop for a while getting out of school and getting my job going so I am in a better position now, especially with a big badass '11 F150 in the mix to haul parts with! The big issue is whether I can justify having two mustangs...I'm just not sure on that one.

Regardless, pics, as requested! My '94 has about 81k miles on it now. I've had it for a while I just haven't had time lately to post up pics or get involved on the forums. I know there are plenty of guys on the forums who can identify with that. I have lurked but not posted much. I'll make a thread one of these days I swear!

Here's a few of my autocrossing my car. It was great fun but it was my first time, and, uh, this car has nothing on the likes of a Nissan Z, miata, C5 vette, S200, etc....not for hairpin corner slaloming anyway!

As you can already see, it's got late SN95 chrome GT wheels, which are actually '99 Cobra wheels in chrome. Love these wheels. The headlights and foglights go great with them, especially with the foglight rewire!

And my ace in the hole, the one I think I need to make a thread on, is swapping the red needles from a '99+ GT cluster onto my '94 cluster along with the chrome rings and bright white LED backlighting. It looks fantastic.

There are plenty of other maintenance / restomods going on that I haven't discussed. I really like my '94 but there's nothing like your first car. I'm really torn. My '94 looks great and is in perfect shape. The AC blows ice cold and it starts every single time. I ditched the retard gauges and got autometers. Love this stuff.

I digress!

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

That is a different decision altogether there man. First off, the SN95 looks super sweet. I want to know every single thing you did with your gauges in detail please. Yes, you have inspired me. Oh, and the fog light rewire - where do I find info on this?

Since the Fox is your first car, build a shed, a small garage, or whatever. Put it in there and some day (I guarantee you) you will be wanting to fix it back up and relive the days of driving it for the first time. There is absolutely nothing that can replace your first car. And a Fox isn't a bad car for your first one.

But as for the SN95 - I would definitely not get rid of that beauty of a Mustang. Unless you want to sell it to me then definitely sell it!

Build it into an Autocross monster and go back and show those Vette driving yuppies how to drive.

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

I guess I should say I see EXACTLY why you are torn between the two cars. I would definitely keep them both. No matter what I had to do.

 

[Husky44]

Suspected as much...

I lost my chance to get my first car back. Had to settle for buying my 13 instead. Believe it or not, I'd give up my 13 to get my first car (68 GT Fastback) back... and that's almost 30 years after I gave it up.

That said, I am still partial to the SN95s; My 95 handled just as well as the 08 Corvette I spent a few weeks in. You can make these cars handle like they're on rails, without a lot of investment. If you can manage owning two, it's the best of both worlds. One to build/restore, and one to drive/lightly mod (because you simply can't resist the mod bug, no matter how strong you think you are).

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

Well said. I have only had my 94 a few weeks. I told myself I wasn't going to get too crazy with the mods on this one. I already have over $7000 worth of mods in an excel spreadsheet. The car goes in the shop in two weeks to have Kenny Brown's Extreme Matrix kit installed.

Its an addiction I thought I could supress. But that ain't gonna happen.

 

[5.0Torx]

Suspected as much...

I lost my chance to get my first car back. Had to settle for buying my 13 instead. Believe it or not, I'd give up my 13 to get my first car (68 GT Fastback) back... and that's almost 30 years after I gave it up.

That said, I am still partial to the SN95s; My 95 handled just as well as the 08 Corvette I spent a few weeks in. You can make these cars handle like they're on rails, without a lot of investment. If you can manage owning two, it's the best of both worlds. One to build/restore, and one to drive/lightly mod (because you simply can't resist the mod bug, no matter how strong you think you are).

Thanks for the feedback. I think this is the route I'm going to go. There's no sense in getting rid of my '94 right this second with my fox not running when my '94 runs great. But I will also not get overly crazy with mods so that I'm free to get something else down the road without losing my ass on it.

I know its apples to oranges, but, how do you think the '95 you had compares to your '13? My '11 F150 has the coyote in it and OH MY GOD is it good. Seriously, my almost 6,000 lb truck is probably faster than my '94 lol. That's SCrew with the lowly 3.55 gears too (not 3.73s). I can only imagine what the GT Coyote, which is 60 hp stronger O.O, moving a 2,000 lb lighter car is like. Plus the chassis is way stiffer than the SNs, let alone foxes. It really makes me wonder what I'm doing with these old cars lol. I think that's the direction I'm going to go, really. Hang onto my '94 until my truck is paid off and then see about moving to a slightly used (I will probably never buy brand new 0 miles off the lot) '15+ with the coyote, track pack, and IRS!

I'm also interested to hear about what you did to your '95 to get it to handle comparably to an '08 Vette. There are Vette owners that would laugh at you for saying that lol. Regardless, you learn alot about good cars and good drivers when you go to an autox event, and man, those Vettes are very, very good. Anyways, I dont need the nitty gritty details, just interested in what you did to your '95 and what that '08 Vette was like.

 

[5.0Torx]

Well said. I have only had my 94 a few weeks. I told myself I wasn't going to get too crazy with the mods on this one. I already have over $7000 worth of mods in an excel spreadsheet. The car goes in the shop in two weeks to have Kenny Brown's Extreme Matrix kit installed.

Its an addiction I thought I could supress. But that ain't gonna happen.

Your first mustang will do that to you. BTDT. I got my '94 and was more excited about changing the fuel filter than pulling the heads lol. You live and learn. And I am also done with doing half ass work, starting projects at 2pm, not researching, etc etc.

Thanks for the compliments on my car. I sure do love the way it looks. It really is a 10 footer though, even despite the fact that black shows EVERYTHING. Its got its fair share of nicks and scratches. The wheels and headlights really make it pop though imo. I look back on pics when it was stock and think "man, that's so 90s" but it looks really modern I think, and that's usually something I reserve for new edges. Though that might be because they come with clear headlights and nicer wheels stock lol.

I will make a thread on my car one of these days, however, I just got done with a 12 hour day at work so that is not today.

 

[Husky44]

I know its apples to oranges, but, how do you think the '95 you had compares to your '13?

Clarification: My 13 is a GT500, not a GT, so it's not really fair to compare.

Handling-wise: It's close. I'm running stock suspension (right now, but it includes the SVT Performance Pack, with the Bilsteins and electronically adjustable damping) on my 13. My 95 was not stock suspension. It cornered just as tight as my 13, but I could kick the tail out easier on the 95 (in control) than I can on the 13 (I can kick the rear out, but it's with the throttle, and it's NOT nearly as controllable). 13 is simply a bigger car, and it feels it. Not like a boat, by any means, but I'd gone about 6 weeks of driving the 13 exclusively, then went back to the 95, and it felt much more compact, and nimble.

Acceleration-wise: Not even in the same ballpark. I haven't driven a Coyote; I drove a couple of 13 V6 rental cars, and I'm sure they'd take my 95 in the 1/4. I hadn't done much engine work on it, biggest acceleration boost from stock came from the 3.73s. My 13 is the 5.8, with the blower (662 hp). Part of the reason I ended up selling my 95 (on top of not being able to justify THREE Mustang convertibles) was that as much as I loved the car, I just couldn't enjoy it as much with the power drop-off coming after driving the 13.

I'm also interested to hear about what you did to your '95 to get it to handle comparably to an '08 Vette. There are Vette owners that would laugh at you for saying that lol.

95 had Eibach Pro kit (springs, shocks, struts-I'm a big believer in buying your suspension kit from one manufacturer, so they're designed to work together); MM CC plates, subframes, rear control arms. I was also running a fairly deep dish wheel, that widened my track quite a bit; fronts were flush with outside edges of front fenders, or maybe just a hair beyond. Didn't do that on purpose; my wheels were TTIIs I hijacked off my 67; it just came out that way, but I think the additional track width helped as well. Pretty aggressive alignment with lots of camber in the front.

My comparison comes from running a special edition Corvette convertible from Hertz for a week in Napa Valley. Drove the crap out of it (who doesn't, with a rental?). Did a 2 hour road trip on "something" Canyon Road, in some really nice twisties. Had a ball, and really enjoyed the acceleration difference from my 95, but came away thinking that it didn't really handle any better than my 95. In fact, by the end of that trip, I was shopping for a KB for the 95, convinced that I could get the acceleration up to the same level, and surprise some Vette fanboys. At that time the new Boss 302s had just come out, and I was looking at one, but gave up after the Napa trip, because the Vette reminded me how much more fun a convertible is.

While I didn't run them "side-by-side", I know what my car felt like, having run it for several years in that trim, and the Vette just wasn't noticeably better. Agree that Vette owners will go nuts reading that statement, and I will admit to a major Mustang bias, but I'm not exaggerating here. I did enjoy the Vette, to the point of even considering buying it. When I turned it in at the SF airport, the guy told me I was the last renter, it was going up for sale. Just couldn't justify spending that kind of money on a non-Mustang.

Your plan sounds good. I'm looking forward to what the 2015s bring.

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

Here is a really good read if you are into carving corners.
http://www.kennybrown.com/kb101_plan

 

[Husky44]

While I personally have no experience with Kenny Brown, and know that they developed a good reputation with older Mustang chassis, they've had some issues with their S197 stuff. Not slamming them at all,just saying to do your homework carefully. I've had personal experience with Maximum Motorsport, and have been very satisfied. I'm working with Griggs Racing now on my 67,and have heard nothing but good about their results. No experience with product yet, but customer service is exceptional.

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

I have tried to get in touch with Griggs via email and got no response.

 

[Husky44]

How-email or phone? I emailed Saturday, got a reply Monday that said he was slammed this week and would be a few days getting back to me. I told him I wasn't in a rush, so I'm not surprised to not hear back yet. FWIW, all the suspension manufacturers I contacted are on their way to Columbus for Good Guys this week.

 

[5.0 Ford Guy]

I email them. I may go with Griggs yet. Kenny Brown doesn't appear to be making as much stuff as they used to. Still waiting to hear back from them on what all is available for my car.

 

[Husky44]

I email them. I may go with Griggs yet. Kenny Brown doesn't appear to be making as much stuff as they used to. Still waiting to hear back from them on what all is available for my car.

You might give them a follow up call next week. I found that several of the places I emailed found my message in their junk folder. Seems a ".mil" address is often viewed as spam.

Guessing you've already seen this, but here's their page for the full kits for the 94-95:
http://www.griggsracing.com/index.php?cPath=4332_4311_4352&osCsid=08e6508eea6b35adaea6eb9990a32899