164k miles!!!?????? what should i do

v850mustangluvr

New Member
Nov 8, 2004
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Texas
im about to go look at this '93 lx w/ 164k miles on it

how many more do you think she has in her

and if i were to replace the heads w/ brand new one and brand new intake, would i have basically a brand new engine??

need advice asap going to look in a couple of hours!!

thanks!! :nice:
 
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Well your not going to have a "fresh" engine with new heads and intake...I would do a compression check to see what kind of or lack of blowby you have...a rebuild is the only "real" way to get a fresh engine (new piston rings,honing or boring,bearings, oil pump, etc...) Summit Racing sells a rebuild kit for right at $400 bucks but the machining and installing will cost a bunch...

The new heads could give you a better valve seal but it won't "freshen" up you engine but will give you more power...

Just for your information I drive my car everyday and I have heads/cam/intake...with 145k on the ticker...
 
If it was owned by a little old couple who did nothing but drive it on the freeway all its life it could be fine another 100k but most likely not. I'd either keep looking or if you buy it cheap enough, save up for a stroker kit when it poops on you at 200k from having everybody and their brother beat the tar out of it all its life..
 
v850mustangluvr said:
how much would it cost to get the engine rebuilt...average price, i know it depends on the business, but im just trying to get some type of idea...thanks for the quick responses!!

I'm not real clear on this...but I would expect $500 dollars in labor for the machining atleast...and that is with you supplying the parts...

Some of these cars still run strong with 164k...so you may be fine...just drive it and see if it feels solid...look for blue/white/black smoke coming out of the tailpipes...
 
Alsmost 119K on mine stock and it runs great. It all depends on who owned the car though. If it has blacked out tinted windows and a bunch of aftermarket stereo equipment I would think it was owned by a teenager and was probably (not neccesarily) beat on pretty hard. If it still has stock exhaust and the original air silencer then it might have been treated decent. You will just have to take a look and use your judgment. There aren't very many of these foxes running around with low miles, so if you are after one you are probably going to be looking at 100K plus cars moslty. The things I would look for are a clean stock intereior and a good rust free body. The mechanical stuff is easily repaired.
 
My previous Fox had 121k on it before an accident ended its life (and almost mine) but it was solid all the way until then.

It's replacement now has 135k. :D As others have mentioned, if it was treated decently it's still got some life left. If you plan on strapping a 100 shot to it and running 6 passes at the dragstrip every weekend then I hope your goal is to drop a new motor in it. If you just want a 5.0 to roll around in and do minor upgrades then I'd say spend no more than $2300 on it and get it.
 
The Shape said:
Alsmost 119K on mine stock and it runs great. It all depends on who owned the car though. If it has blacked out tinted windows and a bunch of aftermarket stereo equipment I would think it was owned by a teenager and was probably (not neccesarily) beat on pretty hard. If it still has stock exhaust and the original air silencer then it might have been treated decent. You will just have to take a look and use your judgment. There aren't very many of these foxes running around with low miles, so if you are after one you are probably going to be looking at 100K plus cars moslty. The things I would look for are a clean stock intereior and a good rust free body. The mechanical stuff is easily repaired.


Very good points
 
have you asked if the motor had been rebuilt yet? it is not even worth bothering over till you see it. the last stang i looked at was a heap - sure sounded great from the ad though.
 
HISSIN50 said:
have you asked if the motor had been rebuilt yet? it is not even worth bothering over till you see it. the last stang i looked at was a heap - sure sounded great from the ad though.

Yeah people seem to forget things like fire damage, dented 1/4 panel from being forced off the road during police chase ect. ect.. when they are writing there ads.

My best advice is if you have a friend that already has a fox get him to go with you and take his car. People tend to :bs: you less if you drive up in a car just like the one they are trying to sell you.
 
HISSIN50 said:
have you asked if the motor had been rebuilt yet? it is not even worth bothering over till you see it. the last stang i looked at was a heap - sure sounded great from the ad though.

Well don't always assume the engine was rebuilt if they say so :) ...I know of three personal experiences (friends) who had "performance" cars that were supposedly rebuilt and when doing mods later...we found out they weren't...one was a supposed 347 :nonono: :bang:

The fact of the matter is that most 5.0L's are not rebuilt...but it is an easy selling item and is kind of a "hidden" advertisement...

If he had it "rebuilt" ask for some machine shop papers/receipts...
 
5Spd, i can see your point. i like to think you and I are intelligent (ok ok, you atleast, are intelligent). i would not take someone's word on a rebuild either - i would need to see some paperwork and then try to determine if it all matched up with what i was seeing. that and some testing (if the owner does not have a cow) are always nice.

TS, LMAO. :rlaugh:
 
HISSIN50 said:
5Spd, i can see your point. i like to think you and I are intelligent (ok ok, you atleast, are intelligent). i would not take someone's word on a rebuild either - i would need to see some paperwork and then try to determine if it all matched up with what i was seeing. that and some testing (if the owner does not have a cow) are always nice.

TS, LMAO. :rlaugh:


Hissin...don't even compare "car intelligence" between me and you...trust me...you are quite a bit ahead of me...but I'm learning from one of the best (cough cough you cough cough)... :)

Yeah my friend that had the "347" was pretty dissapointed when he found out he didn't...At the time he bought the car I didn't know what I know now...and believed the guy because I thought his car was pretty quick (now I know better)...and then when I got to looking at this car a few months back (hadn't seen it in a while)...I noticed it had stock heads/intake and everything and that made me wonder right there...and plus the guy said he rebuilt it himself (the seller was about 20yrs old)...

We all know the 347 requires machine work and that just doesn't fly together...and he said the car had 119k on it...but it looked like 2-319k...

Yeah putting "two and two" together when buying a car helps out :nice:
 
5spd GT said:
Hissin...don't even compare "car intelligence" between me and you...trust me...you are quite a bit ahead of me...but I'm learning from one of the best (cough cough you cough cough)... :)

not true - you are always helping people out with great info - we both might have slightly different strengths (im old school - you are very good with what XXX mod goes well with that AAA mod). i cant hold a candle to you there. :nice: i am a fix it and mod it cheap kind of guy.

i would not hesitate to take you with me to look at a car or to work on one with me. :nice: