Fox 87 GT rust repair

Hello I’m new to this forum, not really sure how to exactly start out my first post but I’m new to the car world. Still in high school, my first car is my 87 Foxbody gt ( 5 speed ) I picked it up for 750$ With only 33,882 original miles. not running, it had been sitting for 2 years. I’m the 3rd owner. I drained the gas tank, put on a new fuel filter, new plugs, msd coil, msd distributor cap and 9mm wires, then had the fuel pump changed and she fired right up. When I bought the car last winter it was about 5 degrees outside so I didn’t really check it over to well. Now it’s warm and I have the car home I now know that at the bottom of my strut towers are pretty damn rusty, got a good chunk of my frame rail too. The rest of the car is suprisingly rust free except for some small surface rust on the floor boards. I plan on taking pictures before and throught the build so anybody in my situation can see what I had to have done. I’ve never really worked on cars, have lots of experience racing, and building dirt bikes and quads but this is going to be my first project car, any tips and pointers would be really appreciated. Plan on getting my engine pulled and starting the restoration this winter.
 

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Are you doing the work yourself?
Post pics in this thread of the work as it's being done and the members will post witty comments and suggestions to help you along the way, congratulations and welcome to stangnet.
 
Yeah more pics, I’m not sure about the car having 33k, more than likely 133k, maybe 233k. Remember, 5 digit odo’s. Welcome, they are fun cars to mess with.
 
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That’s weird, my car is a 6 digit, but I have the owners manuals and even the warranty information card and all of them say Wisconsin I believe. Haven’t had the time to get pics but after school I’ll get the areas I can. I plan on doing the work with some friends and maybe family. But because of my inexperience with welding I might be looking into buying a rolling chassis ( last resort) I do have a friend to help my weld it once I get the sheet metal but he’s very unreliable. Anyways I found a 2001 Silverado 4 door ( 5.3l ) the next town over and bought it for 500$ Yesterday. It’s only 2wd but has a Posi rear end. Passenger window was shot out And box is rusty. But I couldn’t pass that up running and driving. It was a old dnr truck, has 170k and sounds great. the family was moving and needed the cash. This 5.3 is really clean Andy sounds mean ( has a side exhaust not sure on brand ) Should I consider swapping it over? Another thing I’d like to mention is I went to start my car up maybe 3 days ago and it’s smoking a little bit I’m hoping it’s nothing serious.. Once I Get my hands on a trailer I’m bringing the car to a friends garage so I can start ripping it apart. My luck is Not very good with this car, and I definitely don’t want to put A “ ls “ in my Fox. I’d rather sell this truck and do a 351w swap. But Let me know what you guys think I’ll get some more pictures today. Oh and as far as the car having 133k, it might. But the story behind the car tells me otherwise. Unless the po was lying. This car has never been taken apart either so I’ll Be the first
 
I think you need to slow down a tad.. you go from first car to swapping to an ls waaay to quick. Pull the engine and do the body work you need to do. Put the engine back in and enjoy the car. The car most likely has 133k on it but these motors in stock form are pretty impossible to kill off so even with the high miles just enjoy the car. Learn how to handle what it has and then go from there. One thing you did right was picking a fox as the first car because they are fun, cheap and very easy to work on. Pleanty of knowledge and information out there on them as well as aftermarket support is top shelf so just get it driving and enjoy it before you start a 10k/10 year build.
 
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I think you need to slow down a tad.. you go from first car to swapping to an ls waaay to quick. Pull the engine and do the body work you need to do. Put the engine back in and enjoy the car. The car most likely has 133k on it but these motors in stock form are pretty impossible to kill off so even with the high miles just enjoy the car. Learn how to handle what it has and then go from there. One thing you did right was picking a fox as the first car because they are fun, cheap and very easy to work on. Pleanty of knowledge and information out there on them as well as aftermarket support is top shelf so just get it driving and enjoy it before you start a 10k/10 year build.

I bought the truck with plans to use it to haul my car, but my original 5.0 motor started smoking a little so I just put the idea of the swap out there and my opinion. I’m well aware that building a car takes lots of time and money. And those are 2 things that I don’t really have. I’m on my way to sell my 81 cm200. Supposed to be getting 1100$ for it so that would Be a nice little chunk for the car. I think I’ll just stick with the stock 5.0 for now. I just want to go fast and have a reliable car lol
 
Stick with the 302, work the kinks out and once it's solid and the power level begins to become less exciting for you then figure out a game plan for some bolt ons or a top end to feed the speed you seek.
 
A little smoke, especially on a car that’s not being driven daily, is normal.


Here is my suggestion. Make a list of everything that NEEDs done to the car, then a separate list of everything that you WANT to do to the car. Take the WANT list and set it aside for later. Take the NEED list and prioritize it into things that are needed for safety and reliability down to cosmetic fixes. Then work your way down the list.

Post up pics of the strut towers. Surface rust may be an easy fix. If it’s rusted though: I’d plan on pulling everything in front of the doors and welding, painting and replacing everything needed. Then put it together and enjoy it.
 
A little smoke, especially on a car that’s not being driven daily, is normal.


I hope that’s the case because I don’t drive this car really at all. Driven it 7 times since I got it and it sounds strong, and pulls hard for being mostly stock. It’s not blue smoke it’s white, and there’s not a whole lot. Haven’t started or driven the car since I relized it was smoking, I didn’t want to make it worse...
 
When I got my current fox, it would do that. A little smoke here and there. It’s normal. For my I ran some sea foam through it and replaced my pcv filter and it went away. You are more than likely just fine.
 
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When I got my current fox, it would do that. A little smoke here and there.

Alright that makes me a lot less worried. Sold the bike yesturday and got what I was asking for it. With that in mind, I’d like to rebuild it eventually while the engines out. I have seen summit racing’s kits but are there any others? Haven’t really found any stock 302 rebuild kits. Just want to see my options and witch would be best
 

You sure it's 6-digit and not 5+1 with the white tenths locstion?

An 87 GT should have a standard 85mph speedo with a 5+1 odometer.

New York State cars may have had a 6 digit and there was rumor that surrounding states had the option due to NYs requirement of trade ins having it, but unsure if Wisconsin would be considered a surrounding state
 
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