Progress Thread Finally got my first Fox Body - 1988 GT

[AeroCoupe]

Nice job man!

 

[Rdub6]

Good to see you pushing forward on the car! Obviously family priorities come first (a lot of us have been there already) but glad to see you’re keeping the car hobby going. We need to keep transferring it to the next generations.

 

[DudeStang]

Good to see you pushing forward on the car! Obviously family priorities come first (a lot of us have been there already) but glad to see you’re keeping the car hobby going. We need to keep transferring it to the next generations.

Thanks man.


Uploaded my latest Vlog a couple of days ago, documenting wrapping up the hood latch issue. Thanks to everyone who told me how to do this in a way that my ADHD brain (eventually) understood.


View: https://youtu.be/0G2ROH6r0PA

I’m open to suggestions on hood pins if anyone thinks that would be a good route to go to avoid this happening again in the future potentially, lol.

 

[General karthief]

Wow you remind me of ME!!!
giving the 'hood pin' thing some thought, I'd say do it, the hood is fiberglass and prone to cracking with age.
Ain't nothin scarier than a sudden loss of frontal view at speed.
Oh and nice repair job on that hood striker.

 

[AeroCoupe]

Please for the love of god do not put old school hood pins on that car.

Aerocatch - AeroCatch

AeroCatch is a leading manufacturer of latch fastening systems | AeroCatch hood pins latches available now! Buy AeroCatch 2 and 3 now!

aerocatch.com

 

[DudeStang]

Please for the love of god do not put old school hood pins on that car.

Aerocatch - AeroCatch

AeroCatch is a leading manufacturer of latch fastening systems | AeroCatch hood pins latches available now! Buy AeroCatch 2 and 3 now!

aerocatch.com

Just realized that the link was to a hood pin. I thought it was an oddly placed ad at first and didn’t even think to click on it. Just looked up an install video on YouTube and that looks a little intimidating with the dremmeling the shape into the hood O_O

Any inputs on above panel vs below panel?

 

[AeroCoupe]

This guy makes it look like a decent install:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MPvufXbKJk

Another version of a flush mount only round and they seem to be pretty popular and you can get them on Amazon. Not cutting near as much hood and I bet you can do it with a hole saw.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxW92RbL-bY

 

[DudeStang]

That first link is the video I watched. I gotta watch a few more and double check that I have everything I need.

The old school pins you mentioned earlier - are you talking about something like this:

https://lmr.com/item/M16700A/Ford-Racing-Stainless-Steel-Hood-Pin-Kit

 

[AeroCoupe]

Yes, hideous.

 

[DudeStang]

Haven't updated this or spent much time on any forums the last few months. I had to start going back to the office so I've had a lot less garage time recently. The only "major" development on the Fox Mustang recently was that I confirmed the battery was kaput. A few weeks ago I tried to use it to take my dog to a vet appointment. Stopped at a gas station 5 min down the road from my house and after adding a few gallons of gas, I went to start the car again and it was completely dead. I had a tow truck driver come to the gas station and he was actually able to jump start it with his crazy powerful battery pack thing.


I still ended up taking the battery to Auto Zone and they tried to charge but could only get it charged like 70 something percent and said there was a dead cell or something like that. I ended up getting an all new battery and it's been fine the few times I've been able to drive the car. I've added a few random vlogs from the garage to my YouTube channel on the issue. Here's one of the more recent ones:


View: https://youtu.be/QObJVy0ClEQ?si=WLHWO4PawBsNZskv

On a non-Fox but still car-related note, I actually took delivery of my newest vehicle a few weeks ago:



2023 Hyundai Elantra N - 6 speed manual, 2.0L turbo with 276 HP/289 lb. ft TQ. Front wheel drive but shockingly fun to drive.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.

 

[Titanium90]

Haven't updated this or spent much time on any forums the last few months. I had to start going back to the office so I've had a lot less garage time recently. The only "major" development on the Fox Mustang recently was that I confirmed the battery was kaput. A few weeks ago I tried to use it to take my dog to a vet appointment. Stopped at a gas station 5 min down the road from my house and after adding a few gallons of gas, I went to start the car again and it was completely dead. I had a tow truck driver come to the gas station and he was actually able to jump start it with his crazy powerful battery pack thing.


I still ended up taking the battery to Auto Zone and they tried to charge but could only get it charged like 70 something percent and said there was a dead cell or something like that. I ended up getting an all new battery and it's been fine the few times I've been able to drive the car. I've added a few random vlogs from the garage to my YouTube channel on the issue. Here's one of the more recent ones:


View: https://youtu.be/QObJVy0ClEQ?si=WLHWO4PawBsNZskv

On a non-Fox but still car-related note, I actually took delivery of my newest vehicle a few weeks ago:



2023 Hyundai Elantra N - 6 speed manual, 2.0L turbo with 276 HP/289 lb. ft TQ. Front wheel drive but shockingly fun to drive.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.

Any updates on the fox? Congrats on your new car. I like it.

 

[DudeStang]

Been a while…I’m back in the garage briefly at least. I wanted to get started on the rest of my front suspension stuff but I’m a little confused on the best order to do this in.

The parts I have, to be installed:

-front lower control arms
-front lowering springs
-caster camber plates
-bump steer kit

I removed the cotter pin from the castle nut, and loosened the castle nut. Before I go any further, I’m wondering if it makes sense to remove the brake caliper and hang it to the side.

I’ve seen a couple of different ways to remove the LCA. One video, they separate the spindle from the LCA by hitting it with a hammer, after loosening the castle nut. The spindle doesn’t get removed from the car during the process but it’s just an LCA install (a very simplified one, classic LMR).

The other one, the guy removed the caliper, undid the tie rod end, then removed the strut and disconnected the sway bar before lowering the spindle/LCA and letting the spring out. Then he removed the control arm with the spindle attached and had to separate them after that on his work bench or whatever.


View: https://youtu.be/vU_4uCd8q5w?si=ORrz3w6L0anY1jco

Anyone have any experience doing these parts all at once? It seems you can do the LCA replacement without removing the spindle from the car but I’m guessing that doesn’t make sense if you’re doing the caster camber plates and bump steer kit at the same time?

 

[Mustang5L5]

I’ve done it all sorts of ways in every combination.


Loosening the balljoint and hitting the LcA with the hammer is the easier way to pop the spindle off the balljoint. You’ll need to pull the spring. Since you have to do the caster camber plates anyway I would just unbolt the shock from the spindle and remove the spindle and lower the control arm down.

Are they stock styl le arms? Remember, when done, leave the inner bolts loose (but snug enough to not come off) drive the car around the block? And then torque the inner bolts at ride height.

 

[Rdub6]

And get yourself the Maximum Motorsports tool to help install the springs. It makes it very easy!!!

Spring Installation Tool

 

[DudeStang]

I’ve done it all sorts of ways in every combination.


Loosening the balljoint and hitting the LcA with the hammer is the easier way to pop the spindle off the balljoint. You’ll need to pull the spring. Since you have to do the caster camber plates anyway I would just unbolt the shock from the spindle and remove the spindle and lower the control arm down.

Are they stock styl le arms? Remember, when done, leave the inner bolts loose (but snug enough to not come off) drive the car around the block? And then torque the inner bolts at ride height.

Thanks for chiming in. Yeah, they are stock style LCAs. I saw something about making sure to tighten the inner bolts after the car is on the ground so I was definitely planning on double checking that process. Thanks for the reminder. Hoping I can find some time this coming weekend to get back to it and make some progress. My new job has had me traveling a fair amount and that with chasing a high energy 2 year old around has made finding garage time a challenge.

And get yourself the Maximum Motorsports tool to help install the springs. It makes it very easy!!!

Spring Installation Tool

Thanks man. I ordered that around the time I ordered the springs. Now I just gotta find it somewhere in the garage.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Which springs do you have on it now?

I would pull it all apart. Really doesn't make anything easier leaving parts in the way as it just gets in your way. Strip the old arms out, the spindles, the shocks, the caster camber plates and springs and then start from scratch essentially.

 

[90sickfox]

Hey man, its been a while. If it were me I'd just loosen the ball joint castle nut and pop them loose by tapping with a hammer on the spindle. Don't take them all the way off but pop those ball joints loose first. Removing the calipers and hanging them to the side is a must. Don't want to damage the brake hoses. Next would be loosening the tie rod arm at the nut on the arm and turn the inner tie rod to make sure the outter tie rod will unthread. They are a pain to get loose if the tie rod end is out of the spindle. The process from there; remove outter tie rod end, remove the strut bolts ( with jack stands under car and jack under control arm ). Lower the arm and spindle. Pry out spring, remove lower arm, remove strut top nut, remove factory camber plate, install new camper plates, strut, new control arm, new spring, jack up with lower arm, install spindle, install strut bolts, install bump steer kit, reinstall caliper. Leave control arm mounting bolts slightly loose like 5L5 stated.

The bump steer kit takes a bit to adjust properly. If you haven't already checked it out there is a way to make a bump steer gauge on YT. You want the tie rod to be inline with the center of the lower arm bolts and through the ball joint cup.

Wow...that was a long post. Glad to see your update. Kids take so much time. It's all worth it though.

 

[General karthief]

Hey man, its been a while. If it were me I'd just loosen the ball joint castle nut and pop them loose by tapping with a hammer on the spindle. Don't take them all the way off but pop those ball joints loose first. Removing the calipers and hanging them to the side is a must. Don't want to damage the brake hoses. Next would be loosening the tie rod arm at the nut on the arm and turn the inner tie rod to make sure the outter tie rod will unthread. They are a pain to get loose if the tie rod end is out of the spindle. The process from there; remove outter tie rod end, remove the strut bolts ( with jack stands under car and jack under control arm ). Lower the arm and spindle. Pry out spring, remove lower arm, remove strut top nut, remove factory camber plate, install new camper plates, strut, new control arm, new spring, jack up with lower arm, install spindle, install strut bolts, install bump steer kit, reinstall caliper. Leave control arm mounting bolts slightly loose like 5L5 stated.

The bump steer kit takes a bit to adjust properly. If you haven't already checked it out there is a way to make a bump steer gauge on YT. You want the tie rod to be inline with the center of the lower arm bolts and through the ball joint cup.

Wow...that was a long post. Glad to see your update. Kids take so much time. It's all worth it though.

You be drink'n the same coffee as me