Plans for My 'Stang

[DRB5]

What's up StangNet? My name is Dustin. I just registered here to talk about some Mustangs. I'm 15 years old, born on January 5th, 1996. I'm taking my driver's permit test this Friday.

My dad and I totally tore apart his second Fox when I was a kid. It was my first car experience. It had a Demon carb, GT40P heads, and some modifications to the bottom end. He recently bought it and put in an X303 cam. I remember completely stripping the engine to the block with our diesel little air compressor, and learning things as we went. I also remember flipping through Jeg's, Summit, and CJ's Pony Parts magazines and dream shopping. The car ran consistent 12.5's and soon after my dad got rid of it due to money problems.

However, since that moment, I've always remembered the nasty sound of the idle, the loud purr of a pushrod motor while you bang through gears in that T-5, and the pure badass look of a Fox Body.

Well, my grandmother gave me four grand to buy a car last summer. Of course, I chose a Fox Body; my dream car. On August 13th of last year, I bought a 1988 Ford Mustang LX to be my first car. Of course, I was looking for a hatchback (favorite style, but still like coupes,) LX with basically all stock everything.

The car sat for couple years without being touched. I immediately became somewhat of a perfectionist, as I can't even bare to see a scratch on my baby. There were rust bubbles on the top of the car, the sunroof was basically rotted out, and I recently found out the car has 236k miles. I don't believe it's been rebuilt, but I'll find out this winter when I tear her apart.

Regardless, beyond any imperfections she may have, she's mine. I love that car. I'm trying to save up money so that, between birthdays and Christmas, I could get her to this:

Economy shortblock from LMS. (includes pistons, crank, timing chain...)
Take the stock ET7E heads and get them ported.
Trick Flow Streetburner intake kit.
T-5 rebuild kit.
Trick Flow full gasket kit and valve spring kit for the heads.

Of course, many other things. I've already bought a Trick Flow .499/.510 cam, American Thunder Flowmaster exhaust, brake pads, cap and rotor, wires, motor mounts...
But that's the just of it. I may find other parts that need to be replaced, but that's what my plans are. I want a nasty street car with some torque, but stock injectors and suspension so that I'm not blowing money out the ass on gas. Plus, I know I don't want to race her on the streets (fear of possibly hurting a family in a mini-van,) or on the track (I'd want to spray a 100 shot or more on her, I love nitrous and nothing is fast enough for my taste) so I feel this will be a smart combination, yet satisfying.

Any thoughts or comments? I just want to discuss 'Stangs. Any constructive criticism or props are welcome!

Thanks.

 

[Riverart]

Are you sure you are 15? Hah... Congrats on being so into your ride. My dad bought me my first stang at 15 too and it needed a lot of work to bring it back from an engine fire. Well, that was over 20 years ago so I hope you like stings for a long time! Make sure to let us know how you ride is going.

 

[Black1987]

to :SNSign:

The mod list looks like a good starting point. That intake will give you room to grow. Though as far as porting E7s, I wouldn't waste my money. I would perfer a set of junkyard explorer heads GT40 or GT40p (P's require a special header). Also, the explorer intake combo is a petty cheap investment as well, until the Trickflow intake is available to your budget.

BTW I too love the sound of the X-Cam nasty idle sound .

GT-40P Heads - 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords Magazine

 

[jgarrard]

You should just find a good complete low mileage engine from a Explorer. You can put valve springs on and be good to go and save yourself alot of money,ALOT OF MONEY. Since you are young and money will not be easy to come by try to find the engine with the plain gt40 heads so you won't have to pay the price for the special headers that the gt40p heads require. Welcome to what I have discovered to be the best Mustang forums on the internet. The members on this site don't flame new members and are very good to get along with unlike a few other sites and that is what makes me come back every day. Also,being a dad of 3 teenagers I hope when your finally able to drive the car you use good since and don't get hurt or hurt somebody. Good luck with the car. I hope my boys(14&13)show the same interest as you appear to be showing.

 

[DRB5]

Are you sure you are 15? Hah... Congrats on being so into your ride. My dad bought me my first stang at 15 too and it needed a lot of work to bring it back from an engine fire. Well, that was over 20 years ago so I hope you like stings for a long time! Make sure to let us know how you ride is going.

Yeah, I used to do sportswriting for this one site and one of my strong points has been English, so...I dunno if that's what made me seem more mature. Haha.

 

[DRB5]

to :SNSign:

The mod list looks like a good starting point. That intake will give you room to grow. Though as far as porting E7s, I wouldn't waste my money. I would perfer a set of junkyard explorer heads GT40 or GT40p (P's require a special header). Also, the explorer intake combo is a petty cheap investment as well, until the Trickflow intake is available to your budget.

BTW I too love the sound of the X-Cam nasty idle sound .

GT-40P Heads - 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords Magazine

I planned to buy some GT40P's, but I figured I could just clean up the E7's and port them to match the flow of the P's. The combustion chamber is larger on the E7's, actually.

 

[DRB5]

You should just find a good complete low mileage engine from a Explorer. You can put valve springs on and be good to go and save yourself alot of money,ALOT OF MONEY. Since you are young and money will not be easy to come by try to find the engine with the plain gt40 heads so you won't have to pay the price for the special headers that the gt40p heads require. Welcome to what I have discovered to be the best Mustang forums on the internet. The members on this site don't flame new members and are very good to get along with unlike a few other sites and that is what makes me come back every day. Also,being a dad of 3 teenagers I hope when your finally able to drive the car you use good since and don't get hurt or hurt somebody. Good luck with the car. I hope my boys(14&13)show the same interest as you appear to be showing.

Thank you! Yeah, I could tell my parents were a bit iffy at the idea of a 16-year-old kid driving around a 'Stang. I'm not gonna get myself in trouble. I try to be smarter than that. If I wanna race, I'll head up to VMP.

 

[LarsD]

Welcome to the addiction and Stangnet. I concur with the others on trying to nail down a low mileage Explorer engine. You can probably score the long block for around the same price as that LMRS short block.

 

[DRB5]

Welcome to the addiction and Stangnet. I concur with the others on trying to nail down a low mileage Explorer engine. You can probably score the long block for around the same price as that LMRS short block.

Thanks. I've emailed two people, one for GT40P heads and the other for a GT40 intake. For some reason, I'd feel safer with the LMS block than another. I guess since they're compression tested and all that. I still have awhile, there's so many choices.

 

[bentley429isBAC]

You type better then 95% of the people on this site including myself and surely seem 100 times better then most of the youngsters that come on here. Have with it, but be safe.

 

[VibrantRedGT]

I got into this around your age, after high school went to General Motors Training VoTech School and became a Chevy mechanic at 18. Living at home making $20+ an hour. Bought a 90LX 5.0 Hatchback, hit Steeda on the way home (bought some goodies every week), bought a wave runner and other toys. Then my Dad said he'd pay for college and I had a decision to make, a week later went from all that to a broke college student. It all paid off anyway, good job followed and continues. I say all that because it kept me out of trouble. While friends were partying I was at the track. When friends were at the nudey bar throwing money at girls for nothing in return, I was buying parts and going faster. Now with two boys of my own we just started a huge Mustang project-Heads, cam, intake, Supercharger, etc. They've been apart the entire way. Just like your Dad did with you. You're on the right path.

You can track our progress in 94-95 Talk. Even though it's a FOX it's in the 94-95 talk section. Most of our friends are there from when we had 94's.


Too bad you're not local to me because I have E7 head laying around that I don't know what to do with. You could send them out to TMOSS (member on here) or someone else while your doing some work. Also a good plan is GT40 iron heads, we have a set of FRPP GT40X heads on our car, those are out there for a steal too.

 

[skunk21]

welcome and take a look her also..

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/825480-fox-talks-really-common-questions-thread.html

I have ported E7s also TMoss , wish I went another route. don't get too hung up on the specs plain fact is P's and ported P's will flow much better period and one can find a good set of used aluminum heads also or if you have the cash there are plety of new ones that are great and the E7's just will not compete.sounds like you are heading in a driection anyways.

plenty of proven combos on here to make a nice street motor that will run so take the time to search. The 300rwhp range can be had for some easy money w/o racking the heck out your brain. have fun

 

[DRB5]

You type better then 95% of the people on this site including myself and surely seem 100 times better then most of the youngsters that come on here. Have with it, but be safe.

Thanks, dude. I promise I'll be safe. I'll post pictures up when I'm done with all the **** I'll put on her. Right now it has Cobra R rims that have bubbles in the chrome from where it sat, I believe 17"s, and these huge ass tips on it. That's why I haven't posted it up yet. It looks too...I don't know, haha.
Anyway, thanks!

 

[DRB5]

I got into this around your age, after high school went to General Motors Training VoTech School and became a Chevy mechanic at 18. Living at home making $20+ an hour. Bought a 90LX 5.0 Hatchback, hit Steeda on the way home (bought some goodies every week), bought a wave runner and other toys. Then my Dad said he'd pay for college and I had a decision to make, a week later went from all that to a broke college student. It all paid off anyway, good job followed and continues. I say all that because it kept me out of trouble. While friends were partying I was at the track. When friends were at the nudey bar throwing money at girls for nothing in return, I was buying parts and going faster. Now with two boys of my own we just started a huge Mustang project-Heads, cam, intake, Supercharger, etc. They've been apart the entire way. Just like your Dad did with you. You're on the right path.

You can track our progress in 94-95 Talk. Even though it's a FOX it's in the 94-95 talk section. Most of our friends are there from when we had 94's.


Too bad you're not local to me because I have E7 head laying around that I don't know what to do with. You could send them out to TMOSS (member on here) or someone else while your doing some work. Also a good plan is GT40 iron heads, we have a set of FRPP GT40X heads on our car, those are out there for a steal too.

Appreciate it. I'll take auto mechanics or auto body shop for my junior and senior year, then probably take night classes at a technical institute. I'll eventually learn more and more, and learn how to hustle for commission.
I've never been into parties or ****, I'd rather spend my time dream shopping or messing with my car than to go deal with dumbasses who act drunk after a beer. I hope to have a comfortable lifestyle, hopefully my girlfriend and I can stay together. Yesterday was our two months. That means alot, thanks again!

 

[DRB5]

welcome and take a look her also..

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/825480-fox-talks-really-common-questions-thread.html

I have ported E7s also TMoss , wish I went another route. don't get too hung up on the specs plain fact is P's and ported P's will flow much better period and one can find a good set of used aluminum heads also or if you have the cash there are plety of new ones that are great and the E7's just will not compete.sounds like you are heading in a driection anyways.

plenty of proven combos on here to make a nice street motor that will run so take the time to search. The 300rwhp range can be had for some easy money w/o racking the heck out your brain. have fun

Thank you!
I plan to have around 300hp for a nasty little street car. I just want a durable motor and tranny build.

 

[1989GtFoxBody]

Glad to see some other young guys like me joining in on the fun of this website! I'm 14 and bought my car as a roller when I was 12. Ive finally gotten it in running condition, and the interior is almost all the way back in. Ive been slowly chugging away at my build since money has always been the limiting factor, and I (like you) am a perfectionist and like to leave everything in better than new shape. Anyway, its great to see someone else my age share this passion with me, and you will enjoy the people and information that is shared every day on this site. You will learn from it all, and some of builds on here will definitely blow your mind. Good luck, and have fun with :SNSign:!

 

[DRB5]

Damn! Good stuff dude. I'm thoroughly impressed.

 

[7upstang91]

Welcome to stangnet. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, so I should assume you like to read. Read, read and read some more. Stangnet is a goldmine for information, remember some one has done what you are wanting to do with your mustang.

Personally, I would save up your pennies for a decent set of heads. You can't drive yet, and I highly doubt the motor you have is going to die on you right away. I don't blame you for wanting to build a motor, that way you are doing it right. Fresh built motor, nice set of good flowing heads and a nice intake with put you in the 300 range.
Good luck with your build. Lots of information here with a lot of great people.

 

[DRB5]

Welcome to stangnet. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, so I should assume you like to read. Read, read and read some more. Stangnet is a goldmine for information, remember some one has done what you are wanting to do with your mustang.

Personally, I would save up your pennies for a decent set of heads. You can't drive yet, and I highly doubt the motor you have is going to die on you right away. I don't blame you for wanting to build a motor, that way you are doing it right. Fresh built motor, nice set of good flowing heads and a nice intake with put you in the 300 range.
Good luck with your build. Lots of information here with a lot of great people.

Thanks man. I really appreciate it.

 

[03ghoststang]

Welcome to the forums...here u will get alot of combined knowledge from people who that truly love working on their stangs from restorations to ur wild builds.......