So, this followed me home.

Clean looking 87, is this original? paint exc,  miles?





I am guessing but 1500-4000 depending on other info?





Neighbors Son-in-law found out the hard way to stay away from the 96-98 v6s



 

It has a few mods, but the guy I bought it from didn't know what had been done to it.
The only after market items that can be seen is an oversized tact and headers.
I bought it 2200, its an original white car, but has a 20/20 (20ft at 20mph looks good) paint job.





(1?)75k miles on it.  Only a 5 digit clock.
 

Sounds like a good buy better than the neighboors convert 96 that blew the head gasket and kept driving for a while. Now it needs 1-2K just to fix it. He gave 2500 for it with a salvage title.



 

Body is straight, everything aligns up.  Paint job sucks though, I will have it repainted after I get everything else I plan on doing done.



 

This is not mine but same wheels and hood as mine, me and my dad in the mid 90s were always buying cars and fixing them "I was 13-15", after going threw 3 Camaro's 87-Iroc 88-iroc and a 86 -z28 dad asked me hey you want to rebuild the front of a Monte Carlo? Sounded like a Old persons car and was debating about keeping the black stick Iroc for when I turned 16, said ya I can change the front end parts off and have it painted. Well after I got the body back together I told dad I was going to keep the Monte.
Mine is a 88, has around 58k miles now, stored out in the Barn "on cement" just waiting for when I get the time to do a 5.3 or 6.0 swap into it. When she was first done in 1996 she was solid black with gold flake in the Paint. First time I ever went out with a College girl "I was still 17" was because of that car.





 

Ordered a set of BBK full length sub frame connectors and a door lock / ignition set.



Keys wont unlock the car, cept a separate key for the hatch, lol.



Figured I would get the sub frame and suspension work first.  Then start with the power mods after that.

How much improvement does the strut brace give for stiffening the car?  

Not much.   I would consider living with it until you can get a proper Kmember.    If you do A-arms, K-member, and coil over conversion you will lose around 80 pounds off the front end.   You can also use lower rate springs for the coil overs because the spring is inline with the strut as opposed to the inboard spring which is under fulcrum loading.
The improvement is notable and much more controlled.   Get camber/caster plates so you can get as much caster into the front end as possible.   I am running right about 4.5 degrees positive caster with 1.5 negative camber.  The way the car turns in on a hard turn is remarkably different than when it was stock.

I also noticed a decent difference when I finally installed my panhard bar.   Yes it did make a positive difference on a 4 link rear.   Would it be even better if I went to a torque arm?   Probably but I dont have sub frames in yet nor do I want to dick with my factoru exhaust yet.

First thing I did on my 95 Cobra was go after the suspension.  Car instantly turned into a giant gocart and was much improved in general handling thanks to replacing old rotted rubber bushed suspension
 I still havent done subframes yet, waiting to decide what I am gonna do be it weld on or through floorboards subframes along with the cage.

Anhow, suspension first is smart and you will enjoy the hell out of it with that improvement alone.   Find out what gears are in it.

Just ran the shit out of my 95 today on the back roads.   3.73s, truetrak, suspension all make for a car that is plenty enjoyable in the corners.  When power comes the car may become a bit of a hair raising beast in the corners. We will be throwing a set of heads on to match the cam we put in a year ago.   That should get me through til August when we plan on swapping in a boss block 347.

My car is in no way set up for drag racing, doesnt weight transfer for shit due to road racing valved springs/shocks.    Still though it manages around 14.5 @ 98mph for the 1/4.   That is a sad 2.2-2.3 60ft on Nitto NT555s.



If you regear the back end do the 5 lug conversion and cobra style brake upgrades.   Can be done fairly cheaply and LateModel Resto/American Muscle have the kits.

Thanks for the info.

Yeah.   Dont bolt in.   Asking for trouble.

 

I always liked the LX over the GT.  Congrats on the new toy.

Thanks, there is a bit of weight savings between the LX and GT, I know the Coupe is almost 100 lbs lighter then the LX though.



 

I weighed my 93 notch 4cyl auto before it went under the knife to get a much needed LS infusion.

With a quarter tank of gas and a th400 torque converter in the trunk it weighed 2860lbs

do yourself a favor and dont bolt the subframe connectors in at home and then take the car to a friends house to weld them in. you are asking for trouble by doing this with a subframed car!!! i see to many people installing subframe connectors wrong and it will have the possibility of making the car out of factory spec. (twisted slightly in many ways) put the car up as high as you can so you have room to work underneath, but do not use jacks or have the car to un level front to back or side to side. put something under the front tires to support it off the ground and load the front suspension and do the same in the rear or put jack stands under the rear so the suspension is also loaded. then you and your friend bounce the corners of the car or stand in the door sills and bounce the car to settle the suspension back down since unloading it from jacking it up will usually cause it to not settle completely after putting it down. you want the full weight of the car on the suspension. if you already knew all this cool, just dont want to see someone weld something in and it not be done right.

The welding will be done on a lift that you drive up on.



 

Not bad.  I think in the long run I will stay Ford powered, considering a 351 stroke to 408, or a 302 stroke to 331 or 347.



The 408 would be over kill though. I am looking for around 400 rwhp through a c4 auto.



 

ok that makes it even easier, just loosen up the connectors some and reposition and support them in place before welding them if you are going to install them at home and take it to him after.

I recommend Maximum Motorsports for any and all suspension upgrades. Subframe connecters are a good place to start and I agree with Uglygun, get a good K-member before strut tower brace.

So after research and thinking. A 351w build and swap are in it's future.

An LSx swap is a bolt in affair with an aftermarket k-member and dollar for dollar will blow the pants off a 351, especially an aluminum LS

351w and 302 share the same bell housings and mounts. Only difference is the oil pan and pick up.

 




 

You can't blame me for trying. LOL

With the aje k-member the LS mounts are as simple as ordering a different PN#

I was considering a 351 based build for going 408cu in.   Instead we are going for a big bore boss block.  Can hit 363 cuin if need be, as is we will likely run it stroked withojt going nuts on the bore.    400rwhp should be easy enough.

And yes, i am keeping the stock engine mostly stock.   Gonna put it off to the side for later use.

Trans/subframes/cage are among the things that need addressing.   I would like to have a gforce modified t5 to keep weight low but may just go TKO.

My suspension is 90% of the Maximum Motorsports offerings.  Been pretty happy with them.  Only tweak i wish I had done was adjustable shock setup for my coilovers.

For the transmission, going to build up a AOD with a manual valve body and trans brake.

 

Something different would be one of the close ratio T-56 boxes.

3k + having to adapt it to a 351....



 

Yes, you are correct. If price is a consideration, then an AOD or AODe would be one way to go.
What are your plans with the car? More for straight line performance, occasional track day car, or just a fast street car that leans a little more one way over the other?

Street + some Strip

 

So, 4th gear in the aod is missing, valve body is my guess, it hits 4th and goes to neutral.

So,  now the alternator doesn't charge, checked it with my meter.  Guess that's what killed the other battery.

AOD 3.73 to 4.11
Stick 3.42 to. 3.73
Three speed 3.27 to 3.42

Your OD band is toast and the only fix is to have the transmission rebuilt or replaced.   You can continue to drive the car so long as you keep in in D and do not try to shift to OD or you will cook the rest of the transmission very quickly.  OD is the weak link.  It is easily killed prematurely by either the TV linkage becoming disconnected or by guys pulling it back into 1 after it shifts to 2nd gear to hold it in gear.  When you move it back into D or OD to hit 3rd, it momentarily engages the  OD band as it shifts and wears it out.  Check the TV cable grommet at the throttle body immediately and make certain that the cable is working at the transmission or you will cook the rest of the transmission also.  If you are looking for a manual valve body anyway, get a hold of Lentech.  They are masters of the AOD.   I have run low 11s with one of their valve bodies and torque converters in an otherwise bone stock 100,000+ mile Mustang AOD.
 3.55 gears with a stock cam  and 5 speed are fine as are 3.73 gears with an AOD and stock cam.


http://www.lentechautomatics.com/aodproducts.html

Nice little project you have going on there. I am working on a 93 LX hatch right now. First car, have had it since 16 in 2001. Recently totaled my 96 Cobra, bought back from insurance and completely stripped it down and slowly working on putting the drivetrain into my 93. Will be the 93's third engine, started life as an anemic 2.3, then became a little more powerful when I swapped in an SVO turbo motor.

Room mate has a 94 Cobra that he blew a head gasket in, then proceeded to go crazy and we are putting a 408 in it now.

Yeah, we are Ford people. I've had 3 Mustangs and a Lightning, he has had 3 Mustangs.

This is my 3rd mustang, I also have a f150.

 

I'm also daily driving an 07 F150 for about the last year and a half, ever since the Cobra ate its second clutch in the matter of a year and an engine between those clutches.

Replaced the alternator, and charging the battery.



Might try to rebuild the trans myself.  

Don't even bother with the battery if it died completely, it will strain the new alternator. Probably has a couple of dead cells, replace it along with the new alternator. At least hook up a load tester to be sure it's even worth recharging.

 

Brand new battery, it didn't kill it, I got back to the house when I noticed the guage didn't show it charging, shut the car off, disconnected the battery.  

(Part of my work is dealing with batteries )





 

Battery is charged up, took the car for a couple test drives, everything but the trans is running great.



Found a recently rebuilt AOD and 2400 lock up stall on CL for 600, might jump on that, and then do a manual valve body.



A set of gears is needed, leaning 3:73, should give me a decent mix for some 1/4 mile and street driving vs 4:10s.

I would go ahead and do the 4.10s with it being an auto. It will definitely be more peppy with the shorter gear, and you will only be a couple hundred rpm different at cruise. I swapped from 3.73 to 4.10 on my 96 Cobra and this was my experience.

I had 3.55 put in my 95' when I had it. 5 speed though, those cars are sooo much fun when their stick.



 

I had 3.55 put in my 94 GT 5spd not long before it got totaled (Notice a trend here? 3 Mustangs, 2 of which were totaled at no fault to me ) Anywho going from 2.73 to 3.55 was pretty significant, but probably would have gone shorter had I not gotten a good deal on the 3.55. The 4.6 DOHC LOVES short gears, if I hadn't gotten a good deal on the 4.10, I'd have likely gone 4.30.

How involved is a ls swap?

It's literally a bolt in affair. With no perminate mods to the chassis required.

F-body fans and radiators fit like a glove, your stock gauges can be retained and there's even "swap" headers available.

I did my swap from 4cyl to driving in the past 3 months working just when it was warm

Unless your motor makes its torque in the upper RPM band, it can actually hurt your mid range on the street and not help your ET on the track.  Seat of the pants does not always equate to positive measurable performance.  

What transmission?

 

Pick one

4l80 vs 4l60

 

I'm running a TH400 so don't take my word for gospel on the swap aspects of these two in a fox.

From what I gather a L60 is at its limit with much power. BUT in a light car it may be a bit less stressed vs in a full sized truck. This trans would fit just like my th400

The L80 is a real beefcake, the sky is the limit with regards to power handling. It's a big trans and I just don't know if it will fit in a fox or now without some surgery.