project dirty horse, working on bluecelicawifes first car Options

[kurt95gt]

Well since the 1mz has been giving me trouble an i needed a break from it before i just threw a stick of tnt in an walked away i desided it was time to start fixing lizs old car



Little bit of a backstory. Shes been a big mustang fan since forever thanks to her mom the loves them too
so when she finished basic training for the army the first thing she bought was this mustang that a friend of mine

She paid 2000 for it (witch looking back was probably about 500 to much)
it was in fairly desent shape other than a slipping tranny
ok before i go any farther
Car specs
91 mustang lx hatchback
2.3l 4cyl nonturbo
Auto trans

When she bought it the stang was bone stock.
The first big thing that was done was the rims were changed to the ones in the above pic
I traded my old 90 ford festiva for them an 3 radios.

[mak5603]

What are the plans for it?

[kurt95gt]

Then the exhaust rusted apart
so i took it up an got a daul exhaust ran on it
This whole time the trans was still slipping( this was 06 ) but it was only doing under hard acceleration so it wasnt too big of a deal as long as we kept the trans full of lucus no slip trans fluid
But the time finally came when the trans finally let she had amazingly lasted alnost 2years
But when it did go we were too broke to fix it so she sat waiting for a new trans
About 6-8months go by an her mom ends up having a spare trans
So we got it an start swapping the trans an while were doing that my 90 celica gt died so we rushed the trans swap
In the process of the rush job we didnt get the torque converter seated all the way. Im use to chevy witch clunks 3time when the converter seated but ford is 4 clunks( didnt know that then)
Since we didnt have it seated before we bolted it up the t/c got f**ked up as well as so me of the inturnals in the trans

[kurt95gt]

So she was parked yet again. Fast forward to last summer. While looking on Craigslist liz found a guy selling a 2.3l motor an auto trans with only 86,000 mile on them for 300 bucks!! So she contacted him an got the pair for 250
Me an 2 of my buddys that were home on leave( one from iraq the other from Afghanistan both in the army) dropped in the motor an trans in. Got it in an the powersteering wasnt working an the trans shifts hard an only wants to shift at certain rpms so being annoyed with it we quit working on it again till today

Today we gave her a good bath for the first time since she broke down the first time!
The paint shows the neglect
Heres some more pics


The pics dont show how bad the dirt an bird poo was caked on the car from setting outside
But under the wing shows how the whole car looked
Took 2 buckets of water with dawn dish soap to clean it up
Got the 3 flat tires pumped up the hood pulled of an the fiberglass one i got from her stepdad put on.
Put the battery in hit the key an nothing happen so i jumped it with the coupe. She fired up an ran for about 10 minutes then just died hit the key an nothing happen fml
So i took the battery out of the yellow celi an had her hit the key an she started right back up
An all the lights started working. Witch was nice since that was on the list of things to fix
So now we know we need a new battery witch made us feel stupid since the light were the main reason we stopped the last time but the trans still shifts hard so im going to pick up a new trans filter an see if that helps if not going to see how much a trans rebuild is going to cost

[kurt95gt]

The last pic that was takin before it got dark

kinda shows how clean we got her
I will post more pics tomorrow.

Hope you guys like it

[kurt95gt]

What are the plans for it?

The plan is to fix all it little problems an get it back to its former daily driver status
Then from there new springs, shocks, intake, header to match the 2.5 exhaust thats on it already
Upgrade to coil packs fix the body work an get her repainted black
If i can get it off my buddy cheap enough one of my friends has the 2.3 turbo motor out of a t bird i might try an swap in with a new header fmic an a desent bov an hopefully rt un ok on the stock turbo computer
But thats along shot

[Box]

Can always throw in a 351 and 4 on the floor.

[kurt95gt]

Can always throw in a 351 and 4 on the floor.

If it was mine that would have been done already lol
But she like the 4cyl since it gets around 38-40 mpg
So the motor is staying

[kurt95gt]

the new hood put on
It still needs some spots fixed but so does the rest of the car
Next thing will be to drop the trans pan an see what filter next

[Box]

Can always throw in a 351 and 4 on the floor.

If it was mine that would have been done already lol
But she like the 4cyl since it gets around 38-40 mpg
So the motor is staying

REALLY? From what I found online it got even worse gas mileage than the V6 that replaced it in the next generation.

[kurt95gt]

I cant remember how many miles it got per tank but we could drive to lima( 30mile from my house) to her army base( another 10mile from lima)then put about another 15-20 mile driving around lima then drive home. On only 1/8 of a tank an the gas light wouldnt even kick on
so it got around 90-100 mile on an 1/8 tank. You have to take into account that we super babied it due to the trans too

[Box]

I cant remember how many miles it got per tank but we could drive to lima( 30mile from my house) to her army base( another 10mile from lima)then put about another 15-20 mile driving around lima then drive home. On only 1/8 of a tank an the gas light wouldnt even kick on
so it got around 90-100 mile on an 1/8 tank. You have to take into account that we super babied it due to the trans too

Mustang of that year had a 15.4 gallon tank. 1/8 a tank would be 1.925 gallons. Upper 40's low 50's mpg.

[kurt95gt]

Yea it got great mpg thats why we want to fix it

[bloodMoney]

c'mon Kurt....

I've got a 351 longblock sitting in my garage taking up space... Plus, I can't in good conscience let her roll around with THAT hood and no power to back it up...

[kurt95gt]

I plan on upping the power but she wants to be able to dd the stang
An with an hour drive one way to work a v8 wont work. Thats why im thinking a turbo 2.3 like the svo mustangs had
Stock to stock a svo foxbody was faster than a 5.0 fox body so im thinking thats the best way to go to try an keep desent gas mileage

Havent you guys learned yet i dont like to do what everyone else does lol
Plus i got my nova. For our v8 fun at the track lol

[bluecelicawife]

I like the slow cars. If i want to drive something fast ill just take one of kurts...lol (yeah right like hed ever let me drive anything other than the blue celi) but she's my big baby. Eventually I'm going to have my dream car.... a 60s mustang that's going to be stupid crazy. The Hood was Kurt's idea. It was a bday present last Sept and it took till yesterday to get put on

[Box]

Turbo, sounds good.

[Special_Edy]

Put a later ford modular V8 in it. A 5.4L Triton or even a 4.6L would make that car one sweet ride.

[kurt95gt]

Maybe once shes not wanting to use it for a dd anymore itll change to a v8
maybe a 2jzge lol

[richee3]

2JZ-GE sucks balls I'd go with the turbo SVO engine. Like I said in a text a couple of weeks ago, my buddy Sean's car was pretty quick and he never had it running 100%. Always had a vacuum leak or something. That engine has my vote

[kurt95gt]

Yea that was more of a joke than anything
Im thinking for now its getting a new intake header an a roller cam conversion
Thatll put it around the same power as a 5s with basic bolt ons
Might see about getting a piggyback too
Once we get a few more things done on it im gonna talk to my buddy about a,payment plan on his 2.3t motor

[SupraKid]

I'm sorry kurt but I'm calling BS on a 90s mustang getting anything over 30mpg. Those things weigh a good 2800lbs if not more and have an engine that pushes less HP than a 7afe(They make those?).


http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/7600.shtml
http://mustangs.about.com/od/fuelmileagest...991-mileage.htm
http://www.mpgomatic.com/2008/06/24/ford-m...ng-gas-mileage/

Time for a 2 valve.

This post has been edited by SupraKid: May 15, 2012 - 5:59 PM

[kurt95gt]

Im not asking anyone to beleave me on the mpg
Alot of people have called bs on it
ive always chauked it up to howmuch we baby it

[bluecelicawife]

All I know is it has better gas mileage than my crv and driving an hour one way to work is killing my check

[RabidTRD]

One thing I noticed, you said you used dish soap on it? I hope you don't use that on all the cars? Dish detergent actually dries out and cracks paint... it's really bad for a cars finish

Otherwise, sweet foxbody. I learned to drive on one of these. Well... sorta:

Heh... Learning to drive stick on one of those is pretty embarrassing... it grabs a lot of attention. Not to mention he has TWO... BOTH RS, both t-top, both 5.0, but the other has a sweet ground effects kit as where this one had a nicer hood and actually ran well.
They're fun cars! I wouldn't ever own one though. Steering sucked ass, car wanted to die if you took off in any RPM lower than 2000 and it's not that comfortable.

[kurt95gt]

No we used in on this one since i could break through all the crud easier them followed it up with a armor all wash an wax soap then rubbed her down with a scratch out polish stuff to clean up the look somee more

[Galcobar]

No we used in on this one since i could break through all the crud easier them followed it up with a armor all wash an wax soap then rubbed her down with a scratch out polish stuff to clean up the look somee more

I was going to chime in on the dish detergent as well -- that stuff's specifically designed to break down oils, which is exactly what you don't want to do to your car.

Now, that said, if you used scratch remover the minimal coating of wax left by the wash-and-wax (Armor All, yick) should be gone. Moreover, wax doesn't correct for the oils removed by washing and exposure. To restore the chemical balance of the paint requires a proper polish, meaning one which contains polishing oils. Scratch removers and compounds generally do not contain them either, though a good quality abrasive polish will.

A proper job would be clay bar, paint cleaner, polish then sealant. Corrective work to restore glossy smoothness would be done in the polishing stage, and most abrasive polishes will also cover the paint cleaning section. You can also do a one-step job, though of course the outcome won't be as nice, by using a cleaner wax. Meguiar's makes a good one, and also packages a small bottle of the cleaner wax with its claybar kit.

[kurt95gt]

As of right now it was just get get the car to actally look green again
If it got any dirtier it would have been brown
Then the wash an was was to remove the dish soap not so much for the wax
The paint on the care is far from good anymore the plan is after the car is drivable again is to fix up the suspension then do the body work then shhot tge whole car in black

[Box]

Paint it Black!

[bluecelicawife]

I want it black with a metal flake. I hate the grenn. After the army im not big on dark green. Lol

[kurt95gt]

Im think once we get the body work done
Im gonna spary the whole think in black platidip

[kurt95gt]

Well put a new intake on her today lol
Had an extra one layin anround an figured i might as well
started cleaning under the hood too so we can spray bomb the engine bay black an blue

Ill post pics tomorrow since i forgot to do it tonight

[hatchy_gt-s]

Just saw this! Looks like a cool project I had an 86 t'bird with the I4 turbo it was LOADS of fun and that was in a heavy car. It's the best bag for your buck. I would suggest a port'n'polish and port fuel injection if you do go with one, gives it a lot more pick up. Another easy swap that i've done with those is the 2.4 turbo from a Probe( ...probe)GT, gets rid of the stupid throttle body injection for port inj.

[kurt95gt]

Will the probe motor bolt up to her mustang trans
Im thinking about trying to swap in a 2.0 ztec motor
i had one in a escort zx2 an it could smoke a 5s in a celica anyday lol
(hate to admit that)

[hatchy_gt-s]

They make an adapter plate for it. Another option is a newer trans but IDK what its out of, I havent worked on a ford in a long time...
The ZTEC motor would useless in the f body because of weight diff. also would take more custom work.

[kurt95gt]

Ill have to look into that
Where could i get that adapter plate?

[hatchy_gt-s]

I still know some contacts in cincy that can get odd parts like that if you do decide to do the swap. if you want to find it on your own I would look on stang forums!

[kurt95gt]

Ok ill let you know what i deside to do
Havent talked her into swapping it yet so i might just see how far i can push the stock 2.3

[kurt95gt]

well heres a small update on the stang

Started painting a few small parts blue like the wife wants. An got the intake on.
But spent most of the day cleaning the garage an working on.....

This.
With the 1mz working my last nerve an not really finding it all that fun working on the stang.
I desided to work on the nova for the first time in about a year.

Few quick nova specs
71 chevy nova
350hp 350c.i. 4bolt main
700r4 with shift improver kit
An i beleave 410 12bolt posi rearend (not 100% on this grandpa put the rearend in when i was 9-10 years old)

[Box]

Yes to Nova.

[bloodMoney]

Yes to Nova.

What he said.

[kurt95gt]

Shes in need of alot of tlc butthe body is fairly clean
An she LOVES gas
I put 10 bucks in the tank an that got me about 5-6 mile before she started to spit an sputter lol

[Box]

Hmm, shouldn't be that gas hungry. No less than 10 mpg I'd think.

[kurt95gt]

The carbs all out of wack
Shes idling at 1500rpm
An running alittle rich
Ive got a 750 edlebrock im gonna put on with a 1/2inch spacer( i beleave its 1/2) so i can adjust everything
I think the best mpg shes ever got is 11 4:10 gears do not make for good mpgs

[Box]

Get everything adjusted and be good to go. 11 mpg is ok for a weekend car, not like you're driving it 60 miles a day or anything.

[kurt95gt]

Yea just have to get it done lol

[kurt95gt]

Well im more than alil shocked to say this thread has ran its course.

as of 2pm today the stang has a new owner
She desided awhile ago( lastweek) that the car needed to much work to get it to wherr she wanted it
an at the end of the day it just not the style of mustang she wanted.
but the stang didnt go too far lol our next door neaghbor bought it so im sure i could still post some pics of how shes coming along

[Box]

What is she planning on replacing the Mustang with?

[kurt95gt]

Atm nothing
Shes gonna start driving the celica after i get me a new dd
Shes helping me by putting the money she got from the stang into paying off the crv.

But the hope/plan is to find a 60s model stang to replace it sometime next year hopefully after we get a house

[SupraKid]

This thread needs more boost.

[mak5603]

This thread needs more boost.

You mean this thread needs more car?

[bluecelicawife]

This thread and this mama needs her dream car.... cant wait for my dream to come true

[Zake]

Im not asking anyone to beleave me on the mpg
Alot of people have called bs on it
ive always chauked it up to howmuch we baby it

i believe it, my old 96 mustang GT 5-speed would get 24. so 30 would be easy for an engine less than half the size