Satruday this happened...
My 9 year old and I headed west to get our new (and first) dedicated autocross, HPDE, track day car.
It was mostly like this.
Along the way we did see this.
We got there checked out the car, haggled a little more on price, and then loaded it up.
Along the way we found "the Guardian of Freedom"
10 hours round trip, GX460 towed the rusty Uhaul trailer and the Mustang without issue, now to clean it up.
Back home we had to unload it, and the doors were too low for me to open, Dukes of Hazard time!
And then a quick wash
It also came with
And an extra set of these (but they are junk and gonna be sold/trashed)
So now it is time to write a little more...
Some of you saw my thread about autocross/track cars and provided fantastic feedback. My kids are 5 and 9, and totally wicked awesome and love cars. Neither of them wanted anythign to do with a Miata, Z3, Z4, Boxster, MR2, BMW 1 or 3 series, or most anything else. My little one wanted a C7 Z06 Corvette, and my oldest wanted a McClaren Senna. I really need to work with them on understanding budgets...
About a year ago I made this post
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/do-i-really-want-a-mustang/138953/page1/
And ended up with this
I liked this one but ended up wanting back in a Jeep as a DD which I traded this one for a TJ, ended up with a crappy TJ, sold that added some more $$$ and ended up with the 2 door JK I have now. I'm a Jeep guy we'll always have one. We enjoyed the Mustang when I had it but it wasn't me daily.
After looking and driving most of the cars listed above, and that my kids love Mustangs I stated searching for one. There was a point where I crossshopped it with the C4 Corvette but I just like the Mustang more.
What I know this one needs
- Windshield is cracked
- Parking brake doesn't work, it clicks when you pull on the handle but doesn't engage.
- when you step on the brake pedal there is a grinding noise. Brakes still engage, but it makes a noise.
- It's got a crappy aftermarket shift knob on it that just spins
- it has a cheap set of tires on it. Good tread but cheap tires of some brand I've never heard of Good Tour or something like that
- The tail lights, marker lights are all blacked out.
- One headlight and one foglight are cloudy.
- I've never had a car with a tune so I need to figure out what it is, how it works, and what it is set to for the car.
- I have no idea what the MSD launch control doodad is.
- I'd like to change, upgrade the suspension as the car is 14 years old and probably just needs it in general.
Foggy fronts
Blacked out others, is this paint?
That looks like plastidip. It will come off.
The lenses look like poorly done vht nightshade.
Should come off pretty easily with laquer thinner and a paper towel.
The hazed lights: i use the 3m restoration kit topped with the rustoleum wipe-new goop. Amazon is cheapest.
MT5? Buy an MGW shifter right away.
Great car, great purchase!
The tune is easy, plug it into the OBD port, key on engine off, and follow the steps. It will let you know if the time is already loaded or not, and have options while loading. Bama is a good one.
The 2-step is for boosted drag cars, not really going to do anything for you. Sell it. It cuts ignition to keep RPM at a certain level but still keep the boost up.
Unless you know, you have a turbo on there and aren't telling us...
Someone murdered out the taillights on a budget, lol. Nice car though! I always liked these ones as track/race cars.
BTW, I wonder if those junk spare wheels would fit one of my cars...hmmmm...
Thanks guys.
I also contacted Bama tune and they sent me some more info.
One of the extra wheels is cracked with an attempted weld. I’m gonna see if I can sell them and try and add a little more back in the budget for repairs/upgrades.
I got this removed and it still runs! Turns out it wasn’t even hooked up.
In a strange turn I found rust on the top of the pedal cluster.
In reply to octavious :
Time to find the interior leak or accept that it might be a flood car....
Stefan said:In reply to octavious :
Time to find the interior leak or accept that it might be a flood car....
Ummm no. I wouldnt jump to that conclusion just yet. For one, the fasteners on that assembly look in great shape. It could just be the tin pot metal Ford uses for pedal assemblies has been exposed to the elements from shoes or the opening and closing of the driver's door for a decade and a half.
In reply to GarageGorilla :
^ He's right you know.
I regularly see the under-dash metals rusted on various cars. Even my nissans. Even the nissan i have had since new, almost 20 years. Its bare metal so it will get some chalky rust.
Nice car by the way. These seem to be priced right for fun since not as desirable as the coyote 5.0.
Get some camber in the front, lower it a bit, adjustable panhard bar in the back, some nice wide 18" wheels and the brembo front brakes from the factory track pack and you'll be set for tons of fun. And as wide as you can afford, it'll take 'em. Terry Fair from Vorshlag raced a 2011 and kept increasing the tire width, always with better results, and wound up flaring it and installing 335 front 345 rear slicks and his car was dumb fast. The SN197 chassis is a little heavy but a lot of fun. Once mine is done being the nice weekend car I can't wait to turn it into a race car.
Slow moving per my usual.
New tail lights
Not a great pic, but the third brake light got hit with every chemical except paint stripper and nothing worked. I then sanded it with 400, 1500, and 2000 grit. Then polishing compound and wax. Looks better but I'm not sure the effort was worth it.
I don't have a parking brake. I tried adjusting at the shifter inside the console with no change. So I pulled the rear wheels and...
rear brakes look pretty crappy. Will have to get new.
I also picked up a Eibach Pro setup for the car. And while I'm not a huge fan of used suspension parts, at the price this was an easy way to see if I liked the car lowered and how far I'd like it lowered.
It came with adjusters for the rear, but I feel like there should be a rubber spacer or something between the adjuster and the spring. Does anyone know for sure?
Nice car, is it a manual? What are the plans for the build? Do you have parts and a path picked yet?
I also like you little one's taste in cars. Lol
Yes it's a manual.
The original plan was to make a dedicated autocross/track day car out of it. But life changes, and thankfully I haven't done much to it, but it will now be my DD and motorsports car.
Build plans are:
- fix update replace all the stuff a 15 year old car needs
- update the suspension
- MGW shifter
- lighter wheels
- update the radio deck, I really just want an aux input but the 2005s didn't have one
- and then???
octavious said:It came with adjusters for the rear, but I feel like there should be a rubber spacer or something between the adjuster and the spring. Does anyone know for sure?
No rubber between adjuster and spring.
Thanks Slippery
Digging around and it looks like the parking brake cable from the handle to the other cables is broken.
And stable mates for the moment.
Jesus, it dwarfs the 911.
From this:
To this:
Not great but better
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