I wish this were closer to me in Columbia, SC. I'm looking for a toy to tinker with. The only Fox around here the guy wants 5k for an ok looking tbird. I'm looking for a CFI 5.0 too.
This will be the last update of this thread. Once I get settled and can work on the car again, if ever, I'll begin a new one.
As of Sunday Oct. 08, '17, the move will become official. It's been pushed back a bit, for me anyway. I was supposed to go first, secure a place to live, then my wife would come down shortly after. My wife, however landed a job immediately and has been living/working since mid-July in South Carolina. I stayed behind to finish some things.
One of those things was my Cougar. Not 'finished' but mobile. I haven't worked on it much since my last update. Trying to save money and get other loose ends tied up put a stop to most of the progress. It's finally off the rotisserie and on all four wheels. Two very major issues became apparent immediately.
First:
It sits like a monster truck! I have Eibach Mustang convertable springs installed. The front sits higher than with the 2.3T installed. The rear sits a good 2 maybe 3 inches higher than before, and that's with the MM rear lowers adjusted as low as possible, with a lot of extra weight in the trunk. The rear will sit higher in street trim. I'm confused about the rear. The tires used to tuck a bit with the stock lowers. The front sits way high as well, but I think that is caused by something else.
I give you the second major issue:
The fenders are just sitting on the car, not bolted, no shims. Even if there were shims, that intake would still be a good 2 inches too high. I've looked at a lot of 4v Fox swaps and no other fox car requires a cowl hood to fit this engine. I don't know if it's because of the solid mounts I bought(which were stupid cheap) or the k-member. Either way, I have 1/2" spacers under the main k-member mounting pads just to get it to bolt to my car. I won't feel comfortable with 2 1/2" spacers up front and 2" on the rear pads just to get the hood to fit. Also the X-pipe points into the ground behind the transmission. That tells me the engine is super high. There's no adjustment in the X-pipe either as only 1 side has a ball-socket joint, the other is a and that removes any adjustment. Also when I bounce the car, the strutshiznit their upper stops, so another indication something isn't right.
I'm not too worried about it though...as I don't know when I'll be able to get the car down south and start making progress again. Plus I'm leaning towards a Coyote swap now. This engine will probably make it into my Lincoln, or another Mark if I find one down south.
Last pic:
Just threw on the header and TC bumper, mostly to show my dad that the bumper is usable as he keeps insisting that it's junk and I need a new one.
So that's it for this leg of the project. Thanks to all who helped getting me to this point. I hope things work out for the best and I can get back to wrenching on this bad boy sooner than later. When the time comes, a new project thread will be started.
Wow...I've been looking for that part for about two months. They must have JUST released it. The only place I could find it was eBay, used for about triple the cost. I wanted to go that route but like I said I couldn't find a reasonable used or alternative part. Thanks for the find! It really made no sense to me how they could sell the hose but not the fitting on the other end. Just like it doesn't really make sense to me why Ford used a banjo bolt at that location. Oh well, problem solved!
And I have a TC rear that I had to put the New Edge rotors and calipers on to go 5 lug. The TC brake hoses on the diff housing work. So with the Mustang rear hose, I'll just need to whip up 2 short pieces of line to finish off the rear.
I haven't decided how I'm going to run the line to the back of the car just yet. My SFC took away any easy pathway for any lines/cables to run the length of the car. The K-member also got rid of the cross over. So I might run the rear line down the driver side through the drive shaft tunnel.
Here are a few pics of the car getting it's temporary color change. This was the weekend prior to Memorial Day weekend.
Once I had the fuel line run, I threw in the rear. It was at this point that I took a step back and said, "nope, not happening." I still have to figure out where to run the vapor line and how to run the brake line to the back. I still need to decide on a brake hose to go from body to rear. The '84 setup might interfere with the passenger side tail pipe. So I'm looking for suggestions on a brake hose that will work and not be too long, like the truck hoses. It needs to come down from the center of the car to the center of the rear.
I'm using Fox shocks with the brackets inverted. When I get around to it, I'll build myself a set of Chuck mounts. This should work just to have the car mobile until I can get it down south.
For sale I have a 1990 Mustang GT. Clean title. Purchaser MUST take entire lot...car + all parts. I am moving a fair distance from my current location, and cannot/will not take this stuff with me. Anything not taken with purchaser will be thrown out. I have an album of the car and parts here:
Included in this sale are: '90 Mustang GT(best suited for parts, runs/drives, has 4 cyl. T-5 but does NOT have proper pilot bearing. While it does drive, it is NOT suitable for road use, needs work to floors, has no interior, improper pilot bearing. This car was destined for race car duty but moving south has hampered such plans,has good engine, rear, rust free doors, decent windows, and other parts.), '91 LX front(good condition header panel), rear bumpers, fenders(fixable), passenger door(fixable, no rust), 2 LX hatches(no rust), hood(dent but fixable, no rust), K-member with LCA's and brakes (OR 2.3T K-member with Engine, GOOD T-5, LA3 EEC-IV, and wire harness for addition cost.), NEW head light kit, NEW sub-frame connectors, NEW SVO front calipers, good GT fenders with GOOD splash shields, THREE sets of wheels(all need tires[1 set Turbines, 1 set Pony wheels, and 1 set in pics{don't know origin or brand, but fit all Fox vehicles I have put them on perfectly, they are 17" wheels}]), and whatever other parts I find.
If I remember/find other parts, I will add them here. I'm moving cross country, I cannot take these with me. That said I know what these parts are worth and am being very modest with pricing. I'm firm on my price as only a few of these items would fetch the asking price.
This ad is being posted on several selling platforms(craigslist, letgo, etc...), BUT only here will I help out anyone interested in buying. I.E. I'm willing to help deliver car/parts to anyone interested in buying from this forum. Please PM me here if you see this and are interested.
I'm asking $1000 for everything I have. If the buyer comes from this forum, I'll include anything and everything I have that I find, that I have for our cars and for the Fox body Mustang. Thank you for looking.
This is the work we did to the bottom. The before:
We stripped what we could and painted the bottom.
This is just to protect the metal from whatever surface rust it would have to contend with. I don't trust this with long term rust prevention.
Here you see how I ran the fuel line(bottom of image). It's hard to run a protected line when the original path is changed with the addition of through-floor sub-frame connectors.
I used the '99 fuel filter setup. This comes off the fuel pump and uses the '99 filter. There is plenty of room with the rear installed.
Here is the fuel tank. Props to my dad(who works as an insurance adjuster for a body shop) for scoring this NEW fuel tank for.....$15!!!! He just had to paint it...whatever. Here you see how I ran the wiring and fuel line. The return was plugged with some marine grade shrink wrap. The original vent runs to the "fuel tank pressure sensor." The vent will run to the charcoal canister, which I mounted in the factory '99 location. From there, a T-fitting allows the vapors to run up to the front to the EVAP Vent solenoid. The purge solenoid will vent to right behind the canister.
I researched how to eliminate the EVAP system on these newer EEC-V systems, but apparently they are essential for trim functionality. The only way the EEC-V trims fuel usage is with the EVAP system being fully functional and most tuners don't know where to look in the tuning files to eliminate the EVAP. Most guys who delete the EVAP system in their New-Edge Mustangs complain about drivabilityissues. My hope is to get the EVAP to function good enough to allow proper trim functionality.
Here is the tank installed with the fuel line connected to the '99 filter assembly.
I didn't get a picture of the fuel pump modifications. Let's just say that "returnless" isn't returnless. The late model fuel pump module has a pressure relief and "return" line built in. The pressure relief is self-explanatory. The return line was a small tube that allowed fuel, above a certain pressure, to be routed back into the fuel tank without causing aeration. I tried my best to attach the '99 fuel pump and pressure relief/"return" line to the '84 module. I managed to make it quite compact. It fits in the factory hole. I had to use the '99 fuel pump as the "returnless" system uses PWM (pulse width modulation) to deliver desired fuel pressure. The factory pump (even upgraded to a high performance pump) could not deliver the "on-off" reliability of a pump designed to use PWM. Walboro does not offer a pump to replace 99-04 fuel pumps, so using a 255 LPH pump like all the 2.3T guys do was out of the question. This should suit my needs until I decide to turbo or Coyote the car....or both. If I ever need to replace the fuel pump, it'll just need the '99-04 pump.
Keep in mind that a lot of these mods were decided upon when the car had a deadline. While it's nice to have only a single fuel tube run up to the engine compartment, apparently it isn't the most efficient or easiest system to use with high horsepower engines. Most higher HP 4.6 guys return to....return style fuel systems. But for my needs of the tight deadline I had, it would have been easier/cheaper to make the '99 EEC think it was still in a '99 and not an '84 with a '96 4V swapped in. I just hope this setup works for the time being. I don't know whether or not the stock fuel pump can handle 400+ hp. Not to say that my engine produces that, but I know for a fact that cams wake these engines up. 320hp stock can easily turn to 400hp with just cams. I don't know, and won't know how aggressive these reground cams are until after the move and I find a tuner willing to work with the car to see it to it's potential without knowing its exact specifications. A big reason I went 4V was because of how they perform with mods. I just wish Ford would have had the wherewithal to made the GT a 4V in '99 and have the Cobra be a track monster, kind of like the current GT350. This engine is still rare enough to have the appeal it does for swaps like mine, but costs too much to be viable. The Coyote is the new Ford "goto." I remember the days Ford offered a "kit" to install a 4.6 into a hot rod or swap project. No more as the Coyote seems to be their main focus. If they still offered the 4.6 kits, I might have made my Carlisle goal. I digress as I still feel this is the best route I could take for my car. I'll have the reliability of a newer car with the amenities of said newer car, but the chassis and nostalgia of a car I grew up with. A car that miss driving dearly.
Getting the steering column in was fun. Took a few hours to come up with a design to hold the column in place. A few more hours in and we have this, the finished column bracket:
At first it flexed quite a bit. I tied into the A-pillar by cutting a factory brace to size where it intersected my bracket. This helped but still too loose. So I also tied into the pedal mounting bolt. Still flexes when you lean onto it, but I think it'll be good. Won't matter much if I decide to do a dash swap down the road.
Here's the bracket mounted in the car.
Once I get rolling on the build again, the plan is to put the dash frame in and run the dash wiring. I have all the loom and clips stripped off the front interior harnesses so I can route them much easier. I'll tape them up once they're routed as best as they can be.
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm ok with it now. I just wanted to be apart of that show. 10 years ago I saw the car that began my infatuation with these cars and talked to the man behind it. I told him I'd be there for the 50th. It was nice getting to talk to Eric in person for only the 2nd time, but I would have loved to be apart of the group that showed up.
If no more big Cougar meets ever happen, I guess I'll have to crash some Mustang shows. After all my car will be more Mustang than half of the cars that show up lol. Hopefully the move goes smoothly and we're settled in by next summer. I'd like to attend my first Mustang Week in Myrtle Beach next year with the Cobra Kitty.
I came across a solution for our door checks. My driver side was rotted completely off. The door wouldn't stay open to save its life. It would even close up hill. I noticed the 99 check was similar in shape. I don't remember if our checks have a 2-step design or if the check only holds the door at full open. The Mustang has this 2-step design, but unfortunately, our hinge roller only engages past the first step. Still better that having floppy doors.
Before
The Mustang check
Installed
At full open
Not the easiest thing to do, but if you're going to have the fender and door off the car for any reason, it's worth doing in my eyes. These checks are plentiful and new enough to not be rotted off. Plus I see in the future, since you know, Mustang, these will be made by the aftermarket.
To swap them over, there is one rivet on our check and two on the Mustang check. Once drilled out, just remove the two bolts holding each to their respective hinges, and bolt the Mustang one to your car.
I haven't updated this in 2 months. I stepped away from this to try and concentrate on getting it done. I gave it my best shot, but it was just too much to get done. I'll start throwing some pics and talking about what I've been doing. I just wanted to get this thing bumped back to the top and admit defeat. I'll be plugging away at the car when I have time.
I'd like to have it moving under its own power in the next month or so...before we move. Mid-July or early August we leave for South Carolina. I don't know how long after we leave I'll be able to bring the car down.
So from very recent personal experience...like a few hours ago...the 91-92 Mark VII rotors do NOT fit. The rotor offset is different. In this case the hat is taller on the Mark rotors than on the TC rotors. This puts the rim of the rotor into the bolt side of the caliper brackets.
It's a good thing I didn't sell the 99 GT rear I have from my parts car. I have a back up to rob parts off of to convert my TC rear to 5 lug. Why not use the 99 rear? 3.73's...that's why.
