Fox body update.

"Matthew Phillips" (flatsidewaysfl)
02/23/2016 at 14:45 • Filed to: None

So the Fox is getting better and better each day, installed a new air filter and it woke up a bit, putting in new plugs at some point. Found out that you can’t feather the gas pedal like in my previous more powerful cars up the hills. You have to put your foot down, but the new air filter allows it to keep speed much easier.

Just going to give her a tuneup and then some handling goodies, i’m fine with her as is. I don’t want more power at this point.

If anyone can give me some suggestions to make her more fun in the twisties I’m all ears. Do I need a swaybar for the front and rear or just front ? Better tires or wider tires ? Cold air intake ?

I'm also looking at a cover for the headlights to smooth the front end up a bit.

DISCUSSION (16)

OPPOsaurus WRX > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 14:48

they exist ( i dunno where just a google image search)

Kinja'd!!!

Montalvo > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 14:49

Not sure if you ever saw this thread but I think it is good to take a look if nothing more for inspiration.

http://www.autoblog.com/tag/project+ug…

Birddog > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 14:54

Front and rear sway bars from a GT would tighten things up a bunch. Struts/Springs from an SVO or 1983-1984 Turbo GT wouldn’t hurt either.

I believe GTS still makes headlight covers for them too. Or you could make your own.

Matthew Phillips > Montalvo
02/23/2016 at 15:00

Hahahah it's funny, I was emailing Dan from the Autoblog podcast about how it was because of them I have a Crown Vic and a Fox body. We had a nice conversation.

Matthew Phillips > OPPOsaurus WRX
02/23/2016 at 15:01

Those are the exact ones I’m looking at.

mazda616 > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 15:20

I love those old Fox bodies. Nice car, sir. :)

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 15:30

My uncle had that exact car - 86 Mustang 2.3 4-speed with those exact wheels - back when I was a kid. Same silvery-gray and everything. He loved it but man, he was terrible at driving a stickshift in the Pennsylvania hills. It was his first brand new car when he was 21 and he kept it until he moved down to the DC area and decided to get an automatic Dodge Intrepid in about 1999.

I remember flopping around in the back seat pretty badly.

The 15" 10-holes actually don’t look bad with about a 205-section tire on the four-cylinder cars. That’ll clean up the look (once the hood has a nice wash/buff/polish) and you can feel it get just a little tighter.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 15:39

If you come across a GT bumper you coul always put the fog lamps in..... The fog lamps and covers pop up on Ebay often enough. The fog lamps are Marchal 750s.

Gone > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 15:47

Budget is the big deal. How much can/are you willing to spend?
Maximum Motorsports is always going to be the easy plug-in choice even though there are plenty of competitors.
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/

Ford Racing and SVO/SVT parts are a potentially cheaper alternative for upgrades.
Basic stuff:
4-bolt 17" Cobra replicas (cheap) and you can go 245s square.
90-93 front fenders for tire clearance
90-93 k-member for better geometry and to match the 90-93 fenders (control arm bolt re-location, revised outer tie rods)
F/R swaybars
87-93 front spindles for larger parts availability for front suspension and to match the above changes
87-93 8.8 for stronger setup, LSD/T2/T2R, rear disc swap upgrade, and 87-93 lower shock mounts
shocks/springs or front coilovers
CC plates
subframe connectors
panhard bar
steering rack bushings

Or you can swap over the kmember, etc from an SN95. So...lots of options. I don’t remember off hand what exact parts needed. And the rear for free rear discs.

Even better:
Torque Arm
Watts Linkage
Coilovers w/SLA front

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 15:49

https://lmr.com/item/GTS-GT021…

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 15:52

Aw man, you’re gonna put headlight covers on? The headlight buckets are the best part of the car!

Kinja'd!!!

Four- eye Foxes are the best Foxes...and four-eye notches are the best of all. I love how original looking your car is...mine needs a set of 10 hole wheels to really bring back the stock look. Not that the car is stock, of course, but sometimes I like to pretend.

As for handling, probably the best thing you can do is drop it a little on stiffer springs, and maybe consider moving the battery to the trunk...Foxes are nose heavy, so getting that weight out to the rear would help a little. Then get yourself some wider, stickier tires. It's gonna tend towards understeer no matter what you do, so making it grip better is always a good place to start.

dietryng > Birddog
02/23/2016 at 21:55

what birddog said about swaybars and springs off a gt. and get the widest grippiest tires thatll fit.

Matthew Phillips > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
02/23/2016 at 22:26

Your fox looks beautiful. I almost bought the covers and would rather use the money for something else. My roommate has a pair of wider rear tires that came on his fox body, we might put them on just for laughs.

He has the 5.0 hatch, some need for power is sated in his.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Matthew Phillips
02/23/2016 at 23:35

My Fox, like all Foxes, is a work in progress...I bought it from a guy who took it apart to restore it and never got to it. I slapped it back together a few months ago, thinking I’d do engine and body work over the winter, but winter never really came...the three weeks since I’ve driven it now has been the longest I’ve gone without driving it.

Is your car a 4 or 6 cylinder?

Matthew Phillips > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
02/24/2016 at 00:12

I have the 2.3 4L

Frank Grimes > Matthew Phillips
02/24/2016 at 00:16

subframe connectors

Kinja'd!!!