A Late Introduction to My Mustang

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro) 07/27/2018 at 21:00 • Filed to: oppoversary, oppo-versary, sn95, mustang, ama

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Holy crap, three years on Oppo and I haven’t even introduced my daily driver!

I’ve shared a few wrenching posts on it, but this- this is long overdue. Meet... well, she doesn’t have a name. I never came up with one that felt like it fit, so I usually just refer to her as my 95. Short for SN95 of course, but also because this is a 1995 model with a 1995 build date. A triple threat! We’ve been together for almost 9 years now.

I knew that I was never going to become good at driving a manual transmission until I made one my daily driver. My first few vehicles had been RWD V8s, but at this point I had found myself driving a 1992 LeSabre. I was SO ready to get back into a RWD car.

I was also ready to get serious about doing more DIY wrenching too, so !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! quickly became my target decade. I didn’t want something old and hopelessly rusty, nor something newer that would be difficult/expensive to work on. Never thought I’d be driving a Mustang, but the SN95 soon revealed itself to be one of the best options that would suit my needs.

I wasn’t really interested in a Foxbody, but I also didn’t like the idea of having an early 4.6. And I sure didn’t want a V6... Long story short, I found exactly what I was looking for a in a 1995 Ford Mustang GT.

We met on the used lot of a Chevy dealer, and although I was new to Mustangs, I had done a bunch of research beforehand and just needed a test drive to confirm that she was the one for me. I still had a lot to learn though, and it would take months -nay, years - before I recognized all the mods that had already been done to it by previous owners.

I had no complaints with the gearshift, but they say that one of your first mods on these cars should be a short-throw shifter. Turns out, it already had a Steeda one on it! It wasn’t until I sat in a junkyard car that I realized just how bad the stock stick was.

When I looked up the part numbers on the Eibach springs, I learned that the car had been lowered about an inch or so from stock via their “Pro-Kit”. That’s just about perfect IMO. I don’t think I’d like the Sportline springs very much. Not with all these potholes around here, anyway.

Eibach also turned out to be the manufacturer of the car’s caster-camber plates. The guys at my local tire shop really like the extra adjustability that lets them dial it in just right.

The wheels turned out to be 17" Ford funnel-spoke/Bullitt/Torq-Thrust ones from a 2005-2009 S197 Mustang, fitted with 25mm wheel spacers and Pirelli P Zero Nero all-seasons.

The wheels could use a good refinishing... one of these days.

Thanks to these rims, my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was a piece of cake. Plenty of room for the new 13" rotors.

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I didn’t stop at the front wheels, though. I upgraded the rear brakes to Cobra-spec, too. Since the axle-shafts had to come out for that, I took that opportunity to rebuild the solid axle with fresh clutches, bearings, and seals. That would have been an excellent time to install some shorter gears in the diff too, but... this car is still my daily driver and MPG is still kinda important to me. So the 2.73 gears stayed. (Hey, if I ever change my mind, at least the diff’s new TA Performance girdle/cover has a drain plug, so it won’t be quite as messy to open it back up again.) Also, before wrapping up the whole axle refresh, I splurged on an aluminum driveshaft.

Speaking of Cobra upgrades, I also hunted down a 2003/04 Cobra steering rack with its quicker ratio. It bolted right up and made the car feel tons more responsive. I love it.

I’ve been pretty pleased with the previous owner’s upgrades, but one part that they skipped over was the speedo calibration. So to match the larger wheels, I went ahead and got a new speedo gear in the transmission so that it’s dead-on-balls-accurate (it’s an industry term). And while I was under there, I decided to treat the car to an aluminum driveshaft, too.

Now as a daily driver, I can’t say that I really push the car hard enough to fully benefit from it, but I had a shop weld in some full-length subframe connectors anyway. One of the few things that I’ve taken this car into someone else’s shop for.

Though this is the first car I’ve been really serious about DIY wrenching, I’ve always been meticulous about doing it right, and have no regrets. Well... except for that one time I put cheap ball-joints on it and had to replace them again one year later. That was early in my wrenching career, and I’ve been careful to seek out quality parts ever since. Lesson learned.

Of course, not all wrenching has been excuses for upgrades. Aside from regular maintenance, I’ve been all over this car fixing other things as they wear out, often taking things just a little bit further than I really needed to. For example, when my water pump failed I also decided to remove the timing cover behind it and install a fresh timing cover gasket, timing chain & sprockets, and harmonic damper/balancer. Shouldn’t have to touch those bolts again for a long time.

I’m not much of a body man, and this car is not without its flaws. It’s the nicest car I’ve ever owned, and I’ve never really thought of it as a beater, but it might fit your definition of one. Although I do try to keep it waxed, the paint has plenty of light scratches all over it which would probably buff out if I spent some time on it. However, Carfax reported a previous owner’s “incident” with a curb, which might explain why the front end of the car isn’t quite as faded as the rear. Laser Red is an absolutely gorgeous color, but a couple of decades in the sun has a way of turning it into a boring shade of “laser pink”.

Horizontal tri-bar tail lamps: a 1994-’95 specific feature marking the last of the pushrod 302 GT models.

The rear tail lamp housings took it even worse (must be the plastic, I guess). They’ve turned all splotchy. I hear that Laser Red is a tricky color to work with, so if I DIY this, I might just paint them black instead (just the housings of course, not the lenses). And if I do end up doing that, I’m thinking about painting (or Plasti-Dipping) the space between them black too, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

I still love this car every bit as much as when I bought it. No plans to get rid of it anytime soon. I could go on and on, but this post is already getting long. I’ll share some more about it in the future, but in the meantime, if you have any questions, ask away!

TahoeSTi > Urambo Tauro 07/27/2018 at 21:27

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Nice! I daily drive my 95 Mustang GT vert in the summer and it’s setup much like what you have here. They are great fun and easy to maintain....most the time, I used mine for bracket race many years ago and wad pretty hard on the first few transmission but I blame myself for those problems. They sell black covers for the tail lights but you might be able to polish them up a bit.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Urambo Tauro 07/27/2018 at 21:55

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Thanks for the intro!  Good to see the functional mods.

M.T. Blake > Urambo Tauro 07/27/2018 at 22:14

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The more work you do, the more binds and problems created by fixing problems, the late nights, the shotgunned parts, it all makes you a better mechanic. DIY is something earned and learned. No one can take it once you’ve got it. Many desire the ability. Few actually sit down, take something apart, fuck it up worse, and continue forward. Enjoy the learning. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. 

shop-teacher > Urambo Tauro 07/27/2018 at 22:20

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“it’s dead-on-balls-accurate (it’s an industry term).”

I use that line regularly :)

That's a mighty fine DD you've got there. It's a driver, but definitely not a beater.

Urambo Tauro > TahoeSTi 07/27/2018 at 22:25

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I haven’t seen any covers like that... got a link? I hope they just cover the trim without smoking the lenses.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Urambo Tauro 07/27/2018 at 22:28

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My inner 90's child has always wanted one of these, a 94 or 95, coupe, 5 speed, 5.0, yellow (or maybe teal).

Urambo Tauro > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 07/27/2018 at 22:38

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Not hotboi mods here lol. The functional stuff is so rewarding, and I like keeping it looking mostly stock. As neat as it might look to paint that part of the rear panel black , I’m really hesitant to abandon the stock look. That’s why I’m considering using Plasti Dip, so that I can peel it off if I change my mind .

Urambo Tauro > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 07/27/2018 at 22:39

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I like both of those colors, for different reasons.

Urambo Tauro > shop-teacher 07/27/2018 at 22:46

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Thanks! But I must confess I shot it rather strategically in the pics above. I’ll share some close-ups of the body rust in a later post (got some spots on the roof & rear quarters). It still looks pretty good from a distance though!

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > Urambo Tauro 07/27/2018 at 22:59

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Ban torq thrusts

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Urambo Tauro 07/27/2018 at 23:34

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What about finding the original paint code?  Sure, it might look less faded than the rest of the car...

Urambo Tauro > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch 07/27/2018 at 23:45

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I’m ok with them. Might even paint them black on e day.

Urambo Tauro > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 07/27/2018 at 23:45

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E9 is Laser Red. It’s supposedly a tricky color to work with, especially for beginners like me. And even if I do manage to get it right, it’ll stand out due to not being faded like the rest of the car. If I go with black, it’ll look like an intentional contrast instead of falsely appearing to be the “wrong” color.

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 00:04

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Mmm, I don't think that would age well on it....and I usually like black rims on cars (fight me). I think an alloy refinish or hell, even a chrome one would look better. Just my opinion, but in the end it's your car so you do whatever you want.

Urambo Tauro > HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute 07/28/2018 at 00:18

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Chrome on a SN95 i s a little too flashy for my taste . It doesn’t look too bad on Cobra wheels though. I just prefer the body of the car to be more eye-catching than the wheels. (Besides, black rims are good at hiding brake dust.)

AfromanGTO > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 01:11

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No black.... Go chrome! Be shiny!!!!!

AfromanGTO > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 01:12

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Very nice intro about your daily driver! So when is the write up for the Termi IRS and slapping a blower on it??????

Also brake upgrades are the best! It is the first major mod I did on my GTO. :)

vondon302 > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 06:45

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I bet working on this is like child's play compared to the Saab.

Montalvo > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 07:22

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I wish my 89 had your paint. It spent   27 years in CA baking   in the sun doing   it no favors. On the otherhand it has very little rust.

Urambo Tauro > AfromanGTO 07/28/2018 at 09:06

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Ooh, tempting...

Urambo Tauro > vondon302 07/28/2018 at 09:12

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For the most part, yeah. The Saab’ s clutch is easier to change though. Spark plugs, too. And I think the engine’s probably easier to pull on the Saab , on account of being able to hoist it straight up without removing the gearbox.

shop-teacher > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 09:34

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If that makes it a beater, then my truck is a beater too. I don’t think either q ualifies.

vondon302 > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 09:41

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Still can't get over that clutch

Urambo Tauro > vondon302 07/28/2018 at 10:20

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Yeah I’m jealous over how accessible that is. But then again, it puts the belts and accessories up against the firewall, so you win some you lose some...

AfromanGTO > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 14:22

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The IRS can be easily found, and so can the blower to go with it. :)

TahoeSTi > Urambo Tauro 07/28/2018 at 19:26

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It’s what the 94 95 saleens had it was a black Taillight bezel I know it was on the Saleen s351 and I’ve only seen them for sale on the message boards or ebay.

If you search for:

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You should at least find some images, and maybe some for sale on a message board. 

Urambo Tauro > TahoeSTi 07/28/2018 at 20:27

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Huh. Maybe I have seen those before after all, and never realized that it was a separate piece. Looks like they’re pretty rare. I did manage to find an old thread where someone was looking into using an old se t as a template to start producing new ones for sale . The result would still be in the triple digits, though. For that kind of money, I’d find the motivation to painstakingly tape off my lenses and re-paint the housings  instead.