Five (Point-Oh) Has Always Been My Favorite Number

"That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms" (thatbastardkurtis5)
09/13/2015 at 13:57 • Filed to: FivePointOhYeah, Project, MyWifeIsn'tTalkingToMe, She'llGetOverIt

I’ve spent the last two weeks or so looking for a project Mustang, as a few of you know. I looked at early cars, I looked at late cars, I looked at coupes and convertibles. But like it always does when I go Mustang shopping, it comes back to a Fox Body.

Though if I’m being honest, what I have here is less an ‘86 Mustang LX notchback and more a 1:1 scale model of one. As you can see, it’s apart. But, it’s only the body and interior which are apart...the engine and transmission are in place, and the car runs and drives.

This is my 5th 5.0, and I’ve never had two that were the same. My first one was a black ‘88 GT with t-tops, then a red ‘89 LX convertible with an automatic, a green ‘92 LX hatchback came next, and an ‘85 Capri was last. So now I’ve completed my Fox Body set by getting a notchback.

It’s a factory 5 liter 5 speed car, with A/C delete and crank windows. The color is Shadow Blue over blue interior, which I like a lot better than I thought I would.

The car has been mildly modified, and I’m honestly not really sure what’s inside the engine...the guy I bought it from didn’t do the work. I know it has Mac headers and an MSD distributor, previous owner thought it has a cam, but if it does it’s mild because the car idles pretty smoothly. I think it’s got a really short gear in the back, because I just took it around the block and it GOES. Besides that, the shifter is a Pro 5-0 that needs a longer lever and it has a short-ram intake that’s just awful.

It has some Lakewood suspension bits, subframe connectors, drilled/slotted front rotors. Front tires are some basically-new Michelin Pilot Sport Plus that I’ll probably try to replicate for the rears. Rears are some fat Nitto NT05Rs that have some life left in them, but the sidewalls are looking a little dry rotted. Rear wheels have to be about an inch wider than the fronts, since the fronts are 235s, the rears are 275s, and both seem to fit about the same on their respective wheels.

Importantly, I’ve got all the parts to put the car back together. The seller bought the car, started taking it apart with the intention of doing all the body work (light rust over one wheel well, surface rust on the driver’s side door jamb, one small hole in the driver’s floor) and then going nuts and building a show car out of it. As such, it’s pretty solid to start with. My plan is to do the body work he was going to do and repaint it in the factory color (which I had never seen before, but I LOVE it).

I’d also like to get inside the engine and see what it’s deal is. If the heads are original, they’re gone...the ‘86 heads are a one-year-only head for a reason: they kinda suck. Luckily, my local Pick N Pull has a few Explorers in stock that might land me a set of GT40 heads, which would be a terrific upgrade over the ‘86 heads. The goal there is 300 RWHP, which I’m told is getting close to the upper limits with the stock block and displacement, but very doable for not much money.

So there it is, my new project. It’s now nestled safely in my garage, which needs to be cleared out of other non-Mustang stuff, and I’ll probably start messing around with it after the Bills/Colts game. Can’t wait to get started.

DISCUSSION (4)

Birddog > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
09/13/2015 at 14:26

A 5 speed, 5.0, Four Eye Notch?

You are my new Hero!

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Birddog
09/13/2015 at 14:32

It’s a little bit of a unicorn. 60k 5 liters in 1986, 2400 notches, 254 in Shadow Blue. As soon as I saw the CL listing for a four-eye notch though, I knew it was the car, haha.

Urambo Tauro > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
09/13/2015 at 14:35

Looks like fun! Good to hear it already has SFCs. GT40s are a good choice, and you’re right about that warm-air intake; it’s got to go. Are you going to do keep it 4-lug and rear drums?

Birddog > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
09/13/2015 at 14:36

I would have jumped on it too. It really would have been an impulse buy.

Great find!