DannyZ
New Member
Hey y'all,
I picked up a 1996 Mustang GT 5-speed convertible recently, so I figured I'd post about it here.
This Mustang GT has an interesting backstory. It started when a good friend of mine reached out to get me to inspect and buy a Mustang GT for him. He lives in Orlando, FL and I'm in Phoenix, AZ, so that's why he had me handle the purchase. After I bought it for him, it stayed at my house for a bit until he flew out here to pick it up. He bought it for a YouTube challenge he was doing, so we did a quick and dirty build on it over a weekend, cutting the springs to lower it, installing a cheap cold air intake, removing the back half of the exhaust, and fixing a few other odds and ends. After that, my friend drove it to LA, did the YouTube challenge, and left it parked at a garage near LAX (he had to fly back home) for me to pick up since I had agreed to buy it from him when he was done with it.
This past weekend I took a super long Greyhound ride to LA and picked up the Mustang. While I was in LA I took it to some nice canyon roads in Malibu which was a total blast. I then drove it all the way back home to Phoenix, which went off without a hitch. Here are some pictures I took of it while it was in LA:
It was absolutely filthy from being thrashed around on a dry lake bed for the video shoot, and the side skirts got torn off. I still have them along with all of their clips, they were laying in the front seat. It's also way too low thanks to the ghetto spring cut job (we cut 2 coils off the front springs and 1.25 coils off the rear springs).
Specs-wise, it's a mostly stock 1996 Mustang GT convertible with a 5-speed manual. Neither the speedometer nor odometer work, so it's been frozen at 182k miles for a while. Reportedly it's near 200k according to the previous owner. The engine runs perfectly for the most part, especially since I just replaced the IAC with a brand new one. The AC works brilliantly since my friend and I filled it up with a cheap Autozone kit. The radio also works since we fixed the previous owner's horribly botched wiring job. The engine doesn't burn any oil and it doesn't appear to be leaking any fluids. The spark plugs, ignition coils, and alternator are all pretty new as well. The tires are in decent shape too, with a good amount of tread left. Not much grip in the rear though since the tires are only 245's.
Now my plan is to clean it up, fix whatever issues it has left, and then add power. My plan is to change the diff gears, install PI heads + intake, install some kind of performance cams, port the PI heads, and eventually install a stroker kit to get the 4.6L to 5.0L. I know I could always swap in another engine or supercharge for easy power, but I'm trying to keep this build as cheap as possible, continuing the cheap theme that my friend and I started with. I'm a relatively skilled mechanic with an extensive background in BMWs (I have a 2000 540i Touring and a 2003 X5 4.6), so I'm no stranger to rebuilding engines, having rebuilt 8 BMW V8's at this point. I have a garage full of tools, plenty of free time, and tons of motivation. Everything I've done on the Mustang so far has been insanely easy, so I don't think I'll have any trouble fixing it up.
Here's my repair to-do list for now:
Once I get those repairs out of the way I'll start doing the fun go-fast mods.
I picked up a 1996 Mustang GT 5-speed convertible recently, so I figured I'd post about it here.
This Mustang GT has an interesting backstory. It started when a good friend of mine reached out to get me to inspect and buy a Mustang GT for him. He lives in Orlando, FL and I'm in Phoenix, AZ, so that's why he had me handle the purchase. After I bought it for him, it stayed at my house for a bit until he flew out here to pick it up. He bought it for a YouTube challenge he was doing, so we did a quick and dirty build on it over a weekend, cutting the springs to lower it, installing a cheap cold air intake, removing the back half of the exhaust, and fixing a few other odds and ends. After that, my friend drove it to LA, did the YouTube challenge, and left it parked at a garage near LAX (he had to fly back home) for me to pick up since I had agreed to buy it from him when he was done with it.
This past weekend I took a super long Greyhound ride to LA and picked up the Mustang. While I was in LA I took it to some nice canyon roads in Malibu which was a total blast. I then drove it all the way back home to Phoenix, which went off without a hitch. Here are some pictures I took of it while it was in LA:
It was absolutely filthy from being thrashed around on a dry lake bed for the video shoot, and the side skirts got torn off. I still have them along with all of their clips, they were laying in the front seat. It's also way too low thanks to the ghetto spring cut job (we cut 2 coils off the front springs and 1.25 coils off the rear springs).
Specs-wise, it's a mostly stock 1996 Mustang GT convertible with a 5-speed manual. Neither the speedometer nor odometer work, so it's been frozen at 182k miles for a while. Reportedly it's near 200k according to the previous owner. The engine runs perfectly for the most part, especially since I just replaced the IAC with a brand new one. The AC works brilliantly since my friend and I filled it up with a cheap Autozone kit. The radio also works since we fixed the previous owner's horribly botched wiring job. The engine doesn't burn any oil and it doesn't appear to be leaking any fluids. The spark plugs, ignition coils, and alternator are all pretty new as well. The tires are in decent shape too, with a good amount of tread left. Not much grip in the rear though since the tires are only 245's.
Now my plan is to clean it up, fix whatever issues it has left, and then add power. My plan is to change the diff gears, install PI heads + intake, install some kind of performance cams, port the PI heads, and eventually install a stroker kit to get the 4.6L to 5.0L. I know I could always swap in another engine or supercharge for easy power, but I'm trying to keep this build as cheap as possible, continuing the cheap theme that my friend and I started with. I'm a relatively skilled mechanic with an extensive background in BMWs (I have a 2000 540i Touring and a 2003 X5 4.6), so I'm no stranger to rebuilding engines, having rebuilt 8 BMW V8's at this point. I have a garage full of tools, plenty of free time, and tons of motivation. Everything I've done on the Mustang so far has been insanely easy, so I don't think I'll have any trouble fixing it up.
Here's my repair to-do list for now:
- Fix the speedometer— it doesn't work at all. I've already replaced the vehicle speed sensor that's on the transmission, no change there.
- Fix the leaning driver's seat— the back doesn't stay up so it always looks reclined. Not very comfortable to drive.
- Get a shop to weld up proper exhaust pipes since right now it just ends in the middle of the car.
- Change all fluids (oil, transmission fluid, differential fluid). Coolant and brake fluid are new since I replaced them before driving the car much.
- Install a short shifter to clean up the super sloppy shifting. I know this could be considered a mod rather than a fix, but given how sloppy the shifter is, it'll be a good fix too. I'm looking at the Steeda Tri-Ax for that.
- Fix a few loose/broken interior panels. Rubber cement + crazy glue should make this relatively easy.
- Adjust convertible top— it doesn't quite close all the way on the driver's side, I have to pull it a bit to get it to snap into place and it still doesn't seal fully.
- Replace all taillight bulbs. While all the light bulbs light up, they're pretty intermittent and don't always light up for turn signal use, leading me to think that somebody put the wrong bulb types in.
Once I get those repairs out of the way I'll start doing the fun go-fast mods.
