Finally have a Mustang!

[BoilermakerFan]

I've wanted a Mustang since high school whether it was a '66 Convertible, '68 2+2, or '89 LX Convertible... But yesterday I traded for a '95 GT Convertible roller and finally have my Mustang!

It's a project car. It needs a new top and new interior, but it's a good, solid car and already has a Cobra front bumper.

It will get a 393 Clevor with a Trick Flow Box-R intake and SCT 4 program chip. I have a Centerforce clutch and TR3550 with Pro-5 to mate to it.

I'm planning suspension, brakes and rear axle upgrades as well as new 18" wheels in the near future.

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

Welcome to the site man! Do you have any pictures or any other details of the car?

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Welcome to the site man! Do you have any pictures or any other details of the car?

I need to take pics after I get it cleaned up a little. Previous owner put lame stickers on the fenders.

It's a tan leather interior but I have a black dash and black steering column for it already. Haven't decided if I'll swap to all black or just tone done the see of tan. I may switch to black and grey too.

It has the Cobra badges on the grill and fenders but I'll probably pull those. Even though my car will end up being a Cobra R clone I'm not going to badge it that way. I'm going to get the 3" Cobra R hood with functional cowl vents to clear the Trick Flow intake. Since it's a Clevor I'll run Hedman Cleveland headers to a custom emissions legal x-pipe exhaust.

The new top will be a 2003 Cobra cloth top and I'll switch the tail lights to the vertical 3-bar '98 Cobra. I know the horizontal bars note the last pushrods, but I can't stand them.

 

[RichV]

The drivetrain sounds interesting. Windsor, Cleveland heads, and a 3550? Wonder how all that stuff goes together. Definitely out of the box for a SN.

 

[Orange 94]

Welcome! Sounds like a great project!

 

[BoilermakerFan]

The drivetrain sounds interesting. Windsor, Cleveland heads, and a 3550? Wonder how all that stuff goes together. Definitely out of the box for a SN.

I like to be different. It makes for a higher power budget build. The block and heads need a little machine work but it's all on the Web and easy to find. Clevors are old school, but with the Trick Flow intake and pistons it's easier than ever to build one. The TF intake uses a 90mm throttle body and I'll need 80 or 90 build injectors. The compression ratio will be about 9.1:1 so it leaves a nice upgrade path to a Vortex charger if I decide I want even more power in the future.

The 3550 was the OE unit for the 351W Cobra R so it just bolts right up! That's why I said I'm basically building a Cobra R clone... except mine will be a little more powerful.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Welcome! Sounds like a great project!

Thanks! I love your car and read your build thread when I was researching the Cobra R hoods before I committed to my trade.

FWIW, I traded off a '56 Fairlane Victoria 2 Dr Hardtop project car. It needed more significant work than I could do or pay for. Sad to see it go, but my 9yo son can actually help me with this project so I'm really excited!

And I wanted a '94 or '95 GT Convertible. I know they're the redheaded step child, but I didn't want a Mod motor and I didn't want an earlier Fox body. Had to be a '94 or '95 for me!

 

[Orange 94]

Even better! Glad to see another father son project. Some of the best time I spent with my dad.

 

[WhiteFaleen2001]

welcome to the forums

 

[white95]

Sounds like an expensive, long term project... MY FAVORITE!!!!!

The drivetrain sounds interesting. Windsor, Cleveland heads, and a 3550? Wonder how all that stuff goes together. Definitely out of the box for a SN.

How does a 351 + 3550 go together you ask? It'll fit together nicely! Ask me how I know?

Mr. Boilermaker,

You will have to flip the transmission crossmember (180*, not upside down ) and possibly shim the mount to get it to sit square OR it'll vibrate your teeth out... Use nothing but polyurethane motor/trans mounts. Flipping your mount will also mean you can't use the factory midpipe/exhaust hangers.

 

[CC'S95GT]

WELCOME TO THE MADNESS. sounds like a fun project.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Mr. Boilermaker,

You will have to flip the transmission crossmember (180*, not upside down ) and possibly shim the mount to get it to sit square OR it'll vibrate your teeth out... Use nothing but polyurethane motor/trans mounts. Flipping your mount will also mean you can't use the factory midpipe/exhaust hangers.

Expensive? Nah, I have most of the expensive parts already!

Thanks for the install tips!

I was planning on the urethane mounts. I've been doing research and I may not have room for TF Box-R upper intake even with my planned HO 4" Cobra R hood so I'm going to call TF tomorrow to discuss my 393 Clevor and the R-series upper for it.

I was planning a custom smog-legal side exhaust so we'll figure out the hanger locations.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

I have a few pics of the car, but they're on my phone. Need to get them uploaded and posted.

 

[white95]

The regular R upper fits under my 4" R hood with a 1" spacer if that helps...

 

[BoilermakerFan]

The regular R upper fits under my 4" R hood with a 1" spacer if that helps...

Cool! How do you like it with your 408/410? You have a little more cam than I will. My Voodoo is 272/290 and the Cleveland heads are close to yours but also a little less flow. I'm trying to keep the power down lower in the band. My CR will be 9.14:1 so I can add boost later if I decide I want it. I was going to set the rev limiter to 6400rpm.

 

[white95]

Honestly? I'm not sure because I'm not finished putting it back together. I'll have a full report in the next few weeks. With the old intake and smaller headers it pulled like a freight train but ran out of breath after 4500 rpms.. My wife's mid-12 '05 GT couldn't keep up lol

 

[white95]

Oh and if you wanna keep your Powerband in the middle ranges, run the "normal" upper plenum, the box shines above 5k

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Oh and if you wanna keep your Powerband in the middle ranges, run the "normal" upper plenum, the box shines above 5k

I thought it was the other way around. I thought the Box-R had the shorter runners to give more torque lower in the power band, but if the regular R-series is good to go with a 393/408 stroker I'm happy. My Cleveland heads are 2Vs so I don't need crazy revs to make power and I want to keep it below 6400rpm since it's a stock block.

I put a complete 351W from a '92 F-150 on hold today. I suspect my current block is too corroded in the water passages to be a suitable block for the Clevor. I'm planning on doing the hydraulic roller cam switch and using the 351W lower intake with the R-series 90mm intake so that all I need to do later is buy the Clevor lower intake and new pushrods. I have my eye on the MSD '95 Lightning distributor, but I'm going to start with just an auto parts store OE replacement to get the car running sooner. I'll keep the 351W in the car while I search for a better block or save to buy a Ford Racing block. The advantage of the new block is the ability to go to 4.125 pistons with my 3.85 stroke rods for a 411 with no valve shrouding so that's the way I'm leaning. More expensive, but a much stronger motor in the long run.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

A few pics of the car as I received it...
















I have a black dash and a black steering column so I'm going to swap in the steering column and the black cover for the passenger side airbag to tone down the tan. I'm going to install black carpet and get tan floor mats with black lettering and graphics. The seats will be redone in black and tan or black and saddle. I'm really tempted to dye the tan the new darker saddle color too.

 

[DeepList]

Another Indiana guy! Welcome to the community!