ElrodKTPQ_89
Legend
Intriguing title? Allow me to explain: I am now the owner of an 86 Hatchback that was well on its way to having a junkyard 4.8 truck engine and 4l60e. But that doesn’t really sum up the story well enough, not at all. To tell it right is gonna take a minute to read through, but this car has a very interesting history that would be a shame to just dismiss with a short introduction and a few pictures. So if you feel like learning the backstory, continue reading. If not then you can pick back up towards the end of this post.
The first time I ever laid eyes on the car was my senior year of high school (2008). I would pass it every morning on my way to school as the owner drove it to a body shop close to where I grew up. It was the first time I had ever really realized what a foxbody mustang even was. I had seen them before but had never really paid much attention to them or had any interest in them. This car changed that completely...it was low, loud and had a slick paint job and nice wheels. Not long after seeing it, I wound up making friends with the owner, and eventually became roommates with him after graduating high school. My buddy Matt, the owner, had bought the car from a guy that lived in my hometown...Matt lived in Winnsboro, LA at the time. The car was originally white and had a bonestock engine with a 200 shot of nitrous and a C4 with a big stall and was mostly drag raced by the original owner. Matt bought it when he was 16, and had his brother paint it DSG and put a set of chrome Cobra R wheels on it and a Cervini’s ram air hood, and also ditched the C4 for a T5. After Matt moved up here, a few issues started coming up with the car and he wound up buying an 89 model donor car and swapped everything over to the 86. Not long after, they kept running into a bunch of electrical issues and decided just to ditch the fuel injection and swap it over to carb. During that process they also bought a set of Pro Comp aluminum heads, Edelbrock performer rpm intake, Demon 750 carb and the absolute nastiest solid lift cam I’ve ever heard in my life (2009-10). The car lived like this for a couple years actually and was even a daily driver for a good portion of that time. Eventually the cam got the better of things and shut that show down (late 2010). Here are a couple pictures of the car at its peak. (It’s all downhill from here)
Now at this point, with the engine out of commission, Matt was starting to look at some other options. The first option was a 347 shortblock they purchased that they were going to swap the heads and intake onto and choose a different cam. This plan never actually went all the way through, and the 347 is actually in my 94 GT now. Option 2 was a coyote engine swap. Matt wound up trading a truck he had built for a complete coyote engine and pro charger and was making plans of putting it in the car. Somewhere along this part of its history is where things started getting weird. Long story short, Matt lost interest in things and the car wound up in the hands of his brother Jason somehow. Not long after that, the car swapped hands to another friend of ours that was planning on putting a turbo LS into it...this guy never actually got the car after paying for it, and it eventually was back belonging to Jason again. Next, Jason and Matt worked out some deal that landed the coyote in Jason’s hands also. This is where the car saw the most action it would see in a long time (2016). Jason was going all the way in head over heels on the coyote swap. He completely stripped the car inside and out, installed a set of Scott Rod engine bay panels, had the coyote built to handle anything he could have thrown at it, brand new t56 magnum with QuickTime bell housing, full UPR suspension, Nitrous Express kit, the works basically. He had racked up a good 40 grand in parts but never really got started on installing any of it.
This is where things took a turn for the worst (2017). Jason went through a divorce and in the midst of things wound up selling everything he had bought for the car. The only thing he didn’t get rid of was the car itself. When it came time to move out of his house, he had nowhere to put the car, which wasn’t even a roller anymore, so he winds up GIVING the car back to the ORIGINAL owner. Once back in the hands of the original owner, who already had two other hatchback foxes, the 86 was put up in a storage building he owned and forgotten about for a few months (2018).
In January of 2019, a good friend of mine named Trey tells me he’s on the lookout for a project car. So I get him in touch with the current owner of the car, who winds up giving the car to Trey absolutely free. Trey tossed around the idea of a couple different engine swaps before finally going and buying a 4.8 from a wrecked truck, and a rear end from some 99-04 GT. He was also given a k member and a arms from another buddy of mine, which actually turned out to be from an 03-04 Cobra. Trey wound up getting the car rolling again, and that’s as far as things went. A couple weeks ago Trey got a HELLUVA deal on a 91 LX Hatchback, so it was time to let the other car go. This is where I finally make my way back into the story. Trey sold me the car for what he had in the suspension and tires/wheels.
I bought this car for $320 [emoji15]
We went ahead and moved the car into my new shop the other night.
Right now it resides under a car cover, where it will probably remain until I’m ready to work on it...after my shop and house are finished. The only thing I’ve done to it was vacuum it out and ripped out this janky cheap ass wiring harness Trey thought would be a good idea to put in it [emoji2359]
I didn’t need this car by any means, but I couldn’t let it pass me up either. I mean how many times do you get a chance to buy a car that clean for so cheap in one lifetime?!? I do have some future plans for it though. I would like to try and get it as light as possible while still keeping the door panels and carpet and most of the interior, full UPR suspension, and just get it back to a driveable state again. I still have the engine out of my 94, which is in great shape with pretty low miles and a basically brand new clutch as well. As the car sits I could probably get it running and driving again for around $1000 if I wanted to, but for now it’s not hurting anything to just sit and wait. Atleast it’s no longer destined for the dreaded LS swap life. Of course I’ll update this whenever anything new happens with it but don’t expect it to be anything like my other car, I still have to finish it LOL.
To anyone who actually dedicated the time and effort to read thru that saga of mustang history then award yourself with a firm internet handshake from me. I know it was very long-winded, but as I said, you just can’t leave all of that stuff out. Thanks for checking it out and I’d love to hear what any of you guys think about it.
The first time I ever laid eyes on the car was my senior year of high school (2008). I would pass it every morning on my way to school as the owner drove it to a body shop close to where I grew up. It was the first time I had ever really realized what a foxbody mustang even was. I had seen them before but had never really paid much attention to them or had any interest in them. This car changed that completely...it was low, loud and had a slick paint job and nice wheels. Not long after seeing it, I wound up making friends with the owner, and eventually became roommates with him after graduating high school. My buddy Matt, the owner, had bought the car from a guy that lived in my hometown...Matt lived in Winnsboro, LA at the time. The car was originally white and had a bonestock engine with a 200 shot of nitrous and a C4 with a big stall and was mostly drag raced by the original owner. Matt bought it when he was 16, and had his brother paint it DSG and put a set of chrome Cobra R wheels on it and a Cervini’s ram air hood, and also ditched the C4 for a T5. After Matt moved up here, a few issues started coming up with the car and he wound up buying an 89 model donor car and swapped everything over to the 86. Not long after, they kept running into a bunch of electrical issues and decided just to ditch the fuel injection and swap it over to carb. During that process they also bought a set of Pro Comp aluminum heads, Edelbrock performer rpm intake, Demon 750 carb and the absolute nastiest solid lift cam I’ve ever heard in my life (2009-10). The car lived like this for a couple years actually and was even a daily driver for a good portion of that time. Eventually the cam got the better of things and shut that show down (late 2010). Here are a couple pictures of the car at its peak. (It’s all downhill from here)
Now at this point, with the engine out of commission, Matt was starting to look at some other options. The first option was a 347 shortblock they purchased that they were going to swap the heads and intake onto and choose a different cam. This plan never actually went all the way through, and the 347 is actually in my 94 GT now. Option 2 was a coyote engine swap. Matt wound up trading a truck he had built for a complete coyote engine and pro charger and was making plans of putting it in the car. Somewhere along this part of its history is where things started getting weird. Long story short, Matt lost interest in things and the car wound up in the hands of his brother Jason somehow. Not long after that, the car swapped hands to another friend of ours that was planning on putting a turbo LS into it...this guy never actually got the car after paying for it, and it eventually was back belonging to Jason again. Next, Jason and Matt worked out some deal that landed the coyote in Jason’s hands also. This is where the car saw the most action it would see in a long time (2016). Jason was going all the way in head over heels on the coyote swap. He completely stripped the car inside and out, installed a set of Scott Rod engine bay panels, had the coyote built to handle anything he could have thrown at it, brand new t56 magnum with QuickTime bell housing, full UPR suspension, Nitrous Express kit, the works basically. He had racked up a good 40 grand in parts but never really got started on installing any of it.
This is where things took a turn for the worst (2017). Jason went through a divorce and in the midst of things wound up selling everything he had bought for the car. The only thing he didn’t get rid of was the car itself. When it came time to move out of his house, he had nowhere to put the car, which wasn’t even a roller anymore, so he winds up GIVING the car back to the ORIGINAL owner. Once back in the hands of the original owner, who already had two other hatchback foxes, the 86 was put up in a storage building he owned and forgotten about for a few months (2018).
In January of 2019, a good friend of mine named Trey tells me he’s on the lookout for a project car. So I get him in touch with the current owner of the car, who winds up giving the car to Trey absolutely free. Trey tossed around the idea of a couple different engine swaps before finally going and buying a 4.8 from a wrecked truck, and a rear end from some 99-04 GT. He was also given a k member and a arms from another buddy of mine, which actually turned out to be from an 03-04 Cobra. Trey wound up getting the car rolling again, and that’s as far as things went. A couple weeks ago Trey got a HELLUVA deal on a 91 LX Hatchback, so it was time to let the other car go. This is where I finally make my way back into the story. Trey sold me the car for what he had in the suspension and tires/wheels.
I bought this car for $320 [emoji15]
We went ahead and moved the car into my new shop the other night.
Right now it resides under a car cover, where it will probably remain until I’m ready to work on it...after my shop and house are finished. The only thing I’ve done to it was vacuum it out and ripped out this janky cheap ass wiring harness Trey thought would be a good idea to put in it [emoji2359]
I didn’t need this car by any means, but I couldn’t let it pass me up either. I mean how many times do you get a chance to buy a car that clean for so cheap in one lifetime?!? I do have some future plans for it though. I would like to try and get it as light as possible while still keeping the door panels and carpet and most of the interior, full UPR suspension, and just get it back to a driveable state again. I still have the engine out of my 94, which is in great shape with pretty low miles and a basically brand new clutch as well. As the car sits I could probably get it running and driving again for around $1000 if I wanted to, but for now it’s not hurting anything to just sit and wait. Atleast it’s no longer destined for the dreaded LS swap life. Of course I’ll update this whenever anything new happens with it but don’t expect it to be anything like my other car, I still have to finish it LOL.
To anyone who actually dedicated the time and effort to read thru that saga of mustang history then award yourself with a firm internet handshake from me. I know it was very long-winded, but as I said, you just can’t leave all of that stuff out. Thanks for checking it out and I’d love to hear what any of you guys think about it.
