Newbie to SN's here. Longtime Foxbody guy

Paladin1001

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Hello all,

I recently picked up a 98 GT 5-speed with some upgrades and its share of issues for a first car for my daughter. I've been reading posts here and like the community so I figured I'd join up.

When I get some decent pics, I'll post them up. I have been a Foxbody owner for over 20 years, with one of each bodystyle currently in my collection. I figured the SN is a more modern and safer car for my girl who is also into cars.

I've already fixed the AC, bought a PS pump and the hoses since its leaking like a bucket with no bottom and a previous owner tried to fix it with JB weld. I got the door pulls reattached with some custom additional screws holding things together on the interior.

This weekend I will be swapping the pump and hoses and then I can drive it to evaluate what else it needs. I also ordered new gears for the non-functioning odometer.

It runs well and doesn't smoke or overheat. It has a Dorman Intake manifold on it with the aluminum crossover. Not sure how I feel about keeping that yet but I don't need to add HP for my daughters first car, I just want stock reliability.

If y'all have any recommendations to improve the reliability I am all ears. It currently has a short throw shifter, BBK cold air intake, tubular headers with Magnaflow exhaust (sounds GREAT), Eibach lowering springs and a fully functional Mach 460 stereo system with CD player. The car shows 128k on the title but the odometer reads 112K and the title has an odometer not correct warning on it. Not sure of the miles it has since the guy I bought it from never even titled it in his name and he had it for a year. He said he had too many projects and I believe him, looking at his yard.

Anyway, thanks for having me.
 

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PinkieT

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Welcome! My first car was a worn out rusty 65 Falcon with a 170 and a slushbox. Your daughter is lucky to have you for a dad!
 
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Paladin1001

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Thanks! I told her the first time she gets a speeding ticket or gets caught racing or acting the fool I'm taking it away and getting her an old Ford Van and that will be her car until she moves out and can buy her own:).

Plus I have been making her help me work on it so she can get some skin in the game.
 

evilcw311

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Welcome!! Good man always gets his kids into cars at a young age!!!!

How’s the brakes and tires on it??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

96blak54

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Keep the dorman intake on. They are OEM reliable intakes and are known to choke the horsepower down.

A factory ford 99-up pi manifold is the intake to go with for performance, just keep in mind that they are not a simple bolt on swap and may not be as reliable due to how it needs to be set up.

Any how about the steering pump....its a simple swap if you remove the fluid lines from the pump first, before unmounting the pump. When you get it back together, pick the front wheels up while adding fluid, while engine running, turn wheels lock to lock untill fluid is full
 
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Paladin1001

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Welcome!! Good man always gets his kids into cars at a young age!!!!

How’s the brakes and tires on it??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Brakes are good, tires are fair at best. They are New Edge 16's with some curb rash so I am looking for some 17"s I can get cheap before I buy tires. She's got a year before her license at the earliest so I have time. I like the way the 16"s look but since its lowered I think 17"s would help raise it up some so it doesn't drag on speed bumps. Also I am thinking of the 13" rotor brake upgrade in the future so she's got the best possible stock brakes.

I also like the idea of one of the 16"s as a full size spare for her.
 
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Paladin1001

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Keep the dorman intake on. They are OEM reliable intakes and are known to choke the horsepower down.

A factory ford 99-up pi manifold is the intake to go with for performance, just keep in mind that they are not a simple bolt on swap and may not be as reliable due to how it needs to be set up.

Any how about the steering pump....its a simple swap if you remove the fluid lines from the pump first, before unmounting the pump. When you get it back together, pick the front wheels up while adding fluid, while engine running, turn wheels lock to lock untill fluid is full


Thanks for the tips. I may have a bit of a challenge getting the JB Weld covered hose end off of the pump but I guess I can always cut the end off of the hose, its shot anyway.

Yeah If I were going to keep the car I'd do a PI swap all the way around and have fun with it. I really like the car so who knows I may have to find another one for me. I almost bought a 96 GT in 1998 but finances wouldn't allow it since my wife and I were saving for a wedding. Now they are so cheap it seems like the time to pick one up before they go up in price.
 

Burninriverdiver

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Welcome to the site! It's great to teach kids how to work on cars now, it'll help down the road when she can save a ton of money working on it herself
 
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Paladin1001

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Welcome to the site! It's great to teach kids how to work on cars now, it'll help down the road when she can save a ton of money working on it herself
Thanks yep I want to make sure that my kids at least understand how a vehicle works so in the future they don't get taken advantage of.
 

Shaggy

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Thanks yep I want to make sure that my kids at least understand how a vehicle works so in the future they don't get taken advantage of.

Post those pics up when you can. Welcome to the forum btw!
 

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