YUNG VEEZU
Active Member
Hey guys/gals, here is another non-SN95 build.
Background: This is my 4th Mustang I’ve owned. It is an 1989 5.0 Notchback, about 90% stock. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area it is pretty hard to find a stock Foxbody. I used to own a 98 GT (which is my favorite body style) that I bought from my Uncle, but it was totaled in a flood. Then I owned an 88 Notchback after high school. I loved that car because my Uncle owned a CHP style when I was a kid, and I thought those were the coolest cars around in the 80s (along with Marty’s Delorean). But my 88 had a lot of problems and at the time I didn’t have the time or money to restore her.
When I was in the Army I finally saved up and got my 3rd mustang, a 97 Cobra. I drove her all around the country, from California to Colorado and other duty stations till I left the service and went back home to California. Then recently the Cobra had began to have symptoms of a blown head gasket. I wanted to pull my engine myself and handle everything myself (check out my other thread in the 4V section!). So I started to search around for another daily driver (preferably another SN95 or even a Terminator Cobra), but I stumbled upon a few Fox’s on Facebook and Craigslist. I finally found one a couple of hours away.
I’m currently using her as my daily driver while I rebuild the Cobra, but at the same time I am doing little restorations. I always name my cars, and I decided to name the 5.0 “Thursdayâ€. My girlfriend asked why, I said because everyone is always looking forward to Friday, but no one appreciates Thursday. You work all week and when Friday hits, everyone is usually in the f*** it mood. But Thursday is the last day when you really work, and push hard for the weekend. Anyways, heres what she looked like when I first bought her:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/XNAu72
https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/w9MtqX
The engine wasn’t rebuilt, but the previous owner put new seals along the oil pan, timing cover, etc. The car had about 126xxx miles. After the test drive she ran very smooth. Typical little squeaks in the interior, normal Foxbody stuff. Oil and coolant were clean, no smoke, idled good, and best of all the entire exhaust system was stock besides the tips.
Pics from the previous owner:
Minor exterior rust, stock wheels, stock interior, heater core went out and was bypassed(another common Fox problem), and AC needed to be recharged. Other than that, the only modifications made were the clutch firewall adjuster, lowering springs, KYB shocks/struts, CAI, and new Alternator.
So I took her home that same day.
I plan on building a reliable daily driver, while restoring her back to having a comfortable ride. Since the engine is running well, I’m going to tackle the exterior damage first, and save up for some nice some nice wheels.
Heres the start (follow me on instagram: royce_415 for more!):
I decided to take off the tint from the front windows. Here in San Francisco and Oakland, law enforcement is not a joke and will fine you for the stupid stuff. Its just a hassle and I don’t have time for nonsense.
The door pins were jammed, and out of line, in order to open the door you had to press the door hard and turn the key at the same time. I fixed the door striker bushing on both doors.
I did basic maintenance, changed oil, coolant, trans & diff fluid, etc.
Instead of sanding the old headlights, I was lazy and bought a fresh pair from Late Model Restoration.
Now the first PITA was the water pump. I saw a small puddle under the car one day and thought it was the timing cover gasket. Thankfully I saw the coolant slowly leak from the weep hole in the water pump. I’m assuming it was the original pump from 1989 because of the Ford logo, and the amount of rust on it.
I actually broke two 15mm sockets while taking off the bolts holding the accessory cover. After some PB Blaster, yelling and using some muscle they finally came off. They were cheap Craftsman sockets.
In between breaks, I decided to practice on my spray painting skills and painted the accessory cover Ford Blue. I know, its minor and useless, but I love painting stuff.
On a seperate note:
I didn’t take pictures of this major issue because I was pissed and it went over a span of 5 hours. I decided to change the belt because the old one was cracked every 3 inches. So I went to the local Oreilly’s around the block. The belts they carried were about 89.50 inches long. At the time I didn’t know that the stock 5.0 belt with AC was about 91 inches.
I spent a good hour trying to put that bad boy on, and it didn’t work. So I went to a Napa auto parts store just outside of San Francisco, and their belt was about 90.80 inches. Went back home, same issue.
I ended up going to an actual Ford dealership outside of the city again, where they had ONE left, an OEM Motorcraft in 91 inches. By the time I made it home, it was a real tight fit. I called American Muscle, Late Model Restoration and CJ Pony Parts for help because I felt like the belt still wasn’t the same size. Brian from CJ gave me some advice and suggested to stretch it out, by hand it would be impossible, but he said try to use weights or even try to mess around with the tensioner. I ended up leaving the tensioner with my breaker bar prying on the belt for a few minutes in an awkward angle while taking a break. My hands were pretty torn, bruised and mangled. A major PITA but the belt finally fit.
I replaced the negative battery terminal. The old one was almost stripped and corroded. That is a huge no-go in my book.
I was still amazed on how clean the engine bay looked for being almost 30 years old. My girlfriend complained about my rims, and I’ve been on a Roadkill marathon lately. I decided to paint my wheels black, nothing fancy. Those guys are great at building cars with junk, so it motivated me to try and see what I could do.
I ended up running back to Oreilly’s for more black paint, but after using the Simple Green & spray cans, it only cost about $20 to paint all 4 wheels. I honestly think they look great, until I can afford a good set of 17s in the future.
How she sits today:
I will update every so often, and provide as many pictures as I can. Thanks for reading!
Background: This is my 4th Mustang I’ve owned. It is an 1989 5.0 Notchback, about 90% stock. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area it is pretty hard to find a stock Foxbody. I used to own a 98 GT (which is my favorite body style) that I bought from my Uncle, but it was totaled in a flood. Then I owned an 88 Notchback after high school. I loved that car because my Uncle owned a CHP style when I was a kid, and I thought those were the coolest cars around in the 80s (along with Marty’s Delorean). But my 88 had a lot of problems and at the time I didn’t have the time or money to restore her.
When I was in the Army I finally saved up and got my 3rd mustang, a 97 Cobra. I drove her all around the country, from California to Colorado and other duty stations till I left the service and went back home to California. Then recently the Cobra had began to have symptoms of a blown head gasket. I wanted to pull my engine myself and handle everything myself (check out my other thread in the 4V section!). So I started to search around for another daily driver (preferably another SN95 or even a Terminator Cobra), but I stumbled upon a few Fox’s on Facebook and Craigslist. I finally found one a couple of hours away.
I’m currently using her as my daily driver while I rebuild the Cobra, but at the same time I am doing little restorations. I always name my cars, and I decided to name the 5.0 “Thursdayâ€. My girlfriend asked why, I said because everyone is always looking forward to Friday, but no one appreciates Thursday. You work all week and when Friday hits, everyone is usually in the f*** it mood. But Thursday is the last day when you really work, and push hard for the weekend. Anyways, heres what she looked like when I first bought her:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/XNAu72
https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/w9MtqX
The engine wasn’t rebuilt, but the previous owner put new seals along the oil pan, timing cover, etc. The car had about 126xxx miles. After the test drive she ran very smooth. Typical little squeaks in the interior, normal Foxbody stuff. Oil and coolant were clean, no smoke, idled good, and best of all the entire exhaust system was stock besides the tips.
Pics from the previous owner:
Minor exterior rust, stock wheels, stock interior, heater core went out and was bypassed(another common Fox problem), and AC needed to be recharged. Other than that, the only modifications made were the clutch firewall adjuster, lowering springs, KYB shocks/struts, CAI, and new Alternator.
So I took her home that same day.
I plan on building a reliable daily driver, while restoring her back to having a comfortable ride. Since the engine is running well, I’m going to tackle the exterior damage first, and save up for some nice some nice wheels.
Heres the start (follow me on instagram: royce_415 for more!):
I decided to take off the tint from the front windows. Here in San Francisco and Oakland, law enforcement is not a joke and will fine you for the stupid stuff. Its just a hassle and I don’t have time for nonsense.
The door pins were jammed, and out of line, in order to open the door you had to press the door hard and turn the key at the same time. I fixed the door striker bushing on both doors.
I did basic maintenance, changed oil, coolant, trans & diff fluid, etc.
Instead of sanding the old headlights, I was lazy and bought a fresh pair from Late Model Restoration.
Now the first PITA was the water pump. I saw a small puddle under the car one day and thought it was the timing cover gasket. Thankfully I saw the coolant slowly leak from the weep hole in the water pump. I’m assuming it was the original pump from 1989 because of the Ford logo, and the amount of rust on it.
I actually broke two 15mm sockets while taking off the bolts holding the accessory cover. After some PB Blaster, yelling and using some muscle they finally came off. They were cheap Craftsman sockets.
In between breaks, I decided to practice on my spray painting skills and painted the accessory cover Ford Blue. I know, its minor and useless, but I love painting stuff.
On a seperate note:
I didn’t take pictures of this major issue because I was pissed and it went over a span of 5 hours. I decided to change the belt because the old one was cracked every 3 inches. So I went to the local Oreilly’s around the block. The belts they carried were about 89.50 inches long. At the time I didn’t know that the stock 5.0 belt with AC was about 91 inches.
I spent a good hour trying to put that bad boy on, and it didn’t work. So I went to a Napa auto parts store just outside of San Francisco, and their belt was about 90.80 inches. Went back home, same issue.
I ended up going to an actual Ford dealership outside of the city again, where they had ONE left, an OEM Motorcraft in 91 inches. By the time I made it home, it was a real tight fit. I called American Muscle, Late Model Restoration and CJ Pony Parts for help because I felt like the belt still wasn’t the same size. Brian from CJ gave me some advice and suggested to stretch it out, by hand it would be impossible, but he said try to use weights or even try to mess around with the tensioner. I ended up leaving the tensioner with my breaker bar prying on the belt for a few minutes in an awkward angle while taking a break. My hands were pretty torn, bruised and mangled. A major PITA but the belt finally fit.
I replaced the negative battery terminal. The old one was almost stripped and corroded. That is a huge no-go in my book.
I was still amazed on how clean the engine bay looked for being almost 30 years old. My girlfriend complained about my rims, and I’ve been on a Roadkill marathon lately. I decided to paint my wheels black, nothing fancy. Those guys are great at building cars with junk, so it motivated me to try and see what I could do.
I ended up running back to Oreilly’s for more black paint, but after using the Simple Green & spray cans, it only cost about $20 to paint all 4 wheels. I honestly think they look great, until I can afford a good set of 17s in the future.
How she sits today:
I will update every so often, and provide as many pictures as I can. Thanks for reading!
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