Non-SN95 build, Project 5.0 Notchback "Thursday"

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!

 

yes sir! :thumbsup:

 

New Exhaust! Decided to go with Late Model Restoration's SVE Off Road H Pipe, mainly because it was on sale when I bought it.

Instead of trying to bend the smog tube, I just bought a large heater hose and cut it up to size. I had no idea the 5.0 midpipes were a lot easier to remove/install vs the 4.6's. I love the sound, its not as raspy as the X pipe and isn't the ignorantly loud.



Sound clips:

Stock:
https://youtu.be/o_G3cncWu8U
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o_G3cncWu8U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Offroad H:
https://youtu.be/w3sBYtcc5gY
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w3sBYtcc5gY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

4Aug17
It’s been a while! Here a little more changes:

new HID lights


at work


clean tailpipes and wheels




Finally decided to do a full tune up:
oil change, radiator flush, trans fluid, differential fluid,

OEM spark plugs, FR Wires, MSD cap/rotor


MSD Coil:


instead of getting a new air filter, I decided to ditch the stock intake for a BBK:


engine bay as of 2017


I still want new wheels, MGW shifter, seats, rug, and a million other things. But the point is that she is running real good. I drive her everyday to work and I love it, she is running very strong while I’m still working out kinks in my Cobra

 

I want more of a restoration with a hint of aftermarket parts. I'm not looking for boost or anything (thats what my Cobra's for!) but besides getting better wheels, I really want to restore the interior. This thing is pretty worn, torn and nasty. That's why I haven't posted any pictures of it yet. But hell yea! I always like seeing other builds from Foxbody's, especially coupes. Its hard to forget these things are considered classics now

 

Damn I wouldn't think MSD would have crap parts.. Thanks for the tip, good thing I kept all of my stock parts

 

19Aug17

More changes! Decided to gut out the interior, because I’m going to paint everything that’s paintable black. I know everyone does the black conversion, but out of all of the 4 Mustang’s I’ve owned they have all had either grey, tan or saddle. And as you can see, the car ALWAYS looks filthy.

Center console out:


Seats out:



Console parts waiting to be cleaned then painted:


Since the console was out, I decided to change the shifter as well. I knew it was an aftermarket but wasn’t sure what kind.


Turned out to be an old B & M:


I decided to go with Late Model Restoration’s SVE Econoshift, because they had a sale and I didn’t want to steal the MGW from my Cobra:


You can see what 30 years of nastiness has brought. I’m waiting for the black carpet so I can trace, cut and finish all that good stuff. I’m also going to get rid of any unnecessary wiring in the car. I know

 

27August17

I got a lot of good stuff done the past couple of weeks. Besides taking the interior out, I was able to paint most of the interior pieces and finally installed my new hub / wheel.

I decided to go with the same hub / quick release that I use on my Cobra. The only downside of having the hub and quick release is that it pushes the wheel a little closer to you, so unless you have banana hands then you might have to reach for the wiper / signal level. It doesn’t bother me at all, and I like the extra security.

Cleaned and prepping for paint:


I used Late Model Restoration’s paint kit (But honestly you need at LEAST 5 cans if you want everything smooth):


I think it came out pretty good. I didn’t take after pictures because I still need to do a couple of more coats along the edges to cover the previous tan color.




More goodies:

Italy’s finest:


Taking off the wheel on the Fox was A LOT easier than my Cobra, because of the airbag, clockspring and annoying light.

Took the old horn off, and used a steering wheel puller:


Old vs. New:


Wheel off:


Momo Hub on:


Wiring the horn to the NRG Quick Release:


Wiring the horn button to the steering wheel:
(the bandaid was for a test, I used electrical tape after)



Distance on how far the hub / quick release push the wheel closer towards you:


Wheel installed complete, with a working horn:


This week I am planning to take the entire carpet out, clean and begin the blacked out interior.