Purchasing a SN95. Seems underpowered?

BigFudge

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I'm looking at buying a 1995 Ford Mustang 5.0 with a 5-Speed. It has a Trick Flow upper/lower, E303 cam, GT40x aluminum cylinder heads, full exhaust, CAI, SVO throttle body, 3.73 gear etc....I looked at the car last weekend and fell in love with the looks. It is in immaculate shape cosmetically and it only has 81,XXX miles (Carfax verified). I'm talking the cleanest SN95 I've seen in person in a LONG time. Myself and the owner took it for a test drive for about 30-45 minutes or so just cruising around. The car runs and drives good aside from chugging in 5th gear at a low rpm, downshift to 4th and it's fine. I'm assuming that's just the cam because all of my fox bodies that had a cam in them did the same thing. I got on it in 2nd gear from a decent roll and the car just seemed way underpowered from what it should be. I've talked to several people and most people are telling me that the timing is more than likely off. I feel sure that that's it also but I'm just wondering if there's anything else it could be?

He said the car dyno'd 310hp to the rear tires but to me it felt like 200hp lol....I'm really hoping that I can just put a timing light on it and get that right then advance it. Like I said, the car will sit there and idle and run great with no issues and it drove just fine for 30-45 minutes so I don't think there's anything wrong with it mechanically. The owner is an older guy and doesn't seem to know much about the car. He thinks the car is a rocket ship and even told me that it "scares him" but to me it just doesn't feel right at all. He just drives it on weekends and such. Seems like it should have a lot more ass than it does. Opinions?

This is the car....

http://hickory.craigslist.org/cto/4532272071.html
 

Musturd

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The power numbers sound on . Could definitely be timing though .
 

330CubeGt

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Price is a little high in my opinion. You can get a cleaner 300 HP 2004 around here for that money.

Other then that the car looks good and it could be just a simple timing adjustment or somthing thats an easy fix. It's still a little bit of a shot in the dark anytime you but a nodded car. Just expect it to need alot of work so you dont get upset after you buy it.
And just hope it needs little to nothing to be 100%
-330CubeGt
 

OnyxCobra

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He probably didn't have it tuned and just threw out a number he thinks sounds right for the mods. People with a lot better heads than those don't always make over 300whp. +1 to see the graph, if it hasn't been tuned then that could explain a lot.


also why aren't the heads listed in the ad? that's a pretty major part to leave out. Nice car though, looks pretty clean.
 

Musturd

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It's the tuners fault when cars with better heads then those don't make over 300hp or the motors old and tired with a hci swap
 

Cpotts13

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I think the crystal white paint is more alarming then the timing issue. They will flake and ruin, its just a matter of time. Ask me how I know. I maintained my 2000 GT immaculately and the paint still chipped. For the price he is wanting I say pass it up..
 

RichV

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310 sounds high too, but the tune is where it's at.
 
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BigFudge

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I think the crystal white paint is more alarming then the timing issue. They will flake and ruin, its just a matter of time. Ask me how I know. I maintained my 2000 GT immaculately and the paint still chipped. For the price he is wanting I say pass it up..

Really? I've never heard of that. The paint is near immaculate on the car aside from the front bumper but even then it's just small, very minor rock chips which is normal for a car of that age. I can get the car for $6,000. He wants to meet up Friday evening after work.
 

Musturd

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It's a clean car with a lot of nice parts that's for sure
 

Mustanger

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My Crystal White 20 year old paint is near perfect!...just the door dings (4) & front rock chips...I have had old folks think it was a new car several times. Has sat out for years.
 

Cpotts13

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My Crystal White 20 year old paint is near perfect!...just the door dings (4) & front rock chips...I have had old folks think it was a new car several times. Has sat out for years.

Really? I've never heard of that. The paint is near immaculate on the car aside from the front bumper but even then it's just small, very minor rock chips which is normal for a car of that age. I can get the car for $6,000. He wants to meet up Friday evening after work.
I guess there are some lucky cases. But it is a known fact that the ford crystal white, paint code ZR, had a lot of issues. If i remember correctly fore didn't put down a certain type of primer which cause the paint to flake. Something like that
This is what it looked like for me.
ba2aqe3u.jpg
 

russ8825

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The car should be putting around 300rwhp with those mods, the X heads are pretty good out of the box. Could be the tune or timing. The thing about 5th gear kind of scares me. Double check the heads.
 

toyman

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The car should be putting around 300rwhp with those mods, the X heads are pretty good out of the box. Could be the tune or timing. The thing about 5th gear kind of scares me. Double check the heads.

Is this the concern?
The car runs and drives good aside from chugging in 5th gear at a low rpm
. If he's at 25 mph in 5th it's going to "chug".
 

Musturd

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Lol of course it's going to chug and low speed in 5th
 

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