Offend Ford Fan Boys with this LS-powered Foxbody Mustang
Once this pony has a few things sorted out, it’ll be ready to tear up the quarter-mile in style.
What’s the best way to improve a Ford? If you said, “send it to the crusher for recycling,” that would be one answer. If you happen to have a Mustang choking on a “5.0,” though, you can relieve its suffering by drop-kicking the Ford powertrain into the crusher, then upgrade to an LS.
And speaking of LS-powered ponies we found on Craigslist, this ‘Stang chilling in Riverside, California is in need of some TLC.
The red fox appears to have a mostly straight body, well, other than that front bumper. Though, the flat red paintwork looks like a homebrew plastidip job gone awry.
However, crucially for a sweet project car, it already has a 5.3-liter LS inside, mated to a 4L60E automatic. The wiring needs connecting to the Mustang, but the PCM has been flashed and the harnesses have been replaced; thus, a couple of things less to worry about. Though, we spy that this car originally sported the Tremec T5 five-speed manual transmission. We can tell that because the manual pedalbox assembly and shifter are still in place. So, perhaps, there’s a bit more work needed than initially described.
The interior, on the other hand, needs some work. It’s usable as-is, though a fresh set of buckets would be a good start, along with chucking the stock steering wheel for one with a bow tie on the horn button.
The outside is a bit dusty, and the paint could be resprayed, but if you’ve got the time and the dime, you can make this Mustang the quarter-mile terror it’s destined to become.