Neglected/Sentimental '88 2.3L Fox Body Hatch Needs Overhaul, LSx? LS1 vs 5.3?
05-07-2016, 01:30 AM
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Neglected/Sentimental '88 2.3L Fox Body Hatch Needs Overhaul, LSx? LS1 vs 5.3? My mom was killed when I was 14 years old and her '88 LX fox body hatch then became my first car, then my sister's first car after I got a '99 LS1 Trans Am, and after she got a newer car the LX hatch bounced around the family a bit between cousins as their first car before I got it back 8-9 years ago.
It's just been sitting and collecting dust since then, as the plans I had for it were costly and I ended up getting married, buying a home, selling my '99 Trans Am + '96 WS6 + '06 GTO + '00 SS and starting a family. I've been fun car-less for years now and have the itch again--for a project, for a fun car, and to finally give this old Mustang a new lease on life.
The plans that were derailed were a full drivetrain swap (LSX + T56), full interior replacement + upgrades, full suspension overhaul for fun street driving, necessary body work and a new emerald green paint job as mine and my mom's birthdays are both in May (Emerald birthstone). The idea was to make it sort of a tribute to her memory.
To do it up *REALLY* nicely was going to be very costly though, and that wasn't in the budget then. It's still not in the budget now necessarily, but I'm in more of a position to work on it a little here and there over a longer period of time now, however I'm still providing for my family and our future, so dropping $25k into a fox body doesn't make any sense to me, no matter how sentimental. My hope is that I can overhaul the car for $10-15k over the next few years.
Overall condition is poor currently. While it has a full interior and drivetrain, it's really nothing but a frame and some body panels in my mind. It needs to be gutted, cleaned up and rebuilt from the ground up.
My goal with the car is for it to be an enjoyable street car with great street manners that I can drive cross country reliably if I wanted, that handles reasonably well, and that has a decent amount of power for fun's sake (400-450rwhp). Here's what I'm thinking...
• Exterior: Keep LX hatch lines, body work + repaint emerald green
• Interior: Replace or refinish dash and body panels, new carpet, mild cage, replacement seats
• Suspension: Maximum Motorsports parts overhaul, 5-lug conversion, bigger brakes and some OEM style wheels (I particularly like the Terminator Cobra wheels on LX hatches)
• Rear: Ford 8.8 replacement
• Drivetrain: ??????????
So obviously I have a whole plan together EXCEPT for the drivetrain. I want this to be a SIMPLE setup and capable of 400+ rwhp with good street manners. I don't want a super loud exhaust setup that's going to irritate my wife or my neighbors. I want it to be very subtle (and cutouts for when I do need a freer flowing exhaust and/or some extra volume). I don't want to bother with trying to make anything on the car right now work in regards to wiring or the fuel system. My ideal setup here is an engine + trans + fuel system that are independently controlled separate and apart from the vehicle's computer. My initial thoughts were an LSX + T56 swap with a new fuel tank/pump/lines controlled by a Holley EFI. I know a heads/cam LS1 setup would get me there. What other options should I consider though? I'm out of the loop on LSX tech and what the 5.3 is capable of. Should I consider it as well? Any other LSX fox swaps out there that are built purely to be fairly tame but fun street cars (seems most are max effort drag cars)?
It's just been sitting and collecting dust since then, as the plans I had for it were costly and I ended up getting married, buying a home, selling my '99 Trans Am + '96 WS6 + '06 GTO + '00 SS and starting a family. I've been fun car-less for years now and have the itch again--for a project, for a fun car, and to finally give this old Mustang a new lease on life.
The plans that were derailed were a full drivetrain swap (LSX + T56), full interior replacement + upgrades, full suspension overhaul for fun street driving, necessary body work and a new emerald green paint job as mine and my mom's birthdays are both in May (Emerald birthstone). The idea was to make it sort of a tribute to her memory.
To do it up *REALLY* nicely was going to be very costly though, and that wasn't in the budget then. It's still not in the budget now necessarily, but I'm in more of a position to work on it a little here and there over a longer period of time now, however I'm still providing for my family and our future, so dropping $25k into a fox body doesn't make any sense to me, no matter how sentimental. My hope is that I can overhaul the car for $10-15k over the next few years.
Overall condition is poor currently. While it has a full interior and drivetrain, it's really nothing but a frame and some body panels in my mind. It needs to be gutted, cleaned up and rebuilt from the ground up.
My goal with the car is for it to be an enjoyable street car with great street manners that I can drive cross country reliably if I wanted, that handles reasonably well, and that has a decent amount of power for fun's sake (400-450rwhp). Here's what I'm thinking...
• Exterior: Keep LX hatch lines, body work + repaint emerald green
• Interior: Replace or refinish dash and body panels, new carpet, mild cage, replacement seats
• Suspension: Maximum Motorsports parts overhaul, 5-lug conversion, bigger brakes and some OEM style wheels (I particularly like the Terminator Cobra wheels on LX hatches)
• Rear: Ford 8.8 replacement
• Drivetrain: ??????????
So obviously I have a whole plan together EXCEPT for the drivetrain. I want this to be a SIMPLE setup and capable of 400+ rwhp with good street manners. I don't want a super loud exhaust setup that's going to irritate my wife or my neighbors. I want it to be very subtle (and cutouts for when I do need a freer flowing exhaust and/or some extra volume). I don't want to bother with trying to make anything on the car right now work in regards to wiring or the fuel system. My ideal setup here is an engine + trans + fuel system that are independently controlled separate and apart from the vehicle's computer. My initial thoughts were an LSX + T56 swap with a new fuel tank/pump/lines controlled by a Holley EFI. I know a heads/cam LS1 setup would get me there. What other options should I consider though? I'm out of the loop on LSX tech and what the 5.3 is capable of. Should I consider it as well? Any other LSX fox swaps out there that are built purely to be fairly tame but fun street cars (seems most are max effort drag cars)?
Last edited by josh99ta; 05-07-2016 at 01:44 AM.
