1984 Mustang GT Convertible Build Thread

[Trif0rce]

On Monday I'm trading my 95 Del Sol S with 215k on the d15. Has a little rot on the rockers, but overall I'm just not enjoying the car.
I've got previous stance experience with the 1997 Subaru Impreza N/A I had.
But the del sol just isn't what I'm looking for. So I posted a craigslist ad looking to trade my del sol for something, and a guy offered to trade me this 1984 Mustang GT Convertible
[IMG][/IMG]
She's rough, but there isn't a lot of rot. I know mustangs don't really belong in the stance game, but I wanna give it a shot, Cuz I think if done right it'd look great. I don't want it to be another mustang that's only fast in a straight line, so i'm focusing on suspension first. Already has a cam, hooker headers, full flowmaster exhaust, and an aftermarket manual choke, and comes with a set of lowering springs that the previous owner said were "too low" so maybe that means almost low enough. I have to drive it this winter, but i'm gonna spray down some rubberized undercoating under it to protect from salt. First I'm gonna throw a set of 3.73's or 4.10's at it, to give the 302 the bite it needs to really get sideways, then a bigger cam and better heads.

[Nick475]

Got more pics of the suby? Curious to see more of that

[Isuzupickup]

Are you going to rock the 4 eye pride or switch to an 87-93 front end? I'd like to see some stance out of a fox. Some people fit the IRS from 03/04 cobras if you're going hard. 3.73s are a nice ratio, they're friendly on the highway as well as stoplight drag racing.

[AFTRBNG]

i remember seeing you subie on craigslist, i wanted my buddy to buy it

[Trif0rce]

Oops, front axles getting a little close to the subframe before I notched them.

Before I put the spacers on and painted the wheels.

I know I had the lowest 1st gen Impreza at wicked big meet, I had everybody by at least 1/4" I'm pretty certain I can make a fox low, only issue is the oil pan clearance, but I'm thinking about going with a dry sump for an additional like 4" of pan clearance.

[Trif0rce]

Definitely gonna rock the 4 eye, early foxes were always my favorite. And I'll probably keep the solid rear just because I want traction.

[244Brick]

yeah, leave it as is.. i love the quad lights!

[Street|Terror]

awesome, looking forward to the progress. With the right appearance mods and stance, these things can look very clean. Even better that you are keeping it 4 eye too. Have you considered swapping a 85/86 nose? heres a pretty decent example of a nice 4 eye convertible

[Street|Terror]

Some other fine examples:



Aero Nose convertible:



hope you dont mind the pics, always nice to get some ideas

[Trif0rce]

I was considering the swap to the 85/86, but I'll probably just paint the 84 grill black for now, I prefer the slats to the single opening. I'm still unsure what I wanna run for wheels. Thinking 16x8 or 17x9 would be perfect. I have to fix a few things on the car monday morning before I drive it home, it needs a brake line, serp belt tensioner, and has a fuel line leak just above one of the convertible subframe supports. Once I get it the 2 1/2 hours home to my dad's shop I'm gonna tackle the intake manifold and valve cover gaskets.

[blowntwofive]

[Trif0rce]

This is my dad's '84 that got me into Mustangs, and cars in general. 347 stroker, trick flow heads, ford racing x303 camshaft. 13 inch front rotors and 11 inch rears. Car is more than a little quick, similar builds make around 450 hp, still haven't had it dynoed.
And here's a picture of his ultra-clean engine bay.

[Trif0rce]

I gotta say, I do like that 85/86 nose. And damn do I love those headlights. I might get some of the gts tinted headlight covers for it, just for cruising around during the day. Ones kinda like this.

[low89fox]

I'm working on a 1989 vert... Check out my build thread. http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...ng+convertible I suggest you cut your springs... I did mine, but I also bought a bunch of other crap I shouldn't have wasted the money on... It might pay off doing it "right" though, but we'll see. I like the stance and ride on the cut springs though. I also have Maximum Motorsports full-length subframe connectors, which are very necessary, especially on a convertible.

[Trif0rce]

So, I picked up the Mustang at 7:15 AM on Monday in Franconia, NH. Two and a half hours from home. Luckily, we had my friend's girlfriend's Forester with us.Raining steadily, like 40 degrees out, and I had to do a passenger side rear brake line, serpentine belt tensioner, fix a small fuel line leak (draw style mechanical pump, little fuel actually leaks out of the line) and run two wires from the positive and negative of the battery to the blower motor, since every switch on the heater control box is completely broken. I soon became very wet, and much less likely to fix everything. I decided to skip the fuel leak, but did everything else. We bled the rear lines, but decided not to bleed the fronts even though the reservoir was empty. As soon as we left we cranked the heat, turned on the wipers, and the headlights, not knowing the charging system wasn't working at all. About 20 minutes out of Franconia the car died, so we started the forester, pulled the battery out of it, put the dead mustang battery in the forester, and drove the mustang the entire rest of the trip without anything but the engine running. 40 degrees, raining, and foggy with no headlights, and shitty brakes that we for some reason decided not to bleed.


Thankfully we made it home, I fixed the charging system that night, ended up being both a dead alternator and voltage regulator, on top of wiring issues. Then I went today early in the morning and got the brakes fixed and working as good as stock mustang brakes can (not very well), fixed the broken door latch caused by worn out door pins. The p.o. didn't fix it and just kept slamming the door harder to close it, which caused it to crack the sheet metal all around the latch post. We cut a rectangle out and welded in a thicker new piece for support. I'll supply pics of that later. First of all, here's how it looks now.


These were before I fixed the door, so do your best to ignore that. Next fix will be glueing the glass back into the convertible top so that I can run it this winter. I know, they're terrible pictures but I'll try to get some good pictures soon.