Project 1989 Mustang GT Convertible

[low89fox]

I am going to assume with the stupid confederate flag you wanted to paint that your from the south...and I know the education system down there sucks, so its not your fault...but the quoted statement, literally makes no sense

Actually, South Florida's education system is within the top 10 best of America..... I'd much rather bend a $20 control arm than my frame. A weaker control arm has less chance of transmitting force to the frame to bend it, as it absorbs most of the impact itself.

[semaj4712]

If I would have done this, It would have been much MUCH worse....... My frame is bent enough as it is... I don't need something more sturdy to total my car....

I am going to assume with the stupid confederate flag you wanted to paint that your from the south...and I know the education system down there sucks, so its not your fault...but the quoted statement, literally makes no sense

[keeton]

Lol, they look hella mean with the front clip off, but I put it on and it looks kinda stupid and rubs like a bitch, lol (and I raised it 2.5 inches to fit them!!!!). I'm putting 225/40 Kumho's on these rims tomorrow.

I also bought a rear end with discs and 5 lug.... It was going on this weekend, but I got set back by the curb.... I'm thinking about 11's in the rear, lol. CCW knock-offs all around. and these ones as drift spares.

I've been thinking about those 18x11s with like some 265/35s on the rear of my fox...do it! I wanna see what it looks like. Or if 11s will even fit decent.

[low89fox]

Do it, the 265's look mean up front!

Lol, they look hella mean with the front clip off, but I put it on and it looks kinda stupid and rubs like a bitch, lol (and I raised it 2.5 inches to fit them!!!!). I'm putting 225/40 Kumho's on these rims tomorrow.

I also bought a rear end with discs and 5 lug.... It was going on this weekend, but I got set back by the curb.... I'm thinking about 11's in the rear, lol. CCW knock-offs all around. and these ones as drift spares.

[Hitman Cody2130]

Do it, the 265's look mean up front!

[low89fox]

I found that my frame is not bent, it's my Koni strut and my caster camber plate... I'll just have to deal with it, because it's not that far out of alignment. There's no way I'm buying a new strut and caster camber plate. I will, however buy a new inner tie rod and try to just get one of the outer tie rod adjusters that I bent.

I drove around like this today with the top down and felt really cool, haha. Everyone stared at me.





Those are the rims I was going to put on the back. They're 9.5" wide with a 35mm offset. The tires are Falken Azenis 265/35/18. I may just order some 10.5" wide rims for the rear.

[Solar]

well that sucks!

[low89fox]

Here's some control arm pics










I took off my front clip to inspect the damage closer...



I like the look of no front clip, Racecar status, brooooo




Driver side camber


Passenger side camber




And the last time I washed my car like a week ago........

[low89fox]

I'm not ****** on the car, I know how hard it is to find clean foxes and yours looks really good. I'd say go with a set of tubular control arms, you'll like the way they feel a lot better. My dad's 84 has a full tubular k member, control arms, and coilovers. You'd be surprised at how well a sra fox body can handle with those.

You'd be surprised how well my car handles as-is.... Slamming it with coilovers (Koni struts and 350lb springs) and sn95 stuff made it one of the best handling cars I've ever been in, even with cut springs in the back. I actually love how the cut springs feel in the back.

The only drawback was the tires... They would always lose grip just a little around hard 40mph turns, but on this turn, they completely gave out, and there was nothing I could do to regain control.

I was really confused and mad, because I make this turn every day on the way home from work at the same speeds with little grip issues. But not this time....


And what I was thinking last night, about my positive camber on the passenger side and negative on the drivers side (and also, my engine is pushed to the drivers side about 2 inches, because my fan rubs on the shroud now) is that it may just be my k-member that's bent or may have gotten pushed over. I measured everything under the hood, and it's all straight, with the exception of a crooked engine.

[rice4life]

I agree that I should not have been trying to catch some G-forces on public roads though. For this, and my stupidity of keeping the cheap-ass chinese tires that came with the rims, I now have a bent frame. I'm not making excuses here, but if I had tires that were worth something, this would not have happened.

I will NEVER put cheap tires on my car, EVER again, except for strictly drifting on a track. The front of my car will from now on, have the best of the best in tires.

I can attest to that! I bought some cheap ass chinese tires because I had a huge ass 215 55 16 on one of my wheels and another random tire on another and had to get tires asap, the tire shop guys convinced me it would be a great tire.
Long story short,
Tire had no warranty, the tread delaminated from the sidewall and ended up spinning out in traffic. Cracked a rim on the process of spinning with 1 sidewall. That was normal driving too.

Glad you are ok to build a fox another day.

[Trif0rce]

I'm not ****** on the car, I know how hard it is to find clean foxes and yours looks really good. I'd say go with a set of tubular control arms, you'll like the way they feel a lot better. My dad's 84 has a full tubular k member, control arms, and coilovers. You'd be surprised at how well a sra fox body can handle with those.

[low89fox]

Ouch. You really should've reinforced the control arm where you cut. My .02.

If I would have done this, It would have been much MUCH worse....... My frame is bent enough as it is... I don't need something more sturdy to total my car....

At least it's in bad shape anyway, just like almost every mustang I see from this era.

BAD SHAPE??? lmao you're crazy. I had no damage at all, and not even a spot of rust, and the car was completely straight and still runs perfect. But now, yes I would say it's in bad shape.

I cannot stress this enough, when it comes to cars regularly driven, do things right or don't do them at all.

By cutting the tie rod you could be putting innocent people at risk when that thing snaps. You're lucky it was just your car that got damaged.

This thing still has potential, fix it up and stop being stupid. We all make mistakes and I hope you learn from this. I do not mean to insult you.

I did not cut my tie rod, this would be ridiculous nonsense. When I cut control arms, I did not create a safety hazard, I created a fail-safe. I am happy that I cut my control arms though, because the damage would have been much worse.

I am starting to lose sight of the potential it had though, because my frame is bent in about an inch or two... I have negative camber on the driver side (purposely) and positive on the passenger side now.....

I agree that I should not have been trying to catch some G-forces on public roads though. For this, and my stupidity of keeping the cheap-ass chinese tires that came with the rims, I now have a bent frame. I'm not making excuses here, but if I had tires that were worth something, this would not have happened.

I will NEVER put cheap tires on my car, EVER again, except for strictly drifting on a track. The front of my car will from now on, have the best of the best in tires.



I'm going to see if I can do anything to straighten it back out, and if I cant, I'm getting a hardtop shell and swapping over everything from my car to it.

Don't worry guys, I'm sticking with fox body mustangs.

[rice4life]

I cannot stress this enough, when it comes to cars regularly driven, do things right or don't do them at all.

By cutting the tie rod you could be putting innocent people at risk when that thing snaps. You're lucky it was just your car that got damaged.

This thing still has potential, fix it up and stop being stupid. We all make mistakes and I hope you learn from this. I do not mean to insult you.

[e30_vert]

honestly, for not being a domestic lover, this thing had potential

[e39hamann]

Everything was going well for you until I saw this. A better idea would probably just avoid hitting curbs, or any other stationary object. People spend thousands of dollars making it so there ISNT weak points in your suspension and your going to cut your LCA's to purposefully do it. This pretty dope 80esque mustang is already headed down a path of doom. Its unfortunate.

At least it's in bad shape anyway, just like almost every mustang I see from this era.