$5000 budget Mustang

[Ron S]

Been posting this car over at Musclerides,thought I would try over here.I bought a 66 Mustang fastback out of a junk yard for $400.Thought I would challenge myself to building as exotic a g machine as possible for $5000.So far Car $400,Dana 60 truck rear with 410's and powerlock $75,Housing ends and axles $375,c5 susp. and truck arms Ebay $600,frame $400.Wheels 18x12 and 18x10 Ebay $900,traded some stuff for some tires.thats $2750.for the car and rolling chassis.I'm recycling everthing,flaring the old fenders and quarters for the additional width.My delema:I got a 4.6 2cam and 5 speed with wiring ass. etc off Racingjunk for $750.I don't think it will meet my power wants at 280hp.It seems like you have to supercharge these things to get any real power out of them,and that would kill the budget.I think I could sell it and make some money and put it towards maybe an ls1 and easily hit the 400hp mark,much cheaper.Should I keep it all Ford? its already got a c5 suspension in it.What to do???Ron

[dstryr]

How much rust is on it for $400 dollars lol?

[Ron S]

Plenty,thats why the chassis was built floors where nonexistent,but I always loved that body style

[VF101_jay]

Cool thread, I love the idea of seeing how far you can get for $5000. Are you going to try to do body and paint within that price, or are you just aiming for a complete drivable vehicle. That year of Mustang is one of my favorite body styles, it sounds like you are off to a good start. I think if it was me I might try to sell the 4.6 and look for an old ford truck (mid to late 70's) with a 390ci, yank that out then part out the rest on ebay. With a little luck you might get enough to cover a rebuild kit. That might not reach your 400hp goal, but they definately had lots of torque. Like I said before I think this is a great project just to see what is possible...if a guy can trade his way up to a house by starting with a paper-clip, who knows how far you might get. Best of luck!

[Ron S]

A gallon of bondo is cheap,I've got some old paint around from previous projects,maybe I can come up with enough to squirt it.I really want to stay with EFI on the engine.I've got a bunch of computers and wiring laying around for the LS1 stuff,enough to make it run anyway.I would rather keep it all Ford,I just don't know anyway to get a 4.6 to 400HP without spending a pile of cash,I'm open to suggestions though.I guess the budget is going to win out in the end.Ron

[Aceshigh]

Look on Ebay for a 5.3L setup with a 4L60e or T-56.
I think Ford's motors suck personally. Took them all the way til 2005
to finally get a NA 300hp......that's embarrassing when LS1's
had almost 350hp back in Fbody's in 1998. (underrated)

Like ya said, it's already got a C5 suspension in it, so it's already *******ized a lil bit.
Unless you plan on ripping it out to go ALL original and sell it for some big dough,
Put a real motor in it.

[kmcanally]

The LS1 is tempting...from a budget and hp perspective it is the obvious answer. Throw in the EFI mandate and the fact that you already have LS1 stuff and now it is really a no brainer.

[fast Ed]

If you want to keep it Ford powered, and get 280 rwhp on a budget, just start with a 5.0 pushrod engine. Lots of cheap new and used speed parts out there. With decent heads and cam, that power level is easily surpassed.


cheers
Ed N.

[Ron S]

I don't know alot about Ford stuff,that is really my problem,but to get to 400 Hp,I think you would have to spend more then $1500.even with a 5.0. I can pick up a 6.0 truck motor and put a used cam and intake on it and hit that mark within my budget,but I don't have a trans.the trans will get the budget back out of whack.My only hope is that I could sell the 4.6 and 5speed and make enough to buy a motor,then I could swing a trans in the budget.Quite a delema.Ron

[Young Gun]

how about these...personally I like the v10 idea (7.3L one)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1995-...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Musta...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...QQcmdZViewItem

some of those could work maybe???

[Vinz68]

Put a 150 shot on the 4.6 and run it till it dies....lol. At least it wil keep you in your budget.

[Restomod]

A good junk yard 5.0 HO will cost about $600 maybe less if you look.
I would rather have a stock 5.0 in it for a while than a CHEVY!
Pick up a MK3 Lincoln 429 for cheap they came with 365hp,a cam/intake swap will put it over 400 easy.

[Nate K]

On ebay there are t3/t4 turbos for $200 each they also sell the flanges for them to bolt to. You may be able to swap the manifolds from right to left and flip them over make some adapters to the turbos. If you cant flip the manifolds buy the cheapest set of headers you can find, cut them up and make them work. You should be able to hit your mark.

[Code Red]

Originally Posted by 57hemicuda

A gallon of bondo is cheap,I've got some old paint around from previous projects,maybe I can come up with enough to squirt it.I really want to stay with EFI on the engine.I've got a bunch of computers and wiring laying around for the LS1 stuff,enough to make it run anyway.I would rather keep it all Ford,I just don't know anyway to get a 4.6 to 400HP without spending a pile of cash,I'm open to suggestions though.I guess the budget is going to win out in the end.Ron

no bondo please if you use filler get some rage thats some good stuff along with duraglass

[mac71ss]

Originally Posted by BLACK BETTY

On ebay there are t3/t4 turbos for $200 each they also sell the flanges for them to bolt to. You may be able to swap the manifolds from right to left and flip them over make some adapters to the turbos. If you cant flip the manifolds buy the cheapest set of headers you can find, cut them up and make them work. You should be able to hit your mark.

AMEN!!! You can build a turbo setup for cheap!!

[dropit69]

this is a cool project to follow ..good luck Ron i say do the 5.0 on some juice..!!

[VF101_jay]

Some inspiration...now you just have to find some guy who will let you drive his souped up Nissan and wreck it so you can salvage the drive train...lol Seriously though, if you can find an engine and trans cheap enough that will give the performance you want... use it, who cares what make it is! By the way, I think I can see a couple of welders (Mig and Tig perhaps) as well as a torch and lots of other essential build it yourself tools in your posts...why not try welding in patches for the panels. you could just cut them from a donor fender and pound them to shape, then weld them in. You can allways smooth it out with filler afterword and it would have to last longer. I know I am getting way ahead of your build, but what colors are you thinking?

[Ron S]

Thanks for all the input guys.Nitrous is always cool Vinnie,but I want 400 naturally aspirated HP,I'll probably squeeze it anyway,because I can take the nitrous off another car.The turbo idea crossed my mind,but after seeing poor Scott's Grand National run autocross at RTTH,by the time poor Scott got the thing to spool up,it would start blowing the tires off,then he'd have to get out of it for a turn,it just seemed too unpredictable for autocrossing.I've got some feelers out for maybe a junkyard 5.4 4cam Navigator motor,but the cams are a $1000{4 of them}.There are alot of 4.6 Mustangs that are flying,but they're not doing it cheaply.I've still have alittle time to make my mind up,I'd really like to keep it all Ford,but I know what I can do with the LS1 and I've still have some LS1 junk laying around from previous projects.Thanks for the help guys.Ron

[Restomod]

Originally Posted by VF101_jay

you could just cut them from a donor fender and pound them to shape, then weld them in. You can allways smooth it out with filler afterword and it would have to last longer. I know I am getting way ahead of your build, but what colors are you thinking?

No offence but Patch panels for these cars are way cheap to just crap them up.

[SatisTraction]

keep it ford. 280hp would be ok for starters then you can mod it later.