Project Grey Ghost - 1988 Mustang LX Hatchback

[frink84]

Let me introduce you to my weekend toy and “life” car, the Grey Ghost.



Long story short, its an 88 Mustang LX Hatchback acting as my weekend/auto-x/fun car, with the following mods:

Engine/Underhood/Exhaust

• Edelbrock Performer 5.0 Heads
• Crane 2031 Cam
• FMS GT40 Tubular Intake w/ ported lower
• Omega 1.72 Roller Rockers
• FMS 24lb-hr injectors
• BBK 190lph fuel pump
• Accufab 70mm throttle body/EGR
• C&L 76mm MAF
• Moroso Fenderwell CAI
• BBK Underdrive Pulleys
• Ford 3G Alternator w/ LMR wiring
• Ford Contour Dual Electric Fans
• Hollister Road Fan Controller
• High Torque Mini-starter
• JBA Shorty Unequal Length Headers
• Bassani Catted X-Pipe
• MAC 2.5" Catback with 3" Blackout Tips

Driveline/Brakes

• Tremec TR-3550 w/ straight-cut gears
• Pro5.0 Short Shifter
• MGW Adjustable Shift Handle w/ Delrin Shift Knob
• Fox-width 5-lug rear-end with 3.73 gears, welded tubes, FMS Differential Cover
• SN95 Mach1 13" 2-piston front disk brakes
• Thunderbird 10" single-piston rear disk brakes
• Maximum Motorsports Stainless Brake Lines
• Ford Motorsports Adjustable Proportioning Valve

Suspension/Steering/Chassis

• Maximum Motorsports/Bilstein Coilovers - 350lb front, 250lb rear
• Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber Plates
• Maximum Motorsports Rear Race-Duty Coilover Mounts
• Maximum Motorsports 4-point K-Member Brace
• Maximum Motorsports Extreme Duty Rear Lower Control Arms
• SN95 GT Rear Sway Bar
• Prothane Polyurethane Front Control Arm Bushings, Front Sway Bar Bushings & Endlinks, Trans Mount
• Maximum Motorsports Solid Steering Rack Bushings
• Subframe Connectors

Wheels/Tires

• SVE Drift 18x9 ET24 Front Wheels with Hankook Ventus V12 245/40/18 tires
• SVE Drift 18x10 ET22 Rear Wheels with Hankook Ventus V12 275/40/18 tires

Misc

• LED gauge, interior, running lights
• VDO Gauges below radio (Water Temp, Oil Pressure, Volts)
• Pioneer head unit, Infiniti/Pioneer Speakers

Long story long, it’s a modified Foxbody 5.0 Mustang. It has been in the family for it’s entire life. My grandpa bought the car new in 88. He picked out this hatchback LX 5.0 sport, mineral grey with grey interior, AOD, power windows, AC, cruise, and premium sound.

That’s me checking it out on the little Porsche. I had good taste.



Under his watch, it received a number of modifications; including Edelbrock Performer heads & intake, Crane cam, hardened pushrods, 1.72 roller rockers, 70mm BBK EGR/TB, BBK strut tower brace, BBK k-member brace, subframe connectors, BBK RCA’s, shift kit, Lincoln MKVIII 5-lug conversion, BBK lowering springs, Flowmaster catback, MAC catted H-pipe, JBA headers, MSD ignition, Moroso fenderwell CAI, 76mm MAF.... all the basic bolt-ons.

He tried to give the car to me when I was 16. My parents said no, unbeknownst to me at the time. He later gifted the car to me after suffering from a stroke, in August of 2004. The car looked like this:


I began working on some of the issues with the car with the help of my dad "Cryptic Father". Most of the work was bringing it up to date, as most of the mods had been done in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. On 6/6/06, the AOD destroyed itself, and a rebuilt AOD was put in, with upgraded clutch packs, shift kit, etc. I should have put in a manual at this point. What’s that saying about hindsight? Then, on the SCS New Year’s Fun-run of ‘08, the front brakes decided they needed to go, by locking up the passenger caliper. I pieced together an SN95 Cobra setup on the cheap using Mach-1 parts (same stuff, less flashy paint), and swapped to 17x8” Bullitt wheels, in order to clear the 13” rotors:


After that, it got a proper suspension: Maximum Motorsports/Bilstein coil-overs, Maximum Motorsports Extreme Duty RCA’s and a fox-length rear end. Like any fox story, there is no end to the towtruck adventures. The AOD decided to die on the way home from work in October of 2010. So I did what should have been done back in 2006, and added the man pedal via a Tremec TR-3550 5-speed manual. It came with straight-cut gears, a Pro5.0 shifter, and an aftermarket quadrant/adjuster. In an effort to “Go wide or go home”, I picked up a pair of 17x10.5” Bullitts.
And then the throttle shaft broke in 2011, and it started running strange and smoking like a chimney. I then found that it had low compression in cylinder #3 (100psi) while all the others had ~170psi. My dad, Cryptic Father and I found the adjuster on one of the rockers had backed out, effectively killing cylinder #3. We repaired the rocker and the car was back.
In 2012 I upgraded the car to its current form, with 18x9/18x10 SVE Drift wheels, a tubular GT40 intake with ported lower, electric fan setup, and a catted x-pipe. I was constantly chasing strange check engine lights and rough running and got really frustrated with the car. I ended up parking the car at my parents in 2014 and walking away for a few years. I just didn’t have the time, space, money, or patience to take care of it. In the time since I parked it, I had a few bimmers, a datsun pickup, and a S197 Mustang racecar to keep me busy.


With my recent move to Texas, I knew the car could finally make a comeback. I towed it back using a diesel Suburban in a rather exciting adventure. During the car’s downtime I extensively researched potential fixes, and occasionally tinkered with the car at my parent’s place. I ended up ordering a new regulator and wiring kit for the 3G alternator I had swapped in 2009, which used admittedly weak factory SN95 wiring. Turns out my gamble paid off, and the Ghost now runs better than ever.


Whats next? Well, the tires are old, the cooling system is lagging in the Texas heat, the paint is royally screwed, and I need to get rid of the factory-style 4-link rear suspension. Also, keep driving the heck out of it.

[Bossed]

Very cool story, look forward to updates.

[Project Bike Truck]

The ghost lives!
Can’t wait for future mods!

[RMMiller]

Sounds like it was an adventure! Your Grandpa had good taste, good thing he kept it and had the right person to pass it along to.

[rickpaw]

Welcome. Sounded like you had quite an adventure towing the car to Texas.

Keep us posted on the Ghost updates.

[Josh@Ridetech]

Fun cars! Be sure to keep us updated on it.

[WallaceMFG]

Cool story! Your car has many of the upgrades I would like for mine on it already!

[frink84]

Scored a deal on a bunch of Maximum Motorsports goodies. Unfortunately, all of it is in California at my parent's house for the time being. We're driving out for a family trip for Christmas so I will pick up the parts then.
Torque Arm
Panhard Bar
Tubular Front A-Arms
Along with some SN95 rack bushings, bump steer kit, steering shaft, brake lines, etc. that will most likely be sold off if I can't adapt them to the fox chassis.

Also for my birthday things came together for the cooling system, so the following are also waiting in the wings:
Auto Dynasty 3-row Aluminum Radiator - had a fox buddy turn me on to these. Cheap and works great, apparently.
POR-15 Super Starter Kit Black Rust Paint - saw some rust on the bottom of the core support so that will be handled with the radiator
EMP PN301 180 Degree Fahrenheit High-Performance Thermostat - this badass has basically the highest flow and fastest opening rate of any thermostat out there and has a better bypass to help burp the system after installation. Found out about EMP during my BMW days, excited to see how this works.
Bosch 13942 Oxygen Sensors - I think some of the funny running conditions that have popped up here and there are the very old oxygen sensors. I had one out to do the starter and it looked a little crusty. Better safe than sorry, especially for $26/each.

[frink84]

Started pulling the car apart for the radiator install. The old radiator was, well, lets just say it was time!



I sprayed down the core support with my favorite degreaser, LA's Best from the 99 Cents store. After agitating with a wire brush and a wipe-down, the core support appears to just have some surface rust. POR-15 will come to the rescue.





I also started mocking up the Contour dual fans on the new aluminum radiator. Need to figure out brackets and how to mount my overflow bottle.

[LERM]

Ahhhh theres a familiar car! (Even though ive never seen it in person) Cool to see you on here PhilypCostco.

[Z06killinSBF]

I dig it man, welcome to Texas!! Let me know if you need anything, I'm sort of local to you.

[Project Bike Truck]

I dig it man, welcome to Texas!! Let me know if you need anything, I'm sort of local to you.

I told him to go scope out your build for me, he’s my buddy from California. I’ve been following your build big time. I am doing some of the same stuff you did.

[frink84]

Ahhhh theres a familiar car! (Even though ive never seen it in person) Cool to see you on here PhilypCostco.

haha it DOES exist

I dig it man, welcome to Texas!! Let me know if you need anything, I'm sort of local to you.

same to you my friend!

[frink84]

made a little progress on the 4th. did some CAD aka cardboard aided design on a radiator shroud. ordered up some aluminum sheet and will be going crazy with that when it shows up.

[Z06killinSBF]

How is it you have your fans wired? I just went from the motors directly to relays for mine. Mine will just be high speed all the time when on.

[frink84]

I've got a Hollister road badass triple relay setup originally for a Lincoln single fan, but it has low and high-speed options. so I'm using the thermal control built into the contour fans for the low setting, then wiring directly to the two fans for high. Right now the low is wired into a temp probe in the thermostat housing, while the high is on an switch inside the car. once i get the ac working, i plan on wiring high into that, as well as the switch.

[Tincup]

I had bought my wife a brand new 88 LX notch back in 88, I loved it, she hated it, only kept it about a year. Keep up the good work....

[frink84]

Got some shop time in and managed to make the upper and lower brackets for the Contour dual fans and shroud combo. I made them out of sheet aluminum, using a couple of sticks of angle iron to form a crude but effective metal brake to make the bends. A pair of heavy duty tin snips performed cutting duties. Hardware is temporary stuff I had on-hand, will be replacing it all with stainless and nylock nuts to ensure it doesnt get rattled loose. Still need to solve for the overflow mount. Test-fit the entire assembly and everything looks great. I have a good deal of spare aluminum sheet so I am planning on trying to box the radiator a bit to gain even more cooling efficiencies. Can't have enough in Texas!

[frink84]

got the radiator installed, fans hooked up, cooling system burped. it runs at about 190* on my VDO gauge (sender located in the rear port of the driver's side head) and at about the A of "NORMAL" on the OEM gauge (sender located in the front port of the driver's side head).

also installed new BOSCH o2 sensors as i noticed when doing the starter that the passenger side was a little crusty/ashy. the old driver's side didnt match the passenger at all, and could wiggle a bit. not sure how i had two different o2's in it. car ran decent but not perfect, but then again it's relearning itself pretty hard after new o2's and the new cooling system. we'll see how it does over time.

no pics because i finished late last night. but, everything is blacked out as per my aesthetic.

[frink84]

pictures of the radiator, overflow, and fans