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[FloorIt]

Always loved the Fox Mustang. Finally got one in 2018. My son and I bought it. He had it in his garage for a few years but then moved out of state so I got to to keep it at my house. Last summer I used it for my daily driver for three months. The 2.73 rear gear was horrible. It is a 5 speed but was like having 3 speeds for the city and two overdrives. Finally I took it in and had a 3.73 installed and it is a whole different car. Not only does it get out of the hole a lot quicker, but you can actually drive in 4th gear on a main road in town. Still turns only around 2100 at 70 mph on the freeway.

The car had some issues when we bought it, but the undercarriage was very clean as it had spent much of its life in Arizona. But we had to change out the radiator, water pump, fuel tank, oil pan, clutch cable, balance the drive shaft to get rid of a shake on the freeway, and the brakes had to be replaced. Some rust affected it the last few years in Michigan before I bought it, so the transmission cross member had to be replaced. Most of the work was done at a local shop. My son deleted the AC which didn't work anyway, deleted the stereo (we have stereo in the dual exhaust), replaced the headlight fixtures, replaced the sunroof weather stripping. Car had a cold air intake when we got it as well as a recently replaced transmission and a King Cobra clutch.

It is a blast to drive in the summer with both windows open. It never goes out after salt hits the roads.

 

[broncojunkie]

Beautiful! I always loved that color scheme...grey with the red interior! Congratulations and welcome

 

[FloorIt]

Thanks. I do like that color combo. And this was the first Fox we looked at when we started shopping. Our criteria were that it had to be a Fox, v8, manual transmission, fastback, and an LX.

Forgot to mention two annoying issues: it has a main seal leak and when I drive it hard I get copious quantities of blue smoke out the left pipe. Still runs very strong though. Between the main seal leak and the smoking it gets about 225 miles per quart of oil.

I always look for oil-sotted parking spaces to park in so it does not ruin a clean spot. I have at times put a pan underneath to protect pavement. At home it is on a plastic sheet with cardboard and old towels over it. This particular parking lot that I had to used daily had a lot of such parking spaces:

 

[broncojunkie]

Excessive crankcase pressure can cause seals to blow out. She might just be getting tired. I would start with a compression test. Also check the pcv, which is a little hard to get to. There's a screen in there that can clog up. It's on the rear of the lower intake, back toward the firewall.

 

[FloorIt]

Excessive crankcase pressure can cause seals to blow out. She might just be getting tired. I would start with a compression test. Also check the pcv, which is a little hard to get to. There's a screen in there that can clog up. It's on the rear of the lower intake, back toward the firewall.

Thanks. Checked last fall. Engine hot and idling, I get a slight suction at the oil fill opening. After that I changed the screen on the pvc and the pvc rattles. Engine may be getting a bit tired at 155,000 miles but she sure runs strong.

Local shop can change out the main seal for under $1000. Might go for it.

 

[One Owner 1982]

Love that you have kept the 5 spoke wheels.

 

[FloorIt]

Excessive crankcase pressure can cause seals to blow out. She might just be getting tired. I would start with a compression test. Also check the pcv, which is a little hard to get to. There's a screen in there that can clog up. It's on the rear of the lower intake, back toward the firewall.

No compression problem. The mechanic who did the new oil pan screwed up the gasket royal:


Here is the final fix by the new mechanic, who is a Fox Mustang expert:

 

[FloorIt]

Love that you have kept the 5 spoke wheels.

Thanks. I have no intention of changing out the wheels. I am not into fancy. Need new center caps from LMR though as some of these are cracked. Actually I like steelies but don't think it would be the right look for a Fox Mustang.

 

[One Owner 1982]

Here are my 1982 TRX wheels and new tires. I put them back on the car 2 years ago. I had to strip the clear coat off the wheel and polish them. The center caps are ok. I was happy to get them back on the car. Tires were $$$$.$$

 

[FloorIt]

Great looking car and those are nice wheels. I had some American Racing wheels that came on a Chevy S10 we bought used, but they were 5 lug. Yeah, tires are very expensive, especially the really good ones.

 

[FloorIt]

My brother had this awesome '82 with a 5-speed 5.0 and offered it to me for $3000 back in about 2012. I was a fool not to take it but with 4 cars and a motorhome in my driveway, there was nowhere to park it.

 

[One Owner 1982]

Yep, I understand. I have my 82, a 1966 coup project car and my boat not to mention my daily drivers.

 

[One Owner 1982]

Great looking car and those are nice wheels. I had some American Racing wheels that came on a Chevy S10 we bought used, but they were 5 lug. Yeah, tires are very expensive, especially the really good ones.

My 82 is a original owner 2.3L 1st gen T5

 

[SVTSkip]

Back in 91 I bought my 3rd Fox which was also my first brand new Fox. I ordered it from a dealer in SC and it was a loaded LX Hatch with all the options and with the porno red gut and white exterior. Gotta love the porno red !