New to Fox Body - A Hot Mess

[GLENN W.]

Hello all - I'm new to Fox Body 'Stangs but I had a '69 that I sold when I got married 30 years ago (sound familiar?). I bought a non-running '73 to flip a few weeks ago, sold the 302 out of it, but as for the rest of the car, the best offer I got was to swap it for a '87 2.3 L automatic convertible. The '87 is all there, but will need the motor gone through, new blue interior, with white seats, new top (currently black but would look better in white), a passenger door, minor body work to repair dings here and there, and fresh coat of Oxford White.

I was going to flip the '87 but now I'm not so sure! She's a hot mess, but I might be falling in love. I can see swapping the old 2.3 for a modern 300 HP 2.3 and cruising with my granddaughter in the front and my yellow lab in the back. Maybe even giving the car to my granddaughter in 8 years when she turns 16. (Reason #1 not to put a 5.0 if I swap engines.)

I'm still trying to decide what to do. With all the horse trading I only have $700 in the car as she sits. I'm guessing I can get $1500 to $2000 if I sell her. I'm guessing 10 grand and 3 of 4 years of doing a little at a time to restore the car to her former glory.

If I post again, that means I have chosen an abusive relationship over good sense - and I'm sure I will need a lot of therapy on this forum in the future

 

[broncojunkie]

I've been wanting to do the (new) 2.3 swap for a while now. I figure the motor and transmission wouldn't be too awfully expensive, but I haven't checked. I know rebuilding a run-of-the-mill 302/351w can easily go several thousand dollars, so a 2.3 swap seems feasible.

 

[Erkenbrand]

Go for it! I'd love to see somebody swap in the modern 2.3. It sounds like that car has a great future ahead of it. The Foxbodies do tend to grow on you.

I've found rolling restoration usually works best. It's when they go up on jack stands that life has a way of reprioritizing everything for you. ;-)