1986 Ford Mustang Convertible

Off Topic My Ride
42

Lots have happened, so here’s the rundown:

  • 2 1/2" full true dual exhaust with h-pipe (no cats)
  • Smithy’s Mufflers
  • Serpentine belt system installed, including factory AC pump (I plan on putting AC back in, and I can’t run a belt without it or the belt would probably eat itself)
  • Cooling system and transmission hooked up
  • Transmission seems to work properly (free-wheeling test was good)
  • 8.8" housing and center section is right length, My dad got me some 3:23 rear gears for it, we just have to reuse the axles in the 7.5" rear end (yes they are the exact same as the 8.8 for the Mustang)
  • Gauges installed (Just done Today because my dad is awesome! Another video will follow)
  • 20+ minute idle/first long run on engine done.

Here’s a very crappy video I took of the exhaust system. It’s unlisted as I accidentally took a vertical video (and the quality is lower than my usual expectations), but the sound comes through clear.

We had a small problem at the end, and it turned out to be the fuel bowls in the carb were not adjusted properly, causing the car to run super rich. We adjusted that already and now it runs like a champ!

Second video with tach and new gauges (unlisted do to my dad using my name in it):

Next steps are installing the LSD in the 8.8, transferring the axles from the 7.5 and the other mounts and stuff to the 8.8, and installing the complete 8.8 on the car. Also cleaning up the wires and tidying up the engine bay, and kick-down cable install and adjusting the transmission cable (slightly, Drive ended up being slightly in the 2 spot on my PRND21 selector)

All that and/or testing the trans on load on the road to make sure its all good.

3 Likes
43

True, but still an improvement on the previous generation, which was just horrible - during the dark days of the Mustang II (1974-78), even the flagship trims (‘76 Cobra II and’ 78 King Cobra) only had 150-ish horsepower or so, and even that seemed a tad optimistic considering how slow they felt on the road.

44

Quick update on the mustang with Pictures!!!

With a lot of help from my dad, we’ve been getting the Mustang ready for my wedding coming up this month, and the Mustang is finally back on the road again!!!

I can get into the nitty gritty either later this month, or sometime next month, but for now enjoy some quick beauty shots I took last weekend after it got washed for the first time in like 3 years!

Quick Beauty Shots


Yess that is a Factory Hood Scoop that is functional! (IE: air can pass through it). More on that later.


I haven’t put the radio back in yet. I wanted to clean up the wires just a little first.

12 Likes
45

Nice! Is that steering wheel out of an SVO, or did it come in the GTs as well?

46

Great car! But but unfortunately this car has tractor-like cab, no facilities.
I would like to have such a machine, because it has cubic shapes. :smile:

47

@donutsnail It’s just the stock steering wheel. This car started out its life as a v6 LX model.

1 Like
48

Nice man, keep your eyes open for some one selling some SVT Contour wheels in your area. They are 16"x6.5" and they look just like the SVT Cobra wheels, but they are 4x108 so they fit your mustang! You’ll just likely want spacers so they stick out the correct amount :slight_smile:

1 Like