Anyone here daily a foxbody? How reliable is a foxbody mustang

If you're not mechanically inclined I'd look elsewhere, but mine's fairly reliable. It does drink a lot of oil, so you need to keep an eye on that, but if it runs it will stay running, usually.

However, the brakes are terrible, the handling is terrible, the headlights are terrible, the interior is terrible, everything is terrible to actually live with. As soon as it starts raining at all you go full panic mode.

I good running 5.0 won't burn any oil.

You don't want to take longass drives routinly in a fox mustang unless you hate yourself.

Finding a stock unmolested fox for cheap is near impossible, and the more molested a car gets the less reliable it is. I bet you that carb on there was tossed on as is out of the box or off another car.

If you wan ta comfortable reliable car an 80's mustang is not it.

>>15564983
It doesn't have to be unmolested, but it has to be molested correctly. Mine had bolt-on SFCs, a short-throw shifter, exhaust, and rear end gears. Clearly modified, but I can live with it.

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Don't do it. This post is spot on.>>15564932
If you want a foxbody you want cheap fast or you like them because AESTHETIC. Buy something comfy and cheap.

>>15565017
wew wrong post >>15564951

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>>15565017
I mean I want one for cheap and fast as well as aesthetic, but at the same time I tend to put mileage on my car by the hundreds maybe a couple times a month on top of fairly regular driving so I should probably find a different A E S T H E T I C car.

>>15564932
The problem with the fox is that its 30 years old.
Has nothing to do with X manufacturer.

Average mileage is like 12k a year.
So that speedo has rolled over three times.

I'd be tired too if I ran 350,000 miles.

Now, as for specific fox issues, they rust on strut towers, sub frame and torque boxes.
Can also have issues with floorpans but that's more locale specific (places where they salt the roads, driven on gravel a lot).

They're very good cars overall- theres a reason so many are still on the road.

Good thing is that anything that needs to be replaced can be bought- and you WILL be replacing parts.

Its only a DD after you've done a partial restore.

I'd like anyone to post a car from the 80's, any car, that's "reliable" without already having parts replaced.

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>>15565059
It took me three years to find a cheap stock fox and I got even more lucky to find a Capri RS t-top bubble hatch. You can find them if you look hard enough, but foxbodys get aftermarket parts thrown all over them and 90% of the time people want way to much money for what they have. Although I would still advise on dailying long trips in one. You'll hate your life.

>>15565125
>bubble hatch.
My sunroof is $900 to replace, I'd probably have a heart attack if I ever saw the price on that hatch glass.

>>15565158
Not the anon who owns that Capri, but if it ever was broken I'd go full mad max and stuff two gigantic aux tanks in there and lift the fuck out of the back of the car. Would probably be cheaper than buying glass.

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>>15565158
>>15565166
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCURY-CAPRI-2-DOOR-HATCHBACK-BACKGLASS-1983-1986-TINTED-DB6475GT-/380484679248

>>15564951
GM here


the engine is also terrible

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>>15564932
More reliable than almost any other car that old but much less reliable than a 90s Civic. If it's running right, it will go a thousand miles without complaining but the next time you drive it it may run like shit and not even want to take you across town until you give it some attention and possibly replace. rebuild or rig something.

You WILL learn the fundamentals of how ICEs work because you'll have to or you'll just keep having to call someone who does to "fix" simple things you could have if you understood what's going on under the hood but speaking of under the hood it's much easier to work under there than in an f-body and the parts are cheaper as well. '83's brakes do kind of suck and the interior is very 80s economy car tier.

I really have to disagree with the "handling sucks" meme. They handle like a sporty lightish 80s coupe which is to say pretty nimbly, though the steering ratio could be a bit tighter. They're just way front heavy and have this weird 4-link rear end that will literally steer itself if you put real power through it. In a straight line that signature fishtail wiggle is fun and kind of cute but I could definitely see it being a problem when accelerating out of a corner and a huge liability if you were actually trying to drift in one.

Something's not quite right with my carb right now and it'll try to stall on me if I slosh fuel from hard cornering then try to open it up so until I get that one figured out it's not an issue but a panhard bar would probably be my first performance upgrade although a modest nos is tempting as well. Apparently the T5 makes it drive like a completely different car so I wouldn't mind getting me one of them too.

>>15565333
The ford 302 is a great engine, what the fuck are you on about? Stock it's trying to breathe through a straw but it's not by an means a bad motor.

>>15565248
I'm too scared to check the link.
Ive always thought the Capri's was "different" (I honestly can't say cool or grotesque, its just weird)
That link might keep me from picking one up someday.

>>15565832
Can you afford to impulse buy a videogame console or a basic laptop? If so then you can click the link with confidence, otherwise don't break windows I guess.

>>15565832
They come in hatch as well, and I think notch. You don't have to have a bubble back one.

>>15564932
I work at a Performance shop for Mustangs and daily a stock fox.
Convert to EFI and you'll be good.
Carbed isn't worth the hassle for a daily (idle at cold start, possibility of flooding the carb if you're inexperienced, etc), plus, if you ever want to upgrade(rebuild the top end with a cam), it's easier to do in EFI, especially with a dyno tune.

But even I have a ZJ for comfy driving aswell

>>15566206
How is the stock fuel injection on an '86? Converting the car to EFI without buying one of those $3000 Edelbrock kits seems like a fairly difficult process to do myself, and an expensive one to have someone do for me.

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>>15565017
Eyyy you took off those shitty wheels.

>>15566442
86 and up is good. It also means you have a very cheap option for a better set of heads and an intake manifold, off of a mid 90s explorer 5.0. Heads have to be rebuilt with new springs but the MAF is almost plug and play.

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>>15566484
I see you still left yours on though.

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>>15566507
>pony wheels
>shitty

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>>15566514
>chrome pony wheels
>tfw they almost look like autozone beaner hubcaps

>>15566529
That was literally a stock wheel style. The rest of the car is kind of chunky so they match visually.

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>>15566529
>being this stupid
You are the reason people stereotype foxbody mustang drivers.

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>>15566533
>>15566544
>DONT DISLIKE THINGS I LIKE

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>>15566559
>owns capri
>calls people autists

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>>15566568
Not me, thanks for the concern though.
Although I'm not very fond of these wheels>>15566484 if I do say so myself.

>>15564932
They're very reliabe. The only thing I've done on mine in the past 6 years is replace the window motors 50 times.

>>15566442
Performance shop guy here.
Wire harness (new or off a parts car), ECU (A9P or equivalent strategy, $100-$250), aftermarket heads (new or off a parts car), cam (ford racing $200), intake manifolds (explorer or cobra, likely used), aftermarket throttle body (BBK or whatever, just make sure to get a tune after), fuel injectors (stock was 19lbs, cobra was 24lbs), Kirban fuel pressure regulator ($35), bolts (ARP is a must), dyno tune (~$500). The edlebrock kit is probably good, just not sure if it would cost more or about the same.

Everything on the top end of a 302 just fits together. You could save money and spend a lot of time learning to put it together (what wire or vacuum line goes where, and torque specs) or you could have a speed/performance shop put it together. It would be easy for them and not take very long. If you have a shop do it, you'll be spending more money than what you bought the car for anyway, so you might as well have them put the best into it and make power.

>>15566800
If he wants to go cheap he may as well just grab a whole exploder or mountainqueer 5.0, slap some alex's valve springs in it, a decent cam, headers and call it good. He'd still need a harness, maf, and 24#'s, but he'd have a nice roller block with good heads and intakes.

>>15566791
Pic and info of your fox? That sounds too good to be true

>>15567309
Window motors are notorious for going bad on these. Dangerous to fix too.