need some help with my new foxbody

[Corvette.Jeff]

I dont know Eric, this lil' booger didnt even cost me 1k

[whale392]

Mark; your last post has me at a slight conumdrum. While FOXes may be going cheaper than dirt in Cali, the rest of the country that is affected by seasons and the ravages they bring to cars are experiencing a rise in FOX prices. Good examples of the FOX are getting harder to find in the Midwest/North/and some of the Southeast and prices are going up accordingly. I know Cali has them sitting by the droves in yards as they are 'just another old smogging car' to you all, but not so elsewhere. For $1,000.00; he didn't do too bad for a solid platform and a coupe to boot!

Take my 91GT pictured for example.........270,000 miles on the ORIGINAL drivetrain and NO RUST. I picked it up cheap in Florida for $1,300.00 4 years ago. I brought it to Ohio (well, dad drove it up to me anyway) last May and was instantly offered $2,500.00 ON THE SPOT, no questions asked and cash in hand. I said no as I love the car, but you see what I mean?

[charlie8575]

Nice little car. I've toyed with picking up a 4-cylinder Mustang for scooting around town in. I'd consider keeping it a 4, clean up the exterior a little with a fresh paint job and enjoy it as-is. Maybe drop one of the V6s in it for a little extra power. I always thought it was odd they stopped offering the six and kept the 4 and the 302.

Charlie Larkin

[whale392]

I can agree with your math Mark, but can you see the fun involved in building one up? So what if he doesn't get his money back out of it; if he doesn't care about that niether should we. Do you want me to tell you how much I have sitting in the Blue car as pictured? Yup, money wasted and time ill spent..............NOT. Just like model cars, real cars are an assemble hobby as well. Will you ever get the money you spent in supplies and labor time building your model if you sell one? NO. Same deal with the real car.

[Rick Schmidt]

Dunno that as it sits if I even have 1000 into my 82 now maybe pushing 1100. I got the car for 800 in 2000 over the years I messed with it 500 for the 93 that was tweeked from a bad repair from a wreck ( boy that 93 was fun to do donuts and burnouts in ) gave 150 for an 80? ( ? cause even the guy I bought if from didn't know lol )

Took the interior and doors from the 93 Sold the shell to a roundy rounder and sold the rest of the parts to random folks I seen riding in mustangs needing them lol Chased many a Stang around to catch the guy to offer a tail light or mirror to Never once got turned away. Made near my 500 back on the 93. Found the 80? got intouch with its owner and was told he'd deliver its carcass to my house for 150. Stripped off the pace car nose and hatch kept a few interior parts Sold the doors for 100 and scrapped the rest. Now the car needs a motor. Gonna hunt down a 70s land yacht and cannablize it too for the v8. Can probably find said yacht for a 1000 to 1500 steal its drive line and again sell parts hehe make some back. It doesn't have to be expensive to build one of these just gotta find the right deals

[Abell82]

Note I said..."rip-off" not "co-production" ...they don't share anything parts-wise. In fact the box art models seldom share anything with the kit in the box. They used Monogram Mustangs, Camaros, Trans Ams and Corvettes on many boxes. Not sure about some (wagon F-bodies) but most of them were Monogram kits on the original boxes. They even copied the Monogram "Goodyear GT Radials" in plastic...

Umm, How can it be a rip off if they don't share ANY of the same parts? So did Revell rip off USAirfix for theirs? I don't get your line of thinking, here. If any company ripped off any car, then It has to be Mpc ripping off the Amt annual 69 Mustang. It's almost like they resin cast the body, and then made a plastic mold from it, for there kit. (It would explain why it's smaller right? )

As far as building or buying a fox... Swap meets RULE. Sure you can buy a fox, already done, but what do you do when you need parts? How do you know which 5 lug swap was done? Where the engine came from? ETC. It's much less hassle if you do it yourself, though maybe more costly.

[Abell82]

Just because the kit parts aren't 100-percent identical isn't proof there wasn't copying of design. If one kid cheats off of another in class by reading over his shoulder, you can't say "he didn't cheat...look they don't share the EXACT handwriting," right? But if one kid makes the identical mistakes...chances are you've got something funny going on.

I think we may have to agree to disagree on this one. For one thing the Monogram car has "droopy" headlights, not present on the USAirfix kit. If they copied them, then they also copied MPC. As both have chrome one piece headlights and side pipes. Monogram has a decently curved roof, USAirfixes is flat like Revell's. Revell's also has a TERRIBLY inaccurate interior just like USAirfixes... I guess they All copied off each other, and none of them got it right!

[whale392]

As I said earlier; if you need any help or info, just ask. I'll be glad to help out if I can.

[Eric Stone]

The Fox market is healthy around here... There are quite a few junky cars floating around for $1500 or less, some slightly rough around the edges cars going up to around $5000, and then you start finding clean ones for over $5000 and immaculate or very highly modded/built pushing $10k or more. I paid $7000 for mine after a few months of searching and not finding anything worth spending my money on. When I bought it, it had 65,9XX miles. It's an original 5.0/5spd, original paint, interior, wheels, etc, and had working AC at the time (but it has since gone out). It already had a few of the more expensive "cheap" mods- Cobra intake, 3.73 gear, exhaust, shifter, springs, shocks/struts. I've done a few more minor things, but it remains mostly stock, and is loads of fun.

Jeff, whatever you decide to do, it comes down to it being your car. Just enjoy it!

[Corvette.Jeff]

Mark,even though you are concerned im going to be doing every single upgrade mentioned here,im not.

Right now my main goal is to get it running nice so i can have a dependable way to and from work, ill worrie about power after i get tired of the old four cyl.

right now,these are the only upgrades planned, platnum NGK sparkplugs, new Sparkplug wires, oil change,trans fluid change,getting the a/c to work,then new tires.

In a month or so i will,put in a sound system(two 12" subs,2k watt amp,four 6x9"s,tweeters,and all that jazz) then ill start saving up for a new paintjob.

this is gonna have to be my daily untill i can afford to buy something better.

[LVZ2881]

Quick and easy fix: Junk it and buy a Camaro!!

I kid, I kid, kinda....

seriously though, I'd consider the turbo 4 route...

[Corvette.Jeff]

why would i want a Camaro when i have a Corvette?? :D

ive thought about the turbo 4 route,but ive also thought about searching craigslist for a 98'-02' ford taurus lx,we have one and its a mover,it has the big taurus engine(only 10% of the taurus' for each year had that engine) i see them every now and then for under 1k, the noble m400 uses the same engine,just twin tuboed

either that ora 32v northstar

[Jeff Johnston]

Interesting thread. Actually my favorite post 73 Mustangs are the 4 eyes Fox's (never heard them called 4 eyes but that describes them). Wit the 85-86 taking the top for me.

To weigh in on my opinion, FWIW. It looks like a nice little ride. If that car can clean up and get you from point a to point b reliably, then you have a nice little daily drive that pretty much nobody else you know will have...definitely cool factor there. Plus the interior looks almost mint. With some used wheels, a good buffing with polish and wax, some engine cleaner and elbow grease that'll be that's a fun little ride. You might even be able to juice that 4 cyl up for not a lot of $$.

But I have to also agree with Mark T on his sentiments. If you ever plan to drop a V8 in there, etc, you will want to consider just buying the V8 car complete and restoring it. Around here (New England) you can get a descent restorable Fox GT for really short money.