Minitubbed LSX Powered 1987 LX Build Thread

[slow90coupe]

Well, I wasn't exactly looking for a new project, but I stumbled across this car yesterday and it was too good of a deal to pass up. So today it sits in my garage. It may look familiar to some of you, The previous owner spent a TON of time and money getting the body into the condition it is in today. The work done was all done right, and the car is very nice. I'm very pleased. The details on the car are as follows.

1987 LX, Wolfe Racecraft minitubs, Custom 8pt cage, welded full length subframes with jacking rails, QA1 rear coilovers, UPR double adjustable uppers and lowers, Moser 31 spline axles, FRPP cobra diff, FRPP 3.55 gears, brand new LX tails, brand new tinted headlights, fully smoothed engine bay, black interior, brand new black headliner And visors, 4" cowl hood, steeda pedals, custom fuel cell in cage under car, custom battery mount with battery disconnect in OEM fuel door, New door pins, new door handles, all new door moldings, new door seals, new hatch shocks, you get the picture. I am unsure of the direction I want to go with the car, but there are 2 options that I'm currently looking into heavily: Carbed LSX and 2JZGTE. I'd rather do the 2JZ but I am unsure if I have the knowledge and know-how to do that in-depth of a swap.

Here's the pics as I received it, I put my little welds on it for the time being.











MMMM no defrost lines!














The collection of parts that came with it.



That's a lot of black interior.



Aeromotive A2000 sexiness



Enough carpet to cover a small house



My favorite box. So many AN fittings. So much sex.





Some AN line



















Updates to come this weekend. Progress will be slow, but I'll get it done eventually. No deadline to meet, no need to drive it, so I am going to take my time and finish this car the way it should be.

Progress has started, kinda. I've been working on it a little here and there. Mainly just cleaning and brainstorming at this point.

I got all of the black interior cleaned up and prepped for dying.



Then got it all organized and put away until I decide to do something else with it.



I finished up the tail-light wiring and got it all tucked away.



I started getting wires separated and routed to the correct place, this is the wires for the dash and engine/headlight harness. Much more simple than a stock harness.



Then I pulled the fenders off to do some more cleaning painting around the inner strut towers. They don't look very good right now.



I got the rear bumper bolted up and properly aligned.



A pic of the minitubs and brakes


I love the way everything back here looks



The transmission tunnel, which is very slick as well, surprisingly.



I hope to get a bunch done on it this weekend. We will see.

[slow90coupe]

beautiful fox.  my only question is why not put a ford motor in such a beautiful ford?!?!?!

Because I want this car to be fast

[95riosnake]

Oh noes, the purists are no doubt lighting their torches and marching your way already lol.

 

I've got no problem with an LSX in a fox, I like anything cool. It's still a V8, and a damn good one at that. Hell, it's even still a pushrod. Love everything about the car so far, especially the color!

[Yeahloh95]

nice find i really like the color

[Brian]

Looking forward to the LSX swap also. I've let go of my more purist ways over the past couple of years. Plus watching Fast & Loud makes you realize the epic things you can build.

[Blackmage]

that red on the interior makes me cringe!!!! haha   can't wait to see it back together so we dont have to see that  

[Alex302]

someone put a lot of time into that fox very nice fined  

[Tabres]

Definitely in for updates on this build.  Very cool build!

 

I was this close to putting a H/C/I LSX in my car when my last motor went south.

[fiveohwblow]

Car is beautiful. Do not do LS. 

[Det_Riot]

Lsx the fuck outta this. 5.3 truck block, punch it out to 408. Turbo. Make people cry.

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[SiK98GT]

Beautiful car but putting a Chevy motor in a Ford should be a crime.

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[slow90coupe]

I'm pretty much dead set on going with an LS unless I find a stupid deal on a pushrod or mod motor. I can't wait to get this car going so I can hurt some fellow Mustang owner's feelings.

[ttocs]

damn somebody put a lot of work into it to never see it run.

[Zach]

Do something super different and put a hemi in it lol.

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[95riosnake]

Do something super different and put a hemi in it lol.

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Yea, something along these lines would be ok with me, lol.

 

[Brian]

What kind of LSX setup are you thinking, Ryan? Turbo?

[95riosnake]

I vote LSX 454 ...droooooooool

[Brian]

^^ AGREED!!!!!

[kbscobravert]

I vote LSx and Holley HP.  If  you feel real ambitious, Turbo!

 

I don't know what you paid for all of that, but that looks like a well put together setup that for the right money, I wouldn't have passed on it either.

[Blackmage]

I like the idea of an m5 motor between the towers also

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[Zach]

http://youtu.be/2UXKXIgLBhc.

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[Blackmage]

have a random period in there.

 

[Zach]

Dang auto correct even puts periods lol.

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[SublimeRT]

That's a gorgeous roller. I am not a Ford fanboy or loyalist, I have owned Mopars, Fords, and GMs, but I am not a fan of cross breeding. I've always thought if I want a Hemi I'll buy a Mopar, want a SBC of some type, get a Chevy, etc.

I think a 4V 4.6 would be cool. Maybe a Clevor. Big cube big blocks are always cool too.

[Tony]

i kinda agree with keeping it a ford motor but def not anti built ford tough with chevy stuff

 

did i see something about a red interior? i hope so as i LOVE very much a nice silver'ish exterior with a deep red interior!!! 

[slow90coupe]

I've been looking into the whole 2JZ swap here in the last few days heavily, but I just don't think I have the skills/know-how to pull that one off. I'm 99% sure it's getting a 5.3 truck motor. I'm going to pick one up, refresh it with new gaskets, put a Tick Performance cam with new valve springs, and hopefully get a little 76mm snail in there somewhere.

 

Interior will be staying black, and I'm going to be going with a Florida 5.0 style cluster and some Bride seats.

[slow90coupe]

I got to work on the car a little bit this weekend.

 

The mess, a very nasty headlight harness with the typical inch thick grime that seems to accumulate on the bulb sockets on every foxbody out there.

 

 

After a bunch of cleaning and taping I went on and routed it, and cut the end off of the harness and hardwired it to the hotrod harness.

The only pic I took of this.

 

 

I painted a few brackets too.

 

 

Then I wired up the fuel pump, correctly wired the relay, and mounted the fuel pump, and got all of the lines hooked up.

 

 

I've pretty much made up my mind on the engine. It's going to get a 4.8 truck motor, carbureted, with a blow-through turbo setup. I'm going to be running yet another one of ON3 Performance's turbo kits on this car, with a 76mm single turbo.

[slow90coupe]

Today was a solid day. Graduated from high school in the morning and even had time to work on the fox a little.

I got my caster camber plates in today.

 

 

 

Started freshening up some of the interior pieces

 

 

Put the new armrest on

 

 

Started fitting the carpet to run around the cage

 

 

Put the rear trim pieces on.

 

 

And put the console in as well as some other pieces.

 

 

 

I modified the radio delete I had laying around for an SN95 to fit this car since I'm too lazy to wire up a radio, plus I'll never use a radio in the car once it's got a turboed and cammed, lsx in it.

 

[Det_Riot]

Congrats on graduation man! I wish I had fucking cars like you in high school. Jesus! The fox is coming together nicely! Looking awesome man! When's the motor build starting?

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[slow90coupe]

Congrats on graduation man! I wish I had fucking cars like you in high school. Jesus! The fox is coming together nicely! Looking awesome man! When's the motor build starting?

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Thanks man! The motor build will hopefully be underway sometime near the end of the summer. I've yet to even look for an engine or transmission yet, lol. I'm just trying to focus on the wiring and getting the interior done before moving onto the suspension, shortening the rear end, and drivetrain work.

[slow90coupe]

Well this is probably the last update on this car for a few months besides the random parts I may pick up used for good deals. I'm going to focus on my SN95 and get it all sorted out before I do anything else to this car. I don't have the time/money to finish the car this year. As of now, the goal is to have the car done for Mustang Week 2015.

 

I did pick up a few front suspension parts for cheap

 

Strange 10-ways, coilover kit, control arms, and some random 13" cobra/Baer calipers. I picked up all of this for less than $300 so I really had no choice not to buy it, lol.

 

 

I pulled the rear end out of the car to put in my SN95 yesterday. This car will be getting a shortened rear end so I can have a nice deep dish wheel in the rear.

I had to mock up some wheels in the process, lol

 

[Tabres]

Amazing deal on the suspension/brake parts.  The Cobra brakes alone are worth more than what you paid for the whole package.

 

Were those CCW drag packs that you test fit (I believe they have the extra lug holes) or were they the XXR CCW replicas?  If they're replicas, whats your take on them?

[slow90coupe]

Amazing deal on the suspension/brake parts.  The Cobra brakes alone are worth more than what you paid for the whole package.

 

Were those CCW drag packs that you test fit (I believe they have the extra lug holes) or were they the XXR CCW replicas?  If they're replicas, whats your take on them?

The wheels were XXR 531's. For the price, they're amazing.  I've had 3 other sets of XXR's and I have had nothing but great experiences with them. My dd Subie rolls on a set of 527's, and I have hit more potholes than I can count, and they're holding up great to the abuse.

[slow90coupe]

Well, I wasn't looking to buy anything else for the car until after Mustang Week but... For $100, I got this. 5.3 truck motor with 80k miles.

 

 

 

I probably won't even touch this motor until the winter, but for the price I couldn't let it slip away. I don't have the funds to build the car right now, but hopefully after I sell about $4000 worth of parts I have laying around, I can get started on it again.

[blubyu90]

Sick build! That car is gorgeous!! Hopefully I don't sound like a d**k, but are you going to eventually paint the window post on the doors back to black? IMO it looks a little goofy when people don't paint them back. You definitely have an excellent taste when it comes to builds, so it's going to look badass either way!! Also, how in the hell do you find all these deals on parts? Lol. I mean $100 for a good 5.3!!!!! Heck yeah!

[slow90coupe]

Sick build! That car is gorgeous!! Hopefully I don't sound like a d**k, but are you going to eventually paint the window post on the doors back to black? IMO it looks a little goofy when people don't paint them back. You definitely have an excellent taste when it comes to builds, so it's going to look badass either way!! Also, how in the hell do you find all these deals on parts? Lol. I mean $100 for a good 5.3!!!!! Heck yeah!

Man I couldn't agree more, that post on the door definitely needs to be black, I plan to do that soon. It always bugs me when people leave them body color!

 

Let's just say I know people   The sad thing is I'm not even looking for parts, people are just  contacting me trying to sell me stuff for great deals and I can't say no to deals like these lol

[95riosnake]

For $100 I would have bought it in a heartbeat too! I'd find a way to shoe horn it into my scion DD if I had to lol.

[Tabres]

My God, $100....you always seem to find the deals.  I'm convinced you could fall headfirst into a pile of shit and come out smelling like a rose... 

 

Congrats on the motor!  Can't wait to see progress with it!

[Brian]

 

My God, $100....you always seem to find the deals.  I'm convinced you could fall headfirst into a pile of shit and come out smelling like a rose...

This. I don't get it. Between him and the h8rbuilt guy.... frustrating as hell but oh well. At least we get to watch the progress.

[slow90coupe]

I had a few minutes today, so I started tearing into the motor. Holy crap. It appears the oil has never been changed in this thing. Good thing I was going to take it apart and replace a few things anyways. I'm going to pull the heads in the morning and take some stuff with me to work to clean in the parts washer so I can actually see what I'm working with.