1993 Mustang

[-stew-]

Here is the copy and paste of my Mustang build thread from another forum. I talk about it a lot, so here it is...

Taking a 1993 2.3 auto coupe and doing a 5.0 swap, 5 speed swap, IRS, Cobra brakes, and interior swap.


This project actually started a few years ago when I bought a red 93 2.3 5 speed coupe to replace my 1990 lx5.0 hatch that had a bunch of stuff done to it, but had rust. That coupe ended up as a summer driver for a few years and I decided this fall to get the project started. So I got a on craigslist to look for an engine harness and I stumbled across a clean 4 cyl Calypso coupe. I hate red, so I bought it.

Got the car home and stripped her out...









1993 Cobra booster and 94/95 MC with MM no cut/no flair 3-2 port conversion. Was excited about putting this in with the pedals and clutch quadrant because these were the first parts bolted in the car. the turning point from stripping to building.



The future holds a MM a MM k-member. Stocker will do for now. Stock struts in there for mock up purposes. Bilsteins are installed in the other car and will get swapped in come spring when the other car comes out of storage to get sold. IRS was slid in with bolts in the front, and jack stands under the back so I could work on the rear mounts. Picked up some 03/04 cobra springs and shocks. Future holds coil-overs. Time is money and I wanna keep this train rolling. IRS is from a 99. Brakes are Cobra's, not sure of the year.





Got the rear end in and the rear mounts half worked out. I got the rear end in hand hanging on its own, then took it out to do brake lines and install the fuel lines. Rear subframe mounts will get completed when I can empty the trunk and work in there.





Wasn't *planning* on doing much to the rear end, but that blossomed into doing pretty much everything. Poly upper and lower control arm bushings, delrin subframe bushings, Kenny Brown racing forward brace, FRPP cover, Adjustable sway bar links, full tow links and bump steer kit.



And for now, I'll end with the most important part of any five liter swap...

 

[-stew-]

Got all the parts needed to complete the rear end. Just gotta put it all together! The front diff brace i bought used of ebay, and when it came, it was bent to ####. Seller was great and two emails and a few pictures later I had another one at my door!



LCA bushings were a total PITA to get out not using the proper tool. But I got them out. I also did front control arm bushings, and I've never fought harder to do bushings. But they're done and the control arms are in along with a new rack and pinion.



Ford Racing cover with new clutches underneath.



Bought this little lip spoiler. Not sure how I feem about it. Ijust got it sitting on there to see if I warm up to it.




New brake lines and SS rear hoses in and mounted. Started installing new prebent fuel lines.




And don't forget to keep your Ford all Ford!

 

[-stew-]

Since our last visit... New fuel lines are in. I bought new, unused SS fuel lines secondhand. They had been folded up a few times to be shipped, putting them in was a bit frustrating, but I got them in. Not factory pretty, but not bad. I got the 93 coupe I had planned on building out of storage on March 14, got the shocks and struts swapped out, black interior out, and grey interior in, found a set of center caps, and a new clear marker light and had her sold April second. Was busy and cramped for a few weeks! Got the front coilover Bilstiens in along with the MM C&C plates. IRS is all put together and in with new subframe bushings, upper and lower control arm bushings, new trac-loc clutches, axle bearings and seals, FRPP cover and MM bushing, Full Tilt Boogie Racing front dif bushings, Kenny brown brace, MM toe arms and bumpsteer kit, and new cross axis joint boots. Brakes are on with MM braided SS hoses. 03/04 Cobra rear shocks and cut coils are in. Slowly but surely progress is being made!

 

[-stew-]

Picked up some P71 wheels and cobbled the car together so it can roll out of the old garage and into the new one. i think it looks great and it's gonna motivate me to keep at it and get it on the road.

 

[-stew-]

Ben getting back at it recently. Got the motor apart and it is at the machine shop now. Been hoarding parts and got the car situated in the garage and will be working on it regularly. Front wheels are gonna need spacers, bought one inchers, but I thing the are too big. Gonna try half inchers. I like luggage racks, scooped one at the JY a few months back and got that installed tonight. Here's some random pictures of whats been up as of late.

 

[-stew-]

The parts pile is growing!




Got some work done this weekend. Trans hump is in. Got pretty much every thing pulled out of the engine bay and scrubbed it all down. Cleaned up better than I thought. Gonna borrow a heater and get her painted up soon, today was super nice, but i don't think it's gonna be warm enough to paint for a bit.

Before:




After:





And a crappy picture of the trans hump...

 

[-stew-]

Cleaning up the engine bay snowballed.

 

[-stew-]

Seems like everything I go to do, I need to do (or undo or re-do)three things before I can do the first. But slow progress is still progress...

 

[-stew-]

It's taking too long and costing too much. But I'm enjoying it. First time assembling a short block.

 

[-stew-]

Short block is now a long block. Push rods are in the mail. It's funny, I never planned on making the engine bay as pretty it is turning out. Certainly never imagined it going this far. All that started because I pulled the battery tray figuring to put the battery in the trunk and found the paint gone, and everything rusty underneath. So I bought some paint thinking "oh, I'll just cover where the rust was." Then I realized having one cleaned up spot in a dirty dingy engine bay was just ugly as having a rusty spot. So out came everything and on went paint. And wire tuck. And brake hose tuck. And so on with so many other things. And then. AND THEN! I decided NOT to put the battery in the trunk. This morning I ordered a bunch of parts, including an OEM battery tray. Then this afternoon a deal on an OPtima and matching mount came up on the bookface and I scooped it up. Things are moving fast!









Gonna spend a few hours straightening up the garage tomorrow before I do anything. Place is a mess.

 

[-stew-]

Got the motor in yesterday. It was in long enough for me to realize in needs to come back out! Lol! I put the bellhousing/clutch and all that before I remembered that I didn't have the block plate in. Looked at the block plate I have and realized it's no good. So a new one is in the mail.

 

[-stew-]

In like Flynn! Now I just have to move the rack and pinion...

 

[-stew-]

It's been a hot minute since I've posted anything. No major progress. A couple house projects and being lazy are to blame. But I have gotten a few things done on the car. Dual Contour fans are mounted to the radiator I have to clean up the wiring and mount a connector. PS pump is all mounted up. Alternator is mocked up on there. I think it needs a bolt or something. I put that on a while back. Waterpump and crank pullies are on. Those bolts need to be checked, also. Controla arms are all on and bolted up. Front hubs were drilled out for longer studs, those are in, spindles are bolted up. Front calipers and hoses are on and everything is tight. The whole Irs had to come out to tighten a loose brake fitting. Was also able to snug up the fuel tank straps while the IrS was out. Installed the pinion brace while it was out, too. It's back in, rear calipers are back on with the rotors and new longer APR studs to match the fronts. New master cylinder reservoir is on, speed bleeders in the calipers and I dumped some brake fluid in. Weather has me working a ton, so maybe by next weekend I'll get the brakes bled, and the rear springs back in.

 

[-stew-]

Fan itself is wired up. Still need to install the controller and wire that side up. Alternator wiring is in, waiting on a plug to finish that. Circuit breaker for the alternator is mounted. Starter solenoid is mounted, along with some related wiring. Headlight harness is all cleaned up with new wire wrap and installed. Main engine harness has been pruned of what's not needed and had new wire wrap installed. Thinking about using cannon plugs to replace the two connectors that mate the main harness to the injector harness. Brick by boring brick...

 

[-stew-]

Still some more wiring to do, but major progress has been made in that department.

 

[-stew-]

A little wiring, found bolts for the rear brake hose clamps and put them in, cleaned up the garage, threw some junk away, made a huge to do list, old carpet out, new carpet half in, pulled the shot fabric from the rear seat, installed the black tweed fabric on the rear seat, put new door handles on, put the rear springs in, made and installed map pocket deletes, asked a guy a million questions and ordered tuning hardware and software. Decent weekend...

 

[-stew-]

My car would have been done two years ago if I didn't give a #### about what it looked like. I don't know when, but at some point I became the guy who wants his #### to be pretty. That combined with me not knowing where to stop, is creating a lengthy time line.

Radio is in and the amp is all wired up. New door handles, lock cylinders, weather stripping. Push rods and rockers are on, rockers need to be adjusted. Had to call Summit because i rodered pushrods lat July, when I went to install them two weeks ago, there were only 14 in the box. Summit was awesome about it and got me 2 pushrods in the mail real quick, no charge, no questions. Had my buddy weld on an oil filler cap. That needs to be addressed, because now with the intake on I can't get it off. New carpet is in. Door panels are all done and on. After fighting for an hour the head liner is in with the quarter plastics and rear seat and belts installed. And the ####ing headliner has to come back out because the dome light bracket is in wrong. Intake came back from powdercoat a week earlier than planned. It's super gorgeous. My rattle can paint job just didn't cut it. There was a bunch of damage that was real evident when painted that I had to repair. Glad I spent the time and money on that. Got that kinda put together. Decided to ditch the black rubber lines that come with the BBK fuel rails and put on braided, so ordered all that stuff today. FRP needs to be clocked to I can take the upper intake off with out removing the FPR.

Just gotta keep on, keeping on...

 

[-stew-]

Rocker arms are adjusted. Valve covers bolted down. Lower intake is bolted down. Fuel rails machined to gain injector plug clearance. Coolant tubes painted and installed. Intake spacer painted. Got the distributor in after a bunch of farting around and head scratching. Plugs in. Wires on. A little of this. A little of that... Picture doesn't show much, but I like pictures.

 

[-stew-]

Had a big long post wrote up, but I'm a dummy and lost it. So here's some Cliffs Notes n the pictures.

Wiring is about buttoned up. Looks great to me, and I'm real proud of it. Not totally hidden, but doesn't stick out. Splices are al crimped, soldered, and heat shrunk. Braided loom and Tessa tape held in place by OEM type self mounting cable ties. Salt and Pepper connectors ditched for Duestch connectors. Not the best rewire, but not too shabby.

Exhaust polished up nice. They could use some sanding and buffing to get the bends mirror polished like the rest, but I'm ok with it. The tips turned out great. I love how it looks and I'm very happy with it.

Came into a smoking deal on NOS silicone hose set and that makes me a very, very happy camper.

Fans are all wired up, but I'm having a couple issues with the Dakota Digital controller.

Put the rollers on and set her up on some stands to put the front tie rods together. I gotta buy tires now. These rollers are too big to get a handle on what's going one. Tires will be ordered today.

That's about all for now!

 

[-stew-]

WEEKEND UPDATE!!

Tires were ordered and installed. Threw a coat of paint on the wheels, and painted the sidewall lettering. I figured with the shined up exhaust and IRS, the car was gonna have a lot of eyes on the rear underside so I painted the tank cover and tank straps. In all the farting around I've done with the rear end, I never got the vertical holes drilled for the rear IRS brackets. So I did that. And that involved taking the fuel tank out that I had just installed minutes before. That was mildly infuriating. But those are in, with welded plates in the trunk. I picked up some 1/4 inch fiber board for the trunk, the original rug and board were gone. The three hush panels are kinda beat up, si I will be on the look out for for nice ones. I mounted my amp to a board and cleaned all the wiring up. I had to buy new washers for the rear tie rods. Those were $60. That was neat. But the rear tie rods are all good to go now. All the wheels are on, and she's back on the stands and one weekend closer to burning rubber!