JoeColeman
JoeColeman New Reader
9/10/08 3:59 p.m.

Thinking about buying another beater and found a 4 cyl. convertible Fox body for $900. Looks stupid easy to work on with all the room under the hood and being RWD. Anything I should look for or ask? I had a 2.3 in an old Tempo and it was pretty reliable. Any reason the RWD version would be any less so?

maroon92
maroon92 SuperDork
9/10/08 4:21 p.m.

it is dead nuts reliable!

look for rust! if it is an auto check for slipping, my auto slips like a banana. If it is a manual, you should have no problems, i believe those are the T-5 Tremecs, and they are reliable as well.

decent cars, but poor build quality, and terribly slow.

Don't leave the top down for more than about 5 hours at a time, it is near impossible to get it to latch again when the fabric loses its shape.

hrdlydangerous
hrdlydangerous New Reader
9/10/08 4:21 p.m.

Look out for the nagging temptation to convert it to a 5.0 or turbo 2.3 Like you said stupid easy to work on. LOTS of parts available and the top goes down. It's a different 2.3 than your Tempo had if that matters to you.

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
9/10/08 4:25 p.m.

Different engine completely. A LOT of weight to push around for a NA Lima. I am as big of fan as there is of the 2.3/2.5L Ford. It is heavy and underpowered in OEM form. If the car is good underneath then buy it and replace the timing belt put in some Autolites and some Ford wires (there IS a difference) bump up the timing and add some lightness and some turbo goodness and have fun.

egnorant
egnorant Dork
9/10/08 5:09 p.m.

I once had a yearning for a 5.0 Fox body convertible and found many 2.3s during my search. Main problem seemed to be bad automatic transmissions. Seems folks would drive for 140,000 miles and never service them and they would stop working. Put in a few 5 speeds...even rebuilt one automatic.

I cannot vouch for your area, but here in hot Texas we have a lot of paint fade, plastic brittleing (Headlights, trim,hoses, bushings) and tops cracking.

Parts are plentiful and cheap in both the aftermarket and junkyard...sorry..recyclers.

Top replacement is easy...heater core is hard..

Nice fun cruisers....definitly not a hot rod.

Bruce

P71
P71 GRM+ Memberand Reader
9/10/08 5:20 p.m.

Two words...

COWL SHAKE

On any fox-chassis 'Vert. Drive one and watch the plastic cowl vent...

JoeColeman
JoeColeman New Reader
9/11/08 2:58 p.m.

The car is a 5 speed. Should be going to look at it either tonight, or tommorow.

Jensenman
Jensenman SuperDork
9/11/08 3:38 p.m.
P71 wrote: Two words... COWL SHAKE On any fox-chassis 'Vert. Drive one and watch the plastic cowl vent...

And how. The first GT 'vert I drove I took across some railroad tracks and the dash went double. The 'verts were coupes that were beheaded by ASC and the reinforcements were, well, crude. The chassis flexes like it's made of chewing gum, so suspension mods for handling are waste of time and $. If you can live with that and the 4 banger version being underpowered, they aren't bad DD's. Oh, and just like a British car expect some water leaks and rattles.

EDIT: The 2.3 four banger in the Mustang shares nothing with the Tempo 2.3 except the oil filter. Completely different motors.

confuZion3
confuZion3 HalfDork
9/11/08 4:01 p.m.

I heard the 4 cylinder Mustang motors were crap when trying to put boost in them. Don't the heads tend to pop pretty easily?

My 1992 GT Convertible had a pretty good chassis. I really didn't think it was horrible - it did railroad tracks and PA roads pretty well, and it rode nicely. It did chatter a bit going over hard bumps, but I was planning on doing subframe ties for it just to stiffen up the chassis - for the health of the car.

Oh, and if you roll it, you die.

egnorant
egnorant Dork
9/11/08 7:20 p.m.

Turbo motors are unusually reliable. Boost a non-turbo engine and a little detonation will pop holes in the hyper...something pistons.

Bruce

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