Another Detroit Iron about to enter the mzziaz household

[Madman]

Wow, with that car you could be the hero character in a 1980s "man-on-the-run"-type Hollywood movie!  You just need a bleach-blonde sidekick/love interest to complete the effect.

Don't forget to wear your Members Only jacket and mirror-lens sunglasses! 

[Secret Chimp]

This car is definitely a car of its time in its junky-clunkiness with respect to some of the materials, but it's really a pretty good car with the new engine and transmission. The interior vinyls and plastics are pretty lame, but they've held up well and really don't look terrible if you accept that's what they were dealing with at the time. The seats are somehow both cushy and supportive (velour grips!). If powertrains weren't as shitty as they were back then this would've been a really awesome car.

Seriously, if Per throws some money at some midrange suspension upgrades on this thing - just like shocks and springs and nothing else, even just the right shocks maybe - it'll be a badass not-bad-handling car. The Fox platform feels pretty juddery over impacts but it really feels pretty decent just taking turns and other non-NVH-related things. Even with the worn-ish stock shocks it feels pretty tight around town as it is, and the steering has a pretty okay feel to it. I think the tires might be a bit low-grip in cooler weather though - in the slightest dampness you have to try very hard not to spin the wheels starting off, or anywhere in 2nd gear, or any time you're turning, or any combo of the above. If you want to hiccup in the rain and finish your left hand turn at a 30 degree angle, by all means.

Also if my 318 is putting out even 75% of this engine's power, I totally need to do a T-5 swap in the wagon. It's just a great old-V8 transmission. It's vague and low on feel in between the gates, but at the same time easy to get the gear (it kind of accurately flops between gears and lets you shove the last 20% in) with positive engagements and cool race car gear whine. Perfect 'Merican transmission.

[mzziaz]

You are awesome, Charlie. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Too bad it's gonna be half a year before I'll get to really drive it.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

6 MONTHS?

Are you going to set it on a wood plank and let the currents bring it over?

[hotrodalex]

It'll take a while before he can make the necessary mods and get it registered.

[mzziaz]

I have this hunch that the stang might dislike Norwegian winter roads.

[hotrodalex]

I'd kill for a chance to drift a Fox body around Norway.

[mzziaz]

Well, if you make it over, perhaps you can take it for a spin?

[Northlands]

I have this hunch that the stang might dislike Norwegian winter roads.

Plenty of Stangs driven in the winter here, and it's plenty icy where I live. Mind you it can get a bit dicey without winter tires, but that's part of the fun. 

[mzziaz]

Plenty of Stangs driven in the winter here, and it's plenty icy where I live. Mind you it can get a bit dicey without winter tires, but that's part of the fun. 

Steep hills where I live - and salted roads. Miss Mustang is far too fine for such conditions.

[Northlands]

Steep hills where I live - and salted roads. Miss Mustang is far too fine for such conditions.

Ahh yes, hills. Something that you can probably go for an hour in any direction from where I live and not encounter. Flat as a board where I live.

[Secret Chimp]

Some running notes here:

The bushings in the rear control arms that center around the differential are all pretty much shot (cracked)

I was able to adjust the drums out and get the parking brake kind of working. There may be some adjustment left up in the handle.

It looks like there's supposed to be some kind of undertray between the front of the subframe and the underside of the bumper, but it isn't there. I also can't find what this part is called online for some reason.

[Secret Chimp]

Good news - the creaking sound is coming from inside of the body of the strut itself, not any of the ball joints in the suspension or steering. One of the seals must be so bad that it's binding against the inside of the shock.

[Mustangfan2003]

I have this hunch that the stang might dislike Norwegian winter roads.

Those cars can be tricky to drive in the rain so yeah. 

[Secret Chimp]

Heh, the difference in wear between the front and rear tires on this thing is pretty funny/

[mzziaz]

Looks like it's time for new shocks.

[Secret Chimp]

New struts should come in tomorrow. Most people only make shocks for 87 and up - the earlier design uses a spring that acts against the underside of the frame rail instead of a usual coil-over strut design. So Monroe Sensa-Trac is about as fancy as you can get before you move over to drag racing shocks or overpriced QA1 stuff.

Otherwise I just need to find an air filter (current one's kind of gunky and nobody close nearby had them in stock, oddly) and see if I can fix the choke cover. The current one busted somehow so the coil is just sitting on the manifold. Ironically the carb is set up too rich and will start and drive fine with no choke, so it shouldn't have problems getting off the boat. Not much luck on junkyard stuff - the oldest one I found was an 85 and the gauges are totally different.

The one thing I cannot figure out about this car is that the sun visors are linked together by a chrome piece of wire that goes deep into the tops of both of them. You can only flip the visors forward - if you try to move them to the side, this giant piece of wire bows out and starts pushing the other visor in the other direction until it stops and threatens to snap off in your eyeball. I really don't understand it.

[Soup DeVille]

So, I take it that you're not only helping him deliver the car, but you're doing some minor repairs as well for him?

[Secret Chimp]

Yes, it could have been delivered via a truck, but I stuck on my offer largely to inspect and source needed parts before it went off where everything's really expensive to get. Luckily the car just had an unreported dead pair of struts and surprise broken choke. I'm sure Per was worried it made blue smoke like an old dump truck or something :P

[Soup DeVille]

Are Mustang parts still that expensive in Norsewegianway? I figured there would be the hassle of shipping, but the prices would be OK.

[Secret Chimp]

Mzzzz would have to chip in on that one. I can say Foxes this early just aren't terribly common nor as well-covered for parts even in the states; I couldn't find an air filter for this thing today. Apparently it changed for the later-80s ones that are still running around more. I hope tires in this size aren't too expensive; in colder weather these things are going to be about as good as wood.

[Soup DeVille]

As long as they're not metric sized, he should be okay.

[Mustangfan2003]

Mzzzz would have to chip in on that one. I can say Foxes this early just aren't terribly common nor as well-covered for parts even in the states; I couldn't find an air filter for this thing today. Apparently it changed for the later-80s ones that are still running around more. I hope tires in this size aren't too expensive; in colder weather these things are going to be about as good as wood.

Does it have an aftermarket breather?  Finding filters for those can be tricky.  You can search dimensions on the K&N site and find one that way. 

[Secret Chimp]

Does it have an aftermarket breather?  Finding filters for those can be tricky.  You can search dimensions on the K&N site and find one that way. 

No, it uses the stock hat-and-arms on an Edelbrock with all of the factory hoses. I didn't know a mass-produced round air filter could be made in such a weird size for it to be obsolete from regular stocking.

[Secret Chimp]

Per's gotta get me some paperwork soon or I have this old hunk keeping brum out in the tree debris for another week.

[mzziaz]

Done.

[mzziaz]

Are Mustang parts still that expensive in Norsewegianway? I figured there would be the hassle of shipping, but the prices would be OK.

Overseas freight pluss 24% vat, pluss sometimes pretty high markups = could be expensive.

1st gen Mustangs are common, but I would assume there is only a handful of foxes in the country. I've only seen one once in Norway.

[mzziaz]

Done.

Btw, Gmail is the best. When I pressed send I got a pop-up that I had forgotten to attach the file (it scans the text for "I've attached" and similar phrases.) Also, I noticed it ocr'd the scan and converted it on the fly. Pretty nifty - and probably funded by the NSA.

[SVT666]

Overseas freight pluss 24% vat, pluss sometimes pretty high markups = could be expensive.

1st gen Mustangs are common, but I would assume there is only a handful of foxes in the country. I've only seen one once in Norway.

24% VAT???

[Soup DeVille]

24% VAT???

I'm afraid to even ask what the costs of importing your own car are.