This is my 1989 Ford Mustang LX notchback. I purchased her in April 2004. The previous owner had owned her for many years. She was mainly a weekend cruiser for him. He only took her to the track once. As far as I can tell she has never seen winter. The previous owner kept her garaged and didn’t even drive her in the rain!
Car is currently located in Rochester, NY.
Body, transmission, and rear end have about 121k miles. Engine has about 15k.
Before we get into the meat of this post, let me say what needs work. The car has been garaged since October 2004. The oil pan gasket went and a few bolts fell off the exhaust so I figured I’d put her away for the winter and fix the issues. Then I got a great deal on some upgrades, started the work, and now two and a half years later she still sits there 
Someone broke into the garage at some point and stole the Wilwood front brakes and the brand new coilovers I had sitting there. So right now the car has no front suspension or front brakes on it. The oil pan needs to be taken off again and the oil pump drive shaft needs to be put in properly (details below).
We’ll start with some pics. I have a gallery of 37 pics (all high res) here: http://roclife.perception.cc/album39. Many of the earlier pics do not include current modifications (such as front strut tower brace, newer wheels). I have included comments with each picture so you can tell what is new and old.
I’ll be posting current pictures as she sits later today. She needs a bath badly
Body/Exterior
There is NO rust on this car. Body has a few imperfections. Passenger side door has some damage in the jam (not visible with it closed). Driver’s side molding has some deformation. Car has been repainted. Paint job isn’t the greatest but still looks decent.
Previous owner always wanted a 93 Cobra (which he went and bought after he sold me this car). He put on the 93 Cobra spoiler, clear corner lenses, cobra taillights, and fiberglass cowl hood. Trunk is debadged.
Rear window and rear side windows are tinted very dark, maybe 10%.
Engine/Performance
Engine is a Ford Racing GT40 XB3 5L crate engine (http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=3791). Has shown different numbers on two different dynos, but the real proof of power is the drag strip (see below).
On a chassis dyno the car did 298hp, 275tq (if I remember correctly) at the axles. That was before the underdrive pullies. Good for numbers, not good for tuning.
More recently it was dynoed on a Mustang and it did something like 230hp, 260tq (at the wheels). Good for tuning, not good for numbers.
Power/Drivetrain
GT40 Upper and lower intake (polished)
BBK Shorty headers
BBK Fender CAI
BBK Off-road Xpipe
BBK Exhaust (sounds awesome) w/ polished end pipes (not just tips, they go up under the car and look much better than tips)
BBK Underdrive pullies
New Energy Suspensions motor & transmission mounts (brand new)
New alternator
New accessory belt
New silicone coolent hoses (heater core bypassed)
New 180 degree thermostat
New oil pan gasket
Mac heavy duty clutch
Ford Racing 3:73 gears
Optima Yellowtop relocated to trunk with 200A breaker switch
Suspension/Brakes
Tubular K member with welded brace
Tubular front control arms
Steeda Front Strut Tower Brace (powdercoated black)
Steeda Full Length Subframe Braces (with torque box reenforcement)
SSBC Rear Brake Kit: 10.5" slotted disk brake conversion, included new master cylinder, extra set of pads included, WAS NOT CHEAP.
Less than 1k miles since brakes installed.
Wheels/tires
When I bought the car it had 93 Cobra wheels on it. They would not fit over the new front brakes so I replaced them with some newer Cobra eBay specials. Includes two sets of identical wheels, one chrome and one silver (17x8 in the front and 17x9 in the rear). Chrome set has 245/45/17 Nitto 555s in the front and 275/40/17 Nitto 555R drag radials in the back. Fronts look brand new, drag radials are almost new (both have less than 3k miles on them). They have only been to the track 3 times. Only the last time were “proper” burnouts done, for only 2 passes. The silver wheels have Kumho Victoracer V710s on them. They were used for a few BMW and about half a season of SCCA autocrosses. One has a corded flat spot from the brakes being locked up at Watkins Glen (they were only on the car for a few days before I went). The other 3 have a reasonable amount of tread. They could be used for at least half of the next autox season if they haven’t gotten hard. May need some conditioning from sitting for so long.
Also included is a set of Toyo RA1 (255/45/17). I bought them used. They were only used at one Glen event and have tons of tread left. May also need conditioning.
Interior
Adjustable shift light (no huge ugly aftermarket tach, just a light)
3 pt harness with Ford Racing shoulder pads
Metal shifter surround bezel
Shift knob
Other Parts
Here’s a list of other parts included with the car.
Extra T5 that needs rebuilding
Heavy duty rear upper control arms
Aluminium driveshaft
Caster/camber plates (brand new)
2 sets of lowering springs
All stock brake parts, all in excellent condition (including pads)
Stock K member and front control arms
Some other stuff I’m not remembering.
Other than that the interior is mostly stock. Most of the interior was painted black by the previous owner, some of the panels are still red (see issues below).
Includes Sony door speakers (if I remember correctly they are 5.25") and some kind of cheap dash speakers. No speakers in the back. No head unit included.
Known Issues
The car has some typical issues for its age.
Sometimes the transmission grinds 3rd when accellerating hard (like at the drag strip). The funny thing is that it didn’t grind once when I brought the car to the Glen. It did grind on my best passes at NYIRP.
The clutch slips a little when it’s cold, but once it warms up it doesn’t slip (even at the track).
The interior is two tone. The car had a red interior and the previous owner wanted black. He started to change it to black but never finished. Has a black dash, black center console, and a few panels. Rest of interior is red.
The heater core is bad. Not really necessary since the car shouldn’t be driven in cold weather anyway.
I did a quick and dirty job of rolling the fenders to fit the wheels. The paint is chipped and they are “lumpy”.
Passenger door is hard to open due to the damage mentioned above. Also, the driver’s door lock doesn’t work because it’s disconnected and missing the actuator.
Electric mirror switch is disconnected, as is the stock lighter. I wired two lighter plugs under the driver’s seat.
Idle needs adjusting.
As noted at the top it has no front suspension or brakes right now. The tubular k member requires front coilovers. I have all the original front brake parts.
Racing
I bought the car to race, not be a garage queen. It was used for the BMW and SCCA 2004 autox season. It has been to Watkins Glen once. It has been to NYIRP drag strip many times. I have all time slips from the strip.
The car really wasn’t competitive at autoxing. The one wheel peel was the biggest factor. If it had a good LSD installed and some good dampers (Koni sports) it would handle significantly better.
NYIRP was a different story. I started at 13.8 when I got the car, then dropped to 13.6 (both on 245/45/17 Supra V712 tires). Then I got the drag radials and couldn’t seem to drop the time. I changed my launching style and dropped it to 13.3. Then a fellow Mustang racer told me to try doing a burnout in 2nd instead of 1st. That made the difference. Best time was 12.90, followed by 12.97 on the next pass. Unfortuately it was the last Friday the track was open that year. This was before I put in the tubular K member.
I have never done any type of “power shifting” with the car. No shifting without the clutch, no full throttle shifts. I always let off the throttle. I know it would drop the time if I did full throttle shifts but I didn’t want to do that kind of abuse to the clutch or stock T5 transmission.
Summary
There you have it. I loved this car. It is damn fun no matter what you’re doing with it. I’m selling it because I don’t have the money to finish the work and I’m losing the garage space. The best thing for me right now is to have one good car instead of a few projects.
I have over $13,000 into the car. I have dated receipts for every part I’ve put on it since I bought it and all labor that I’ve paid for. I have non-dated receipts for all the parts the previous owner put on it (printouts from Summit). I have a binder with everything (receipts, time slips, etc).
Only $6500!