highschooler curious about 5.0's

Hey, I'm 16 and hopefully will be getting a job soon. I was interested in getting a car to soup up and was curious if a 5.0 would be a good choice. How much do they go for and is it easy to find aftermarket parts for them? Also, i would perfer a car that is auto but would go for a manual if it was much bettin in the 1/4 mile. Is it reasonable souping up an auto, or should i just go for a manual? Also it would be a great help if someone could list some mods and and estimate of how much it would take off your quater mile time. thanks a lot.

Not to be a dick. But please, dont EVER use the word "soup up" and mustang -n- the same sentence. You can "soup up" ANY car, but just like the word "NAWZ" or "NAS" the words are just flat out ANNOYING. ewww. But enough of the lecture, to your questions. Mustangs are a great bang for the buck, as long as is the buck doesnt get over around $5000. (For the fox-bodies).(In my opinion). In your case being a teenager, get a five speed, you'll have SO much more fun. I'm living proof, i got an automatic...but guess what...its currently being switched to a five speed b/c if i drive it one more day not being able to shift gears i'll run in a ditch on purpose, anyway. BTW-sorry, i havnt began to modify mine yet so i couldnt tell ya about the quarter-mile times. OH yeah, and aftermarket parts...its harder not to find them than it is TO find them.

you've asked a lot of questions, if i didn't have frisbee practice i'd elaborate before the experts gave their two cents; but essentially the answers are: cheap, plentiful and very fast.

im 16 too. good luck yo i no its hard to get money to modify ur car.

you've asked a lot of questions, if i didn't have frisbee practice i'd elaborate before the experts gave their two cents; but essentially the answers are: cheap, plentiful and very fast.
Who's an expert???? Is that supposed to be sarcastic?

Since your 16 and on a limited budget I would go look at what insurance for a Fox-Body stang will cost you, then decided :evillol:

gtstang, highflow, boosted, skyline, mendari - you can tell who knows what they are talking about.

Ain't nothing wrong with an auto if you now how to "soup it up" LOL

Seriously though, fox body stangs are fairly cheap nowadays, and can be made extremely fast on a limited budget. I think the first thing you need to do is concentrate on finding a mustang of you choice in style and in decent condition. Then decide on how and what you want to car to perform and handle like.

Secondly, respect the car. If I was 16 and had a Stang. I do not think I would be writting this right now.

In HS, I remember all the kids with 'souped up' rides, some of them had some pretty bad acciedents(sp) because they did stupid things. Me included, luck I was in a Celica:) Be safe, first and foremost......

gtstang, highflow, boosted, skyline, mendari - you can tell who knows what they are talking about.
K, cause i'm FAR from being an expert and i thought you were trying to flame me or something...my bad. (Just the way i read it)

i'm a really nice guy.

Would a 5.0 be a good car to modify? Are you kidding? You mean people modify other cars too. No really, an 86-93 fox body can be found every day in good shape for less than 5 grand. These are fairly simple to work on compared to the 4.6 and much cheaper. The parts and info you need can be found in any Mustang mag or website. Just be through in your research. Don't just buy everything that looks cool or says it adds x ammount of horsepower, vendors will do their best to make their product sound like that one magic part you can't do without. Every part works together, and some parts will hurt performance if you don't have the right parts to complement them. Like a huge cam with stock heads, there is a method to the madness. A few rules to remember-a motor is basically a huge air pump, more air in-more air out=more power. CHEAP, FAST, GOOD, you can only have two. This rule sux but you can't get around it. It takes cash, hard earned cash, to build a hotrod, so know exactly what you are getting for your money. If you aren't mechanically inclined, learn to be, if you are going to build a hotrod why should you pay someone else $35 an hour to build YOUR project. There will be many, many hours of wrenching on it and that money will be much better spent on parts. So all in all, yes a mustang is in my opinion your best choice. For 10 grand you can purchase the can and parts to build a monster. I know people who have done it for half that so you can spend as much as you see fit. About the trans, a 5spd is quicker but only in the hands of a skilled driver, and only up to a point. I am swapping to a auto in mine but it is pushing 500hp, and missing a gear on the bottle isn't something I want to do. I should have some pics and a parts list of mine soon so check it out for some ideas and pay attention to the rest of the mustang guys, they will teach you alot. Good luck and keep us up to date. 5o

what the hell is wrong with the word souped-up? its a very old school term that is just way over used now a days (but what isn't?).
and yes it is very easy to mod, and cheap.

Nothing WAS wrong with the word "soup-ed up". Until people that drove 100 horsepower honda's that thought their car would run 12's (seriously) started to use it. It sounds so stupid and everytime i hear i think of those dumb a's who think souping their car up was adding a K&N sticker (i'm serious about that too). Sorry if i offended you rerun, there's no need in going off on me.

From what I have heard, the aftermarket for 5.0 fox bodies is almost endless. The upgrades are not to pricey, and if done correctly, you can achieve some pretty nice numbers at the track...

Be careful, and have fun...

btw, I may be a bit biased, but if you are interested in other options, the L98 5.7 Liter TPI third gen camaros, and the LT1 4th gen camaros are both nice selections, with nice power and a healthy aftermarket...

sorry didn't read your post till just now.

you didn't offend me, and i didn't mean to offend you. i was jsut speaking my mind, i was a little steamed that day anyway, and i totaly aggree with you about the 12 seconds, i've heard it all too :screwy: :grinno: :loser:

hot_red_z28,

Sure wish Chevy would have made changing those last plugs a little easier:)

Camaro's too big and bulky for my taste, plust parts cost a little more.

I really do not love the Fox body style, but I can say the same thing for the Camaro.

But I love the Stang drive train, I guess that is why I am putting one in a GTR;)

I hear ya on the spark plugs. It is easier with headers. I can get everyone except the passenger front one done in about 2 hours. That front passenger one is a ho though...ya have to pop off the alternator to get to it.

It's definately not a user friendly engine bay when you want to work on stuff, but not many fuel injected cars are... :)

And about the drive train, I like the GM engines, trannies, etc, but I do plan to drop a Ford 9" rear in my ride once I get some money together... From what I hear those 9" rears are nearly bulletproof, and I like the fact that gear swaps can be done in a fairly short amount of time...

I bleed Ford Blue ;)

Ford 9s, Chevy has the Power Glide

nearly bulletproof? who said they were that? they ARE bulletproof :biggrin:
i still find it funny how everyone trys to bash ford but they all use there parts.

now talking only about '80'cars here your best bang for the buck as far as performance is conserned is the Grand National 12's for under 1k 50 bucks a month full coverage insurance and a decent aftermarket for them. The downfall with a GN though is the car is hard to find and they are pricy, if you do not know someone. The thrd gen camaro are ulgy heavy and not fast. stock for stock and price for price the 5.0 walked all over the camaro in the '80's. The 5.0 fox body is probabally the best performance car for a high schooler. The insurance is expensive but everything elese is cheap enough to get. That and the 5.0 are more idoit proof than a GN. Not saying you don't know what you are doing but a GN is picky as hell i you are not fimilar with them. Go with the 5.0 youll learn alot and have alot of fun doing it. Who knows you might just become an expert like 90Stangjc. :wink: At least that is what I think.

nearly bulletproof? who said they were that? they ARE bulletproof :biggrin:
i still find it funny how everyone trys to bash ford but they all use there parts.


The reverse is true too though bud...I've seen fox-bodies with chevy small blocks in them...

I'm not bashin on ford about anything, I just happen to have grown up with Chevy, and I really like the cars they build. However, I am not one of those people who will be ignorant about buying a good part, just because of foolish brand loyalty. A Ford 9" rear is a good rear. So is a Moser 12 Bolt, but the deciding factor for me is that you can swap the gears fairly quick on the 9 inch.

oh i know man, that wasn't directed at anyone here. i just ment the die hard mopar, chevy, and all the other guys who bash anything that isn't of their choice (such a ford) and they use a ford 9 inch.

now talking only about '80'cars here your best bang for the buck as far as performance is conserned is the Grand National 12's for under 1k 50 bucks a month full coverage insurance and a decent aftermarket for them. The downfall with a GN though is the car is hard to find and they are pricy, if you do not know someone. The thrd gen camaro are ulgy heavy and not fast. stock for stock and price for price the 5.0 walked all over the camaro in the '80's. The 5.0 fox body is probabally the best performance car for a high schooler. The insurance is expensive but everything elese is cheap enough to get. That and the 5.0 are more idoit proof than a GN. Not saying you don't know what you are doing but a GN is picky as hell i you are not fimilar with them. Go with the 5.0 youll learn alot and have alot of fun doing it. Who knows you might just become an expert like 90Stangjc. :wink: At least that is what I think.
The only problem like you said is finding a GN at a fair price. Most are around 8k to 15k that I have seen here. Still I wouild love to have one, or even a GNX for that matter.

GN fast but ugly. At least I am not fond of the way they look.

the aftermarket is pretty good for 5.0 ...these kind of cars are full of potential...as far as auto or manual it really doesnt matter as far as i know. It just depends on what you would prefer to drive. If you plan on driving street more get a manual, most people like them because you can drop a gear faster. I drive an auto and its still good but I drive alot on freeway so its good for me. As far as price most people are right, you can get a fox body in good condition for under $5000