Q/A to buy a mustang

[jlemay]

Looking to buy a mustang. Never owned one so i have no idea about them. So whats the best years? I was thinking like a 99 or so model (costs) with v8. I saw there are 2 different v8s. So which one is best. Intake etc. And a general idea of price would be helpfull. I live on a budget lol. And any helpfull advice would be appreciated.

[Blue)(Fusion]

Pre 96 the 5.0L was used. It's a good pushrod motor with plenty of torque. The 4.6L began in 1996 which has more HP but lower torque numbers compared to the 5.0L. The 4.6L has a ton of aftermarket performance options available to it. And in 1999, Ford went from the Non-Performance Improved motor (NPI) to the Performance Improved (PI) motor which has better flowing intake manifolds and heads, good for an extra 500-1000RPMs.

I'd say anything between 1996-current would be good. But be careful with the 96-01 models as the plastic intake manifolds are known to crack on the front coolant crossover resulting in possible overheating. If you pick one up that has not had this changed yet, you might want to consider installing the revised intake from Ford Racing. I have it installed in my car (see pictures in link).

[HiFlow5 0]

If your looking at the 99 then I assume you like that body style better then the old fox chassis. If it were me, I would look at a 87093 only because I like the body style and the 5.0 push rod motor is one of the easiest motors to work on and find parts to make fast. I wold stay away from the 96-98 Mustangs, as the first gen V8 modular motor was anemic at best and then in 99 the motor had a lot better breathing and better style appearance.

[Muscletang]

Originally Posted by HiFlow5 0

If your looking at the 99 then I assume you like that body style better then the old fox chassis. If it were me, I would look at a 87-93 only because I like the body style and the 5.0

This.

What exactly are you wanting out of the car? Do you just want a daily driver you can have fun in? Are you looking to add any mods? Are you wanting to do a re-build of it?

With a '99 you have all sorts of goodies. I think '99 was the year they started adding the really kick-ass audio CD system. I also think the convertables those years looked pretty slick as well compared to previous years. That's JMO though.

If you want something you can tinker with and turn into a shit kicker from Hell, go with the 5.0. I'm not sure if this is still true but last I checked the 5.0 still has better head selections than the 4.6 along with cams. Again, that was a few years ago so that might have changed. The 4.6 has a ton of parts but so does the 5.0 which is crazy considering many of these parts today are made for a car that was last produced over 20 years ago.

My dad just got done building his 5.0 on a budget for a little over 6-7 grand and it's cranking out over 500 ponies. Sure, it took him some time and saving up but it's a beast from hell that's for sure.