1983 GL, project: Cheap Thrills

When my youngest son first started driving , he was putting so much mileage on my vehicles (he was paying the gas) that I went 50/50 on his first car in 2009. A 99 Escort ZX2 for $2000. Was a Good Little Car.
 
Making steady progress. Once it's on the road , you will really enjoy being behind the wheel with all of the Blood Sweat and Tears you have put into this project.
 
...time and money...not cheap anymore. Personally I wouldn't invest in restoring a fox body unless it's a rare low number fox like the 1979 pace car, 1979 cobra, 84-86 SVO, ASC Mclaren, Saleen, SSP, 1993 Cobra...but to each it own.
 
Often its the satisfaction of doing it your self.
Likely cheaper to buy now days.
I wish I had the time for a project.
 
None taken, I tend to agree with you.
Great thing about a place like this Opinions are welcome.
If I had time and money I would build something for the fun of it.
First you have to enjoy it and your right. not cheap or easy any more.

OP has the time and equally important the talent. He is doing everything himself.
I can't do some of those things, which means I would have to pay someone
for some stuff to be done, as would most people.
 
Vent horn built, welded in and corrosion converter/sealed:

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After it cures up I'm going to hit all the welds with body seam sealer for good measure and top coat it all with Tremclad (like Rustoleum for those in the 'states reading this).

Tomorrow, hopefully, I should be able to weld the top cowl back on.

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None taken.

No difference to me than someone saying they prefer Camaro, Charger, Firebird, Challenger, Corvette, Super Bee, etc....

Fox mustangs are just cheap little run about cars that happen to have a lot of potential and huge aftermarket support to help realize that potential.

But it's never going to be as desirable or valuable as, say, a 64-73 mustang. It's just not that kind of car.

I'm a gear head from before I could walk, but I'm hitting retirement in a year or two and wanted to build one last car I could take into retirement with me to have a little fun with.

The fox is well supported and still cheap to build so that's a plus on a retirement income. Heck, a lot of my go fast parts were bought used for pennies on the dollar! Hard to beat the economy of that! There's just so much stuff out there for them it's cheap as heck.

Well, maybe not so much in Atlantic Canada (lower population overall makes for less items to get a great deal on), but pay a little shipping and you're golden! For example, I bought a new in box set of BBK longtube headers and H-pipe for 150 bucks + 50 shipping from a guy in Alberta and my Edelbrock RPM Performer II air gap manifold was a $150 local Kijiji score. Add on that a lot of the old guys that were building these cars are now at the age where they are dumping their stash and you can build a fox super cheap if you watch the want ads close enough.

Foxes are also getting rarer and rarer. Just a function of age and the type of car it is. From a value standpoint this isn't going to make much of a difference to anything. But if you're looking for something a little bit different than the next guy, a fox is going to scratch that it's better than an S197 (or newer) mustang. Anyone with a fat enough pocketbook can buy into that club. Most fox guys build them, not buy them. Although deep enough pockets will get you into a fine fox too...

This car also has some sentimental value to me. We bought it new in 83 (well, second owner on paper, first owner had it a couple weeks and traded up), I went to university in it, first honeymoon (drove it from wedding to Oak Island Inn), brought my daughter home from the hospital in it, kept it in first (and hopefully the last !) divorce, literally driven it across the continent a couple times, etc....

Having 300-400 hp and modern suspension capable of putting the fear of foxes into the newer hot rods is also going to be fun. Some autocross and maybe a few track days are also in it's future. If I get my way, it will go and come from those events on a trailer (planning for a large enclosed car hauler style) so if I break it, it's not a problem getting home.

I probably wouldn't recommend a fox (at least not an Atlantic Canada fox) for someone to build either. They have far too many rust problem areas.

But like I said, this one has some personal significance to me.

:)
 
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I agree it is a great car to Mod and reasonable dollar to make it fast and fun.
They are becoming more rare and the prices are starting to go up on Fox bodies also.

I think it is very cool what you and this car has been through and adds wow factor.
All of us appreciate a car that has been built by the guy driving it.

Love the thread, can't wait to see the car :)
 
Looks like today is going to be a light day. The DOM 16 isn't cured yet, so no work on the cowl today.

:(

I've got a few small rust spots i can clean up while waiting though. It's all work that needs to be done eventually, I just really wanted to finish that cowl today and be done with it...
 
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Well, I think today has gone from a "light" day to a "no work" day.

Started with trying to clean the garage up and realized how much of a total sh*t pit it had become. Will probably eat up most of the day.

There's one little spot on the rad support to to fender support transition that I would like to get done today, but that's probably the best i can hope for.

No big, the garage needs to be cleaned. It's been bugging me for a while (more like making me totally crazy) and it was getting hard to even move in the 1.5 car space without tripping or stepping on something.

Can't work on the car if I can't move or find my tools....:)
 
Well, today wasn't a total loss.

Garage is clean enough to actually work in again, I managed to get the first topcoat of Tremclad on and started fabricating a patch piece for where the rad panel connects to the fender support.
 
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