Mark P's 89 LX

This is my 89 LX 5.0 5sp. I purchased the car with 150,000 from the almost original owner in 2000. Since then, I have completely overhauled the entire car. My first mod was to hand fabricate the scoops for my 2 3/4" cowl hood, which the previous owner had installed, and paint the hood as well as my rotted deck lid. I left the car in its original form for a few months, save a set of 40 series Flowmasters and an off-road H-pipe. I ran 15.200 at 93 mph with a set of bald Pirellis in the rear and no 2nd gear synchros.

I rebuilt the trans myself and threw a set of Yokohama AVS Int. in the back to knock .500 sec off my timeslip. My interior work began in Summer of 2000, when I tore out my stock (inoperable) instrument cluster and custom fabricated polished aluminum plates to make a home for Autometer Sport-comp 3 3/8" speedo and tach, while retaining the factory indicator lights. The passenger side dash pad got the same treatment for the rest of the necessary guages. I continued the aluminum theme by swapping the position of the heater controls with the radio, as well as bezels for the shifter boot and window switches, all from the same polished plate.

My next phase began last November, with a set of 3.73 FMS gears and a complete rebuild of the rear and posi unit. Seeing the condition of the housing and underside of the car, and having access to my family's body shop and machine shop, I stripped the car down to a bare shell. All the supension, K-member, and every bracket was sandblasted and painted gloss black and pearlcoat silver. There is just too much else to list. All stock fasteners were replaced with stainless as well. I eliminated the door handles and some other stuff I forgot and treated the car to Sikkens Autobase Jet Black and Autocryl II Clearcoat. The engine bay got treated to a late model Explorer long block from Raceparts Distribution.

With just 100 miles on it and never more than 4500 on the tach, it spun a number one connecting rod bearing. I was heartbroken, knowing Ford would stand behind all my hard work and patience. But they didn't, and jerked me around for SIX MONTHS and gave me back a piss poor excuse for an engine, with mismatched used pistons and leaky valves. The only reason I purchased a crate engine is because it was cheaper than a rebuild and I was short on time. Never again will ANYONE get their hands into any part of my vehicle, and I refuse to even by so much as a set of wires from SVT. But that is a whole other story. The car is quick, its original intent was to be finished as a show car and driven occasionaly. Since I finished it 1 month ago, I can't stop driving it. I put 800 miles a week on it. It gets a lot of looks, but needs some more power. I am hoping for high 13's as it is now. Thanks to all my friends who helped me with the car, a lot of the mods were my first time around, but it turned out great. Thanks Mustangworld.

Look ma, no door handles - MW

Mods:
Rear

Ground Pounder Weight Jacker lower control arms
Energy Urethane bushings
Motorsport 3.73 gears
Posi rebuild kit
All new brake components
Custom 4130 1/8" wall subframe connectors
Tokico Illumina 5 way shocks

Front

Energy urethane bushings
Reinforced stock control arms
All new steering and chassis components
Tokico Illumina 5 way struts

Engine

98 Explorer 302
GT-40 P heads
Edelbrock 65 mm TB and spacer
Stock intake
Mac P headers
Off road H-pipe
Trick flow Stage I cam, 221 I, 225 E, .499/.510, 112 lobe center
And of course, the all important K&N fenderwell kit

No part of the car remains untouched, save the power window motors, steering column, upholstery, and heater core (thank God). I probably left out a lot of stuff, but I just lost track of my mods.

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