New Member - Laurel, MD - 93 Mustang LX & 07 Turbo Focus

A new member over on moddedmustangs.com told me about the site so I decided to join. A quick introduction. My name is David, I'm 21 originally from State Line, MS but currently stationed at Fort Meade, MD. I'm a third generation Ford fanatic. My grandfather still has his classic '56 F-100 and my dad has had a number of Mustangs. I'm pretty much picking up on his note.

I have two cars; a 1993 Ford Mustang LX 2.3 which I am currently doing a 5.0 HO w/ AOD swap from a '91 Thunderbird (or I would be if the damn snow would go away), and 2007 Ford Focus ZX3 stage 2 turbocharged.

I've had the Mustang since I was 16. It was basically a hand down from my dad. The 2.3 engine had always been reliable and never gave me any issues. The crappy A4LD automatic transmission is a different story. It's been rebuilt 3 times and the parking brake still doesn't work. The biggest issue has been a 2-3 gear shutter shift. I drove the Mustang around throughout high school until I joined the Army shortly after graduation. After that it sat at my dad's for the following 3 years with a bad starter and no battery. My dad is eat up with arthritis so he couldn't do the wrench work to replace the starter so it sat. I drove down in September to pick it up and rescue it. Here's a few pictures of how I found it.





I replaced the starter and battery, gave it a fresh oil change, trans flush, radiator flush, new spark plugs, and put on new brake pads. I then drove it around for roughly 20 miles or so to make sure everything was in good working order and then drove it the 800+ miles back to Maryland with no issues. I cleaned it up a bit more after I got back, here's a few pics.




This past December, I discovered a leak from the rear main seal. So I decided it was time to go ahead and pull the motor and trans and proceed with a 5.0 swap. Here's a few pics on the progress with that.





I also disassembled the 2.3 to make sure the rear main seal was the only issue with it. I'm planing to part the motor out so if you know someone looking for spare 2.3 parts... this one has the dualplug head.






I picked up a pair of Hooker Super Comp equal length shorty headers. They were rusty as hell but a sander, some VHT silver paint and clearcoat, and a curing in the oven took care of that.

Before


After


I've also already picked up GT front calipers.


See the next post for info on the Focus.

Here's my daily driver / autocross car. It's a 2007 Ford Focus S with a Duratec 2.0 4 cylinder and MTX-75 5speed manual transmission. I bought the car brand new in February 2007 while I was stationed in Monterey, California. I bought it with the intention of it being a good daily driver since it got 36mpg and gas in Ca then was $4.89 for 87 octane. It wasn't until about a year later did I start to mod it. It has 44,000 miles, 25,000 of which are boosted miles. Here's a list of just some of the modifications I've made over the last 2 years.

Engine
FSWerks Stage 2 Turbo Kit
Garret GT28RS Turbo w/ internal wastegate
Cast turbo manifold
Garret front mount intercooler
Bosch 42lb injectors
ITG maxogen foam air filter
3" intake piping powdercoated black (suck-thru MAF)
2" charge piping powdercoated black
NGR Type-S Blow-off valve
2.5" downpipe
AEM UEGO wideband
2.25" Borla Stealth catback exhaust
Exedy Stage 2 ceramic 3-pok clutch
***Stock head, stock cams, stock bottom end, all stock transmission besides a custom short throw***

Wheels & Brakes
SVT 5 spoke wheels 17x7 (from a 2003 SVT Focus) with Saleen overlays on the centercaps
Dunlop Dizzera Star Spec Tires
EBC Drilled & Slotted rotors
EBC "greenstuff" ceramic pads

Suspension
Eibach Sportlines lowering springs (2.0" F, 2.2" R)
Eibach Sportlines shocks & struts
Steeda 24mm rear swaybar w/ poly bushings
FSWerks Rear stress bar
FSWerks Front lower stress bar
FSWerks Tower strut bar

Here's a picture from 2 days after I bought it.


Here's from about a year ago after I installed the turbo kit. I was on stock shocks/struts, H&R sport springs, and Azul speedstar wheels.









Here's how it sits today.







Thanks for viewing. Let me know what you think and feel free to give advice on the 5.0 swap. I'm always looking to broaden my knowledge and gain more experience. Thanks.

Here's a few more pics of the stripped interior.

Cool! Welcome to the nuthouse!

I see you made it over. You will enjoy it here. We do alot of things as a group and especially if you love to drive. You have some nice rides.

03silvergt wrote:I see you made it over. You will enjoy it here. We do alot of things as a group and especially if you love to drive. You have some nice rides.

I appreciate the invite. This forum is extremely bright! lol Good god!
The Focus is the only one operational until the 5.0 goes in the Mustang around April/May timeframe. I'm not afraid to bring a Focus to a Mustang meet though, it can keep up!

Hi and welcome!!

Welcome : )

Welcome, Nice job on the headers!

Hey man, welcome aboard! Saw you in the parking lot the other day... The Cobra is not liking this weather, haha...

03RedfireVert wrote:Hey man, welcome aboard! Saw you in the parking lot the other day... The Cobra is not liking this weather, haha...

Oh Damn, how's it goin man!? lol
Yeah, the Focus doesn't like it too much either. Especially now that the snow is melting and leaving deep puddles all over the place.
My CAI sit's about 4" off the ground in the bottom of the bumper so I have to dodge that mess like the plague.

Dominican7 wrote:Welcome, Nice job on the headers!

Thanks!

Welcome aboard, David
Hope the 5.0 transplant goes well for you. There are numerous Fox body people here, so help should be plentiful.
Nice Focus! I bet that thing is fast!

kooldawg6 wrote:Welcome aboard, David
Hope the 5.0 transplant goes well for you. There are numerous Fox body people here, so help should be plentiful.
Nice Focus! I bet that thing is fast!

Thanks!
The Focus is fast through a slalom, not in a straight line! lol

The Focus's best run... 8psi (running rich around 10:1 AFR), horrible Nitto tires, and wheel hopping through 2nd:
14.209@101mph with a 2.39 60ft.

The Focus is currently at... 11psi (tuned at 12.5:1 AFR), Dunlop Star Spec tires, 110lbs of noise dampening removed:
Hoping for a 13.5@108mph. I haven't had a chance to run it on this setup. Just waiting for spring!

It kills in autocross though. I weighs barely 2300lbs with me in it and a full tank of gas.

Nice work man... you will enjoy it here...

Hope to see you out and see your ride

Welcome! Nice Fords! Can't wait to see the swap updates!

Hey, welcome there r a lot of cool people and mustangs here u will enjoy it.

Thanks for the Welcome everyone. I'm glad to be here.

Welcome, and don't sweat the Focus, thats why it said and Fords, look in the center of this pic from our Feb 08 meet

Welcome aboard!

Big Blue wrote:Welcome, and don't sweat the Focus, thats why it said and Fords, look in the center of this pic from our Feb 08 meet

Pretty cool!

welcome

Welcome to the club. Nice rides. how much did the engine and tranny run you for the swap?

What ups, I'm in Laurel as well. From the looks of the pics your in Russet?

DarkNightV6 wrote:Welcome to the club. Nice rides. how much did the engine and tranny run you for the swap?

I paid $800 for a '91 Thunderbird with a messed up title. I'm swaping the 5.0 HO and the AOD from it into the Mustang. I'm also swapping all the 5 lug stuff and brakes from the Tbird as well.