need some educated oppinions for my buddy

[blksnakebite97]

he is looking into this car 87 fox ill put the list of work done to it. i just wanna kno what power it would make and would he enjoy it more than his 440 awhp vr4 that he built. MOTOR
347 STROKER
TWISTED WEDGE HEADS 3 ANGLE VALVE JOB,DOUBLE VALVE SPRINGS
DOMED PISTONS
EAGLE H BEAM HARDEND RODS
SKAT CRANK
ALL FORGED INTERNALS
CANTON DEEP SUMP PAN WITH WINDAGE TRAY
MILIDON HI PSI OIL PUMP
BBK SHORTIE HEADERS
UPGRADED VALVES AND SEATS
EDELBROCK PERFORMER AIR GAP INTAKE PORTED TO HEADS
HOLLEY 770 CARB
FULL MSD INGINITION SYSTEM 6AL BOX
2 HALF INCH EXHAUST FLOWMASTERS
ALUMINUM 3 CORE RADIATOR
SINGE WIRE ALTERNATOR
FORD MOTORSPORTS F CAM
3/4 IN FUEL LINE
800$ FULL PUMP ALONE

TRANS
95 COBRA TRANS
BULLET PROOFED RAM 900 CLUTCH
ALUMINUM DRIVE SHAFT

REAR END
3.73 GEARS
STRANGE 31 SPLINE AXELS WITH C CLIP ELIMINATORS
HAS WLED WHEELS WITH MICKEY THOMPSON TIRES WITH SKINNYS UP FRONT DRAGS IN BACK

thanks any input helps

 

[Ninety3Coupe]

That is a difficult question to answer. Really it comes down to if he drives it, does he prefer it?

Others on here will be able to better judge the power output as I am typically a poor judge of this (oh, heck, why not? I say similar hp to the VR4, but more torque for sure).

It's a nice parts list. The cars are notorious for being very reliable and a kick in the pants to drive. Certainly it must be lighter... It's all about personal preference at this point. As long as the car is sound and clean, I'd steer him towards it. I think he'd enjoy it.

Best of luck.

 

[truebluedevil02]

I know, long read but I got carried away, lol.

I have owned BOTH of these car, BOTH modified. The mustang he is looking at will be making around 360whp, the shorty headers are what is killing it, if it had long tube headers then it would probably be in the 380-390whp range. The VR4 is over 3600lbs empty, the fox is right at 3K even. My 91 dodge stealth rt TT was right at 4K lbs with a full tank and me (270lbs) in it.

Fox mustangs are a LOT of fun but I'm seeing several problems with the mods on this car. first off it has dome pistons so i would like to know the compression because if it is over 11.1 your friend will need to run a pump gas/race gas mix. also, an $800 fuel pump?? yea right. A simple 255lph in tank pump will support nearly double the power that car is making. so it sounds like BS to me. Also, the 95 cobra trans IIRC is a normal T5 trans and if that is the case that trans is gunna blow sooner or later. The stock t5 trans didn't hold very much power. Ive blown them with a nearly stock mustang. Another thing is the block and the way this motor in specific is built. with dome pistons im sure the compression is well over 10.1 so adding boost is not an option, the only rout he could go for more power at this point is nitrous or putting a different motor in it. Also the stock 5.0 302 block is only good to about 450whp and thats with a good tune and keeping the RPMs limited to 6K. Any more than that and you WILL split the block in two. SO if your friend wants to go faster (which he will) he will need to either buy a dart block ($1600for the bare UN-machined block) or go with a 351W block (cheap, hold lots of power but require some extra things to work). Also its carb so fuel injection is out the window and the carburetor is on a different planet from fuel injection. So he will have a lot to learn if he doesn't know carbs to begin with.

Now it is not all bad. The fox is A LOT lighter and even though it is making around 80whp less then your friends VR4 it would probably be a close run from a 20-120 roll. My stealth was right at 300awhp and I raced my 235whp fox and it was a near dead even race with the stealth only pulling out about a car from 20-120. Power to weight FTW. They are A LOT easier to work on. I can pull the motor out of a fox in about an hour and a half by my self. You can drop a trans out of a fox (or any mustang) in about 45mins. Also, the parts (stock and performance) are MUCH cheaper. You can get a 900hp rated trans for a mustang (TKO900) for $2600, where as a stock 5spd from 3sx for a VR4/stealthTT is near $5K and the 6spd is even more. Now, if you want to build 450whp the cost for both vehicles is about the same(the mustang will be A LOT faster though), they can both hold the power on the stock motor, trans, rearend provided your not abusing them. They both maintain normal driving until you get into boost, and they both get decent MPG (the stealth get better but still). BUT if you want to go 600whp thing DRASTICALLY change in favor of the mustang. Although the stock VR4 motor can handle that much power it is not advised (like running over 450whp on a stock 5.0 motor). That is what sets them apart, the motor is more expensive to build in the 3S platform, and the trans is nearly DOUBLE the cost.

Something else to consider, the VR4 looks over all better AND is more rare. The interior is light years beyond the fox body interior and will always look good no matter how old the car is. The VR4 interior is more driver friendly with the shifter being closer to the driver, and the 3 gauges on the dash being easily seen without having to add extra pillars, pods, or sacrificing vents, or radio space for gauges. Also, the VR4 interior is just plane better in quality. BUT it is A LOT harder to find replacement parts.

So there you have it a fairly in depth comparison of the 2 vehicles. I miss my stealth and the only reason I sold it was because it was to damned hard to work on and everything had to be special ordered from either dynamic racing, ebay, or 3SX and it was ALL expensive. AS for a drivers car that is NOT a DD then i would probably go with the VR4. IF your friend is not rev limiter dumping it from lights, but launching it properly then these car KILL from a stop, easily out launching EVO's, and STI's. They ride very good, handle even better, and aren't bad from a roll either. And there is a lot he can do to lighten it up without making it look like a race car. But if he wants something he can consistently beat the hell out of without having to worry about constant breakage then he should go mustang. Just remember that this mustang in particular will need a few things before he can do that reliably while maxing the set up it has (trans, brakes, better cam, better exhaust, smaller carb).

Edit: I just noticed the size of the carb on that motor, it NEEDS to be changed, it is to big and choking the motor down, so It probably makes a decent amount less HP than i guessed. IT needs a 650 on it not a 770, the guy that put that carb in it isn't very smart. MY 408ci 12.5:1 comp stroker had an 850 on it and that was to big, i could have put a 750 on it and been fine. ALSO, its got an F-cam in it?? WTF? For a complete build he puts a small cam, small SHORTY headers, and a carb that is WAY to big on a high compression motor? I'm gunna guess 310whp as it sites, the guy obviously didn't know exactly what he wanted out of this car or didn't know how to build what he wanted. Just saying.

OP is there a link to the add we could see? I would like to know how much this guy want for the car and what kind of condition it is in.