What did you do to your foxbody mustang today?

[Bdubbs]

Hello Everyone,

Well, as you would expect, work continues on the Fox Body. This car is definitely NOT in bad shape at all, but for those of you who know me I'm kind of anal when it comes to my cars LMAO!!!

Things that are faded, or torn or not working drive me crazy. The only thing not working properly is the speedometer. I talked to the previous owner and he said the original speedometer cable snapped and messed up the old speedometer. So, he installed a new cable and a used speedometer. Since I've had the car the speedometer sticks at 20MPH increments until it pegs itself out. Sucks when you are doing 50MPH, but the speedometer is reading 140 LOL.

So, as most of you know I ordered the new Dakota Digital dash. I have been doing some research on it and this thing seems like a really cool piece. I already downloaded the APP so I can use it to make adjustments the dash much easier using the Bluetooth connection.

I received the Dakota Digital dash last week. I was going over it this weekend. I really like this set up. VERY happy that it looks almost exactly like the original.
View attachment 1825261

Here is the control box. If you look at the top left corner you can see the BT label indicating Bluetooth. According to the APP, once Bluetooth is enable I can go into the APP and change a bunch of settings such as display color, needle color, fuel sending unit OHMs, how the left and right display windows look and so on.
View attachment 1825262

It came with the oil pressure and water temperature sending units along with the wiring. It also has the resistor wire to ensure the alternator charges properly.
View attachment 1825263

The bottom right is the adapter wiring harness I purchased separately from Newrad Solutions. This will allow me to plug directly into my existing factory harness and connect to the control box. I like that the wire tips have knurls on them to make it easier to connect to the control box.
View attachment 1825264

Here are pictures from the Newrad Solutions instructions manual showing how to connect to the factory harness.
View attachment 1825265

Here are the pin connector labels. As you can see on the left side pins 2, 4 and 9 are not used on the 89. So, I de-pinned those. On the right side, pins 2 and 12 are not used on the 89. So, I de-pinned those.
View attachment 1825266

So isn't your fox a fairy low mileage car? By removing the factory gauge cluster the mileage will never be known or accurate, correct?

Not a huge deal if you never plan on selling, but I personally would have found a car that was already modded and left a nearly stock car alone.

My 90 coupe has a completely different gauge cluster, but nothing on that car is stock.

Sometimes I think I should have kept my 03 cobra stock, but I'll never sell that car.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Lastly, I started to remove the interior pieces. I got the old cluster taken apart, again. I then removed the interior parts holding the door weather strip in place. Remember the old seal was torn, so I got it out. I will put the new cluster in and then finish off the project with the new seal. I don't want to install the new seal and then accidently tear it while installing wires for the new digital dash.

Oh, I got the refurbished drip rail moldings installed. Only one issue arose, but I "cleaned" it up a bit.

Driver's side came out GREAT! Then again, I didn't put a hole in this one LOL....

Looks really good. However, now the door window frame sticks out like a sore thumb. I'll get it repainted later on. I need to remove the driver's door panel anyway as it is a little difficult to turn the key while trying to unlock it. Something is binding slightly.

Passenger side also looks good, but had a minor mishap (Here you can really see the difference between the drip rail molding and door window frame).

Towards the top rear of the drip rail molding you can see a small chunk of body filler popped out. You can see the "grey" spot.

Closer look. UHHGG... Oh well, no use being pissed. I could remove it and redo it, but for now time for some camouflage LOL...

I put some tape over the body color paint and used some of the black trim paint to "touch" it up. It's not perfect, but most will walk right past it now . Another project for another day.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

So isn't your fox a fairy low mileage car? By removing the factory gauge cluster the mileage will never be known or accurate, correct?

Not a huge deal if you never plan on selling, but I personally would have found a car that was already modded and left a nearly stock car alone.

My 90 coupe has a completely different gauge cluster, but nothing on that car is stock.

Sometimes I think I should have kept my 03 cobra stock, but I'll never sell that car.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

That's a great point/question Brady.

Two issues:

First, the Dakota Digital dash allows for a one time setting of the odometer within the first 100 miles of driving the car. So, I can set it to the miles currently listed for the car. I believe it's around 44,112 right now.

Second, due to inspectors fat fingering the mileage on the car there is a discrepancy listed on the car fax. Due to this discrepancy, the age of the car and the fact the factory odometer only allows for 5 digits the title is listed as "exempt" for the odometer reading and the reason is "Factory odometer exceeds mechanical limits" as it cannot read 144K.

So, the low mileage cannot be proven at this point anyway. Due to the condition of the car I believe it is a 44K mile car. However, the previous owner could not prove that to me and I could not prove it to someone else.

I never plan on selling the car, but if I ever did I could not prove the mileage and would need the person buying the car to inspect it and determine on their own if it's 44K or 144K.

However, I will be setting the Dakota Digital to the 44,112 listed on its current odometer reading as I believe it is accurate.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Can you set the miles on that cluster? Is it a one and done sort of thing or does it allow it to be changed (if the unit is sold).

I had some interest in it but I'm particular about keeping the mileage the same. I have no desire to sell my car ever but I want to know actual mileage forever.


EDIT: Nevermind I see you addressed this in the post above which I missed.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Took the cover off my Fox. First time in 2-3 months. Had to top off the battery a little.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Okay everyone it was a semi productive weekend on the Fox Body. Was really cold on Saturday and Sunday was a little better, but still cold.

Saturday:

Got my personalized license plate installed. I was finally able to go to the tax office last week Thursday and make my title application, pay the taxes on the vehicle and pick up the plate. I like it....

Then I was able to get the digital dash put in place and game plan my wiring and where to put the control box.

Sunday:

I installed the sensors on the engine last weekend (coolant temp and oil pressure). So, I had to run the wiring from the sensors through the engine bay and into the cabin. I then ran all the wiring to the control box. Once that was done I started the car and the alternator wasn't charging. Worked before, LOL....

I had to remove the digital dash and check the wiring. Everything looked fine, but I decided to remove the inline resistor and rewire it. That worked.

After that I set up the digital dash. Got my fuel sender calibrated and got my odometer set up. Obviously I will need to drive it before I can calibrate my speedometer.

I'm going with white face gauges and red needles for day time driving. The theme is called white hot.

I don't like it when things are off, color or design wise. So, since my HVAC controls are still factory green I went with the "mint" theme for night time driving. I think it matches factory the best.

As some of you may have noticed the car was running when I took the pictures of the digital dash lit up. I am not happy with the oil pressure reading. I'm not sure what the issue is. It was a little crusty on the engine block when I installed the new sensor. So, "maybe" some small debris got in there and is blocking the sensor from making a true reading. So, I will remove the sensor and clean it out and see if that helps.

Even when I raised the RPM the oil pressure needle did not move from its position in the pictures above.

As you can see with the factory sensor and gauges the oil pressure read just fine. So, if cleaning the new sensor does not work I'll buy a new one and go from there. I'm fairly sure the oil pressure is fine, but I do not like the low reading on the new digital dash. Have to address that. I already checked the wiring, outside of sensor, control box and oil level. Everything looks in order. So, it has to be internally to the sensor itself.

 

[Mustang5L5]

There were two sensors used on the Fox mustangs. Early fox used a sensor that actually does provide a changing reading, while 90+ cars got a sender that works like an idiot light. Anything over 15psi and the gauge points to roughly where yours is, even if it's only 20PSI.

Meanwhile the pre-90 sensor will go up and down. At hot idle, i would expect it to be a little lower. On my '88, with a hot engine, my oil pressure is around where yours is on the dakota cluster, and when you give it a little gas it rises up to 60psi. It's done this for 20+ years. It's always moved, which can be a little alarming if you aren't expecting to see that. I've had a mechanical oil pressure gauge on my car which i eventally removed because it confirmed what my stock gauge read.

Given the age of the car, who knows what the original sensor on your engine was. Could be the early version or the later "switch", but oil pressure on these cars does move. The general rule of thumb is 10PSI for every 1000 rpm, so 30-40PSI at idle is fine. 60PSI just above idle is great.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

There were two sensors used on the Fox mustangs. Early fox used a sensor that actually does provide a changing reading, while 90+ cars got a sender that works like an idiot light. Anything over 15psi and the gauge points to roughly where yours is, even if it's only 20PSI.

Meanwhile the pre-90 sensor will go up and down. At hot idle, i would expect it to be a little lower. On my '88, with a hot engine, my oil pressure is around where yours is on the dakota cluster, and when you give it a little gas it rises up to 60psi. It's done this for 20+ years. It's always moved, which can be a little alarming if you aren't expecting to see that. I've had a mechanical oil pressure gauge on my car which i eventally removed because it confirmed what my stock gauge read.

Given the age of the car, who knows what the original sensor on your engine was. Could be the early version or the later "switch", but oil pressure on these cars does move. The general rule of thumb is 10PSI for every 1000 rpm, so 30-40PSI at idle is fine. 60PSI just above idle is great.

Thank you 5L5. On my 89 there was an extender coming off the side of the block near the oil filter. Then the sending unit was on the end of it. The sending unit was the fat one with the nipple for the wire to be pushed on. It was set up exactly like my 65 Mustang. Even the wire was the same color configuration. So, it was the old school style.

The oil pressure in my 65 reads up and down depending on weather and oil temperature. So, the warmer/thinner the oil the lower the pressure reading at idle, but it does go up when the throttle is mashed.

So, I'm assuming my 89 should read the same as my 65, as the new sending unit for the Dakota digital looks just like the one I'm using on my 65 for my Speedhut gauges.

Therefore, I'm under the impression my oil pressure gauge "should" be reading a little higher in my 89 than it is currently showing.

I'll mess with the sender a little more and see if that helps. If worse comes to worse, I'll use another gauge to verify the oil pressure and then just live with the low reading and become concerned when it goes even lower LOL. I can set up a warning in the Digital dash to let me know when to become concerned.

Appreciate the information my friend!

 

[Mustang5L5]

If it will help you sleep better at night, you can just plumb a mechanical guage into the fitting at the engine and see what it reads there.

Something like this. Just thread it into the nipple where visible and see what it reads with engine hot/cold and at idle and with a little RPM. Then put the electric sender back.

Should give you a better idea of what you are actually seeing for pressure.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

If it will help you sleep better at night, you can just plumb a mechanical guage into the fitting at the engine and see what it reads there.

Something like this. Just thread it into the nipple where visible and see what it reads with engine hot/cold and at idle and with a little RPM. Then put the electric sender back.

View attachment 1825924

Should give you a better idea of what you are actually seeing for pressure.

Yes sir, that's exactly what I'm thinking of doing if I cannot get the sending unit to respond.

Thank you 5L5!

 

[triple-s]

Got the car back today from paint.

 

[triple-s]

I like the low profile of the hood.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

I like the low profile of the hood.

Looks Awesome!

03/21 huh lol.....

Sent from my SM-G950U using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[LS WUT]

Got the car back today from paint.

Jesus Christ dude. Save some poonani for the rest of us.

 

[bird_dog0347]

Got the car back today from paint.

Very nice! I've got the same hood going on my car too.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Very nice! I've got the same hood going on my car too.

That's very cool. I think the Terminator style hood is the ONLY other hood, besides the factory hood, that looks good on a Fox Body.

 

[bird_dog0347]

That's very cool. I think the Terminator style hood is the ONLY other hood, besides the factory hood, that looks good on a Fox Body.

It is my favorite for sure, I used to have a 3" cowl hood on there and I just don't really like them. I prefer the visibility with the stock height hood and the heat extraction behind the radiator, plus I needed (likely) just a bit more clearance for the intake.

 

[Bdubbs]

I really wish I would have kept the Holley ECU kit that I had. It was 500-937F and Holley doesn't make the fox specific kit anymore....

This car runs pretty good for having a hci combo without a custom tune. But it runs pretty rich. Maybe it's because it doesn't have catalytic converters, but it will make my eyes burn.

It does idle perfect. One thing that's always bothered me with this car is it will buck and shake at lower rpms in a slightly higher gear. My mechanic friend says it's because I'm "lugging" the motor. I've never dealt with that before.

He stated a steeper rear gear than the 3:55's might help. I always assumed it's a clutch or transmission issue...

I've also wanted to get rid of the c&l maf sensor and install a pro m. But I'm not sure that would change anything.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

 

[triple-s]

Very nice! I've got the same hood going on my car too.

You going to keep the stock vents? I'm probably going to change mine pretty soon.

 

[triple-s]

I really wish I would have kept the Holley ECU kit that I had. It was 500-937F and Holley doesn't make the fox specific kit anymore....

This car runs pretty good for having a hci combo without a custom tune. But it runs pretty rich. Maybe it's because it doesn't have catalytic converters, but it will make my eyes burn.

It does idle perfect. One thing that's always bothered me with this car is it will buck and shake at lower rpms in a slightly higher gear. My mechanic friend says it's because I'm "lugging" the motor. I've never dealt with that before.

He stated a steeper rear gear than the 3:55's might help. I always assumed it's a clutch or transmission issue...

I've also wanted to get rid of the c&l maf sensor and install a pro m. But I'm not sure that would change anything.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

My car does the exact same thing.