mustangman98

havent posted here in a while...Honestly I forgot about being registered on this site. But another site said something about this one and I decided to come over and read up on some drama going on in other forums.

Anyways, here is my new pile im working on...

1988 LX Coupe, previously a 4 cyc. car.
Picked it up for $2700, body is straight as hell and rust free as far as I have found. Car had a early 90's 302 with a carb conversion on it. Punched out to 308ci, flat top pistons, World Jr heads, Flat Tappet Cam, 600 cfm Holley.

mustangman98

I quickly started picking at the car, found a few issues but nothing that was not fixable.

First minor fix was the wheels, this actually pissed me off quite bad. The car had a front end vibration, I suspected wheel balance issues. Had the wheels balanced and it cleared it up for the most part. Still had a small woble, so i was think possibly rod ends or something along those lines. Pulled the wheels off and search high and low. All was tight, no flex, no loose steering, NOTHING! AS im about to put the wheels back on I glance at the backside of the wheel...BAM! He screwed me...THe Convo pros on the car was a Chevy lug pattern, they had been grinded down to slide onto the ford lugs. I was HEATED! Long story short, a friend hooked me up with his Weld Pro stars with good rubber, I found a guy that wanted the convo pros for his Nova and sold them for a little cash in hand. And now the car look like this, I also added the Good year 275/60 drag radials...
Also picked up the Cervinis hood for $150 since I couldnt run any type of air claner with the stocker still installed.

mustangman98

Next on the list was a better matched Carb for the combo, the little 570cfm street avenger was not cutting the cake...Bad driveability issues, shooter sizes was all wrong, car just ran out of stank when you jumped on it and the secondaries opened up...

SO I hit the forums and Ebay, found a 670cfm Street Avenger that was literally brand new. Threw it on there along with a new Apectre air filter from Auto zone and the little pony was purring like a kitten. Ran great, drove it in bumper to bumper traffic with zero issues. Wired in the new electric choke, got my volts right and fused the lead and it was starting easy as EFI cars.

mustangman98

Now that the car was fun to drive around in I started planning "The Build"...

I done alot of reading, alot of time spent sifting through the bullshit...Alot of scum bag dealers trying to sell me prepped shortblocks for low prices...Finally ran across a great group of guys that didnt lead me wrong. More to come on this subject later down the road...

Right now im focusing on making this car run MUCH better...I already knew the car was 308ci, so I start investigating a little more and find this gem hiding under the valve cover...


It was at this point I said to hell with this, im going to do it my way and its going to be right. and its going to make alot more power.
Of course when i finally get my plan hashed out I deployed to the middle east, so actually working on the car is not happening right now. But damnit im buying all the parts I need to get it right where I want it to be...

As of right now...Im planning on keeping the shortblock in the car. I done a compression check on it before leaving and it sits at 155-160 on all 8 cyclinders. So I know the actual shortblock is probably good. Plan of action is to build this little 308 up and see what she can do. Meanwhile I will also be building "The Build" in the garage...

mustangman98

Plan of action...Strip the car down to bare shortblock. If everything is in good working order, install aluminum heads, new cam, billet timing set, new gaskets, clean up the Victor Jr thats on the car now, swap out the T5 for a C4, Tubular suspension all the way around...

Heads purchased....Dart Pro 1 195cc heads, also purchased a new valvetrain that will give me .650 capable heads. PAC 1520 springs will be installed soon.





Valve covers was not included, so I found these gems on Corral for a smoking good price and picked them up.

mustangman98

Since I purchased the car I knew a black interior swap was going to happen...SO before I deployed I ripped nearly everything out. This is the only time I found rust in the car, 1 tiny spec in the door jam which I quickly fixed.




And so I started dying as many parts as possible, everything is died black now. I picked up a rear seat delete with black carpet and new racing seats...Judge is still out if I like the seats or not...




I cannot find any door panels that are cloth or leather that I really like. Also a carpet rear package tray is stupid expensive. My factory one was garbage...

I got into contact with Scott Rob Fab and ordered new Aluminum door panels, new rear package tray and had the bead roll upgrade done to the door panels. they should be at the house in a few weeks.

Also, my mother was checking out the car one day and said she had some really nice dark rich black suade I could have if I wanted to re-cover my head liner. DONE!

Once everything is purchased for the black interior upgrade, I will focus on sound deadening, and some POR15 on alot of parts to avoid any rusting down the road. I plan on keeping this car for a long time.

mustangman98

In my quest for always finding smoking deals, I came across something special and couldnt pass up the deal...These will do nice in "the Build"...Custom Diamond Pistons, 18cc dish

mustangman98

For less than half the original price, I made out WELL on these pistons...

Time to reveal the ultimate goal...
Picked up a 88 351w block for $100...Some random redneck in NC had it, from lots of research I knew Windsor motors can withstand quite a bit of punishment in stock trim. So I went this route since aquiring parts will be much cheaper than say going with a R block 302 or even BOSS or Dart block. Most people say 700hp and keeping the RPM's below 6500 and these blocks live pretty easy.

Plan of action for this block...
Bore to 4.030
4" stroker crank shaft
6.250" Rods with ARP bolts
Deck block to 9.480 so I can have a 0 deck build
Final cubic displacement is 408ci, with a compression ratio just shy of 11:1
Verdict is still out on the heads...I have found a smoking good deal on new set of Dart 225CNC heads that are bare. Usual price for these heads is in the $1200 a piece range and I can get them for $1600 for a set of bare shipped to my door. Ed at FlowTechInduction said he could get me rolling with a NICE LSX style lightweight valve train with dual springs good to .650 lift for right around $600.

mustangman98

Ok, now back to the 308 motor...

Contacted Ed at FlowTech Induction...Sent him my specs, custom grind camshft is being spec'd as I type this post out...Once he hammers me out some details I need to pay him so i can get my new camshaft ground.

Meanwhile, I found a nice gentleman with something I wanted...And for $200 he delivered this to my house...


73' model small bell housing C4 transmission...Its pretty much bare without a flexplate, stall, or shifter. But I got what I wanted which was a late 70's small bell C4. These models have the 26/24 input shafts which are pretty stout from the factory. Plan of action for this guy as of right now, simple off the shelf stall converter, decent shifter and a reverse manual valve body. Throw it in the car and see what happens...

mustangman98

Also, picked up a few goodies along the way...

New K&N drop base 5x14" filter
MSD Pro-billet distributor
Comp cams hyd. linked lifters
Comp Ultra Gold 1.6 7/16 stud rockers
Billet double roller timing set

Need to come across a 4" cowl hood and jump on it...Might have to wat till Mustang Week when im back stateside so i can get one cheap and avoid freight shipping charges.

Need to pull all the old stuff off the car like the heads, cam, carb, hood and sell the crap to one of the thousands of rednecks lurking in NC that buy this crap up like its frem Meth!


Still need some small things here and there before the little 308 comes to the reality I want it to be at.

Also, 1 more small little flaw with the car...When I purchased it, it had manual steering. Which is not a problem it itself...I never owned a manual steering car so I had no idea what I was really looking at...Got under the car and realized I actually had a power steering rack in the car, and the power assist lines was just capped off. FUCKER!

So as soon as the refund hit, a flaming river unit, steering shaft and a few other little things like a new Thrust plate and bearing, new timing cover and new intake gaskets...

Once all that is purchased it will be time to start addressing the suspension, Plan of action right now is all Team Z motorsports. Strange 10 way coilovers up front. Strange 10-way shocks out back with stock style springs in stock location.

If in fact the 308 is not in as good of condition as I suspect or something else is a miss...The entire shortblock will be removed and a new plan will be set into action. If this is the case, I will probably just slap together a 351w block bored .030 over to 357ci and throw on my Dart heads and run it like this till i can build my 408w how I want it.