1986 Ford Mustang

GT Hatchback

5.0 V8

Manual

1fabp28m5gf138136

Clear

Gasoline

I am listing my 86 Ford Mustang GT for sale. I am not very happy with this decision but sometimes in life you have to do things that you don't want to. I bought this Mustang about 6 months ago after almost a 2 year search for just the right car. I had been on the hunt for an 86 GT 5 speed T-top car and I wanted one that hadn't been beaten on or ragged out by some teenager. Finally I found this car down in southern Virginia, about 4-5 hours from home. The reason I drove down to get the car is because it is RUST FREE, has all of the original body panels, and also hasn't been molested. I searched long and hard to find this specific platform because I wanted to build up the car exactly the way I wanted without dealing with someone else's mods, mistakes, or any hack work. The car is an 86 Mustang GT hatchback with T-tops. The T-top Fox Mustangs are very desireable and also harder and harder to come by. I've always liked the idea of popping out the T-tops on a Saturday afternoon and going for a cruise. After owning and driving this car I can tell you it's a blast to cruise a 5 speed car with T-tops off. This car is 98% unmolested. It has the factory 5.0 motor which runs like a champ. It starts right up and idles smooth. This car pulls very strong, idles very nicely and doesn't burn a drop of oil. I drove this car from southern Virginia all the way to my home in Doylestown PA which is just over 250 miles without a single hiccup and it never burned a drop of oil. I would trust this car to drive anywhere. I don't believe that the motor has ever been apart. The previous owner swapped out the factory speedometer for a 140MPH speedo. When he swapped it out he said the speedo in the car read 70,000 miles. I have no idea if that was 70,000 or 170,000 or if that was even accurate. What I do know is that this motor runs fantastic, has great oil pressure, and looks very clean. The trans is the factory Borg Warner T-5 5 speed. It shifts smoothly through all 5 gears. There is NO grinding or issues getting into any gear at all. Which tells me one of 2 things. Either this trans was serviced or the car was never beaten. Because we all know that the T-5 can develop issues if you hammer on them. The shifter is a replacement Hurst short throw shifter which comes with the Hurst chrome stick, and the Hurst shift plate cover. I do have the factory shift plate cover in my garage. The rear is an 8.8 posi which again works flawlessly. I ran the numbers on the data tag which said that this car came factory with 2:73 gears but after driving it, I felt that it had more gear. I did the old trick of rotating a tire and counting driveshaft revolutions and came up with a 3:27 ratio. It is my belief that at one point in time someone either swapped out the whole rear or just installed a taller set of gears for a little more seat of the pants acceleration. Either way there is no humming or whining from the rear and it is a posi/traction lock. I confirmed that when I had it up on my buddy's lift. The rest of the drivetrain/mechanicals are basically stock. It still has the factory headers, factory drive pulleys, and a factory style exhaust. The catted H-pipe is a replacement unit but it functions perfectly. The cat back is a set of plain jane turbo mufflers welded to the factory 2-1/4" stainless steel tips. When this car was ordered from Ford it was as bare bones as you can get. This car has manual windows and locks, and is a factory NO A/C car. It hasn't been converted like some people do, this car was factory ordered with no A/C. I ran some numbers and this was originally a west coast Oregon car and I believe that maybe up there it never gets super-sticky hot enough to need A/C but I guess we'll never truly know. Other than power steering and brakes this car has no options. The body is in excellent condition. It's straight, unmolested, and truly rust free. There is simply no rust anywhere on this car. Not on the 1/4's, floors, frame rails, ect. That is 95% of the reason I bought it. I didn't want to be doing rust repair. It just sucks up way too much time and money. This car still sports the factory original paint job. Which again for me was a great selling point. I didn't have to worry about someone else's mistakes or hack work. All the panels are factory Ford. The car DOES need paint. No doubt about it. The factory paint is now 27 years old and is just simply showing it's age. Back in 86 Ford didn't clear coat these cars so the paint is simply lifting off in certain places. So yes I will say it again, this car should be painted. Or if you don't care about paint, cruise it the way it sits and paint it much later down the road. There are a few door dings here and there and a slight crease/dent in the driver's 1/4 but it's nothing a paintless dent removal guy couldn't fix in about 10 minutes. Other than that you could scuff up the factory paint and re-shoot this car the factory color very easily. At some point in time a previous owner did install a set of subframe connectors which 99% of all Foxes truly need. Especially the T-top and convertibles. The subframe connectors do a fantastic job of tightening up the chassis. It handles really well and doesn't rattle or flex much. I also know that the car has a nice set of aftermarket Koni adjustable shocks. I've never messed with them but you can turn a dial and adjust the ride control. The interior is definitely showing it's age. The seats aren't bad but definitely have their share of stains, and wear. The dash is definitely beat and either a replacement or a cover should be done if you wanted to use the car at shows or cruise nights. The T-top headliner was replaced by the previous owner and the job was just OK. The doors panels and dash are decent. But at some point in time someone drilled a few holes in the passenger dash to mount who knows what. The rivets he used for mounting it are still there. The door panels are in nice shape and could simply use a good cleaning. The only real non stock item on the interior is a replacement aftermarket stereo. I'm OK with that as this stereo has an MP3 or Ipod hook up. I frequently plug my Ipod into the stereo and listen to my music instead of the local stations. When I brought this car home from Virginia, I had the car state safety inspected for Pennsylvania. It passed with flying colors. When it was up on the lift you could see how rust free it was and I could also see that it has recently had all new ball joints installed as well as new front brakes, calipers, hoses, and of course pads. The PA state safety inspection is valid until April of 2014. Other than the shifter, the subframe connectors, the shocks, and the aftermarket stereo, this car is bone stock and rust free. If you've been on the lookout for a nice clean unmolested and unbeaten Fox T-top Mustang this car is a great score. I bought this car to fix up for myself and my son but unfortunately I have to sell this car and my 95 Bronco to score a reliable daily driver. I was just offered a promotion within my company which will force me to transfer to another location. That location is 42 miles away one way. I'm looking at driving 84 miles a day to work 5 days a week. My current drive to work is 8 miles. So I was driving the Mustang one or two days a week in the nice weather and the Bronco the rest of the time. I never cared about gas mileage or reliability as I have the Bronco, the Mustang and in the event of an emergency I have a restored 68 Firebird in my garage. But now faced with that kind of a drive everyday, it's better for me if I sell the Mustang and the Bronco and score a 4 cyl 5 speed daily cruiser. I've taken a video of the car and will post the link below to do my best to show the true condition of the car. Please understand that this car has the original 27 year old paint job. It should be painted. Other than that it's a great cruiser and will make a fun car for whomever purchases it. I'm more than willing to put the car on a lift to take additional pics, or show the car in person before the auction ends as I understand how it can be to bid on a car you've never seen. One of my good friends who lives about a mile away has a lift in his garage and would gladly let me put the car on a lift for you to inspect the underneath. Please feel free to contact me for any additional pics or with any questions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzQwVA3ZTC8