I found 83 mustang GLX 4spd w/5.0 HO

Good morining gents

I found a 83 mustang GLX 4spd w/5.0 HO. It needs a little body work, front window and headliner. Looks like it has centerline rims. WAS running back in 95. I have to get on over this saturday and see if it will start. The guy wants 750 for it. The only trouble could be back fees. Here in CA this can be huge - I have to call AAA to see what the scoop is. Any one here know in things I should look for besides the usual. Were these 4 speeds week? etc.

Thanks
Jim

It could be 4 or 5 speed.... The T5 became a mid year offering in '83...
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The 4-speed that year was the infamous SROD, single rail OverDrive. It was well known for losing teeth faster than a Cowboy in a bar fight. Even the factory 5-speed, an early version of the now famous T-5, which was only rated at 265 lb/ft torque capacity in the first few years, wasn't much better.

All it took was a good bit of V-8 torque, a heavy hand on the shifter and a missed shift or two...to put either of them on the disabled list. Ford made a lot of warranty replacment on those early transmissions. The 83 also had the 7.5 rear end, If you warm up the engine or put on some grippy tires, it tends to want to puke out teeth or burn the trac-loc clutches too.

To me...it is still one of the better looking 4-eyed Mustangs and is a great car to use as a project. It is pretty light compared to the 86 and above. Obviously, there are more than a few still around with all the factory stuff I just complained about; if treated well, with respect to their limitations, ... even the weaker factory options will give good service. If you intend to put your foot in it...start your replacement fund for the items I mentioned, 'cause they will be making a raid on your wallet in short order. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_bicker.gif[/img]

_________________
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-- Benjamin Franklin

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 12/9/05 12:12am ]</font>

My experiance on the fact it has been off the road, point out to them it was in storage, not being used.
I ran into a similar problem 5-6 years back on a Torino project, where I bought the car, and paid the taxes on the purchase price of $300, car was off a tow lot with a bad 351w. I paid my taxes but didn't get plates, because I knew it was not going on the road, and they didn't make a big ssue of it, until I went for plates.
I got the riot act throw at me, and I finally got to the point of getting my plates, I bought the car in January, and went to plate it in May of the next year, and they were going to give me plates for January?!?
I argued nicely until i got angry, said, I want the department supervisor, and this lady spazed big time, we and spent 5 minutes talking to the superviser before I spoke with the boss, and she was like, ok, sure, no problem. The clerk mis-understood you.
I just smiled, paid my $19 for the plates and did a burnout leaving the courthouse.
My torino is another matter. I live in Nebraska, it was an Iowa car that has been off the road since 1986. I ran into problems trying to get it titled in the city of Omaha, had to be inspected, street legal, drivable, blah, blah. I just wanted to title the thing in my name. I moved to a suburb in a different county, and all they want in the inspection is a title, bill of sale, and the vin matches the title.
Good luck on the stang, and with the availability of ftuff, you can ditch the weak stuff and go hunting for newer speed parts w/o dumping a ton of cash.
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The early 7.5's didn't have clutches. They were cone-style. They're much weaker than the later clutch style....I broke about 5 of them in my old '84 GT. Finally put a clutch style LSD in it and it hasn't broken since. With street tires, it'll last a good while. Dumping the clutch at 7000 with slicks will break it though.....but it'll also break the T5 (or SROD), maybe even sooner than the rear end. In a nutshell, don't worry with the rear end. It'll last a long time as long as you don't want to race it.
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<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2005-12-08 10:17, mavman wrote:
The early 7.5's didn't have clutches. They were cone-style. They're much weaker than the later clutch style....I broke about 5 of them in my old '84 GT. Finally put a clutch style LSD in it and it hasn't broken since. With street tires, it'll last a good while. Dumping the clutch at 7000 with slicks will break it though.....but it'll also break the T5 (or SROD), maybe even sooner than the rear end. In a nutshell, don't worry with the rear end. It'll last a long time as long as you don't want to race it.

</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll not disagree with you on all the other 83 Mustangs...but the one I bought in 1983, a Black GT, a/c delete, 5-speed...only power was p/s. had a traction-lock. Maybe it was due to it being a "stripper", as the salesmen called it.

I checked the 'net and it seems some other guys got one like it...


mine came with the optional 3.27 gears , factory slapper bars, the transmission was a 5-speed T-5, early model with factory 2.95 1st gear.

two years later I swapped in a Currie 9 in, with 3.89 gears. Not so much that the differential was shot or the gears were gone...mainly because I had seen too many others go bad.

The cone-type (auburn) differential, I thougt was an upgrade...but I never dealt with any other early square headlight Mustangs...other than my own 1983.

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
1983:

The '83 5.0 carried over many components from the 1982 HO engine, with the most notable change coming in the form of a 4-barrel Holley manufactured carburetor with 600 cfm rating. The engine used a Ford marine camshaft with 260' intake/ 278' exhaust, with a valve lift of .416 intake/ .444 exhaust. Pistons were cast aluminum with 8.4:1 compression. A cast iron exhaust manifold with a 2 in. outlet fed to a 2.25 in. Y-pipe and catalytic convertor, which in turn ran through a single muffler with twin outlets. 1983 also marked the year that the Borg-Warner T-5 Manual transmission was introduced. The rear axle consisted of a 7.5 in. Traction-Lock differential with 3.08 ratio.



HORSEPOWER : 175 @ 4200 rpm
TORQUE : 245 ft-lbs. @ 2400 rpm[/b] </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

'course...this could be wrong. I wonder how many options on older cars are forgotten in later printed articles?

Anyone else remember it different or got a documented window sticker with other wierd factory combinations for 1983 GT/LX?

Note; They didn't have headers that year, came in '85..."I had to check my sjuk pile as a refresher". Found the reciept for Hooker 4 tubes and Hurst shifter.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 12/9/05 2:59am ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 12/9/05 3:07am ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 12/9/05 3:50am ]</font>

thanks gents

I just found out that it is going to cost $400 for back fees. that would put the cost at over a grand.......i think i'll pass


thanks again
Jim

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2005-12-08 11:56, TALONS wrote:
thanks gents

I just found out that it is going to cost $400 for back fees. that would put the cost at over a grand.......i think i'll pass


thanks again
Jim
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You should be able to negotiate those fees down. If you can get a statement that the car was in operable or stored out of state.

The worst they should do is ask for Non-operation fees to be paid for a couple of years. My understanding is after a car has been listed as inoperable for 3 or so years, the state stops charging for the non-op and gives you a waiver.
Basically stating that you must register it before putting it back on the road.
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750 is too high anyway. At best it's worth a couple hundred bucks, no more.