My 1988 Mustang - Project U-88
Don't all of us car guys need more projects than we can ever hope to finish?
How did this happen?
First a bit of back story, my brothers 1991 Saleen convertible clone had been stolen and not recovered, which was a bad deal because the insurance didn't cover the full amount of his car loan so he still had to pay for a car he no longer had.
He had already replaced the roof on it because somebody had slashed it open to break-in once before. So at this point he was disillusioned with owning another convertible and getting into a new car loan.
Still wanting a 5.0 Foxbody Saleen looking Mustang, his goal to build a hardtop version of his convertible. He decided to purchase a wreaked 88 L notch and do a full 5.0 conversion on it with the full Saleen build he had done to his other car.
The car he had ought had front end damage to it and had been hit in the right rear quarter.
This being the time period when Foxbody Capris where plentiful and 97 - 93 Aero conversions where not frowned upon, we did have a Capri shell in the back acre that still had good fenders and rear quarters.
We talked about it a bit and I did a quick rendering of it on the computer and decided it would look really cool, and if it had been completed at the time, it would have been extremely unique to have a Capri fendered notch with the full Saleen make-over, we likely would of had the first one ever.
As with many ambitious projects life events can get in the way and force you to redirect your focus. While he kept the car all this time, after the initial start not much work progressed on it and it actually donated several parts to his son's 1988 Saleen #288.
Over the years I kept nudging him to finish it or possibly sell it to me (at the times I thought I would have the money) to finish. So the last time I asked him about it he said he would give me the car with the exceptions he wanted to keep the motor, transmission, Racecraft suspension and Saleen ground effects. I was good with that as I mostly wanted it for the body we had started.
With everything figured out for the time I loaded it up and took it home.
With both cars side by side I started evaluating how I should approach trying to build 2 of them.
I would be giving back the Saleen body parts from the 88 and it's original intent with the Capri fenders on it was to totally customize it.
Since it would be customized why not go all the way? It had a stock hood and some very rough stock doors. So with the Capri fenders why keep all that stock?
I figured with all the decent stock parts now available I would put them on the 87 returning it to a more original state, and go full out with the custom parts on the 88.
The first and easiest swap was the hood so that happen pretty quickly. Then the trunk deck.
Soon after I started on the door swap. I managed to get one done before other things started interfering with my time.
I switched jobs believing it would be a better opportunity for me, then my wife and I decided to sell the house and get some acreage. So with all this going on I had to divert my time and finances to other things so projects are on the back burner for now.
But Hold Up! There is more!
2018 we add a new friend.
Didn't I already do this?
Yes even another project, this I couldn't refuse. My father gave me his 1994 GT Mustang. I did want another convertible after all. The 1994 GT
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Last Update June 2, 2019 |