I'm starting plans for building a Mk4. Before I order the kit, though, I want to have a plan in place for the donor car since as I understand it I have to tell Factory Five what I'm doing for donor components. The goal is to do it as a mostly donor car conversion, although I am going to buy some components new (radiator, probably gas tank, etc.). Engine wise I'm going to put in a carb'd 302, so either if my donor car has a fuel injected 302 I'll convert it, or if I get a later donor car with a 4.6 I'll just buy a 302 from somewhere else. I specifically want simple, hence going with a carb'd 302 and a T-5. I've got plenty of experience with electronics and fuel injection, but for this car I just want simple. I won't be reusing the electrical system, I'll go with all new to make that simple.

I've been reading up a bunch of threads on donor cars and I think I've got a few general notes made:

- The Mk4 was designed for an '87-'93 donor car, so that works best overall, the negative being that they're 4-lug and so I'd need (or at least want) to convert them to 5-lug if the donor car hadn't done so already. Plus I'd want to convert to rear disk brakes
- '92-93 had the quicker ratio steering racks, so I might want to specifically target those years since I like quick ratio steering
- '94-'95s might have the best 302s and rear disk brakes, but they have some other nuances and the rear end is wider than what's considered optimal
- The later Mustangs ('96-'04) have better brakes, but also have a wider rear end than the Fox bodies, and have some other parts that won't directly bolt over from the Fox body cars

I've read some folks say that the wider rear ends "won't work", but others say they bolt up fine, it's just that by being wider it may limit choices for wheels and tires - which is correct? I don't care about getting the ultra maximum tire width so long as I can still put some good rubber back there. This isn't going to be something I'm trying to win races with.

I'm somewhat leaning towards the idea of getting two donor cars. Get a newer (say 2000+) GT for the better brakes and suspension components and use those from that newer donor car, including the rear end. Then find an '87-'93 for the engine, transmission, and rest of the parts. Ideally I'd find a Fox body that had rear disk brakes already and that would probably be good enough, but the compromise of two donor cars might make the most sense.

If I wanted to go with a 4.6 then obviously just a newer donor car would be the way to go, but since I want pushrods, this might be a good compromise.

Thoughts?