New owner, just bought FFR3490, Mk2 Roadster

[Jrmotorsports55]

I just wanted to introduce myself as I am a new owner. I purchased this car last month from a dealer in PA. It was originally built in 2002 and now that it is 20 years old needs a lot of updating/going through. First step is getting the thing titled as I have to go through the PITA process in OH as the vehicle was originally built in VA and has no VIN label anywhere which is required in OH for out of state purchases. I'm sure this it going to be a wonderful experience.

The first thing I will be tackling on the car is the brakes as it has the stock Fox brakes (disc/drum) and 3 of the 4 corners are leaking. Braking is SCARY at best. I plan on keeping the stock front sizing in the front, and going to 11.65 Cobra rear discs with Tbird calipers to better balance the braking (I know, I will have to do some customizing here as there is no direct off the shelf option for this).

I will be tracking my progress on my YouTube channel, so if you are interested, here is what I have so far.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...6mVHNS3FsRV76S

Looking very forward to this project and loving every day with this car. I have followed FFR since the beginning, I still have the original sales materials and Mk1 assy manual/VHS build tape that I ordered when they first came out.

Jason

[Badfish]

Congrats and welcome from a fellow MKII owner!

[JDFinley]

Congrats Jason! Looks like you found a nice project car! I like the yellow - bummer about the crack.

[GoDadGo]

Hey JR-55.

Whether you bought it or built it, you are now officially part of the family.
With that said, welcome aboard!

Steve

[Cincy123]

Congratulations! Love the color. Having going through the title process with my Cobra a few years ago in Ohio one of the other requirements was operational windshield wipers. Something else you might want to check in to. Good luck, you’ll have a blast with the final product.

[Jrmotorsports55]

Congratulations! Love the color. Having going through the title process with my Cobra a few years ago in Ohio one of the other requirements was operational windshield wipers. Something else you might want to check in to. Good luck, you’ll have a blast with the final product.

I don’t think I have to go through the whole safety inspection thing since it is already titled and has a VIN, I think I just have to have the highway patrol print a VIN sticker. We’ll see. Thanks!

[JohnnyB]

Welcome Jason and congrats on the “new to you” car. It looks like a nicely done donor build that should be a great blank canvas for your plans. And nice job on the video. You seem be very knowledgeable on Factory Fives and have a good plan to make the car your own.

A few tidbits I can offer from living with my Mark 1 for twenty some years.
• I totally understand your desire to upgrade the rear brakes to disks but if you want to save some money the donor set up can be tweaked to work well with aggressive pads and some adjustments.
• If you still have the donor rear springs it would be money well spent to replace them with coilovers and possibly upgrade to the three link suspension.
• Another basically free upgrade I made was adding rack extenders to the steering rack and adjusting the rack position to reduce bump steer. This may not be an issue if the car was set up properly when it was built.

Anyhow, welcome to the madness. What part of Ohio are you from?

[Jrmotorsports55]

Welcome Jason and congrats on the “new to you” car. It looks like a nicely done donor build that should be a great blank canvas for your plans. And nice job on the video. You seem be very knowledgeable on Factory Fives and have a good plan to make the car your own.

A few tidbits I can offer from living with my Mark 1 for twenty some years.
• I totally understand your desire to upgrade the rear brakes to disks but if you want to save some money the donor set up can be tweaked to work well with aggressive pads and some adjustments.
• If you still have the donor rear springs it would be money well spent to replace them with coilovers and possibly upgrade to the three link suspension.
• Another basically free upgrade I made was adding rack extenders to the steering rack and adjusting the rack position to reduce bump steer. This may not be an issue if the car was set up properly when it was built.

Anyhow, welcome to the madness. What part of Ohio are you from?

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I have a lot of research/investigating to do. Just getting started.

On the brakes, I plan on eventually going to 5 lugs with wider rears, that’s why I figure on doing the Cobra rears now and just redrilling the 5 lug rotors to 4 lugs for now.

I’m in Seven Hills, just a little south of Cleveland.

[mburger]

Welcome. I bought a Mk1 from a dealer and told my wife all I was going to do was add power steering. New engine from Blueprint, new suspension, 5 lug conversion, new wheels, tires, interior, gauges, AC, heat, heated seats, premium top, courtesy lights, hidden trunk hinge mod, all new rubber/seals and paint refresh later, I think I’m almost done! But now I’m looking at a new T5Z just to upgrade from my current stock T5.
Looking forward to following your progress. Should you need any help along the way, this forum has many folks willing to help just as they did me. If I’m able to help, I’m happy to as well. Check the square tube behind the left rear tire for your frame number. Pic of min attached.
Good luck and have fun!
F6A74B7E-4648-4D23-A80B-C5BFA7709FD9.jpeg6E3600B2-EAFA-45C4-932C-1DE23B9C1741.jpg6D578D62-501B-47EB-AE6A-F87D23AF24FA.jpeg137BB5A5-2600-465B-A55A-20CEF4485210.jpg69D73358-0124-44CD-8E37-4FF49F1A907F.jpeg

[egchewy79]

Welcome. I didn’t need wipers for registration in Ohio (I’m down here In columbus). Was the assigned VIN the same as the serial number stamped on the frame? Maybe someone else could chime in about MK2, but there’s stamped serial number on the frame just left of the steering column under the dash on the MK4. When I registered mine they used that as the VIN.

[R. Button]

Mark, Love the gearing on the T5Z I switched from a stock 1990 T5 to a Z. As it was a fresh build it took a few miles to smooth out the shifting. It, to me anyway felt stiff and tight but a lot of around town driving got the tranny as smooth as my old one!

[Jrmotorsports55]

I have searched under the dash and see nothing stamped there. I do have the welded numbers in the chassis but they do not match the serial number that was used as the VIN on the title (2419 vs FFR3490k). The prior owner does have some alum plates riveted under the dash to hold some switches so I may have to remove those to dig deeper. I was just looking around under there and there are so many cut wires that I need to remove/figure out. This is going to be a jigsaw puzzle.

[mburger]

Mark, Love the gearing on the T5Z I switched from a stock 1990 T5 to a Z. As it was a fresh build it took a few miles to smooth out the shifting. It, to me anyway felt stiff and tight but a lot of around town driving got the tranny as smooth as my old one!

Ralph that is good to hear. I’m glad you posted that. My current T5 shifts like butter. It is so smooth and easy. I understand that’s because it likely has about 80,000 miles on it but works perfectly. As you mentioned, first gear is almost useless as you’ll likely hit valve float before making it through the intersection. Lol
I would have to believe that 2.93 first gear makes driving it much better.
Right now I am looking at modern driveline and purchasing a new T5Z with the short shifter and leaving it in the original rear location. Complete it’s looking to be about $2100. I may sell my T5 afterwards as it really is in drop in and go condition. We’ll see.
JR-55 I am assuming your Mk2 is a complete donor build?

[Jrmotorsports55]

Yes, my MK2 is a donor build for the most part. Has a few upgrades, but running gear is all fox body.

[Jrmotorsports55]

I've been working on the upgrades and "restoration" of the car. Follow along if interested on my YouTube channel.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...6mVHNS3FsRV76S

[Just puttering]

Do you know what year your wire harness is? Do you have a wiring diagram for it?

[Derald Rice]

I have searched under the dash and see nothing stamped there. I do have the welded numbers in the chassis but they do not match the serial number that was used as the VIN on the title (2419 vs FFR3490k). The prior owner does have some alum plates riveted under the dash to hold some switches so I may have to remove those to dig deeper. I was just looking around under there and there are so many cut wires that I need to remove/figure out. This is going to be a jigsaw puzzle.

FFR did not stamp any numbers on the MK1 or 2 frames.

You have found the welded number in the rear section, and it is the only permanent number that FFR provided on your frame

The reason that your numbers do not match is that the 2419 number is a FRAME NUMBER... and FFR started those numbers with 0001........The MSO number FFR3490K is your kit number and those numbers started at 1001.

The difference between the two numbers varies by quite a bit, probably depending on which frame
was next in line to be kitted.

My FFR3319K has a frame number of 22xx.

(COUGH..COUGH)Harborfreighthasanumberstampingkitan difyouwereinclindeditiseasytostampthenumberwhere
youcanshowaninspectorbutifthequestioniseveraskedwh oputthenumberthereyouranswerwouldbeIDONTKNOW.
THATISTHEWAYIBOUGHTIT(COUGH..COUGH)

[Jrmotorsports55]

Do you know what year your wire harness is? Do you have a wiring diagram for it?

Not 100% sure but the car was built using a 5.0 as a donor and the wiring diagrams for 87-93 are pretty much the same. I have a Haynes manual plus google and just generally search for "93 mustang" when looking, and it normally points me in the right direction.

[Jrmotorsports55]

FFR did not stamp any numbers on the MK1 or 2 frames.

You have found the welded number in the rear section, and it is the only permanent number that FFR provided on your frame

The reason that your numbers do not match is that the 2419 number is a FRAME NUMBER... and FFR started those numbers with 0001........The MSO number FFR3490K is your kit number and those numbers started at 1001.

The difference between the two numbers varies by quite a bit, probably depending on which frame
was next in line to be kitted.

My FFR3319K has a frame number of 22xx.

(COUGH..COUGH)Harborfreighthasanumberstampingkitan difyouwereinclindeditiseasytostampthenumberwhere
youcanshowaninspectorbutifthequestioniseveraskedwh oputthenumberthereyouranswerwouldbeIDONTKNOW.
THATISTHEWAYIBOUGHTIT(COUGH..COUGH)

Yeah, I have figured this out and resolved the issue. Thanks.

[RogerDM]

Nice project!