Many questions about SC's inside!!!!

[Silverbird00]

I am a potential new SC owner and have many questions for you.

I am looking at a 92 5-speed with 69k miles. It is mechanic owned, new clutch and all clutch components, new engine bushings, tranny bushings, and more. Fully loaded from factory including JBL, moonroof, etc.....Asking price is $4800 which is a good deal in my opinion.

Now, say I get this car, what are some things I should watch out for, do to it (mods), etc.......?

Exhaust is supposedly the first thing to do, right? What exhaust do you guys recommend and where do I get it (website)???

What else should I do and keep the budget under control?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys.

[SuperCoupe007]

Well i guess a good question to ask the current owner is if he as replaced the head gaskets. These SC's are known for blowing head gaskets. Also ask it the tranny has ever been rebuid. If and when you do get the car, the first mod to do is exhaust.. Freeing up the exhaust will extend the life of the head gaskets. Get some high flow catalytic converters and a high flow resonator, as well as high flow mufflers... I would recomend doing a 2.5" (from manifolds to resonator) to a 3.0" (resonator to Y-pipe) to a 2.5" (Y-pipe to dual mufflers) exhaust. Well i would recommend that you go to exhaust shops and see what they have to offer.. the next mod you would want to do is an intake system, a cold air intake sytem is good. then get either a 5% or 10% overdrive pulley for the super charger..

[Silverbird00]

He has never replaced the head gaskets and the tranny wasn't rebuilt. The clutch and components were replaced, but nothing with the tranny. He said he never abused the vehicle (aka. driving it hard.) Should I still be concerned with the head gaskets even though it only has 69k miles?

[SuperCoupe007]

With 69 K miles, it doesn't sound so bad, specially if the car hasn't been driven hard, but you still gotta take into consideration that the gasket are 10 years old.... Not saying they might blow soon... An exhaust system would give some backpressure relief to the head gaskets.

[Silverbird00]

What exhaust system would you recommend? Where is most of the restriction in the exhaust at? Would you do a cat-back system or just a muffler, etc....?

[SuperCoupe007]

Okay lets see... well for the exhaust i would recommend getting the entire system redone. replace the factory catalytic converters with some high flow ones (2.5" inlet outlet) also get a high flow resonator [ 2 x 2.5" inlets, one 3.0" oulet]. to 2.5" exhaust mufflers. The most restrictive exhaust parts are the resonator, and the catalytic with the 90 degree neck. Those can really choke up our cars.. an exhaust shop should be able to do a custom job. Doing the exahust will extned the head gasket life time......

[Digitalchaos]

I dont want to cast a gloom, but it seems strange to me that engine/tranny bushings and the clutch had to be replaced with only 69k miles if it wasnt drivin' hard. These clutches are fairly strong, and the only real fail point that early I can see is maybe the slave cylinder, but even thats negotiable. Not that this means the car is bad, but just be cautious about what he is telling you. For possibilities, investigate the breaks (ABS Accumulator, lights flashing), the trac-loc rear end(clutch packs burning up), the transmission (grinding in any gears), the clutch (hard to shift into a gear, lots of force needed, strange clunk sound when releasing or engaging), the head gaskets (white smoke, boiling coolant, brown coolant w/oil, white foam in oil), and finally the Supercharger (excessivley loud whine, grinding, less than 10psi on the gauge, lack of SC fluid, leak). Now as I implied, I implore, dont let it scare you. These are just possibilities that should be checked on every car, and ones I know that could be expensive on this one if they are bad. But when everything is fine, I have found this to be a highly reliable and durable vehicle when reasonably maintained. Goodluck, and enjoy the new purchase!! You may find more answers to Qs in the tech room

[Silverbird00]

The engine/tranny bushings didn't NEED replaced, he just thought he would do them while he had the clutch done. I don't even think the clutch needed done, but he did it because he was a mechanic and had connections. Like I said, I really think he took good care of the car, and I will find out very soon. Thanks for all of the advice.

[Jason Wild]

from reading all this sounds like it could be a good car

[bored6]

If it's in good shape I'd probably buy it. I bought a 92 5 speed with 59,000 on it 2 years ago for 5,600. The car was perfect. It has 77,000 on it now. Still has the original head gaskets although I did put a performance exhaust on it from the manifolds back from SCPerformance. Clutch and transmission are strong.

I will say, however, that this car is one of those I am forever having to tinker with. Some of the more expensive things I've had to replace:

Shock actuator
Power steering pump
DIS module
Coil pack

Of course when I drive it I seem to forget about all that. Love that car.

One thing I have learned is to research whaterever you need here or at SCPerformance before you have a mechanic start replacing things. Example - I needed new tension idler pulleys. Ford will only sell the assembly for about $125. But you can get steel pulleys (oem is plastic) for about $25 each.

Good Luck

[Silverbird00]

Well guys, I picked up the car!!!!! I absolutely love it!!!! It is very clean, very straight, mechanically strong, and well taken care of. No rust at all, which I couldn't believe being from the Northeast. I gave it a strong interior detail yesterday and I love it even more now. I need to give the exterior a good buff job as the car is black. It now has 72k miles on it with no burning coolant, and everything is functioning properly. I have my fingers crossed that it will stay that way for a long time to come. Next step, EXHAUST!!!!! Thanks for all of your advice guys. I am now an SC OWNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SuperCoupe007]

Congrats on your purchase, and welcome aboard..... yup that should definately be your first mod, exhaust...... good luck. and any questions you have on mods you can post on the technical board... :p