Build thread - 1985 Mustang Saleen (clone?)

[erratic50]

duplicate post

[JKengineering]

Does the complete North Racecars kit come with a master?
Mike

[wraithracing]

Does the complete North Racecars kit come with a master?
Mike

I don't believe any of their kits come with Master Cylinders

[erratic50]

I'll let you know when I open the box. I believe no.

[erratic50]

I'm going through my parts stash a bit. I have a MM panhard bar that I've been planning to use on my 1986GT when I have it redone.

My question is for those who have a Saleen they have driven already -- with the Racecraft suspension on the 85+ Foxbody Saleens and knowing how they handle (which I do not) is there a enough benefit to adding a watts link or a panhard bar to justify the cost?

Im curious to see what it drives like without, but on the other hand if I'm going to add one the time of build is probably the time to do it.

Right now I'm leaning towards holding off on the panhard and a strut tower brace until after I've driven it.

BTW - what should an 85 with 16" rims wear for rubber?

[wraithracing]

I can't comment on the Racecraft suspension directly as I have never driven one. I doubt it's much different than any decent suspension setup such as Eibach/H&R/Steeda springs and quality struts/shocks such as Bilstein/Koni/Etc. Spring rates and matching dampers will determine the handling and ride characteristics the most.

The Panhard rod will eliminate the side to side movement of the rear axle which will reduce the tendency of rear steer the Fox bodies are famous for. The reduced side to side motion will also make the car more stable under corning with better predictability. The car will also be more stable during hard launches at the drag strip or even in just a straight line. Last with the Panhard rod installed you will be able to accurately center the rearend assembly under the chassis. Other than the costs and the installation time required, there are few negatives to the Panhard rod IMHO.

I highly recommend a STB for any Fox as they really help to tighten up the cowl area of the cars. This is even more true for T-top and convertibles in my experience. Besides unless I am mistaken the Saleen was originally equipped with a STB, so how can you build a clone without one!

As mentioned in your other thread, a 225/50/16 is pretty standard tire for the 7" wide wheels. If you want to make the original tire diameter of the @ 25.7" then you will need to run a 225/55/16. That will prevent any speedometer errors or needed corrections due to a shorter tire height.

[JKengineering]

I'll let you know when I open the box. I believe no.

Thanks. My nephew was thinking of that setup on his 91, and I have the M-2300-C kit on my 85. That had a master in it.
Also I run 16x7's with 225/55 16 in the front and 16x8's with 255/50 16 on the rear. I like the way a taller tire makes the car look.


Mike

[erratic50]

Buying a gutted out 85GT someone basically left for dead so you could rebuild your 1986 "rustang" - thrifty

Looking over the car and deciding not to finish the job of stripping it for parts but instead build it, just a little crazy

Chasing after nearly every part that exists to make a 33 year old car four eyed fox thats nothing to you but you just sorta like stop and go again -- nuts

Searching endlessly every spare moment for months looking every early 1985 Saleen only parts -- welcome to my peanut festival

Looking over the car again and deciding to build a Saleen Tribute - the car Saleen never built - 1985-006 just because there are Saleen parts like the lower K brace and ground effects and a vintage wing ...... even though none of the most rare impossible to find body parts are there ....... the moment you realize your new found project just might be insane.

Diving in head first looking for front facia and rear spats leads -- tedious

Getting the phone calls that all turned out to be dead ends, only to ultimately get the news the parts i need are in hand -- gut wrenching, then super exciting!

traveling 1500 miles to then buy these "made of unobtanium" parts once they were located - expensive.

Spending over 25 hours of road time in the truck with my dad and talking about anything and everything we could think of under the sun -- sometimes even about the parts we were after or the stuff we saw or the parts we now have -- PRICELESS

Whats next? Figuring out how to load every part you could ever possibly imagine for a 1985 Saleen that's blown apart along with the entire drivetrain on to my truck and loading up the 85. Next stop, restoration shop! Super excited.

All I can say to those who are looking for a specific part that's hard to find -- rat-hole all the cash needed for it as quickly as possible and don't touch it. Keep looking. Let as many friends as you can know you're looking for it. When you find one and have it in hand, BUY IT! Don't wait! If someone else has promised you one, come up with the money somehow if they end up coming through too -- you can always resell the part, likely for more than you paid for it.

The odds and ends left for me to locate are few and far between compared to the whole but I'm sure I've forgotten about something. I'm so thankful for this forum and the great people on it because its what just might have been a nearly insane idea doable.

[dagenham]

Ive driven enough foxbodies to say that the racecraft suspension setup works pretty good and I'm pretty sure I need new shocks and struts on my 85 Saleen.

[wraithracing]

Good Luck with your project!

I don't who you might have found who's crazy enough to take on a project like this. They must either be a few bricks short of a full load or just really love Foxes! Either way should be a Kick A$$ Mustang when done!

[erratic50]

Was great to finally meet you Trey!

The ol 6000 lb Mark LT wasn't a huge fan of the 16x8.5 enclosed trailer I rented. It was designed for hauling 6 fully dressed motorcycles and had heavy duty in floor hooks and stands, etc, and the flat nose front is all on a heavy steel frame. About like dragging a billboard down the road..... I ran it across a scale and the stupid trailer weighs over 7500 by itself. add the parts for a four eyed Saleen to it scattered between the trailer and the bed of my truck. My truck is only a 1/2 ton but has the towing package and did manage to get the job done. Nearly 17K lbs is too much gross weight for a 1/2 ton truck to pull 100% gracefully any way you slice it though.

I had a valueavle reminder of how critical it is to get an independent axle trailer level, but once I leveled it the trip good and it pulled quite a bit easier.

For those wondering - less than 8 mpg going down and no more than 10 mpg coming back. I kept it locked out of OD and rolling around 75 most of the time so my 5.4L with premium tune turned up all the way via Hypertech ran around 3000 rpm and right at its peak torque. It didn't lose more than a few MPH on any of the hills and there were sure some big ones.

glad to be back home!

[erratic50]

And so it begins..... pictured is a shot of the very first item fixed and a pic I found of 1986-070 which was switched to medium canyon red plus silver by its owner. 1985-006 will look much the same except mine will be a hard top and have as dark as legal tinted windows.

[erratic50]

I've heard the Saleen speedometers require a different calculation for transmission teeth and speedometer cable teeth but I have not been able to test or confirm

i have a 0 mile BBK 170 that will go right behind a Saleen face if needed but would prefer not to.

[erratic50]

Completely new 85 under hood harness bought from fox resto.

Also complete seal kit

[Tigger]

I've heard the Saleen speedometers require a different calculation for transmission teeth and speedometer cable teeth but I have not been able to test or confirm

i have a 0 mile BBK 170 that will go right behind a Saleen face if needed but would prefer not to.

I don’t think so. I used the usual formula on my car to figure how many teeth I needed when I went from 3.08’s to 3.55’s this past summer. It seemed to get me where I needed to be.

[erratic50]

Perfect - good to know! I was hoping the info was BS, glad it was.

[wraithracing]

I've heard the Saleen speedometers require a different calculation for transmission teeth and speedometer cable teeth but I have not been able to test or confirm

i have a 0 mile BBK 170 that will go right behind a Saleen face if needed but would prefer not to.

My understanding is the 170 MPH speedometer was because Saleen had the speedometer input cut in half inside the standard 85 MPH unit. 85 X 2 = 170. That allowed them to keep the standard gear on the speedometer cable, but have a higher top speed on the speedometer itself. I am not 100% on that and don't have any specifics, but that is what I recall being told many years ago when I asked why the 170 rather than the Ford 140.

[wraithracing]

A pic I found of 1986-070 which was switched to medium canyon red plus silver by its owner. 1985-006 will look much the same except mine will be a hard top and have as dark as legal tinted windows.

Is it me or are the lower stripes on 1986-070 not the 3 color stripes? It's late and maybe my eyes aren't working correctly.

[erratic50]

I agree. It was a medium Canyon Red and gold stripes car originally-- I believe.

We can either paint the correct stripes on 006 or get a "standard" three color stripe kit when the time comes.

There were a few stripe delete cars believe it or not.

Check out how the sail panel is painted white but the trim around the windows stayed the satin black trim paint.

[erratic50]

Posting a few four eyed Saleen pictures I found on the web... call it inspiration. The medium red cars shown here are the one and only 86 made in medium red.

[erratic50]

Found a pic of 1985-035, the medium red and gold 85.

[erratic50]

Check that out...... the medium red 86 is right in front of Saleen and the gold stripe at the front of the car is upside down compared to the others I've seen.

[erratic50]

The motor on this build will be a 90 roller cam motor with Edelbrock heads, Air Gap intake, Edelbrock 600 carb, and a Comp Cam. Air cleaner will likely be a standard dual snorkel with chrome lid. Motor will likely get a black high temp on the block, etc.

Looking for opinions and links to buy ..... which valve covers would work well and look the part under the hood of an 85 Saleen?

Stock was these. (Thanks for showing me under the hood on 1985-16 Mike!)

[Tigger]

Posting a few four eyed Saleen pictures I found on the web... call it inspiration. The medium red cars shown here are the one and only 86 made in medium red.

The last one is 86-120. Medium red with sandy beige interior. One of one. A guy named Randy used to own it. Nice guy. He sold it about 6 or 7 years ago. I have not seen anything on it since. If I remember correctly it went to Louisana.

[Tigger]

And so it begins..... pictured is a shot of the very first item fixed and a pic I found of 1986-070 which was switched to medium canyon red plus silver by its owner. 1985-006 will look much the same except mine will be a hard top and have as dark as legal tinted windows.

IMO that is a great color combo.