Chapter 1
Rebooting

by Ryan King
1/08

Project Commuter got the blue screen of death.

Time to reboot.

Enter a change in the base programming and voila…

The ’87 Sedan has turned into a ’93 hatch.

The former Project Commuter ’87 isn’t gone, so if you’ve been keeping up with it, don’t worry. It’s traded places with the former Project LX ’93.

Why the change?

Good question.

I have an equally good answer.

Quite frankly, the ’87 Sedan was a disaster requiring copious amounts of time-consuming work and money to get it into the kind of condition I could be happy with as a daily driver. That is, back to like-new condition.

The ’93 hatch on the other hand will take less than a quarter of the time, work and money to be brought to the same condition.

Truthfully, I rather like the sedan as an all-out performance car. Its looks are sedate, the chassis is stiff and it works better with the Project LX schedule. Which is to say it can take as long as is necessary to get done.

The ’93, on the other hand, works well as a daily bump and grinder. The chassis being a little more flexible doesn’t make as much difference when it isn’t trying to harness a twin turbo motor bristling with somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000+ horsepower. It doesn’t have to be as precise in the corners as a road racing car, either. It’s also got a nice large hatch opening and fold down rear seat which makes for a better junk carrier (so long as none of that junk scratches anything in the interior). Trying to keep the car as light as possible also becomes less of a concern with a daily driver, so the extra weight of the hatch design doesn’t work against its purpose as much.

Basically, it seems to be a better fit overall. At least for me.

I guess the next logical question is, “what needs to be done to make this car roadworthy?”

Another good question.

Before we get into that, let me give you a little bit of the background on this car.

I bought it a couple of years ago to replace the ’89 LX Sedan I bought to replace the ’87 LX Sedan that was the original Project LX (as well as Project Commuter). The structure of the ’89 Sedan was in such bad shape, I gutted it and sent it to the crusher.

In contrast, the ’93 was in really good shape and had a unique pedigree which made work well as a performance car, even though it is a hatch.

When it was purchased new at the dealer, the owner had a Kenny Brown chassis stiffening package installed. It consisted of weld-in subframe connectors, a four-point K-member stiffener and a strut tower brace.

It was also black. Which, incidentally, was the reason for the change from the ’87 to the ’89 Sedan. It was supposed to be a less expensive alternative to what I would consider to be a good paint job on the ‘87.

When I first picked up the car, my intentions were to put it on the road as a daily driver for a short period before turning it into the stroker performance car I had planned, but there were a few obstacles in the way of that goal.

The first was the fact that the previous owner had begun to modify the suspension and brakes, and hadn’t finished.

The second was its mileage. With 160,000 miles on the odometer, there were a lot of parts that would need some attention before it was up to being driven every day and “brutalized” every weekend on the track.

When I started putting the car on the road right after I got it, I started with the rear suspension. However, before I was finished removing it and the rear end, I realized I was doing the same work I needed to do to turn it into the performance car I had intended. Because of that, I decided that would be my goal instead of turning it into a “regular” driver.

Fast-forward a bit.

I decided that I would buy the Project Commuter ’87 Sedan as a daily driver to replace the Saturn, found out it was in bad shape and put the ’93 aside to finish after I got the ’87 on the road.

After months of work, realized that it was both cheaper and faster to turn the ’93 into the commuter car and the ’87 into the Project LX performer.

That’s where I am now.

So what needs to be done to make this car roadworthy?

Quite a bit, but not nearly as much as the ’87. In fact, not even a quarter of the time or financial investment.

Starting with the interior, there are two major problems that need to be addressed. Before I lose my hearing and/or my mind, the squeaking driver side seat belt retractor needs to fixed or replaced. The other interior concern I have is one of personal preference, the tinting on the windows is starting to lift, and quite frankly, I really dislike tinting. Not only do I prefer light in my interior, but it gets in the way of seeing things during spirited driving or racing – especially at night.

The next problem area I plan to address is the drivetrain, specifically the engine, clutch and transmission. With those components, the major issues are mostly related to 160,000 miles of use and resulting wear. The engine seemed to drive all right the only time I drove it, so I will hopefully only need to replace the gaskets and cylinder heads as precautionary measures. On the exterior, I will need to replace a faulty idle air solenoid and would like to replace the aftermarket electric fan with a stock set up. I’ll also be replacing the aftermarket headers and cat back with stock pieces. Lastly, the air box has been screwed with and a new air temp sensor was “installed”… in it The problem with that is that the air temp sensor belongs in the intake, so I’ll be addressing that as well.

A tune-up and filter replacement will also be undertaken, but that rounds out the major engine repairs I see at this point.

The clutch was replaced by a local shop and the job wasn’t the greatest. They left a faulty (read squeaking) clutch fork. Since I’m in there, I’ll probably be replacing whatever generic replacement clutch they used with a Ford Racing King Cobra set I’ve got sitting around.

The transmission is the nicest one I’ve ever driven so I think I will leave that be.

Following the engine, clutch and transmission I’ll be repairing a hybrid section, that being the rear end, and rear suspension. The rear end – like the engine and transmission – have 160,000 miles of wear and the differential clutches will need to be replaced.

The suspension will be returned to stock as it will be too expensive to finish the modifications the way I’d want them. In the rear I’ll be replacing the springs, lower control arms and shocks. I’ll also need to replace the later model Mustang rear disc brake conversion and the five-lug axles with the original components. Other than that, everything appears to be good to go.

The front suspension will need to be entirely redone. It was extensively modified to handle the five-lug wheels and disc brakes from the later model car and will need everything but the A-arms replaced.

Since the wheels on the car are currently five-lug, those will be replaced with the original four-lug 16” Pony wheels.

Finally, the paint is in nearly perfect condition. The only blemishes are on the trim pieces, which are faded or peeling. I will have those repainted.

While that list may sound pretty extensive, believe me, compared to the nightmare the ’87 Sedan was, this will be easy fixin’.

During the next Project Commuter update – in Chapter 2 – I’ll be getting into the interior repair. I can already report that that hasn’t gone quite as well as I had hoped…

Project Commuter Specifications (As Purchased)
Vehicle	1993 Ford Mustang LX Hatchback
Exterior Color	Clearcoat Black
Interior	Black Cloth Sport
Layout	Front engine/rear drive
Engine	5.0L V8 (302)
Induction	Ford EEC-IV SFI; 60mm Ford throttle body; 19 lb Ford injectors
Horsepower	N/A
Torque	N/A
Transmission	Borg/Warner T5 5-speed manual; OD
Gears	3.35/1.99/1.34/1.00/.62/3.15R
Differential	Ford 8.8"; 2.73:1; Ford Traction-Lok limited-slip differential
Steering	Power assist; rack & pinion; 15.0:1
Front Suspension	Independant; 425 lb/530 lb coil springs; KYB GR-2 Modified McPherson struts; 1.3" swaybar
Rear Suspension	Solid; 200 lb/300 lb coil springs; KYB GR-2 & Ford Quadra-shocks; .83" swaybar
Brakes	Power assist; disc/disc; 11"/10.5"
Wheels	17"x8" Ford Bullit 5-Spoke
Tires	245/45ZR17 Goodyear Gatorback
Length	179.6"
Width	69.1"
Height	52.1"
Wheelbase	100.5"
Track	56.6"/57"
Curb Weight	N/A
CID/Weight	N/A
HP/Weight	N/A
Gas Mileage	N/A
0-60	N/A
60-Foot	N/A
Eighth Mile	N/A
Quarter Mile	N/A
Skid Pad	N/A
60-0	N/A

Click image for Chapter 1 Photos.