Donor car question

[Hottrodder427]

Since I plan on using a 390 fe and tremec 5 sp can I use a v6 mustang as a donor. I am also planning on the three link suspension and brake upgrade

[Gale K]

I'm sure there are all sorts of varying opinions on this one. The power of the donor for me was engine, tranny, rear end, then all the other tidbits. If you are going motor and tranny from something else, then the donor concept starts to lose some steam.

What year V-6 Mustang?
Where is the rear end being sourced from? If from the donor, I think the Fox donors had smaller rear ends (7.5 I think?) compared to the V-8's

Depending on the year of the donor, you could still get some good stuff-gas tank, wiring (like lights, etc), gauges, etc etc. Priced right, the donor could still be a great value, and then you could sell off what you don't use.

[Hottrodder427]

It's about a 96 and I can get it for about 2000

[Avalanche325]

I would get a good list together of what you will actually use off of the donor and assign a dollar value to it. The value goes out pretty quicky after engine, trans, and brakes are not being used.

[Gumball]

About all I used from my donor was the engine block, head castings, transmission, rear end (completely rebuild with shorter Fox-length axles), gas tank and plastic pan, brake/clutch pedal assembly, parking brake lever and cables, front spindles, brake calipers, and the brand-new drilled/slotted rotors the previous owner had just installed. In the end, my out-of-pocket for all that was $2,300 and it all came from a '94 SVT Cobra.

Looking back, I used so little from the donor that I could have bought what I needed either brand new or piecemeal from the aftermarket or salvage guys. But, I looked for a very clean, lower mileage car before buying it, so I knew I was getting all good quality stuff to use as the basis for re-furbishing.

Not sure a V6 would give you as many useable parts, though, so you'll have to determine what's in your build plan, what will be useable from that car, and whether that's a good deal for you. Don't forget to factor into the mix the cost or hassle of scrapping the rest of the car. For me, it was easy since it was a clean and straight SVT car - I sold everything else to a friend who turned it into a track-day car.

[Hottrodder427]

I prob will pass on the donor then. I am very impatient and trying to get it as quick as possible lol I've got about 2000.00 saved

[Jeff Kleiner]

No way you'll harvest $2,000 worth of useable parts from a '96 V6 donor. About all that would be applicable for your purposes would be the fuel tank, cover and straps, front spindles, brakes and possibly control arms & rack, brake lever and the pedal box. Rear end is a 7.5 and would not hold up.

For what you have planned you'd be better off sourcing components seperately.

Good luck,
Jeff

[Hottrodder427]

Thanks Jeff I appreciate the info I'm trying to get it all together

[Avalanche325]

If you don't want to do a complete kit, you can do a base kit plus. After I found that I really didn't want to go with a donor, I ordered the fuel system and cooling system from FFR. Look through the parts section and you can see that there are several packages. Wilwood brakes and Moser rear were already on my upgrade list. You can see that a donor wasn't going to work for me. Power steering, etc was sourced seperately.

Kepp saving and learning. It will pay off.

[Hottrodder427]

Thanks a bunch I don't know how far to go before I order my kit as far as engine build or sourcing parts

[CraigS]

You can do it almost either way. You don't need an engine at all to build the car. FFR needs to know what engine you are going to install because there are some differences for big block vs small block. But you don't need the engne until you are ready to trial fit the body so you can massage the body cutouts for the exhaust. A friend swapped his small block exhaust from original to 4 into 4s long after he had the car on the road an painted. We jacked stuff around and around and finally took a drum sander on a drill to the openings for more clearance. Later he touched up the edge w/ a touchup stick and no one knows. So actually my first statement isn't a total requirement. Good luck. Oh and welcome to the forum!!!