Base or Complete kit?!?

[Ole Rusty]

I'm looking at the list of things needed for the base kit and wondering to myself if I should go that way or not. I'm looking at putting my 502/T56 combo in, so I've got to buy some extra parts to make it work anyways.

Any suggestions on why I should go with the complete kit over the base?

MjH

[BriNWRider]

I'm weigh the different options too. At first the complete kits seems to be the way to go, but after watching what other people have in terms of upgrading parts, etc, the base kit might be the right option. I started a spreadsheet of the parts needed to complete the base kit along with a price/retailer per part. Once I get it done, I'll email it to you if you want.

Thanks,

Brian

[Gumball]

I went with the base kit as I was using just a few donor parts from a '94 SVT (rear end, engine, trans, fuel tank, pedals, front spindles, brakes, and a few misc. pig tails and other parts) and planning on sourcing a bunch of more authentic and/or finishing-touch parts from other sources. For my purposes, going with the complete kit would have probably resulted in me jettisoning a bunch of the parts and "double purchasing" quite a bit. However, if you're thinking about going the crate motor route (or building one up yourself) and you think you'd be happy with all or most of the parts in the complete kit, that may be the way to go.

[Bob Cowan]

It all depends on what your goals are, and what you can find as a donor. For example, if you live in the salt belt good donor parts are scarce. Then you're better of with the complete kit.

Or, you might be planning something radical and differant; engine, trans, interior, brakes, gauges, suspension, etc. In that case, get the base kit, so you don't pay for parts you won't use. Granted, you could probably sell them, but usually at a loss.

[Ole Rusty]

Mmm, choices, choices... Brian, I'd love to see what you've come up with. You've all touched on my pain-I hate to buy parts twice. I've got the engine/tranny, but no other donor parts. Looking at the list of parts on the FFR main page, there doesn't seem to be a lot of parts needed. Is there a complete list of parts needed for the base model around somewhere?

[neilmathieu]

I bought < a complete kit > last october and now, in March, I am always buying parts ( bolts, nuts, electrical components, ect ) to complete. Two of my friends make their fun when they give me a hand for the building. But if I would have redo, I would do the same choice ; it is mote interesting to work with brand new parts.

[josrodes]

I'm going the base kit way, will pick up the kit next weekend, I bought an 87 gt and put it apart last fall,

I'm using from the donor:
Gas Tank
Engine/Tran
Spindles/Brakes
RearEnd/Brakes
Steering Rack/Steering column
Brake Master
Full Wiring Harness/EFI stuff
Wheels/tires
Pedal Box
Handbrake
Gauges


Got on FFR promotion when I got the kit
Tubular Lower control arms
3 link rear bolt on

Will have to get from FFR
Driveshaft
Cooling system(radiator etc)
Windshield wiper kit

In theory, all these plus the base kit and you make it trough graduation.

Tons of more experienced people in this forum, please let me know if I'm missing something here.

[3kcarbon]

The base kit is the way to go and you don't have to buy a donor. Mustang parts can be bought new or used. One example is the fuel tank and sender. Why use a 20 year old tank and sender when you can get it new for around $159.00. You can option up a base kit and still get what you really want when you want it. Another reason to go base is you can get started building and add parts as you go. 14 or 15K is still a lot of coins but it may not break the bank like 20K plus would. Some of the parts that come with either kit may not be what you want so they will either sit around or have to be sold.

[LuckyWinner]

I was lucky enough to get the full kit and for those who dont have to much automotive skills, like me, thats the way to go. It takes alot of the questions about chosing the right part out of the mix.

[Gumball]

Lucky is right - complete or base kit decision can also be looked at from the perspective of how much fabrication you want to do. In my case, I'm doing a bunch of mods and substituting fabricated items or other parts not necessarily designed to work with a FFR kit. Not to say the complete kit is a simple bolt-together proposition (none of these are), but the complete kit does get you closer to a finished car than the piece-it-together version many are doing.

[3kcarbon]

Lucky is right - complete or base kit decision can also be looked at from the perspective of how much fabrication you want to do. In my case, I'm doing a bunch of mods and substituting fabricated items or other parts not necessarily designed to work with a FFR kit. Not to say the complete kit is a simple bolt-together proposition (none of these are), but the complete kit does get you closer to a finished car than the piece-it-together version many are doing.

Kinda sorta but with a twist. Everytrhing in the so called complete kit is availible for purchase its just a matter of when and how you buy it. Some things is the kit are not going to be used and have to be replaced. Two examples, black oxide "ready to rust" bolts. Might be in the kit but not going on mine. Second is by choice, taillights. I'm going with the rectangular ones like were on 95% of the original cars. Now I'm not in favor of donor builds, the donors are mostly too old or worn out. Its not about saving money, if you want to save money don't build a car, buy one. Thereare lots of them out there for sale for less than the parts total. To me its about getting what you want. If you don't know what you want find out before spending the money. You are going to buy and change stuff one way or another.

OOOoo one more biggie By not buying the complete kit you can get the exact same gauge set from Speedhut direct. Whats the advantage there? Oooo thats the good part. Wait until they have a sale and order them any way you want custom face with or without text, different fonts, custom logo's, different color backlight, sweep color, shift light, whatever you want. You still save a few bucks and you have custom gauges. Mine have plain black faces no Factory Five logo light up blue with red sweep instead of plain white. I also got a oil temp gauge in place of the clock. The clock doesn't light up so at night it looks like it broken or burned out. Who wants that?

[68fightenfordfan]

I'm weigh the different options too. At first the complete kits seems to be the way to go, but after watching what other people have in terms of upgrading parts, etc, the base kit might be the right option. I started a spreadsheet of the parts needed to complete the base kit along with a price/retailer per part. Once I get it done, I'll email it to you if you want.

Thanks,

Brian

Hey Brian can you email me that list also ide like to compare to make sure ive got the same things or if i missed anything.

PM Sent

Gabe

[03SC]

Difficult choice. I went the base kit non-donor route. I knew, after hanging out on the forum for a few years, that I would modify or upgrade everything that was offered in the complete kit. Yes, mods and fabrication have significantly increased cost and time but no need for a rebuild or upgrade when I eventually finish this car. It's is exactly the way I want it WITH ease of maintainance in mind.

[3kcarbon]

Difficult choice. I went the base kit non-donor route. I knew, after hanging out on the forum for a few years, that I would modify or upgrade everything that was offered in the complete kit. Yes, mods and fabrication have significantly increased cost and time but no need for a rebuild or upgrade when I eventually finish this car. It's is exactly the way I want it WITH ease of maintainance in mind.

He speaks from truth and experience.... this is the kind of advice that lead me to my non donor base kit and I am very glad I did.

[AC Bill]

I'm going the base kit way, will pick up the kit next weekend, I bought an 87 gt and put it apart last fall,

My comments in Blue print for what it's worth..

I'm using from the donor:
Gas Tank Should work fine, save the lower cover and mounting straps too!
Engine/Tran (Should be fine, may want to upgrade to MASS Air though, a new clutch is likely)
Spindles/Brakes (Probably end up using the donor calipers as cores)
RearEnd/Brakes (Should be fine to use. Expect to put new cylinders and spring kit in)
Steering Rack/Steering column (You get a new steering column in the base kit)
Brake Master (Probably end up using it as a core)
Full Wiring Harness/EFI stuff (Save yourself the hours and frustrations, buy an already pre-dieted harness, they are reasonable in price
Wheels/tires (Great for karting, but expect you will eventually upgrade)
Pedal Box (You can use this)
Handbrake (You can use this)
Gauges (I bet you eventually change your mind on these)


Got on FFR promotion when I got the kit

Tubular Lower control arms (Front and rears? good idea!)
3 link rear bolt on (This should be already welded on when you get it, not bolt on)

Will have to get from FFR
Driveshaft (You can use donor shaft, have it cut welded, and balanced, might be less expensive)

Cooling system(radiator etc) (Aftermarket 87-93 Mustang rad from parts place-cheaper)

Windshield wiper kit (Pain in butt, but if required, you better order it.)

In theory, all these plus the base kit and you make it trough graduation.

Tons of more experienced people in this forum, please let me know if I'm missing something here.

The dream of driving one of these cars for many, many people, was based on FFR's concept of the donor build. I think a base kit, donor build, is still a good way to go if your on a limited budget. Don't let others spoil your dream..:)

You will find as you build it, that some of the 24 year old parts just won't cut it. That's a given, and should be expected. Budget for additional items to begin with, or buy them as you can afford them. It's not like you can't upgrade/replace things down the road.

[Richard Oben]

If you are on a budget get the base kit and the donor. BUT you must resist the urge to upgrade everything. Rebuild the motor and trans and rear. Upgrade stuff you have to early and wait on the other stuff for later. JMHO, Richard.

[Ole Rusty]

Sold!

I think I'm sold on the base kit non-donor. Now I just have to sell my wife...

[Gumball]

"Now I just have to sell my wife... "

Wow - has FFR raised their prices that much?!?

[CapeCoralCobra]

I'm going the base kit way, will pick up the kit next weekend, I bought an 87 gt and put it apart last fall,

I'm using from the donor:
Gas Tank: Used it after good cleaning & testing, plus what Bill said.

Engine/Tran: Rebuilt engine myself, traded T5 (bad synchros) in for rebuilt Cobra spec unit. New clutch, didn't want that to be the weak spot in the drive train.

Spindles/Brakes: Used all of this except new 5 lug rotors. Disassembled/cleaned/refurbished as needed.

Rear End/Brakes: Same as front, plus new 5 lug axles, drums.

Steering Rack/Steering column: Got F5 manual rack in last year's special. Heard too many bad things here about de-powering the donor rack.

Brake Master: Cleaned, inspected, works fine.

Full Wiring Harness/EFI stuff: Did my own wire diet with help from other forum - took days & days, but very satisfied. Also have SD EFI ('88 donor), am now collecting parts for MAF. No previous EFI experience, so didn't know its as easy to do as it is. Should have done it while building.

Wheels/tires: Wanted better selection of wheels, hence the 5 lug conversion.

Pedal Box: Cleaned, check out, and used.

Handbrake: Same.

Gauges: Used them, they work just fine. Not as pretty as new gauges, but made compromises due to budget. Allowed me to get many other add ons/upgrades. Not disappointed so far.

Got on FFR promotion when I got the kit
Tubular Lower control arms
3 link rear bolt on

Will have to get from FFR
Driveshaft: Had the donor shaft shortened & balanced, plus new u-joints, for about 1/2 the F5 unit.

Cooling system(radiator etc): Used from donor, which happened to be a new aluminum unit.

Windshield wiper kit: Got that in the special, too, and ABSOLUTELY agree with Bill; PITA, but once done, they're good to go.

In theory, all these plus the base kit and you make it trough graduation.

Tons of more experienced people in this forum, please let me know if I'm missing something here.


The dream of driving one of these cars for many, many people, was based on FFR's concept of the donor build. I think a base kit, donor build, is still a good way to go if your on a limited budget. Don't let others spoil your dream..:)

You will find as you build it, that some of the 24 year old parts just won't cut it. That's a given, and should be expected. Budget for additional items to begin with, or buy them as you can afford them. It's not like you can't upgrade/replace things down the road.


josrodes, I went the donor route and agree with much of what Bill said, especially that some, possibly many, of the 24 year old parts will need to be replaced. However, after selling the leftover donor's parts and carcass, I ended up getting all of my serviceable parts for free(except for my labor time), and came out a little ahead $-wise. I'm retired, so labor time isn't an issue. I spent almost 3 months working on the donor parts before the kit arrived, plus more after. And, as Bill said, I'll be upgrading down the road, already have on a couple things. But that's OK, because I enjoy working on it as much as driving it. So, I offer my thoughts/experience in bold above.

I know my roadster isn't the fastest/nicest/meanest one on the road by far, but I still feel like I'm getting away with something every time I drive - Its that much fun. And I get compliments on it where ever I go, even from the Chevy & Mopar guys.

A side note: Just yesterday, first time since the airing of "Megakits," 2 guys in their 30's stopped me in a parking lot and enthusiastically asked, "Is that a Factory Five, we saw them on TV!", beginning a lengthy conversation.

[josrodes]

Thanks guys, I did have to get some new parts, I had to fight the dirt, oil and rust, I enjoyed and learned a lot, had to overcome a lot of things, spindles u joints not coming out, driveshaft nightmare, pulling out the engine, it was all fun.

All done with the donor at this point, parts are all ready to go, some had to go, some were rebuilt, the rust fight over.

Will pick up the kit this weekend.

[Pierre B]

Buy the complete kit and largely you are locked in to how you are going to build and equip your car. Also, you are going to spend more of your kit-building dollars up front. On the other hand, you also have the assurance that everything will fit together without much effort. My MKII was only available as a basic kit back in 2004 and, in retrospect, I am glad of it. As I went through the building process, I learned more and more about car accessories and features, and that helped me clarify exactly what I did and did not want aboard my FFR. Now we all approach this process slightly differently, so there is no correct way: only the one that best suits your needs and inclinations. Good luck.

[Mustang Man]

I've built both. My Roadster is a non-donor base kit (MK 3) and my friend's is a complete kit Mk 3.1. We went base kit for low entry price point and worked our way to a finished car with exactly what we wanted to use (power steering, hydroboost, Auto Meter gauges, etc.). On my friend's mk 3.1 complete kit he started out using the included parts, but quickly decided he wanted power steering (complete kit is manual), he wanted Cobra brakes (complete kit is base GT disc), he wanted in-tank EFI pump (complete kit is pickup tube only). You get the idea. When we were done building he had a small pile of nice new parts, much of which he gave away (losing money for him) just to get them out of the garage.

While the complete kit is a nice package if you build it just as it comes, if you plan to throw some upgrades/options at it I feel it is best to start with the base kit and go non-donor these days.

My two and half cents on the matter...

Mark

[Crawleyscobra]

If I had it to do over again... I'd go non-donor base kit. I ordered the complete kit thinking that since I had never built a car before it would be a good idea to have pretty much everthing I would need. But as I got into my build I discovered that I was upgrading alot of the OK parts that come with the kit to nicer parts that I wanted (Saw on the Forums). So in the long run I probably could has saved myself some time and money.

[Richard Oben]

Do not think that donor cars are not great cars. If you replace the bearings, rotors, calipers, pads and lines all that is left are the spindles that were donor. The hunk of metal on a new spindle will be donor as soon as you turn one corner. It is cheaper than buying a new spindle. Replace the stuff that you should, gas tank ($100 or so) radiator $100 or so and rebuild well and save a ton of money. A donor built to 350 hp is not hard and dead reliable. Upgrade to 5 lug and some other nice stuff like tubular lowers and gauges and have a blast.

In this years World of wheels a 10 year old donor built car, took third to 2 almost new cars. All three cars were base kits, the difference is the final price. A 30K car beat some $50k cars. All of them were ahead of several non donor builds.

Soap box time. I really dislike when people (mostly others than here) disparage a donor build. If you take greasy crap and put it on you deserve it but man are there a lot of good cars that are dead reliable and driven that were donor built. I find the donor built cars more reliable than the non donor. WHY? no chance of getting the wrong parts, like distributor gear or alternator bracket or flywheel or clutch etc. Off soap box.

Donor engine bay:
http://www.northracecars.com/mm7.jpg
Donor based car:
http://www.northracecars.com/mm1.jpg