For many fans of the Fox Mustang, these cars represent an era when Ford’s pony car was ascendant. Built on a long-running platform with a potent 5.0-liter engine option, these cars help move the Mustang from an aftermarket afterthought to a market leader. In the case of Jim Addis, this 1986 Mustang GT convertible truly gave him a reason to live.
This was my first car when I turned 16. — Jim Addis
“This car is special to me,” Jim said. “I’m 47 years old. This was my first car when I turned 16. I had a rare illness at 15 and my dad said he’d buy me a car if I pulled through and lived; so here we are today. I have a special nostalgic affection for this car.”
As fans of the era, we have nostalgia for these cars too, but with the car representing survival for Jim, it clearly is a special machine. Because of that, he took great car of the car, but he eventually decided to bring its performance into the modern era while retaining its nostalgic visage.
“For starters, the car had only 50,000 original miles. It was garage stored under cover for its entire life, so it has no rust and no corrosion whatsoever,” Jim said. “We had a great starting point. My mission was to bring the car to look showroom new as stock 1986 GT convertible, but with all the newest technology, including the engine, transmission, brakes, suspension, gauges, wheel/tires, and most importantly air conditioning!”
Expert Assistance
For Florida residents having air conditioning is as important as having a steering wheel. When it comes to bringing Mustang’s powertrain into the modern era, it’s also crucial to either have some mad skills or turn to expert. Jim was fortunate to find a shop in his backyard that had plenty of experience. That shop is Five Bar Motorsports in Fort Myers, Florida.
1986 Mustang LX Mods
Powertrain
Block: Coyote aluminum prepped by MPR
Crankshaft: Stock Coyote
Rods: Stock Coyote
Pistons: Stock Coyote
Camshafts: Stock Coyote
Cylinder Heads: Stock Coyote
Intake: Stock Coyote
Power Adder: 76mm Borg-Warner turbocharger
Fuel System: Aeromotive 340 in-tank pump w/ Radium Engineering surge tank fitted with two Walbro 450 pumps
Exhaust: Five Bar Motorsports custom turbo system
Transmission: Tremec T56 Magnum w/ a custom PST driveshaft
Electronics
Engine Management: Ford Performance Control Pack
Ignition: Stock Coyote
Front Suspension
K-member: Maximum Motorsports tubular
A-arms: Maximum Motorsports tubular
Struts: Bilstein HD series
Springs: Maximum Motorsports coilover
Brakes: Baer Brakes 13-inch
Wheels: 17-inch SVE FR500
Tires: Goodyear Eagle all-season
Rear Suspension
Shocks: Bilstein HD series
Springs: Maximum Motorsports
Brakes: Baer Brakes
Wheels: 17-inch SVE FR500
Tires: Goodyear Eagle all-season
To ensure his Coyote project was fit for four-digits, Jim sent his Ford Performance crate engine to Tim Eichhorn at MPR Racing Engines in Boynton Beach, Florida, for a robust reciprocating assembly. With forged internals in the 5.0-liter, the Five Bar team finished the assembly and topped it off with a custom single-turbo system.
“I’ve been working on Fords for about 10 years, bought my first new Mustang in 2007 that now has turned into our low-8-second — hopefully soon 7-second — shop car,” Joe Melvin, owner of Five Bar Motorsports, said. “We settled on this combo from knowledge we have gained with other turbo Coyote builds we have done. After the owner of the car had seen one of our other customer’s car on the dyno making close to 1,000 rear-wheel horsepower he said, ‘Let’s try and make that.’”
Four-Digit Goals
It would seem that four-digit outputs are the goal of many enthusiasts building high-performance street cars. Thanks to modern technology, it’s definitely possible, but fitting in all those accessories along with the upgrades necessary for big power is a challenge. Those hurdles are even higher if you are trying not to alter someone’s pristine, childhood Fox.
“The biggest challenge to overcome was fitting everything the customer wanted to have in the car — It has A/C, power steering, power brakes and the 76mm turbo kit — without cutting up the body,” Joe explained. “The only modification to the body was the smoothing of the engine bay to get rid of the factory holes.”
When the car is idling and part throttle it sounds like a stock Fox Mustang, maybe even a little quieter. — Joe Melvin, Five Bar Motorsports
“When the car is idling and part throttle it sounds like a stock Fox Mustang, maybe even a little quieter,” Joe said. “So, when you pop the hood people are definitely shocked and are amazed at how clean the engine bay is.”
The car definitely stopped us in our tracks when we spied it during the NMRA Spring Break Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park. We too thought it was just a clean Fox, which is enough to draw us over, but that big turbo bolted to a Coyote had us clamoring to bust out the cameras.
Total Sleeper
“This is always the best part; people’s mouths drop in amazement,” Jim added. “You can eat in the engine compartment. It’s a cleaner look than came off the Ford assembly line. People always ask: ‘How did you fit all that in such a small space?’”
Of course, the ‘all that’ really packed underhood is a lot of performance. With four-digit potential on board, it’s no surprise that this car will give any blue-blooded Ford fan a reason to live for the next blast of acceleration.
“The car is a blast to drive,” Joe enthused. “We currently only have it set on low boost, since it was a new build. With pretty much every aspect of the vehicle being upgraded we wanted to drive it for a while and make any adjustments to the vehicle.”
Even though it was still being dialed in, it’s still plenty fast enough to fulfill the owner’s dream of bringing his childhood dream car back to the future.
“It’s a rocket ship!” Jim enthused. “Not only fast, but it handles and brakes amazing all in the comfort of air conditioning. The car is a total sleeper.”