Whoops…looks like I broke two specific rules with this Rough Start find. The car is over $5,000 (ok, by a couple hundred at most) and it’s a non-runner. I’m still justifying this deal as a cheap car project because all you have to come up with is an engine and you will have yourself one easy hot ride on your hands. That’s the beauty of a Fox-body Mustang…they are so simple that it’s almost plug-and-play. Our find is one of the first-year models…or, at least, that’s what the ad says because the one giveaway of a 1979 mode, the low-mounted inside door handles, can’t be seen in the pictures. The car could be a 1982 model, it could be an amalgamation of parts from fifteen different cars. That doesn’t really matter. Here’s what does matter: There’s a Yukon 31-spline limited-slip unit with 4.30 gears in the 8.8 axle, there is a C4 automatic, there is a roll cage, subframe connectors, and brand new Welds all the way around the car. There’s also brand-new carpet in the box and what appears to be a fresh, if not recent paint job in bright red. Nice.

The question then becomes, what engine goes underhood? Don’t say LS. An early four-eye Fox deserves something better, like a 351 set on kill, or at least a basic budget bolt-on 302 with spray. Got a junkyard close by? Think you can find a 1990s-era V8 Explorer? Pull that engine, do a once-over and a Gunk bath, and stab it in for instant gratification. We say keep the engine carbureted, cammed, and straight-up rowdy and if you insist on keeping that cowl hood on it, you might as well go ahead and spring for a roots-style blower, don’t you think?

Craigslist Link: 1979 Ford Mustang