Little back story first, started off on this forum with a beautiful 1988 Medium Orange Metallic IROC-Z which i regret selling. The car is still local to me and I tried buying it back a couple times as it has changed owners 3 times since me but every one of them wants twice what the car is worth. While its sentimental to me I'm not being stupid and overpaying.

Fast forward I had a group of buddies with thirdgen's that i used to hang out with while i had my old IROC. One of them called me up a few years ago and wanted to sell his 87 Formula, so me knowing the car well thought this could be a perfect project to replace what i once had. As many other thirdgen owners have, I've always loved the thirdgen Firehawks which I can't afford! And if i could afford it i would be nervous driving a car as rare as they are so why not build a clone and drive it!!

The 87 Formula is VERY solid and also IMO very ugly! Yellow!! I know there is a bit of a cult following for these yellow formula's but not me! It's getting changed! As a throwback to my long lost Medium Orange IROC i'm planning to repaint this Formula Sunset Orange Metallic, my favorite 4th gen color.

So far I've bought a 91-92 formula front end, headlights and rear bumper cover. Started fitting them to this car and also gutting the entire car for repaint and clean up. Lots of dings throughout the body that i'll clean up and we'll see what else i find along the way. I also found a gen3 LQ4 from the junk yard with 200+k miles for 200 bucks that i plan to rebuild. I have the 317 heads that came with it and also traded some stuff for a set of 799 heads. I haven't decided what I want to do 100% yet, I know for sure i want a very reliable daily driver, i don't need 700hp but always wanted something supercharged (LSA, Magnuson, Procharger, A&A, so many options and i like them all!) but this substantially adds to the cost so we'll see what i decide. I'd be content with nice heads/cam setup on a 370 or 408.

I picked up a new Hawks fiberglass spoiler (i prefer this one over the 91-92 so i'm making it my own!). The car will be getting Vintage Air heat and AC. I'm missing the original AC components, and the Vintage Air setup looks so clean so I'm splurging on it. I'm looking into suspension, i want a pro touring stance, low, wide rear tires and nice ride for daily driving so any sponsors want to jump on board with some suspension hit me up! I'm liking the UMI stuff but open to suggestions. Here are some initial photos. The guy before me attempted to spray paint the engine bay black, i'll be scuffing everything and making it all 1 color.

 

The previous photos were taken a couple years ago, this has been a very slow start because I built a new 40x30 pole barn a couple years ago so the car now resides in there and I have the space to really dive in!
More photos of the gutting process. Need to cut the front bumper to fit the 91-92marker lights. Pulled the gas tank this past weekend and purchased a Detroit Speed fuel access panel going in next. More pics to come, i'm pretty excited to make this ugly duckling shine!

Curious on your opinions:
What do you suggest for a nice lowering springs for daily driving?
- I had Eibach sportlines on my IROC which gave it a perfect stance, little stiff perhaps.

Has anyone fully painted/coated the underside of your cars? What did you use?
- I've had suggestions for just brush on Rustoleum, POR15, Raptor liner..

I'll try to post up some on my Instagram if anyone wants to follow along: snksknr
I'd love to get some youtube video's going but i'm not much of a youtuber personality, i just like the idea of documenting my whole build, we'll see. Does anyone make videos? do you use GoPros or just Iphones? and what about sofware for editing?

Thanks in advance!

 

I would love to have a yellow formula 350 hardtop!!
Good project you got going should be fun to make it your own style. I did the brush on rustoleum bedliner way easier than a roller.Ive always been happier with cut stock springs vs aftermarket. Did it that way on all my fox mustangs. Ive never done it to a 3rd gen mostly because i like the height they sit at and ride nice.I have the hawks spoiler also wish it was made with a better front attachment style.
I do youtube videos for my stuff

 

4valve, thanks for the reply. What do you use to record and edit your youtube videos?

 

I just record and post it off my galaxy phone

 

Cool project...

 

Awesome project, following along!