The struggle is real for fox body Mustang guys on a budget. Lets face it, parts aren't cheap. So when things are tight and you want to make your fox better, what's a guy to do?
#1 Grab a magic eraser from the kitchen and hit all those spots on your interior plastics. These things work great on all plastics and vinyl, they really dig in and clean well. Don't scrub too hard on darker colors, just enough pressure to get the soiled areas clean. Keep a small bucket of water and a microfiber towel nearby to rinse the sponge, and dry the areas you just cleaned.
#2 Raise the car up on jack stands and clean the insides of the wheels. Especially if you have thin spoke wheels. Keeping the barrels of the wheels clean not only adds a level of detail to your fox, but helps prevent corrosion as well. Use a mild cleaner like Simple Green to get all of the grime off of the wheels. DO NOT USE HARSH CHEMICALS, especially if your wheels are polished or chrome, keep it mild.
#3 While you have the wheels off, you can do number three! Take a scrub brush, hose, and mild cleaner to those inner fender liners. Get all the rubber, mud, sand, dust, etc out of those wheel wells. You can also grab some bug & tar remover and clean up the painted areas of the wheel openings. Once everything is all clean and dry, hit the area with some WD40 for a nice shine (avoid the painted areas and brakes).
#4 Make sure your throttle body is going full open when you press the gas. This one requires a friend to sit in the car and press the gas pedal, doing it with your hand, at the throttle body does not represent what happens when the pedal is depressed. Yank the intake tube and make sure the throttle blade is 100% open. If not, grab a screwdriver and adjust the linkage until it is.
#5 Hit all of your electrical connections with some terminal cleaner. Get as many connections as you can, and be careful not to break the clips off. Contact cleaner is fast evaporating like brake clean, and will clean all of the brass and aluminum contacts really well. So many times I have chased gremlins from dirty, loose, or weak wiring connections. While you are doing it, you may come across a connection that wasn't tight, or had damaged wires. Trust me, your fox body Mustang will love you for it!
So there you have it! No excuses anymore, get out there and give that fox body Mustang some love!
CR