1991 Ford Mustang LX - Foxy Lady

Horse Sense: Although it takes a horrendous amount of work, a smoothed and gloss-painted engine bay is not only far more impressive, but also much easier to keep clean than the factory's matte-black and oh-so-cluttered inner fenders and firewall.

Because they're trendsetting and a worthwhile read, we obviously tend to run a lot of features on the latest and greatest mega-power, mega-buck Mustangs. Contrary to cynical belief, however, we don't do this because we're jaded snobs who have forgotten about the little guy. Heck, we're just automotive hacks, and if you ever peek at our paychecks, you'd realize we are the little guy. Even so, we usually lean toward features having at least a little mojo going on underhood.

Though neither high-buck nor particularly high-power, there's a certain mojo going on under the cowl hood of Melissa Viero's '91 notch, but not in the form of big cubes or big boost-come to think of it, when was the last time you saw a stock 5.0 intake on one of our features? In this gorgeously detailed engine room is the kind of clean, uncluttered presentation of a small-block Ford that draws the eye, raises the eyebrows, and finally begs the question: Where's all the factory plumbing?

And to think it might never have happened. This is Melissa's second Mustang. Her first, a black 5.0 LX, was stolen two days after she bought it. With that sort of gut-wrenching loss and disappointment being awfully hard to swallow, Melissa swore to never buy a Mustang again. That seemingly firm resolution lasted about eight months, until this Wild Strawberry Metallic '91 LX coupe simply overpowered it-but with wisdom gained. "The first thing we did," Melissa says, "was invest in a top-of-the-line security system." That, of course, was only the beginning.

At that time, Melissa and her now-husband, Brad, lived in British Columbia, Canada's western-most province. They initially planned to hold off on an any modifications until they were more financially stable. Yet, they stumbled across a Mustang specialty shop in Langley, British Columbia, called Creationz Speed and Sound, owned by Brett Halbert. It soon became the Wal-Mart of 5.0 parts and inspiration for Brad.

What allowed the couple to forge ahead with some personalization of their LX was the realization that if they could do most of the work themselves, they would "still be able to eat and live," in Melissa's words. So Brad became the main wrench/engineer/crew chief. They also received enthusiastic help from friends Shane and Tyson-the latter is "an easy-going kid who was always willing to get his hands dirty as long as he got to hear the tires squeal every once in awhile." Brad also signed up for a mechanic's course and ended up doing his apprenticeship at Creationz peed and Sound. It was a plan coming together.

It didn't take long for Brad to get down to business-the complete disassembly of the notchback in the Creationz shop, with Brett acting as mentor and adviser throughout the three-month process of tearing it apart and putting it all back together. Thanks to Brett's buddy Steve, the LX was resprayed in its original Wild Strawberry hue while apart, and soon thereafter earned the nickname "Wildchild."

Brad himself also went wild during the rebuild, powdercoating just about everything he could lay his hands on, including the oil pan, valve covers, intake manifold, cold-air kit, rearend, transmission and transmission crossmember, bellhousing, calipers, spindles, K-member, A-arms, "and even the gas-tank straps." Why go to such trouble? Because the Foxy little coupe was going into service as Melissa's daily driver, and it has fulfilled this summer role ever since. A few seasons later, Wildchild-right down to its squeaky-clean belly-still comes across as a fresh-out-of-the-box resto. Of course, it also helps that Brad appears as obsessive about maintenance as he was about building the notch in the first place.

While the budget has yet to allow much in the way of power multiplication, that's not to say the rest of the LX has been ignored. Inside that powdercoated axle are 3.73 cogs, an Eaton posi, and Moser axles, and it all hooks to the back of the T5 with an FRPP aluminum driveshaft-polished, of course. Though the front brakes and powdercoated sway bar are stock, nearly everything else has been replaced. The tubular, chrome-moly K-member and A-arms, along with the coilover kit and caster/camber plates, come by way of UPR. The coilovers consist of Eibach springs over KYB struts.

UPR coilovers are also at work out back, teamed with the company's upper and lower aluminum control arms. In this case, the springs are Eibach and the shocks are Edelbrock. Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings are everywhere. The coupe is stiffened by BBK subframes, and Brad swapped on rear discs from a '93 Cobra.

Brad's work continued in the cabin with APC Super Race buckets, a Grant steering wheel, and a remote-controlled Alpine DVD/navigation unit with a 7-inch screen. Melissa gets shift assistance from a 5-inch Auto Meter tach and B&M's Ripper shifter.

In all, this is quite literally a shining example of what a dedicated work ethic combined with a reasonable budget can accomplish. The coupe's show-like presentation is all the more impressive given its summer-commuter status. It's not bad for a girl who was never going to own another Mustang.