There's one on a trailer tucked in somebody's yard I drove past yesterday.  It looks like its been there for a decade or more.

'74-'78 were dark times in terms of factory performance.  V8s making less HP than a typical non-turbo 4 cylinder economy car now.  IIRC the only year the Camaro outsold the Mustang was '77.  Typically the Mustang outsold the Camaro, Firebird, and Corvette combined.  

But, as usual the combination of a light car and a big HP engine makes for a lot of fun.  

On the street 400HP and a T5 in good shape will be just fine, so long as you don't powershift 3rd.  In a light car like an early Mustang the tires will break loose in 1st and 2nd long before you shock load the trans enough to break it.  3rd you might have enough traction though.  I've replaced A LOT of 3rd gears in T5s over the years.  

How much shorter is a short water pump vs. a standard one?  I'm wondering if you could just run a standard pump and make a pulley that had the belt surface located in the appropriate location.  You could also change the pulley diameter if that was viewed as advantageous, though it would change the speed at which the pump turned.  

MS wrote:

Cool to see! Not ONE new Corvette!!! I like it!

There aren't any new Corvettes.  They stopped building the Corvette in 2019.  Now they are building an attempt at an American exotic which stole the front end from a Ferrari 360 Modena.  The car is ugly and spits in the face of Zora Arkus Duntov's dream.  
 

Even if you don't buy from Tire Rack, the one extremely helpful thing on their website is the reviews.  Without reviews you are taking a shot in the dark unless you have first hand experience or know someone who has it with a tire you are considering buying.  I've used this several times to help make selections.  I don't mind paying $20 more per tire for a set of tires that will last 50%-100% longer on my DDs for example.  On my fun vehicles its more about performance, because they just don't see enough miles to wear out.  

I've bough exclusively from Tire Rack for years now.  I can pick them up at the local depot to avoid shipping cost.  Its worth seeing where the local depot is for you, because so long as you can transport them you can save $50-$60 on a set of tires by avoiding the shipping cost.  

I would advise avoiding the on site tire mounting and balancing places (the ones that come to you).  I had an extremely bad experience with one, and won't use them again.  I found a local shop I use to mount and balance and have been very happy with their work, turnaround time, and cost has been reasonable.

Another way you can save a bit is if you live near a dump.  You can take the old tires there yourself instead of paying for the disposal fee.  The disposal fee is around $10/tire around here.  I've never been charged more than $3 for disposal of a whole set of tires at the dump.  Not worth making a special trip, but I'm at the dump frequently for work, so not a big deal to just take a worn out set of tires if I'm already going.  

This is the place my father-in-law had his stuff done:

https://www.royalplating.com/

Their work is first rate.  

BobE wrote:

TKOPerformance wrote:

BobE wrote:

Rust, also a problem here in the northeast, and I’ve said for years; rust on a car is like an iceberg in the ocean, what you see is only a small portion of what you have.  
 

Yep, the same as wood rot or termite damage.  
 

Yep, and I've been though that also.

I just got done fixing me neighbors back porch before it collapsed, so it was fresh in my mind.  The previous owner clearly covered up and/or ignored substantial damage.  He was an okay guy, but he really didn't care a wit for the house.  
 

I believe they are in the passenger's side kickpanel in 2000.  They finally got smart and put them someplace not easily hit with a foot, etc.  One of my employees has a 2000ish ranger and it wouldn't run.  Thought he ran out of gas, no dice.  Thought the fuel pump was bad (no fuel, couldn't hear it run), so he replaced it, but didn't check to see if he had voltage at the plug.  New pump wouldn't run.  I reset the inertia switch for him and she fired right off.  Not the first time I've seen an issue like that, so I always advise checking for power before just assuming the pump is bad.  On older vehicles where you could replace just the pump and it was only like $40 it wasn't that bad, but now you end up being forced to buy the whole fuel module, which is like $200.  Diagnosis saves money.  

Generally I think most would recommend 4.5 leaf springs.  Better control of wheel hop without an overly harsh ride.  As far as manufacturer I would also suggest checking stock, because these were hard to get the last time this question was fielded.  Most places were out of stock.  I've used Eaton/Detroit spring with great results, but they have gotten pricey in recent years.  

BobE wrote:

Rust, also a problem here in the northeast, and I’ve said for years; rust on a car is like an iceberg in the ocean, what you see is only a small portion of what you have.  
 

Yep, the same as wood rot or termite damage.  
 

Steve69 wrote:

BobE wrote:

TKOPerformance wrote:

The other major issue with classic mustangs is cost.  They are simply priced out of the realm of what a kid can afford.  A 10 year old Mustang is at about the bottom of its value.  A kid can buy that and hop it up as he goes.  Spending the same money on a classic might not even buy a car that still needs $20k worth of work to be driveable.  

Agreed. 
 

   It cost $20K for nice paint job with no body work.   Thats a big issue. 
 

The body work aspect is huge though for people in our areas, because: rust.  I've always been jealous of people who live where the tin worm doesn't.

But yeah, cost of everything anymore is high.  Hopefully though that leads to more guys willing to try more hands on stuff.  

I remember when I was originally restoring my '67 and reading all the magazines at the time.  It used to piss me off when they dedicated space to Fox body cars.  I think back on that 30+ years later and I realize how foolish I was.  Those cars are now hot, valuable, and in demand.  Why?  Simple, for the same reason the classic Mustangs were originally in demand once they became antiques: the people who lusted after them in high school were grown and had money.  Its a simple cycle.  So I'm careful not to discriminate against anyone who is into the hobby in any way.  I probably seemed like a jack@$$ to the older guys when I was a kid.  The reality though is that those guys who were old when I was first in the hobby are mostly gone now, or out of the hobby due to age, health, etc.  I became the future of the hobby.  Now, I amone of the old guys.  Kids do dumb stuff; its what makes them kids.  If we are honest we all did dumb stuff too.  Ignorance can be overcome by knowledge, but its hard to create passion where none exits.  My thoughts are to embrace the young guys, whatever they drive, because at some point we need numbers and we need a strong lobby.  Lest those trolls in government try and outlaw what we love.  Don't think it can't happen either.  Look at how Leno's law has languished in CA.  A common sense piece of legislation aimed at keeping collector cars and trucks on the road.