1980 Mustang straight 6??

[Wobbit]

Alrighty, complete newbie here so feel free to bash me in the head if this sounds stupid..

I'm looking for a car, I actualy would like a Mustang GT(87-89) but those are slightly out of my price range, and the salesman guy was a jerk....

Shopping around I found a 1980 Mustang. Straight 6, body is in great condition, no dents anywhere, needs a new paint job but only because I dont like the color(a grey-ish sky blue), inside is clean but has the 'has been sitting around' car smell'. Talking to the guy, he says something is wrong with the tranny, it's almost difficult to get it in drive(It's an auto), you gotta move the gear shift-a-mabob around a bit.. Reverse works fine!

That could be a big fix? Or a little fix? Or either, right? Anyway... the tranny doesn't matter, I dont think. I want to put a T5 in it, A T5 because my friend has one laying around that he's not using and is nice enough to give it to me. How possible is that? Putting a T5 into a 1980 mustang(6cyl)? If that's not possible, what's a good transmission I could put in it?

And for the price, its $500. The engine sounds fine, body is great, inside clean. I'm going to take a friend up to look at it with me, he does a lot of work on cars, mostly his t-bird, which is a very pretty car.......

What do ya'll think? Keep in mind I'm a broke little boy.

[lilmustang boy]

if the car has been sitting on grass dont touch it the floors will be gone... also ask to hear the car run so u dont hear any abnormal engine noises.....

the straight 6 is ok... but its not great... best thing to do is an engine swap... me personally i would do a 2.3T swap... u can go 5.0 if u want as well

[Wobbit]

Originally Posted by lilmustang boy

if the car has been sitting on grass dont touch it the floors will be gone... also ask to hear the car run so u dont hear any abnormal engine noises.....

the straight 6 is ok... but its not great... best thing to do is an engine swap... me personally i would do a 2.3T swap... u can go 5.0 if u want as well

I had the guy start it up for me, I didn't notice any weird engine noises other than the noisey fan belt. It's nice to to know I could swap the engine, that's another thing I was thinking about, but that would happen like... way is the future.

I'm not going to buy the car until I take a friend up there and see what he thinks.

[reconman]

The sitting in the grass thing is true, Mustangs have thin sheet metal floors. Grass traps moisture which in turn, promotes rust. Also the fan belt should not make alot of noise