Well, after spending a few days searching for suitable donors and trying to decipher all of the necessary information on what donor parts are actually required, what donor years give you the parts you need in the right configuration, etc., I came to the realization today that I still know very little.

What I do know is that it seems that I should no longer keep looking for a donor. Since I don't need the engine and transmission, a donor won't give me much in the way of value, and the extra parts won't really have enough value to make it worth it.

Here's some of the stuff that I learned about donors for FFR kits, I thought I'd put it here for archiving and if someone else is looking.

What years started disc brakes on the rear? - 1994

Can I use a V6? Yes, but it'll have a weaker 7.5" rear end, not advisable

Can I use a 4cyl? No.

Any reason not to use a 94+ donor? Yes, the axle width is wider, which will mean more limited wheel options (backspace) or you will need to change the axles.

Will the stock rear end have the right gearing? For most applications, no, the stock 3.08's and less gearing will want to be replaced to 3.55's or 3.73's at least. This will help the relatively mild stock motor get a little more punch and put more power to the road, so to speak. As horsepower increases through add-ons and upgrades, wheel spin could be come an issue with the 3.55's, etc., and it will likely prove useful to go back to using 3.27's or 3.08's to ensure the rubber continues to meet the road effectively.

What Year is the best of all worlds? 87-93 5.0 Mustangs, they have the 8.8" rear end

I'm going to start researching individual parts now, and see what I can come up with.

Some 302/5.0L Stock Engine Build Up Info I found (thanks to Oldtymeflyr):

Go with a 85 Mustang Duraspark distributor, rebuilt it might go $50.

Recently there was a discussion comparing intakes, the Edelbrock Performer worked better than the RPM manifold.

Cams, with a E303 cam, an early Performer type intake and with a set of stock GT40P heads, I am right at 300 RWT. Also, I run a vacuum Holley 600 and 4 into 4 exhaust.

My thoughts are do a little work on a cheap set of GT40P heads, pick your cam right and you should be a little over 300 RWHP.

Some More Donor Info:

From 66fstbk:

I wouldn't do a "single" donor. Just get the parts you want from a couple different vehicles. You can do it very affordably if you shop at the right yards.
98' T-Bird IRS Complete with posi and discs $250 (requires IRS FFR option)
95" spindles and brakes in excellent condition $100
04' fuel tank with plastic shiled and filler tube like new $100
95' 5.0 engine and trans 74k mi. $1,000 (only needed shortblock and trans, did not need rebuild)

If I had purchased a 87-93 it would likely have needed an engine rebuild, would not have used front hubs or brakes, rear end (because I used IRS). So there was no point of a single donor for me.

True the kits were origionally designed for Fox single donors but a lot better parts from different year cars plus the age of these donors make this a less and less optimal solution every with passing year.

From Sergio:

I've used a 1991 donor to build a FFR MKI and a 2003 SVT Mustang Cobra to build a FFR MKIII .

I think I am qualified to say that the Best Donor for these cars is The Terminator (also Known as the 2003/2004 SVT Cobras.)

87-93 donors come with stock 225HP while the 03/04 cobras make 420HP stock.

While you couldn't probably use a 03 Cobra as a donor for a MKI (unless you do tons of modifications), you can use any 87-2004 Mustang V8 to build your MKIII, except that (thanks to me), Factory Five modified their literature to read: You can use any V8 Mustang from 87 to 2004 (except 03/04 Cobras).

The 03/04 Cobras can be used as donors as I have proven, with some sensible modifications, a handful of others have done it too now.

As I've gotten started, I've been learning a lot, and having spent more than a year just researching the kit and the build process, I've gathered a ton of valuable information. I've also been researching colors, interiors, engine options, etc.

I thought it would make sense to put this information here on the build site to not only give others a chance to use the information, but to give me a place to archive it as well.

Engine/Drivetrain:

This may not be the best way to start off my build site, but hey, it's MY build, so I can do whatever I want, right? All you die hard blue-oval fans might want to just skip this section all together, and move on to less controversial topics.

I've grown up on Chevy's. I was really into Chevy heavy metal in my earlier years, and I've owned 2 different 1967 Chevelle Malibu's. I loved the both, and have always really liked the Chevy power plants.

I'm really not one of those all Chevy's are awesome and all Ford's suck kind of guys. I pretty much love all well-made cars, from every manufacturer and every part of the globe.

That being said, since I know what I'm getting into with a Chevy engine, I've decide to drop one into my FFR kit. I feel fine about it since it's a kit car and since it's mine to choose what goes into it. In the old days of the kits, you'd have to do some frame modification and fabrication to make this work since the FFR Roadster is built around Ford options, but thanks to guys like Mike Forte, it's become a little easier since he makes custom adapters for the motor mounts. I'll still have to make my own headers to fit the 5.0L j-pipes, but there are lots of options and guides out there.

To discuss non-ford power in the FFR, visit this forum: Non-Ford FFCobra.com Forum.

I've decide it still would be right for me to drop an Auto tranny in here, so I'm going 4-speed. If I can find a decent deal on a Muncie M21 or M22, I'll be going that direction since they are bullet-proof. If not, I'll probably be looking at the Saginaw 4-speed instead. I'm not dragging this car, and those are a pretty good proven tranny and should do the job to handle what will be a sub-400hp and torque car.

I'm hoping to find a nice SBC 327 I can drop in here, it's a nice high rev motor that should make the Roadster an absolute joy to drive. Second option is a SBC 350. Either of these would get me into the 300-375hp and torque range without a ton of money and parts.

Suspension Options:

This was where I was pretty confused with ordering. There are several options when placing the order for the FFR base kit. It was a little unclear to me what you get with each kit, what you still need, and what it all means and costs.

Here's a summary of what I found out:

1) IRS - Independent Rear Suspension is all the rage nowadays, and is supposed to offer the best balance of handling and ride comfort. Most modern sports cars come with IRS from the factory. This is an option for FFR kits, and not a cheap one at $2000+. I was excited to learn that you could find a full IRS rear end from an SC Ford Thunderbird (1989) that would fit into the FFR for under $500 usually. That excitement quickly faded, however when I realized that this only got you so far, and you still needed the IRS option added to the base kit to make it work. Still a cheaper option than others out there, but not important enough for me to go that way.
2) 3/4/5 Link Options - These are the other options out there. Talking to the FFR factory guys, the 3-link gives you the best bang for your buck and seems to be a good option to order from FFR. 4 Link is the standard solid axle choice for the Mustang and OEM applications. 5 Link is a new setup, and is supposed to be a great alternative to IRS. Gordon Levy has them for about $1600, and I'm still looking at it for an option.

Since I'm trying to keep my initial cash outlay down, I just went with the basic 4-link OEM setup, and I can use the rear end out of the 87-04 Mustangs to get it done. As I see it, I won't be track racing this thing, and the ride quality isn't all that big of an issue (they stink, their load, and bumpy anyway.) If that doesn't work long-term, I can go looking at the 5-link instead.


Interior:

I'm really into custom interior stuff, to the type of fabrics chosen to the Audio system and little features that make things cool and unique.

Some ideas I'm tossing around:

1) Using a double-din Nav-type stereo with the full screen display, hidden behind a panel of some sort to make it look nicer.
2) Integrating a rear-view/backup camera and feeding it into the display. I have this on my suburban and love it, and it should help to add some better rear visibility, which these cars suffer a little from.
3) Bass Shakers in the seats - the interior of the car is pretty limited, so fitting a 12" sub will be impossible. I use the LFE's in my home theater chairs, and they work great, so this will be a relatively simple way to handle the system's bass.
4) Behind-the-Seat shelf - I saw this on ffcobra.com and it looked great (J Persons), plus it gives a place to mount some speakers (in each rear corner firing across,) and possibly the system amplifiers.
5) Tan Interior - I really like the Orange on Tan look, and will likely be replacing the supplied black interior with a tan one, and hope to recover the black vinyl seats with some nice tan leather ones, and hoping I can pull off doing my own upholstery. We'll see how that turns out.

Still lots of planning to do, and I'll keep updating the blog. In the meantime, here are some inspirational pics.

FFR Car I really like the Orange Color of (House of Kolor Tangelo Pearl sprayed over white base coat):

This is Mike M's Car.



Interior Pics: (This is a 67 Chevelle Vert, I really like the integrated center column and painted dash, plus the tan leather):